A Simple Manilla Rope and an Umbrella for Surfing Training

Aloha Tribe,

I've been thinking a lot about my surfing lately, and, working hard at improving it, particularly as it relates to perfection in balance, namely, through softness, gentleness, and beauty, honed by slackrope walking, on, a manilla rope.

Why a manilla rope? Because I'm a traditionalist. In my surfing. In my training. In my way of loving life. In other words, I find beauty in the "old-ways," primarily from maintaining the tradition, but more so, from the challenge of simple equipment, when one merely had to make do with what you had. I like that. A lot. For in it, I find beauty.

Regarding slackrope walking, there's an area in Central Asia, specifically in NW China called Uyghuristan, aka East Turkistan aka Xinjiang (in Chinese). And there, at an orphanage, they specialize in tightrope walking, and have, in the area, for about 400 years, I believe. What I find fascinating, is the simplicity of the equipment used. Rugged hand chopped logs for supports, manilla rope for walking on, and, no safety net. It reminds me of the Chinese martial arts movies I love where the hero always builds his specialized training equipment using local materials such as bamboo and rope. I love such training camps.

As such, I'm in the process of setting up my own "martial arts - so to speak" tightrope walking course in my yard using logs and manilla rope. I have the rope, a 50 foot section of 1" diameter 3 strand twisted manilla. Now, all I need is the logs for the supports. In the meantime, I have numerous trees to use since I live in the middle of a swamp, on a creek, in the middle of a forest.  I want the logs, simply to have the system portable. I have a place I can get them at a local rugged log bed maker in a nearby town, but in the meantime, I'll simply use 2 x 4's, which, while not fully ideal as far as romance goes, certainly can do the job.

But, for the moment, I simply use two trees, and, my manilla rope. Tying it around the trees, cinching it semi- tight, takes but moments, and I am ready.

Walking the rope has enabled me to explore myriads of minute balance possibilities, finding, within each muscular undulation, artistic depths unbound and unfathomed. Gtowth, namely, progress, seems to come in bursts. At the moment, I'm working on total muscle control, with, much to go.

In the last few days my progress has leaped with startling bursts, yet, I have much to explore, for perfection, of course in anything for that matter, can never truly be reached but always strived for off unexplored paths, bushwacking the wilds of imagination.

With my simple manilla rope, I've found a body awareness that has eluded me since my old Chinese Monkey Kung Fu days of yesteryear. Those days, of course, bring back smiles of Monkey Beds - a horizontal rope that one slept on, a Monkey Vine - a vertical rope for practicing kicks and strikes, and, tree climbing, along with ropes set at various angles for climbing, diving, and jumping, over, under, and around in uncountable patterns of mesmerizing complexity.

Compartively, my manilla rope has made my longboard seem much more stable, as you can imagine. Thus, allowing me a greater freedom of surfing expression on my quest for art and soul on the sea.

I love my surfing camp that I've created. It's a wonderfully fun place to train, with all  kinds of wild training equipment, not at all unlike my old pickpocketing training camp I used for honing my skills in that beautiful  and exciting art.

Oh, as for the umbrella, since I'm following a 400 year old Chinese martial arts kind of theme in my training camp, the umbrella I use is an all wood and paper Chinese umbrella with a straight handle. The paper is green and white, the tines are bamboo, the handle wood. It is light, beautiful in a rugged kind of way, that blends perfectly with the manilla rope I'm walking on. The umbrella, by the way, is traditional to the Chinese tightrope walking style, which is why I use it. That being said, I find it a perfect supplement to exploring shifts of air currents as they effect my balance for surfing, while, walking the manilla rope.

Bodaciously  Stoked,

Lily of the Valley