Years ago, one of my best friends and I were playing squash and something bad happened.
I spun around to reach for a ball and in an instant, it felt like my back became disconnected from the rest of my body. I immediately fell over while groan-yelling.
I later learned that my back had not in fact become disconnected from my body, instead, I had overextended my quadratus lumborum (QL)—a muscle that helps with sitting, bending, and walking. For a few days, all three hurt.
That injury has not happened since that fateful squash point, but I have felt tremors of it. My body has learned what it feels like, and has somehow developed an early-warning system to help me avoid that particular agony.
**
I don’t climb rocks, but the other day I found myself watching a coaching video for rock climbers.
Early in the video, the Coach (Louis Parkinson) is helping a student named Maggie to navigate a route that she hasn’t yet conquered. Maggie tries it on her own first and falters at a particular step. The step requires her to commit to a move that she is not particularly confident making, yet.
Louis tries it himself and figures out exactly what needs to be done. He then says to Maggie, “First thing I’d recommend you do, is just climb up and feel what that next position is like...” (emphasis is mine).
After allowing her body to internalize what it feels like to commit to the move that alluded her moments before, Maggie makes her second attempt on the route.
It was successful.
**
Josh Waitzkin reached virtuosity is two disciplines. First chess, then the martial art of Tai chi chuan.
He is currently attempting a third: foiling. A very specific kind of surfing.
During an interview on the Tim Ferriss show, Josh explained his unique approach to learning this art.
He said that he is using “a version of himself 20 years from now” as a guide. When Tim asked what he meant by this, Josh said the following (again, emphasis is mine):
“...I know myself decades into arts, I know myself decades into chess, and into the martial arts. So I have a feeling for what I am like when I’m in the realm of virtuosity within an art. So in a sense, that person is like that’s a beacon that I’m moving toward, right? And I’m nowhere near that realm as a surfer and a foiler, but I’ve been there.”
He’s been there. He knows what it feels like.
**
Whether we’re chasing or avoiding something, it’s useful to know what it feels like.
