Flow Like Water to Move the Earth

Phase 1: 

Repair Rebuild Retrain

Lesson 2: 

Flow Like Water to Move the Earth

How do you move something big?

Would you walk up to and give it a push? Would you tie a rope to it and pull it? Would you find a machine to assist you? If it was big, really big, would you use explosives?

So much energy is spent, each and every down to impose your will on another player, and nowhere is this more true than the trenches. A 280lbs DT flexes his bicep, throws his hand into the dirt and prepares to unleash uncontrolled havoc. Across from him, a 300lbs OG beats his chest, squats, and prepares to control the opposing linemen at his will. This happens play after play after play.It is what linemen are taugh over and over again. This is an example of a block grinding against another block.

Some of nature's most magnificent wonders are shaped not by blocks grinding blocks, but the flow of wind and water. The raging colorado river carves the grand canyon, the Great Lakes drives back Niagara Falls inches a year. Coastlines across the world change daily and winds erode mountain tops. OK so what? Air and water are so small yet they have the power to impose their will to greater masses. Apply speed to these masses and their force becomes unstoppable. Raging flood waters, hurricanes, tsunami, are the deadliest forces in all of nature.

What makes this flowing force so much more powerful? Balance, angles, and the ability to redirect their force in a fraction of a second. These keys are the strength behind the flow and the tools the natures uses to form a sphere out of a block.

Become the Circle from the Square

Phase 1:

Repair, Rebuild, Retrain

Lesson 1: 

Becoming the Circle from the Square

The block for millenniums was the ideal building unit. It was relatively easy to shape, easy to stack, and contained the strength to withstand the forces of gravity. It was not until the Romans invented the arch in the 1 Century BC did the concept of the ideal structural concept take shape. Its invention was painstaking and there were many failed attempts but today is still the golden standard for spanning distances giving it an advantage over the block. 

For the past three years I have been training and performing as a football player like the block. I got stronger and faster. The training concept was easy and took me a long way but with my size, I have hit a disadvantage that I cannot overcome, no matter the speed or strength. To move on, I have to become a sphere. 

The sphere has a number of advantages over a block: 

• Agility, the ability to move with ease from one space to the next
• Stronger, the sphere is 100 times stronger than a block in strength
• Beauty, a sphere is captivating as it is rare in natural form

The downside of a sphere is the difficulty of its creation. Precision is necessary as it is  far more difficult to craft than a block, strikes must be accurate and planned.

That is where I am at in my training moving forward to my third and final year of professional football, I have been asked to train to become a sphere. I am going to be pushed outside of my comfort zone and asked to take on different aspects of training. The mental difficulty increases as accuracy and timing count, not just the reps. Flexibility and movement have become center and forefront in my training just as the placement and turnout of my foot counts as much as the placement of the strike on the arm. 

I was told from day one, this is not going to be easy, this is not going to be like what you have done before. Many times, you'll leave here not dripping in sweat,  but we are training you just as hard. Mental preparation is just a hard to learn, and if not more difficult to practice. Anyone can tell you what their 225 rep test is, but can they tell you 7 ways to weaken your opponent for the next play?