Human Crossbow
Dave Wardman [*] the human crossbow [ base ingredient ] I remember receiving a message from a very excited [K] about a ‘fantastic new pec stretch’, whilst he was overseas [japan?] teaching workshops. The stretch was, of course, the stretch that would go on to become known as ‘the human crossbow‘ [or ‘the crossbow’]. There is […]
The Shoulder Anchor
Dave Wardman [*] the shoulder anchor [a.k.a ‘shoulder push-down’, artist formerly known as ‘shoulder depression’] [base ingredient] Let us turn our attention, on this here Day of the Moon, to a real ‘crowd pleaser’ of a stretch.. at least in its basic form. The ‘shoulder push-down’; performed with one partner assisting from behind with two hands […]
Memetic Cadavery
Dave Wardman [*] memetic cadavery I Recently I shared a meme to this group entitled ’20-something year old thiiinkers’. Now the attention-wave hath passed, I shall dissect it in terms of a ‘commentary on the disenchantment features’ it is poking fun at. On the other side of the earth it is still the […]
Terrestial Nostos
Dave Wardman * ‘nostos’ is a Greek term connected to the Odyssey that means ‘homecoming’/’returning home via sea after long adventures’ but that carries with it an idea of spiritual homecoming.. perhaps even coming back to the beginning on a different level that when one left. [*] terrestrial nostos After terrestrial nostos [νόστος]* I […]
A Culinary Metaphor (Describing Physical Alchemy)
Dave Wardman People keep asking me: what is Physical Alchemy? How does it differ from other physical methods? How is it similar? Are you just re-badging known methods with new terminology?! ‘Just what do you think you’re doing, Dave?‘ Up until this point I have usually opted to answer this question in reverse: […]
Neurobation
Dave Wardman Neurobation: the tedious and unnecessary use of brain science terminology when every day words will suffice. It’s a thang. Caste your gaze around social media and you will not doubt its increased prevalence. It has strongly entered the physical work sphere. It has even proceeded into the C2rberus and C1rberus segmentation of the […]
Qu3stions
Dave Wardman [*] ‘questions’, qu3stions, questions [Day 12 of 60] This video we take a dive into the ‘questioning of questions’. Meta, I know – but that is where I reside. Between the seeming binary of: dictatorial ‘no questioning’ and free-for-all clusterfuckery, is a third way. The mindshape filter allows us to look into what makes […]
The Dissonant Whispers
Dave Wardman [*] the dissonant whispers This triangle [in link above until I can figure out how to resize it for Dreamwidth] is of course the inner triadic nucleus of an enneagram concerning the life-cycle of the Physical Alchemy Facebook group.* Dissonance is the 3-point. Education the 6-point. Inspiration the 9-point. I am telling you […]
General Preparatory Studies
Dave Wardman I had three quotes in mind for this piece but have only found two of them. Not to matter, as this will be a topic that I will return to a number of times and add depth to. It is something I have an ongoing curiosity with. The basic premise is something along […]
The Body Alchemical (the Yoga Post)
Dave Wardman ‘In contemporary yoga practices we often jump into the third limb, of āsana, and end up with a fragmented and imbalanced yoga practice, because it has no roots. The rooting of a practice occurs when one starts at the beginning with the ethical codes that Patañjali outlines as the stepping-stones to further […]
Circle, Triangle, Square
Dave Wardman
Amnesia of the Felt Senses
Dave Wardman There is many times more information available on stretching than when I began studying and practicing it. There are many aspects to this – auspicious, suspicious and inauspicious. Much of the research and debate focuses on the efficacy (or lack thereof) of its use in improving range of movement and its therapeutic […]
Opening up the Front
Dave Wardman [*] Bridging [a.k.a Backbending] Bridging is found in many different physical culture disciplines: from the backbends of yoga; to the wrestler’s bridge; its use in feats of strength in circus performances; to its more dynamic and mobile expressions in capoeira or demonic possession. The posture itself can and should be viewed as […]
Re-Badging Vs. Art Creation
Dave Wardman I remember sitting near the hearth in [K] and OP’s old house in Canberra, when a phenomena almost identical to the one described in the post below was occurring. Even to the point of this other person creating a name that was fabricated and had no history. Having seen this episode play […]
Language of the New Alchemy
Dave Wardman ‘[…] It is very difficult, almost impossible for [hu]men of different categories and of different modes of perception to understand one another, because they call one and the same thing by different names, and they call different things by the same name.’ [G] It has become increasingly clear in the course of […]
‘Woke’ vs Awake
Dave Wardman By ‘Awareness Work’ I do not mean sensory awareness of the bodies internal structures; or awareness associated with movement (spatial awareness for instance) and coordination. These are located within the ‘Physical Work’ leg of the tripod within Physical Alchemy. We do want to train these things too. Awareness Work is the work […]
There’s an Alchemist in All of Us
Dave Wardman Physical Alchemy is an system of transmutation of the physical body and growth of the human being. It concerns itself with researching, developing and disseminating potent methods of physical body transformation alongside practicing and studying methods that provoke moksha [ मोक्ष ](Awakening). It is an exploratory method that educates the practitioner seeking self-knowledge related to […]
Creative Differences
Dave Wardman [*] expand, contract ‘Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.’ [F, Nietzsche] The craft known as Physical Alchemy is returning to being myself as the sole teacher. […]
Neo-Guild Structure for the 21st Century
Dave Wardman [*] Historical perspectives One of the long term projects happening behind the scenes at Physical Alchemy involves changes to the architecture behind the method and rekindling of the idea of a Guild as a central hub for education. In medieval cities people gathered together in guilds based on their crafts. These […]
Meetings With an Auspicious Man
Frederick Beck, co-conspirator of Dave Wardman Glimpses from an apprenticeship in Physical Alchemy This is an idiosyncratic tale concerning my strange apprenticeship with [DW] in Physical Alchemy. By necessity the exposition is personal and experiential. If the reader is searching for a study guide or the Physical Alchemy ‘101’ ye shall not find’eth it […]