Does practice make perfect?

A primary nature

Natural movement is generally seen as “second nature”.  If you understand “second nature” as something which is very natural for you to do, then yes, it is second nature to all human beings.  Natural movement comes naturally to all of us.  At least, it normally should.  Maybe, it used to be that way years ago, when you were still young and had plenty of time to get out there and have fun.

It is enough to look at young children of any gender, anywhere in the world, in every culture, exploring their natural capacities to understand that these movement capacities are  innate, and that precisely because it is instinctual that the drive to move naturally is irrepressible in them.

Young humans don’t have a preconceived notion of how they should move, and even less about how they should exercise, they simply spontaneously move how human animals move to thrive, or at least to stay alive in nature. They do it this way because it is their nature, not their culture. They do it the same way everywhere because, contrary to culture, education and beliefs, it is a universal common point that stems from evolution and biology.

In fact, in this sense, natural movement is not even “second nature”: it is our primary nature.  All human beings share it and it is the beauty of it.  It has the potential to bring people together.

Second nature is acquired

Another interpretation of “second nature” is “an acquired behavior or trait that is so long practiced as to seem innate.”

If it is a fact that natural movement comes naturally to all of us, is it though enough to get out there in the woods and train to become skilled and leave behind years of physical disuse and misuse to naturally become a strong, deft and agile human animal?

The central question here is, does practice makes perfect?

The answer is, not necessarily, and the truth is, practice alone does not make perfect. Only good practice makes better.

Natural movement is innate.  Optimum natural movement, i.e optimally efficient natural movement is not. Optimum skills are acquired.  It is second nature to us in the sense that we must learn and mindfully practice to improve.  There are principles, techniques and methods involved.
Unless you know what is good practice and movement efficiency, you are likely to not practice as efficiently as you could, or should, and maybe to practice quite inefficiently.

Personal journey or supervised coaching?

Insider of a book by Amoros, preceding Hebert's Methode Naturelle

What you don’t learn intuitively on your own but through structured coaching, it is still natural?  That is the eternal argument between the innate and the acquired.

It is important to differentiate what you train for and how you get there. A coaching system, or if you will, an education program or training method is indeed not something natural you could find in nature like you could pick up a fruit on a tree. It is actually designed by humans with a purpose.

The purpose of MovNat is to enable modern humans living a sedentary civilized lifestyle to develop, maintain or restore the full range of their natural movement capacities in a more effective manner, i.e. in a faster and safer way than random trial and error, and to provide the philosophy that inspires them to reconnect to their true nature and Nature itself.

Humans are very special animals and it is quite an evolutionary thing in them to learn from others, not only thanks to visual learning but as importantly through verbal communication that only can convey conceptual understanding.  It is rather isolating yourself from others and the potential knowledge you can acquire from them that is rather an unusual behavior to human beings.

So that someone decides to learn on their own through a process of trial and error that can be long and risky, or thanks to an intelligent coaching system that makes everything much faster, safer but also more comprehensive is just a matter of personal choice. Either way it doesn’t make the skills acquired more or less natural. It only changes how fast and safely you get there.

Lucky ones

I used to think differently, but my observation led me to understand that, as a matter of fact, only a few individuals that are naturally talented individuals can manage to achieve great skills and efficiency exclusively on their own without any sort of guidance.  If you are one of them, you are a lucky one.  But not everyone is naturally gifted.  Not everyone is still young enough to be buzzing with raw energy.  Not everyone has lot of free time.  Not everyone can afford the risk of getting injured.  Not everyone will become comprehensively skilled and knowledgeable that way and such individuals will always be a minority. Personally, the way I have learned is a blend of training under the supervision of competent people and solo practice. It has been a personal journey, but certainly not an exclusively solitary journey. The best is to learn from knowledgeable people so you can go on improving on your own through mindful self-application. I keep learning with people that know better than me. I keep learning on my own. Knowledge is never a state, it is a process. It is always expandable.

For the rest of the population and especially the most affected by the “Zoo human syndrome”, a fully solitary and exploratory approach is not only not realistic,  but might also lead to discouragement, struggling inefficiency and injury, when not simply preventing from even getting started because it would be way too intimidating.  Guidance, when not assistance, is highly in demand here.

The zoo doesn’t help

A large majority of people might face a series of obstacles on their way to make their natural movement rehabilitation a personal journey.  These obstacles are numerous and discourage many natural athletes wannabes.

Among these obstacles, we find lack of time, which is the most widely spread cause of lack of physical activity.  It does not mean that people have no time at all.  Indeed, people that are really motivated will always find a way rather than a justification.  Still, when it comes to natural movement and given the breadth and extent of the skills involved, you need lots of time and to practice mindfully to make real progress, or you need to practice very intelligently in order to optimize the little time serviceable you have and then maximize your progress …which requires either knowledge or guidance.

Another obstacle is lack of consistent motivation. When you’re a zoo human, you are very inclined to self-indulgence, and improvement in natural movement just like in any other discipline demands a committed regularity.  There are many other more comfortable and entertaining activities that might draw and monopolize your attention.  After all, why run, why jump, why climb and carry?  Why feel the burn in your lungs and muscles, why undergo the heat and the cold and sometimes the fear?  To the zoo human, the call of the safe indoors and the call of the couch are usually much more powerful than the call of nature and the call of dedication and effort.

Couch what?

I believe I can fly...

Then, lack of realism.  Some want to do too much too soon.  I call them “natural movement jackasses”.  They dream of becoming the improbable heroes they look up to in blockbuster movies and they want it now.  Those never last because reality doesn’t cheat and heavily sanctions those who don’t connect quite well to it.

Body intelligence improves if you know how

Among others, these obstacles mentioned above can greatly impair your potential for progress.  Together with the very satisfaction, I would even say the instant gratification that must be found in the practice of natural movement, making progress is one of the most powerful stimulation and source of motivation!

But the greatest obstacle to real progress is lack of knowledge.  Again, not that you need to learn how to run, jump, climb etc…totally from scratch, but that you might need knowledge in order to run, jump, climb, lift etc…with optimal efficiency.  There is also more than technique, it is programming.  Guess work will never bring as many benefits as a smart and varied blend of pattern and randomness.  Purposeful and knowledgeable method makes wonders.

A hidden obstacle

That great obstacle that is lack of technique, which most people are unaware of when it comes to what is seen as “second nature”, is not this time a matter of “disuse” or lack of practice, but a matter of “misuse” or inadequate practice.

Misuse is the most commonly hidden obstacle to real progress.  It is practicing inefficiently and not even being conscious of it.  Worse, it is believing that you’re doing well when you’re not.  It is thinking that what came “naturally” to you is automatically good.  As a matter of fact, just because you are used to a given way to perform is in no way a proof of efficiency.

Again, “naturally wrong” exists.  Again, only knowledge will allow you to make a difference between naturally bad and “optimally natural”.

Adaptation vs convention

Traditional convention

Optimum natural movement is not about “perfect form” or “harmony” based on conventions or traditions but on the mindful use of universal principles that dictate movement efficiency.  It is about constantly adaptive form to your direct environment and the situation at stake, and that form must works in a tangible manner that is practical and adaptive.

When you practice natural movement, you face reality.  You face real-world context.  You must have adaptive capability.

Neural pathway

Neural memory

You may repeat the same movement pattern over and over, if that pattern is wrong, it is not at all progress that you will make, as you will imprint in your neuromuscular system and memory a bad form that will become automatic.  Actually, the more you will rehearse inefficient movement patterns the deeper you will imprint them in your neural pathway, not aware that you are far away from performing as well as you could for the same amount of energy expenditure and not knowing that inefficient patterns that do not respect your bio-mechanics will sooner or later lead you to injury. Sooner most of the time!

Automaticity is great as long as we’re talking about efficiency become automatic and not injury-prone inefficiency become automatic.

Ouch...

There is another big issue that you will face while rehearsing inefficient patterns and imprinting them in your memory, which is the difficulty to unlearn what you’ve learned.  The deeper ingrained a physical habit, the more difficult to change.  Sometimes, the bigger problem you will have to deal with is your own pride, as you may find hard to reckon that you have been wrong until now, and that what you thought was good ability was in fact being accustomed to struggling performance.

My encouragement is twofold

I encourage you to go out there in nature and experience your true nature through natural movement exploration! If you are mindful you might make significant progress, all naturally. If all you want is to feel good and free and if you are cautious and don’t push yourself too hard, you don’t necessarily need guidance.

There is so much you can learn or rediscover on your own! But there is also only so much you can learn on your own.

If your intention is to go further than pure playful exploration and your expectation higher than feeling good in nature, but to seriously commit to expand your natural movement skills, increase your efficiency while learning how to prevent injury, then I strongly advise that you seek for competent instruction.

Remember, only good practice leads to real and lasting improvement.  If you want to learn optimum natural movement you may want to consider getting the necessary teaching and guidance that will set you directly on the right track. This move will as well save you a great deal of time and energy and spare you injuries.

Explore your true nature!

Erwan Le Corre

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