Edward Yu - Slowing Down to Run Faster

Copyright 2020 by Edward Yu. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.

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North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California and Somatic Resources, San Diego, California

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Cover design by Nicole Hayward

Book design by Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Interior photos by Andreia de Abreu Gomes and Edward Yu

Models: Raquel Brito, Andreia de Abreu Gomes, and Edward Yu

Author photo by Ricardo Jesus

Sketch of Rodins Pierre Wiessant by Andreia de Abreu Gomes

Feldenkrais, Feldenkrais Method, Functional Integration, Awareness Through Movement, and Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner are service marks of the FELDENKRAIS GUILD of North America.

Printed in Canada

Slowing Down to Run Faster: A Sense-able Approach to Movement is sponsored and published by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences (dba North Atlantic Books), an educational nonprofit based in Berkeley, California, that collaborates with partners to develop cross-cultural perspectives, nurture holistic views of art, science, the humanities, and healing, and seed personal and global transformation by publishing work on the relationship of body, spirit, and nature.

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MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: The following information is intended for general information purposes only. Individuals should always see their health care provider before administering any suggestions made in this book. Any application of the material set forth in the following pages is at the readers discretion and is his or her sole responsibility.

Names: Yu, Edward, 1967- author. Title: Slowing down to run faster : a sense-able approach to movement / Edward Yu. Description: Berkeley, California : North Atlantic Books, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: To run faster, better, and more efficiently, you have to learn to run faster, better, and more efficiently. Trainer and former triathlete Edward Yu shows you how to achieve the results you want with a new multidisciplinary approach Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2019050970 (print) | LCCN 2019050971 (ebook) | ISBN 9781623174903 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781623174910 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: RunningTraining. | Running speed. | RunningPhysiological aspects. Classification: LCC GV1061.5 .Y8 2020 (print) | LCC GV1061.5 (ebook) | DDC 796.42dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019050970LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019050971

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For Mom and Dad who always stood behind me

Given the difficulty of mastering any skill, including one as complex as running, the totality of lessons contained in this book should be seen as an introduction on how you might go about improving your stride rather than a complete guide to running with optimal efficiency. For regardless the subject, not only does achieving mastery require enormous space for wonder and exploration, and therefore a tremendous amount of patience and time, but in virtually all cases, it involves a good deal more detailed guidance, instruction, and case examples than any single book can offer. That said, I am confident that the following pages will be a good launching pad to discoveryenough to give you a running start (pun intended) toward deeper learning and lasting improvement.

Fewer than twenty-four hours after my formal induction into the Masters century-old Bagua lineage, I encountered my first reality check. I had just begun practicing when I heard Master Ges cannon voice reverberating through the park where all the students had gathered that evening.

That was completely terrible! he shouted in a tone so filled with disgust that it was as if someone had insulted his entire family.

Somebody is really screwing up, I chuckled to myself as I continued my practice.

Completely terrible! Master Ge repeated.

I had never heard him this angry before and felt relieved that I had always been on his good side. Momentarily I imagined Master Ge as a great army general, commanding his troops with incredible tenacity and verve during the heat of the battle. I could hear his voice roaring like a howitzer over the cacophony of exploding gunpowder.

Terrible! he repeated a third time.

I wondered how Master Ges decibel rating would compare to that of an idling metro bus. Obviously, somebody wasnt getting his point, though I didnt immediately see who, since I was several meters away, busily racing through the form. As usual, I was in a hurry to finish up because I wanted to catch the last call at my favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant down the street. The thought of steamed buns was suddenly making my mouth water.

Stop!

I would bet on Master Ge over the bus. Then nothing but a silence so eerie I couldnt resist turning to see what all the commotion had been about.

A momentary glimpse was all I needed to realize that somebody had been insulting his familythe family of Bagua masters who had carried the art through seven generations all the way down to the present moment. Seeing Master Ge squared off like an angry bull, ready to charge in my direction, I felt an instant jolt of both horror and utter disbelief.

Me?

As he brushed me aside and proceeded to mimic what seemed at once to be an exaggerated yet oddly accurate rendition of my movements, I realized my insult. When the masters demonstrate the correct movement and then mimic yours, its like being handed plastic flowers after having just returned from the botanical garden. My form was indeed a cheap imitation, not simply because I was a relative beginner with thousands of hours of training ahead of me, but moreover because my distraction and lack of enthusiasm had evidently showed. Master Ge had caught me going through the motions, and now that I was representing his lineage, he had no patience for mediocrity.

When I was at the tender age of thirty-two, Master Ges yelling marked the beginning of a six-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week training regimen during which I was to discover for the first time in my life what it means to have your heart and mind fully involved. On a cool spring evening in the grit-filled industrial city of Tianjin, China, I was discovering what it means, in other words, to learn.

Try to forget everything youve learned as an adultthe things that limit your view of the world, your fears, your prejudices, your preconceptions. Try to rediscover what it is like to be a child with a sense of wonder, and innocence. And dont forget to laugh. Remember, children are strong, they are resilient, they are designed to survive. When you drop them, they tend to bounce.

Terry Gilliam

For those of you who are in a hurry to improve your running and dont have time to go through the philosophy and methodology contained in this book, please skip Life, More Life, and The Rest of Your Lifethat is, part 1, part 3, and the epilogue. I suggest you read part 2, Practical Matters, or simply go straight to the lessons. There are twenty-seven of them in appendix B.