Friday, May 10, 2013

The Path Taken


This is my story. The events of this story are true. You may not agree with where I am coming from, but you cannot take away my experiences nor the path I am traveling on. Read this with an open mind and know. Also know that no superheroes were injured in the events of this story. They were, however, made.

In the last week I was introduced to two articles in the media about crawling. Perhaps these articles were seeking me, I don't know. One article was about a tribe that did not walk on two feet. Their entire lives were spent on all fours; they bear crawled everywhere they went. The other article was about a tribe where the children skipped crawling, they simply bypassed that developmental movement pattern. In this article, the writers were eluding to crawling not being necessary for "normal" child development. 

Both articles were interesting. And "scientist" can speculate and theorize all they want about these two outliers, but in the end, that is all they are: Outliers and distractions. Here is the deal: You were made to crawl. Crawling is a gift. It builds you. It builds your brain. It builds your body. It ties everything about you together. It helps develop you cognitively and emotionally. It helps to make you strong - in every sense of the word strong.

Here is what I know: About 3 1/2 years ago, God turned me on to crawling for making a resilient body. I wanted to be Superman... Anyway, Becoming Bulletproof was eventually born. Today, crawling is the rave! It is in every "movement" discipline; old ones and new ones. Everyone is talking about it. They talk about it, they theorize, they speculate. Some actually do it. Like I said, crawling is now everywhere. 

As I said above, crawling is a gift. You were made to crawl - so much so that it can actually restore your body's reflexive strength and mobility no matter what age you are, or stage in life that you are in. 

Last night as I was thinking about these two articles and all the discussion around them and crawling in general, I started thinking, "But, they don't know what I know." 

Now hold on, this gets deep. I've been crawling for a long time now. I know crawling. I can Spider-man crawl further than Spider-man, himself. Crawling is not some theory to me. It is FACT. It is - leads up to - strength. 

In my thoughts about crawling, last night, I decided I would prove what I know. I decided to Spider-man crawl, NOT BEAR CRAWL, one mile. One mile. I knew I could do this. 

(Here is where it gets deep, by the way.) I can crawl one mile - like Spider-man. But not by my own strength. I am smart enough to know that God gave me crawling, and through crawling, I have built a resilient and strong body. But I also know that God is my ultimate source of strength. To crawl one mile, I would need to rely on more than my own strength. I would need God. 

So, the decision was made to crawl one mile. I started thinking about how long it takes me to crawl one quarter of a mile (about 15 minutes) and doubt started to creep into my head, "Am I strong enough to do this?" The answer is no, not on my own. 

I opened up my bible to Isaiah 40: 31

"But those who wait on The Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up
with wings as eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not 
faint."   

Then, on the next chapter, this caught my eye: Isaiah 41:10

"Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." 

Wow. I'm was going to crawl one mile. It is already done, I just had not done it yet. 

To really drive this home, when I woke this morning, my daily bible verse app said this:

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Phillipians 4:13 

Do you think this was a coincidence? No. I don't. 

This morning, I crawled one mile, like Spider-man (butt down low, back level) in 49 minutes and 10 seconds. I never stopped. I never rested. My knee never touched the ground. The last 1/8 of a mile, I literally felt carried by the hand of God. I can do all things....

Why did I tell you all of this stuff about crawling and God? Because this is my story. To tell you less of the events would be to hide the truth. 

Also, there are two points to my story. One point is by far larger than the other - and you may not agree with it, and that is okay. God is the source of true strength. There was a lot more involved than just the strength my body trying to crawl for a mile. 

The lesser point is this: I know crawling. I understand it. I experience it, in some ways like no one else. I don't just think about it. Crawling makes you stronger. It makes you resilient. It sets your posture and your gait patterns. It coordinates your limbs, your brain, your everything. It can make you smarter. It teaches you: It can teach you so much about your body and what you are capable of doing. It can even help you become a superhero.

I crawled a mile today. Granted, it was not on my own strength. But, I am strong. I am tied together very well. Crawling was the gift, the tool, that tied me together. It is also the tool that has enabled me to move so well, so powerfully, so gracefully. I feel better at 38 years old than I did at 22 years old. I feel like Superman.
Regardless of whether or not you like my story. I know crawling. I know it can help you become the superhero you were meant to be. There is no debate. This is not theory.

If I did't lose you several paragraphs above, Thank you for reading.

  

11 comments:

Physical Influence said...

Thanks Tim, I could not agree more. A nice read.

Joshua Hughes said...

Thank you brother for sharing this.

Unknown said...

Tim,
Your post is VERY POWERFUL! I am trying to live my life, not on my strength, but on the strength of God. It is a constant struggle but I will keep persevering.
Thanks Tim,
John

Unknown said...

Thank you, everyone! I really, really appreciate you reading my blog. I do hope it helps.

Thanks again,
Tim

Trevor Trebbien said...

Your blessed Tim. Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

Tim, great read! That's an awesome feat to crawl a mile. Most people would struggle doing 50 yds continuously. I was wondering if you could post a video of yourself performing the Spider-Man crawl, so I could compare my form to yours? Thanks Jim

Unknown said...

Jim,

Thanks, buddy. Here is a video I have on Youtube. I crawl and crawled just like this:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=zUhCs8pZqus

Unknown said...

Hey Tim,

I am in my early 30s, have been relatively injury-free so far in my life, and think I move ok even though I have never been more than athletically average as a kid.

I came across your ideas this winter, and have been practicing my resets based on the descriptions in BB and Pressing Reset.

I started out with the spider-man crawl almost from the outset, and thought it felt pretty good. But then I read an update from Geoff saying that he was doing the regression of leopard crawling for two years before moving up to the spider-man crawl. This made me a bit hesitant if I approached the spider-man too soon, maybe it is not so easy after all?

Afer this, I have tried to learn more about the correct form. I have watched the two clips on your youtube channel which feature spider-man crawling - one from the side, and one from behind - and this was helpful.

However, I still have this question for you: are there any easy cues or quick pointers you could share, to help me identify if my form is good enough for the spider-man crawl, or if I would be better off with the leopard crawl?

My apologies for the long comment.

Best regards

Jonas, Sweden

Unknown said...

Jonas,

Thank you for the post. You may be doing the spider-man crawl perfectly. If your pelvis is staying somewhat level, you are probably good. If your pelvis ends up turning 70 to 90 degrees every time you take a step, you may need to do leopard crawls. Some people are tied together well enough that they do not need to do leopard crawls as a regression.

As you said, you have been athletic your whole life. I am betting your spider-man crawl is pretty good. My biggest tip for you is to actually imagine that you are Spider-man and move gracefully as he would.

Thanks again for writing. I hope this helps.

Tim

Unknown said...

Thanks for a quick and clear reply Tim, I really appreciate it! I will continue with my crawls then, with renewed motivation.

Keep up the good work,

Jonas

Mike C said...

Awesome post Tim. Great stuff. GOD BLESS! Please keep up the great work...