variations to arrangements that will outrival a unit feat.”
Everyone just looked at me.
I sighed. “Never mind. Just trust I know what I’m doing.” Where was Chapling when I needed someone to understand me?
Bruiser pointed to the barn doors. “Let’s take it outside.”
Everyone filed out as I grabbed the video cam, tripod, and my laptop. I followed the group outside and behind the barn.
Bruiser had turned the side yard into an old fashioned training ground. There were a pile of mid-sized boulders off to the left. Between two trees about six feet from each other she’d tied thick rope—two strands up high and two down low. I studied the get up as I set the cam back up, trying to figure out exactly what those ropes would be used for.
Bruiser beckoned Red over with a nod of her head. “Flexibility is a key factor in conditioning your body for a fight. I expect you two,” she pointed to David and Mystic, “to do what I’m about to show you ten times a day.”
Mystic and David nodded their understanding.
95
Bruiser positioned herself between the trees and held her arms up and out to her sides.
Red tied her right wrist to a rope high up on one tree and her left wrist to the other tree, leaving her upper body sprawled and stretched.
He took her left ankle next, lifting it, pulling it, and tying it to the left tree. With the tiptoes of her right foot only, she stood supported.
“Ready?” Red asked her.
She
nodded.
Grasping her right ankle, he took it out from under her and stretched it over to the other tree, tying that leg off as well.
Sprawled to the max, her legs stretched and strained sideways to form a perfect split. I cringed as my own legs ached just watching her.
Bruiser smiled. “This, my friends, is awesome for flexibility. And obviously it takes a partner to tie you up. David and Mystic, you two are competing. Like I said, this is most certainly an exercise I want you to do every day. You’ll start off with five minutes and build your time from there. I, personally, love to hang for thirty or more minutes.”
Thirty or more minutes? Ug. That hurt just thinking about it.
“And no worries,” she continued. “The rope won’t take you any further than you’re ready for.”
With that, she nodded to Red. He adjusted the rope around the tree, and her body dropped, hyper extending her stretch by pulling her legs straight up to form a V.
Ow! That couldn’t be good for her body.
Bruiser nodded to Red again, and he loosened her ties one-by-one, letting her body drop back into a standing position.
96
Once free, she waved David and Mystic over. “David, you’re first.”
He stepped up between the trees, and she tied off his wrists first, showing Mystic how the ropes worked. She did David’s legs next, first his left, and then his right, leaving him stretched, dangling between the two trees, shaking, cringing, and sweating more and more by the second.
I almost closed my eyes. I couldn’t stand to watch him. He seemed like he was in so much pain. And he wasn’t even doing a split. In fact, he was fairly far away from accomplishing the split portion of the training.
“You’re doing great,” I felt compelled to tell him.
He barely nodded.
“Three minutes,” Bruiser informed him, adjusting the ropes so that he dropped slightly more into the split position.
Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply, working through the pain. It was a physical and mental strategy that TL had taught all of us.
Inhale through the nose.
Exhale through the mouth.
Inhale through the nose.
Exhale through the mouth.
Three minutes passed, and Bruiser showed Mystic how to release the ropes, softly dropping David back into a standing position. He stood for a few seconds, shaking his legs and arms, probably trying to get sensation back into them.
Mystic went next, doing phenomenally well. I didn’t know why it surprised me, really.
I’d seen him in all sorts of contortion, meditative positions. I guess
Everyone just looked at me.
I sighed. “Never mind. Just trust I know what I’m doing.” Where was Chapling when I needed someone to understand me?
Bruiser pointed to the barn doors. “Let’s take it outside.”
Everyone filed out as I grabbed the video cam, tripod, and my laptop. I followed the group outside and behind the barn.
Bruiser had turned the side yard into an old fashioned training ground. There were a pile of mid-sized boulders off to the left. Between two trees about six feet from each other she’d tied thick rope—two strands up high and two down low. I studied the get up as I set the cam back up, trying to figure out exactly what those ropes would be used for.
Bruiser beckoned Red over with a nod of her head. “Flexibility is a key factor in conditioning your body for a fight. I expect you two,” she pointed to David and Mystic, “to do what I’m about to show you ten times a day.”
Mystic and David nodded their understanding.
95
Bruiser positioned herself between the trees and held her arms up and out to her sides.
Red tied her right wrist to a rope high up on one tree and her left wrist to the other tree, leaving her upper body sprawled and stretched.
He took her left ankle next, lifting it, pulling it, and tying it to the left tree. With the tiptoes of her right foot only, she stood supported.
“Ready?” Red asked her.
She
nodded.
Grasping her right ankle, he took it out from under her and stretched it over to the other tree, tying that leg off as well.
Sprawled to the max, her legs stretched and strained sideways to form a perfect split. I cringed as my own legs ached just watching her.
Bruiser smiled. “This, my friends, is awesome for flexibility. And obviously it takes a partner to tie you up. David and Mystic, you two are competing. Like I said, this is most certainly an exercise I want you to do every day. You’ll start off with five minutes and build your time from there. I, personally, love to hang for thirty or more minutes.”
Thirty or more minutes? Ug. That hurt just thinking about it.
“And no worries,” she continued. “The rope won’t take you any further than you’re ready for.”
With that, she nodded to Red. He adjusted the rope around the tree, and her body dropped, hyper extending her stretch by pulling her legs straight up to form a V.
Ow! That couldn’t be good for her body.
Bruiser nodded to Red again, and he loosened her ties one-by-one, letting her body drop back into a standing position.
96
Once free, she waved David and Mystic over. “David, you’re first.”
He stepped up between the trees, and she tied off his wrists first, showing Mystic how the ropes worked. She did David’s legs next, first his left, and then his right, leaving him stretched, dangling between the two trees, shaking, cringing, and sweating more and more by the second.
I almost closed my eyes. I couldn’t stand to watch him. He seemed like he was in so much pain. And he wasn’t even doing a split. In fact, he was fairly far away from accomplishing the split portion of the training.
“You’re doing great,” I felt compelled to tell him.
He barely nodded.
“Three minutes,” Bruiser informed him, adjusting the ropes so that he dropped slightly more into the split position.
Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply, working through the pain. It was a physical and mental strategy that TL had taught all of us.
Inhale through the nose.
Exhale through the mouth.
Inhale through the nose.
Exhale through the mouth.
Three minutes passed, and Bruiser showed Mystic how to release the ropes, softly dropping David back into a standing position. He stood for a few seconds, shaking his legs and arms, probably trying to get sensation back into them.
Mystic went next, doing phenomenally well. I didn’t know why it surprised me, really.
I’d seen him in all sorts of contortion, meditative positions. I guess
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