Over 20 years ago, when I told one of my mentors about my Dao Zou walking practice, he advised me as follows:
“Find a space in your home where you have at least ten feet of clear space. Then walk so slowly that it takes you a half-hour to cover the distance.”
Dao Zou is Chinese for training in reverse. Going backwards.
The idea is that you go forward in life and reboot your health, your brain and much more by doing things the “wrong way.”
We’re taught to always move forward in life and to haul ass. And this is a good idea – until you hit the wall and need to reverse your thinking.
More often than we care to consider, our best ideas and biggest breakthroughs come when we do an about-face and take our time.
When you shift into reverse before hitting the wall.
Now, most modern day people will quickly claim that going slowly, forward or backwards, means you’re lazy, unproductive and useless. In the business world, they may have a case.
But when it comes to health, fitness, sports and martial arts, anyone who isn’t practicing slowly, anyone who insists on doing everything fast all the time, is missing a ton of valuable information that is readily available, if you slowed down long enough to “smell the roses.”
Slowliness is wholiness.
All for now…
Matt Furey
Links to the sloooow stuff:
