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Pilou Bazin
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« Reply #7 on: Today at 05:42:26 AM » |
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Ah! I finally found my notes and some free time, so here's my take on Georges Hébert's Quadrupédie.
First, QM encompasses anything that has to do with using all four limbs together. Think QM walk, yes, but also plank, push-ups, crouching, falling on your hands, crawling, handstands, rolling, etc, etc. Lots of different sub-topics, and as always Hébert goes through every different skill and lays down every possible way to do it. Example: the basic push-up can be done forward (the usual way), backward (facing up, kind of like arm dips), or sideways (starting on side plankand lowering yourself, bringing the extra hand down as a support at the end of the way). Very systematic variations, some probably better than others, but always trying to do everything in all the possible ways.
Second, he insists through the book that circus clowns are probably the most accomplished type of athletes, as tumbling in apparent randomness requires acrobatic strength, agility, and adaptability. He sees hand springs (jumping from your feet to your hands and then to your feet again while progressing forward or backward) as the dividing line between simple QM and acrobatic QM, which he regards as the highest discipline of physical athletism.
Then there's billions of exercises and progressions on the theme; I'll list here in random order the ones I noted. As a warning, a lot of the stuff here can be very advanced, be very careful when you try them and follow a slow progression.
- static positions (planks, crouching, standing): how to go from one to the other, moving the hands or the feet, facing forward, backward or sideways.
- QM walking and running: forward, backward and sideways. Changing pace from slow to fast to slow, switching styles, making long paces, turning around, adding sudden stops in plank. Note there is a slightly different variant of our QMs: keeping the hips higher, back leg almost straight. This is supposed to be easier for long walks.
- QM jumps: start with a progression from crouching and back, then add a jump to it. Jump in all directions, adding spins,etc. Pretty hard...
- crawling: there's an entire piece on crawling or snaking, using your hands and feet or just your core and back muscles (yes, like a snake)
- falling: again, progress slowly. Start bending down to get into a plank, then slowly increase the distance. Going backward or sideways, it is recommended to spin in order to land on both hands facing forward. There is only so much strength we can build on our arms.
- "piqué": anything where the feet leave the ground before the hands touch. "Piqué" cartwheel, handstand, etc
That's pretty much it. There's a lot of work to be done in these few exercises, though! I have barely scratched the surface for most of these, and it already changed a lot of my conditioning. Enjoy!
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