Walden Head

Push-up in a teacup

by Andrew Gordon Middleton

The objectives of conditioning in Russian Systema are not limited to physical improvement but have an important mental component, particularly with regards to self-knowledge. These are interconnected and can only be teased apart if we willfully ignore certain details. Other arbitrary divisions in the training programme could be conditioning vs. movement or physical vs. mental. However we choose to dissect this, it is important to understand that the programme can provide more than an “exercise” regime if you are interested in working it.

Design constraints

by Andrew Gordon Middleton

It is an often presented truism that the human body is a bad idea. What a terrible design, this body trying to keep itself upright on two limbs, only to develop back problems early in adult life and to fall prey to even small animal aggressors. We need to hide behind our tools and weapons otherwise we would never survive our interactions with the outside world. That is, it is only our intellect that protects us and the body suffers from a great design flaw, a flaw perhaps allowed because of—or somehow in service to—the furthering of the species-intelligence.

My relationship with gravity

by Andrew Gordon Middleton

I remember when I first learned to move my feet.

That night, for a few lovely moments, I felt a bit like my favourite CGI segment, that bit in Peter Jackson’s King Kong where Kong is fighting the T-Rexes. I was just fighting some other human so far as I could tell, and this is likely for the best.

read more: "My relationship with gravity"

Red wine smoothies

by Andrew Gordon Middleton

I had the pleasure last Saturday night to have dinner with a very beautiful and witty woman. This perhaps a minor detail to my story here. What is less apparently incidental is that I found I had wine left in my glass come morning. I can never throw good wine into the sink or very well feed it to my rosemary, so I added it to my morning smoothie.