Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Reifkindos on Latissimus: a Hungarian Discourse

Thanks so much to Aniko Balazsik RKC for this unique and thoroughly interesting review of my Lats DVD!


REIFKINDOS ON LATISSIMUS

Discussion of Mark Reifkind’s DVD: Lats, the Super Muscles in the form of a Platonic Dialogue.

Participants: Reifkindos, Lakatos, Tracikos, Anikos.

Anikos:

I have to say very nice things about your speech, Reifkindos. A beautiful representation of how a thought develops to a monologue and then beautifully grows into a dialogue. Thou art a great orator.


Reifkindos:

Thank you, Anikos. I always try to do my best.


Anikos:

The most significant value of your presentation, apart from the importance of thy theme is your special kind of humour. I always believed that teaching anything must include a good sense of humour. Some people are genetically coded to make fun, like you are.


Tracikos:

What about the lat itself, Anikos? Do you agree with us it was worth a whole DVD?


Anikos:

Of course, Tracikos. Not only because that you spotlight on a certain muscle – actually the second largest one of the body- that functions in a so complicated manner, but the attitude, too. You do master drawing to your students’attention from the simplest movements to the absolutely complex ones. Also I like the analytical approach of how the using of the lat goes into and modifies movement, during training and everyday life, too.


Tracikos:

Have you found it useful for example, the demonstration of how the lats are included in the swing?


Anikos:

I have found it not only useful, but essential, Tracikos. For most people it is very difficult to even understand how and why they should swing with a flat back, because they live with a bent back. The way they store themselves in their poor bodies makes their spine resemble a letter „C” instead of the beautiful shape of letter „S” given to the spine by nature. What one can understand listening to Reifkindos is that the lat does have to be taught to function in order to be able to do a proper swing. One must learn how to create extension of the lumbar spine. Explanations are so comprehensible,I just love them. And also your short participation, Tracikos.


What I hear many times from people, who are not considered patients by the health industry, but are working on their own projects to be called so is that they simply state „I have a bad back” as if it was just something they have bought in a supermarket or somebody came upon and gave their body another shape. I also know people do consider a bent back a problem. What if we changed perspective a little bit and regard a bent back as a task instead of a hopeless given problem?


A person who lives a „seated life” teaches his body to forget about his lats for long hours every day. The result is that he can not make them work. The task is to teach it something better. One would think this process is long, tiring and difficult. Reifkindos’ creativity shortens the way to moments ! Brilliant ideas like squeezing the sponge, plank on elbows, then going to exercises like the swing or squat with safe performance. Safe performance given, comes power.

Reifkindos:

:-)


Anikos:

Also, on the press you were brilliant. As I experience, it is hard to make people understand where to put concentration, how to find the rack position, how to increase safety while enhancing perfomance, the proper pull-down, create force into the movement, pack shoulders and breathe without making them feel they are a part of information overload tsunami. You really master how to put practice and troubleshooting in sequence without making the students confused and at the same time get immediate feedback in their techniques.


Lakatos: Good maneuvers to achieve when you are pointing to the moon, they would not stare at your finger, Reifkindos.


Anikos: Exactly. It is not just what you say and explain is a pioneer work, but also the way you do it. I must say thanks for following this out.

4 comments:

Tracy Reifkind said...

Is it any wonder why we like the Hungarians so much?

Thank you Aniko!

Mark Reifkind said...

they rock. can't wait to go back to Hungary!

Bill said...

Wow, I was going to tell you how much I enjoyed and how valuable I found "Lats", but that kind of pales next to "Thou art a great orator". Nice job on the DVD!

Mark Reifkind said...

william

your comment means a lot to me as well.thank you and glad you enjoyed the dvd

195 x 1 x 11 , 20 kg swings 5 x 8/8, floor pushups 35, 25

  Not great sleep and a bit sore ( no aspirin for last three days) so all in all it was a strong day . Just definitely not 'fresh'  ...