Friday, March 02, 2012

It Ain't Over Til It's Over

Alizée Dufraisse: La Reina Mora 8c+/9a FFA from Prana Living on Vimeo


Today’s Psyche presents the definition of “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” This girl is gone. Outta there. Her body is convulsing, her elbows are chicken-winging and her ability to control the holds is shot. It seems unbelievable that her feet can stay on such small holds shaking the way they are. When you’re belaying someone who looks like this you’re well into catch mode. Yet she somehow finds a way to hang on, which is probably why she climbs harder than almost everyone. The fight she shows is some of the most impressive climbing I've ever seen.

You have to wade through a little bit of boring/envy-ness to get there (I want to spend 3 months in Spain) but, hey, it’s a Prana vid and if they’re going to produce stuff this cool you can cut em some slack for a little yoga promo. Plus, yoga is one of the best exercises for (insert almost anything here) so it might not even be staged. Yoga makes us better at physical stuff. Period.

Here’s a little background: Alizée is one of the new school of strong youngsters taking grades to a new level. This is one of the hardest ascents done by a female, which isn’t to say it’s a cake walk for the top men. In fact, a recent Psyche shows Dani Andrada, one of the world’s best, falling all over this same route.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

How do you like qigong compared to yoga?

Anonymous said...

3 months and one rainy day! I'm so jealous!!!!!

Steve Edwards said...

I don't know anything about qigong but having recently learned a lot more about tai chi I have say that nothing that promotes mindfulness, body awareness, breathing, and mobility is a waste of time. It's simple yet... not. Modern life has pulled us away from the habit of noticed how our bodies are supposed to work and these practices help restore that. That positives effects we gain are huge.