If you've been over to Optimal Performance than you definitely know who this guy is. I call him Ken the Circus Guy.
Kenny is a prime example of hard smart work and true dedication. Over the Summer he is in the gym for hours an end. But for good reason. See He's in a prestigious circus college and to achieve all the things he wants to do he knows what it takes to get there.
Anyway, he left for Circus college(up in Canada) towards the end the summer and we try to stay in touch as much as possible.
So to keep in line with my "what have you been doing" post yesterday - here is what Kenny the Circus guy is up to,
"Hey hey hey,
These two weeks have been crazy (in a good way). I only have 4 hours of actual training with a coach (from 1:30 to 5:30) everyday, but we are aloud to free train for as long as the school's open (from 8:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.). Here's the layout of my weekly schedule as far as scheduled classes:
Monday -
1:25 -
Everyone does cardio together for about twenty minutes. We all run in a circle (including the Head coach!!) and periodically throughout the 20 minutes we stop to do either push-ups, or jumping jack, or v-ups on the floor, etc. Really fun. We listen to fun music from some body's Ipod and everyone really gets into it.
1:45 -
40 minutes of a straps class. there are 3 people in my class including me. 1 teacher to 3 students is a great ratio and we always get a spot when we need it. The class structure is really different than that of The National Circus school. The teacher here gives us a warm-up (different each class) then you work on stuff you want. If you really wanna progress you'll work hard during the class, try new things and ask for help or a spot when you try something new. On the other hand you can easily waste 3o minutes sitting around waiting to be taught something by the coach (which they won't unless you ask for help on something you have researched or seen and need specific help with) or just being lazy. Your progress really depends on how hard you work and I love that. In these past Two weeks I've learned roll-ups, kip-up to handstand, crocodiles, and meat hook twist to back flag. I am also working one arm lifts to flag, press to handstand, split balance without my hands, and some other things. I have already learned so much and I'm finally seeing the benefit of my OCD training style and my extreme work ethics.
The main concept of the school is self - motivation, preparation, research, artistic development, and discipline. They want you to do as much of everything by yourself as possible because if you can't do it here with the help they provide then after the school, when you're alone or in a small troupe, that's what it's going to be like. I love that concept and I think it's going to be a great year for me here.
2:25 - Handstands for forty minutes. The class is pretty basic and I'm not learning to much but it keeps me doing the basic warm-ups and two arm work that I should be doing. In class I mostly look for progress in technique and body alignment, press strength, and basic wrist endurance and development. And then at the end of class you work for about 15 minutes on an objective you want to achieve by evaluations. It's pretty basic but it's good because it's always useful to be able to ask a teacher or another student to look at your form in a certain position or movement which is really helpful and you learn things a lot faster than you would if you just worked alone all the time. I have my press down (straddle from the floor) any time I want and now I'm working on doing it in a pike position. I am also making great progress in my one arms (each side). I even got a demi-flag position (one arm) with My bad side for about 7-10 seconds. I'm really starting to focus on feeling where i am and the balance in every position instead of just trying to stick each position quickly. This approach takes longer but makes for better control, endurance, and an overall better look to your handstands ( I feel ).
at 3:15 -
I have Ariel Rope. Here is one my more difficult classes. I've been doing rope for the shortest amount of time compared to pretty much everything else I do and it's one of my majors. It's hard because I really don't know a lot about the variety of skills that can be performed so I am looking for things to work on. Right now I'm working on things I know and getting them perfect. I am also working rolling up the rope. Really hard to do but I'm close. I think it's important to have a wide variety of mounts (ways to climb up the rope) and that's one of the things i wanna focus on the first two-three months. I have also found a concept for an act. I was setting up and raising the rope to start some free training and one of the things i need to do is set up a red mat. There were a few people there kind of bored and waiting for their next class so to change things up a bit i decided to do a clown trip over the red mat and get caught in the rope. Then when i finally recovered from being tangled in the rope (a lot of people just laughing at this point), I had classic clown routine in my head and played it cool like a meant to get tangled in the rope then walked away and my foot got tangled in the rope and I fell again. Everyone thought it was funny and I started to look back at some different clown stuff we've done in the Amazing Grace circus and came up with this routine. I enter the stage frustrated. You know, when you frustrated and just one more thing would make you explode. Well my character is in this state then the whole trip on the mat/rope happens and that's it. look back at the rope and just as I'm about to unleash everything that's bottled up on the little rope, it grows to 30-40 feet tall (a rigger or someone will pull the rope up) and then i kind of say ummmm never mind, play it off like I'm fine, start to walk away then i turn and run at the rope. I don't know really what to do exactly from there but the concept is me vs. the rope. Each time I try to out strength or hurt the rope, It always seems to get the better of me even though it's just a rope and it doesn't move or anything. For example one gag in the act would be me kicking the rope over and over (i wrap one of my feet in the rope at this time) and then I get tired and decide to stop but my leg keep kicking uncontrollably. I try to tell it to stop when finally i just try to grab it with on hand and i fall into a painful split. Kind of what i have in my head right now (any ideas would be a great help). I want two acts for each discipline and for rope want a funny clown and a slow graceful strong routine. 3:15 - I have stretching
3:55
I have strength development
Tuesday - Acting (physical theatre work). No words, we all have to wear black, there are only two light in the whole room and we focus on expressing ourselves with our bodies. Handstands Aerial Rope Strength
Wednesday -
Classic dance / Straps/ Aerial Rope / Stretching
Thursday
Contemporary dance (love this class) / Handstands / Straps / Strength
Friday
Handstands /Straps / Rope /Strength / Stretching
We get 4 class for each discipline we do each week. about 3 hours a week (2h40m) Each morning I do my own cardio and then alternate stretching each day between upper and lower body. Then I work on 1 discipline for 1 hour ( monday - acro and handstand act choreography, tuesday - gymnastic rings, juggling, wednesday - handstands, rope number, thursday - rope, juggling, friday - acro, juggling).
I am also training Russian bar for an hour every morning. We are actually getting really good really fast. It's really natural for me and I have the perfect stability and strength that's required to base this number. I was even asked by three professionals how long i've been doing russian bar because they saw me and they want to know if am willing to be a substitute because one of their bases usually has gigs by himself. I said I would love to ad some time next week they want to see how i fit in with their style.
They want someone with hand to hand experience, strength, and good flexibility - I think I fit that criteria and it'd be cool to get that performing experience even if it's only once or twice this year. In Acro I'm learning to do everything on a hard floor and even learned a move called kick the moon. You run and kick one up in the air and the momentum of that kick takes you high and you do a gainer back flip (you go forward while rotating backwards). Really cool and was easy for me to learn. I'm really learning a lot about myself, technique, and many other things here and I love it.
If things keep going the way they are now and I keep progressing even a little bit each month I won't even audition for Montreal. I am really looking forward to what the next couple of months will bring me. These two weeks i've been going pretty hard but I'm gonna start going full pace (meaning perfect diet control to be lighter and stronger, pacing myself but still going to the limit each day). I am only going to train 5 days a week instead of the 6 days a week i was doing all last year and this past summer. Idea is to have a full two days of recover from mental and physical strain throughout the week.
I am also meeting a lot of "real" people. By real I mean people who are there to learn as much as they can because they love what they do. Learn everything to prove something to themselves, not like some people who do everything to be noticed by others and need to have that assertion from others to know they're good. I think a little competition, like rope climb speed, or who has the best splits or little stuff like that, is ok but to just be there to try to be better that someone isn't real. Everyone here loves to help everyone else as much as they can. I am also taking a trampoline class with a girl who really wants to help me learn and all she really wants in return is someone who can push a mat for her to land on when she tries new/hard/crazy tricks that she needs to practice. In short, It's great here so far.
I'm down to 177 lbs and startin to look pretty lean. It's hard to do all the barbell/crazy shit we planned out for cardio but i am doing a lot of kettlebell work (it's really helping me with my handstands, core stability I need more of, endurance, and overall power). How are things goin with you? How's the training? What's new?
Talk to you soon,Kenny"
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