Yesterday I went to visit a friend and fellow gym owner, Benny, from CrossFit Soul Rebel.
We trained the one-arm handstand together. It’s nice occasionally to meet up with others who are doing this type of thing, so that we can talk about the challenges and look for advice.
When you have a partner with this movement, you can do what is called “spotted” one arm work.
You kick up into the handstand, shift across to one arm, take the other off, but the other person has very light support around your hips.
The end result, is you get to spend blocks of 20-30 seconds in the full one-arm handstand position. No support hand on the ground.
Why is this significant?
Without the other person, there is no way you can get this idea of what it will feel like.
You can intellectually think about the position, even think you know it, but still not experience it.
On retreat we get to feel something different.
This is not intellectual learning. It is experiential. We are there to “spot” each other. To support.
The spotted work is important. Having someone support you when you are head first into the experience is huge.
Without the spotter, the one-armed handstand might take 50% longer.
The handstand is just one example of this effect.
