(selected jottings from Royn's windsurfing journal)
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Windsurfers are a dreamy group and imagine all windsurfing sites are actually at a beach. To most of the sane world the mental image of a beach usually involves a shore with some sand. But not windsurfers! When a windsurfer says 'at-the-beach' they really mean any place where they can get into the water. This may be a rocky river edge, a reservoir high in the mountains, or a dock in a harbor. |
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Every day I windsurf I try to learn something new, anything, something I did not know before. Perhaps a new move, a variation of a move, or I will simply change my hand positions in a move. |
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If there is only 15 minutes of sailing then I am 15 minutes closer to a new maneuver. |
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Sometimes, when I am trying a new move, I will charge the move and scream like a warrior in battle. It seems to call up some primal instinct in me or, maybe I am just a little crazy. Give this a try. Being a "Nutso" goes a long way. |
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If you have asked five or more people about a move then you have enough information. Just go out and try it! |
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A great deal of windsurfing is initiated by the stomach. The stomach is the center of connection between the board and sail via you arms and legs. |
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Do not underestimate the power of visualization. |
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Windsurfing is often a form of moving meditation for me. My mind becomes empty. I am truly present. A place where my ego has died and time has been forgotten. After sessions like these I feel very spiritual. |
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I believe every maneuver has a certain and unique feeling that fuses the entire move into a single and repeatable experience. This is the act of discovery in windsurfing. Discovering that feeling opens the door to the move and enriches your experience of windsurfing. This feeling is an epiphany of sort and greatly simplifies the move to a feeling rather than the sum of a bunch of steps. This is the I GOT IT feeling; one of release and joy. |
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There are as many methods to learning as there are varieties of people. You can break a move down into parts and master each part with the hope of seamlessly connecting each part. You can watch videos and try to simulate the video in your head as you windsurf. You can follow a friend and mimic what they do (the buddy system). You can video tape yourself and deconstruct what you see. You can hammer yourself in the water, eventually forcing your body out sheer exhaustion, to learn the move. You can ask for feedback on the beech. |
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Try it all! Mix it up! Become your own problem solver. The process is as much fun as the results. In the end,it is all about the process and the person we are becoming. Windsurfing is a great metaphor for life. |
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You're obsessed and frustrated. You have been trying the same thing over and over again with no progress. You might even do a little internal cussing. Worse yet, you're having a bad hair day and are cussing out loud. Now you're angry and everyone on the water really irritates you. I am ashamed to say that I have been there and done that. Hey, windsurfing is about fun, right? If the equation is not working then change the equation. Get out of the water. Get out of your head and stop being so self-obsessed. Talk some story on the beech. Video tape a friend. Help someone on their move. Introduce yourself to someone new on the beech. Give up the ball dude. |
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Sometimes our real friends tell us things we don't like to hear -- like 'Hey Royn, loosen up.' |
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Peer pressure from your friends can be fun and help you overcome the wimp factor in windsurfing. The over inflated ego can not take failure easily and harassing comments from our friends sometimes makes us do things we can not do on our own. |
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What we think we are doing and what we are actually doing, do not always match up in reality. So if you do the same thing over and over again and expect different results, then you are heading down the road of insanity. |
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Watch out for Wind Snakes! I find them everywhere I windsurf. They are at the beach, on the water, at the bars, and in the cars. A sneaky and clever species often in disguise and waiting in the weeds. They can be shape-shifters, cloaked as your friend, a buddy, and interested student. They have a forked tongues and will ask you questions but secretly criticize your windsurfing when you are not around. Your struggling days will be highlighted as well as your weaknesses. Your accomplishments and skills will be ignored and miminmized. They have a secret and scheming purpose and that is to destroy you, eat you, and claim victory. Wind Snakes may be hard to recognize, but when found, take action. Protect yourself but with love and understanding that under the skin of every Wind Snake is a trapped adolescent, fearful and tormented. |
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One method of getting your body to do something new is to exaggerate whatever you're doing |
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Don't worry about looking stupid, or falling, or messing up, or taking for ever to learn a move, or laughing, or smiling, or being lazy, or being weird, or trying something different, or having old equipment, or doing things the wrong way. It is all about having fun. As long as you are out of the way and safe and not hurting anyone. Who cares! It is your cloud! |
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If the equation does not work then change the equation. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So, if you're stuck in repetition and going no where then be more radical in your method. |
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Variety is so delicious. One learning methodology is to enter a different persona inside yourself so you can approach the problem from a fresh perspective. Yes, schizophrenia has a place. Sometimes this is called wearing a different hat. For example, you could wear the scientist hat -- I know it is in you. Go to the beech with notepads, a tape recorder, books, a video camera, etc... Break the move down, draw diagrams, interview people, record video, write up detailed logs with goals and accomplishments. You go Einstein! |
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I am guessing most new moves are probably unplanned...the key is to tap into the zone and start having some fun.. playing... trying... experimenting... when your in the moment... you surprise yourself... the buried artist in you comes alive..like a transclucent angel of your soul... that surrounds with an aura of freedom... this spiritiual side of you can only appear when the gates are open.. when the analytical/critical/egotistical is muted ... and that joyous and giggling etheral child plays... Your New moves are either invented by the child or the warrior. Both are worthy archetypes of ourselves. |
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There are basically two moves for every one. A maneuver on Starboard does not mean a maneuver on both Starboard and Port. One has only truly mastered a maneuver when it has been accomplished on both tacks. For example, when I visited Australia my port side wave sailing was non existent. I had to start all over again but with the confidence and experience of the Starboard side. This was great re-wiring of my brain. I really had to learn many skills on the other side. I clearly favored Starboard even on moves I knew on both tacks. |
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Sooner or later we all hit a wall while learning a maneuver.
So we make adjustments to be free of the bad habit.
Sometimes we exchange one bad habit for another as the lesser of two
evils because the later will be easier for us to change and achieve the desired result.
It is all kind of a puzzle really. |