Hi everyone, my name is Ryan. (Everyone: 'Hi Ryan') I'm a train-o-holic. (Everyone applauds)
I spent the entire day a couple days ago in a weird, creaky haze. I couldn't get out of bed until noon and after I did, I couldn't be bothered to do anything but eat leftovers from the fridge and sit in front of the computer for the better part of the day. Sounds like a hangover, right? It's kind of like that. I was just totally exhausted. Overtraining is actually a lot like binge drinking.
Circus School
Originally found at CircusNews.com this documentary from Shanghai Circus School follows the training of a flying act (specifically, a copy of the Moranbong flying act) and a handbalancer - with 9 and 8 year olds.
I bet these kids don't even understand the caliber of the tricks they're doing - at a fraction of the age of the majority of professional performers.
I'm familiar with a toned-down version of the infamous Chinese discipline. It's rough, it's cold and it's emotionally overwhelming - but it works.
Risk is what makes performance admirable, entertaining and compelling. Any performer places themself in the lion's den the moment they step on stage.
Circus is special because of the absolutely absurd amount of risk that any given act involves. With seven objects in the air, the audience is absolutely terrified that one will fall. As the wire walker teeters 30 feet in the air, the audience clenches their knuckles white at the possibility that he might plummet to his fate.
...And these things happen. But as the age-old saying goes: the show must go on.
This video shows some absolutely harrowing spills. In a venue like Monte Carlo, performers are expected to show their very best, even if it doesn't go according to plan. That's why I love this - each performer recovers, does the trick again, and nails it. Even if they have to do it twice.
I was showing this to a friend and he asked me if it made me think about what I do. I thought about it for a moment, and then replied it doesn't make the think about what I do so much as how I do it. Only by endless repetition and total concentration are these feats possible. If I stopped to worry about how dangerous a trick was while I was doing it, I'd already be well on my way to an injury or even worse.