Where is this board and crossfit going?

[Mike Yukish]

I was thinking about the book I recommended on the rest day posting...

The Timeless Way of Building - by Christopher Alexander

And I thought of this board as I was quoting the following passage from the book:

In short, there is a character (an "aliveness") in natural things which is created by the fact that they are reconciled, exactly, to their inner forces...this character will happen anywhere, where a part of the world is so well reconciled to its own inner forces that it is true to its own nature...it follows that a building which is whole must always have the character of nature too...buildings which are alive are fluid and relaxed in their geometry...this is the character of nature. But its fluidity, its roughness, its irregularity, will not be true, unless it is made in the knowledge that it is going to die...the character of nature can't arise without the presence and consciousness of death...

...So finally the fact is, that to come to this, to make a thing which has the character of nature, and to be true to all the forces in it, to let it be - all this requires that we become aware that all of it is transitory in nature; that all of it is going to pass...

...and we can even say that any place where a man tries to make the quality, and be like nature, cannot be true, unless we can feel the slight presence of this haunting sadness there, because we know at the same time we enjoy it, that it is going to pass.

That got me to thinking how much I enjoy this board and the community, and how what we have here now is transitory. Even in my short time it has evolved, with a new format and then moderation. And so I thought I'd float the question of where people think this board and even crossfit might go in the years and even decades ahead.

"To infinity and beyond!"

Buzz Lightyear

[Jim Aldridge]

wherever the black box takes us!

[Eugene R. Allen]

Mike - I wonder if your question is of the Black Box type that only the eggheads would care to contemplate? You appear to be seeking a crystal ball response for a future view of that which is not yet realized. Do you really want to know? Did we learn nothing from the Star Trek NG episode about the Q who wanted to kill himself because he knew everything, had been everywhere and could be anywhere, anytime immediately? Would you want all your Christmas presents wrapped in Saran Wrap, a preview of all the things your kids would ever do or a view of every aspect of your future? I wouldn't. I fear that a knowledge of the future would alter it and thus make it different than it should perhaps be.

Uh ohhh, this is black box talk. Here there be dragons and we would do well to not loiter.

[Mike Yukish]

I wonder if your question is of the Black Box type that only the eggheads would care to contemplate?

I resemble that remark. I guess I'm the only person curious as to what it might be like year(s) from now. The one thing I know is it WILL change. It is a living community, and a growing one. Eventually someone will come up to me at the Y and say, "Hey, you doing that crossfit thing?". That will mark a passage.

I fear that a knowledge of the future would alter it and thus make it different than it should perhaps be.

Yep, that's why I drive with my headlights off.

[Jeremy Jones]

I just drive in reverse.

"It's a lot of things goin on y'all
21st century is comin
20th century almost done
A lot of things have changed
A lot of things have not, mainly us
We gon' get it together right? I believe that
Listen.. people be askin me all the time,
"Yo Mos, what's gettin ready to happen with Hip-Hop?"
(Where do you think Hip-Hop is goin?)
I tell em, "You know what's gonna happen with Hip-Hop?
Whatever's happening with us"
If we smoked out, Hip-Hop is gonna be smoked out
If we doin alright, Hip-Hop is gonna be doin alright
People talk about Hip-Hop like it's some giant livin in the hillside
comin down to visit the townspeople
We +are+ Hip-Hop
Me, you, everybody, we are Hip-Hop
So Hip-Hop is goin where we goin
So the next time you ask yourself where Hip-Hop is goin
ask yourself.. where am I goin? How am I doin?
Til you get a clear idea
So.. if Hip-Hop is about the people
and the.. Hip-Hop won't get better until the people get better
then how do people get better? (Hmmmm...)
Well, from my understanding people get better
when they start to understand that, they are valuable
And they not valuable because they got a whole lot of money
or cause somebody, think they sexy
but they valuable caause they been created by God
And God, makes you valuable"

Mos Def

I think this it is a very good question. It's actually one I asked Coach Glassman myself at the end of the April Seminar in Santa Cruz. He said that it's beyond him now, it's in the hands of the community. He mentioned some of the new experts entering the community, like Terry Laughlin of Total Immersion Swimming, who are going to be influential in the further development of crossfit's ideas. But really, it's not just the experts changing Crossfit's direction. It's everybody who works out according the Crossfit's ideas and writes about their experiences with the community. I have observed that whenever any body or any group thinks that they have arrived at the limits of human knowledge, they end up looking ridiculous when a new discovery by a free-thinker pops up and changes the whole paradigm. So, IMO it would be very foolish to think that crossfit has finally discovered the most effective workouts possible on earth and from now on all we have to do is spread it. It's much more dynamic than that. There are many, many things we don't know, or don't recognize the true significance of yet. Through our engagement with crossfit's ideas, we will all be both improving ourselves and the program itself.

Looking back I have not really answered the question, just described how I expect the changes will occur. So what will happen? Damned if I know.

[Charlie Reid]

I suppose you can take a fatalistic look at where this is all going, but i think jack kerouac described it best, and this is a good point to be aware of: we should not let ourselves be mistaken as to focus on the finger pointing to an objective, but rather be focused on the objective, and more importantly, the journey itself.

Where things are going, i believe, is second to what is going on NOW. A common mistake, in my opinion, is to assume that something will be finished. But as any good artist will tell you, an artistic piece is never finished, only abandoned. Crossfit is more than a fitness methodology, it has become a philosophy and an art for me.

"A poem is never finished, only abandoned." -Paul Valery

Happiness is in the now, and by questioning where things will end is to assume there will BE an end. I think this detracts from our pursuits in the present, when our time should be best used to build until our time is over and we pass it on to the next set of young progressives. This is optimistic of course, but motion and progress is what we should be striving for...thus the idea of fitness (move more physically=better health). Seeking an end wastes time on your accomplishments in the now. However, this is a cyclical argument that can, and often does, lead to the question of "what's the point? all these accomplishments might just die with you anyway". But we are humans and the way in which we live in our happy bubble is to rationalize for the better, instead of focusing on the negative.

We are ultimately our thoughts and "our attitude determines our altitude"(covey, 7 habits of highly effective people).

I hope i didnt side-step the point too much. I dont even know if all of that made sense. Great question though.

[Kenneth Urakawa]

Glancing through some of the posts, it reminded me that the type of individual who chooses to follow CrossFit is often the "warrior-poet" type--equal parts philosopher and a@#-kicker.

CrossFit demands personal accountability, and there is a certain amount of isolation during our workouts, even with a group of people around. The bedrock of this community are the people who, despite being scattered all over the world, have found common cause. I don't believe that will change.

I think it is telling that there are no CrossFit "franchises", we are "affiliates". That speaks volumes, in my opinion, to the framework and spirit of community created by Coach and Lauren. Will this ever be the small, intaimate group that it once was? Probably not. But I am hopeful that the type of people who are being attracted to CrossFit will be able to keep the same spirit alive.

[Barry Cooper]

Mike,

I'd like to speak to the philosophical background of your question. What I understand you to be saying is that you feel an aliveness, and naturalness to this board, and you're attached to it. And you realize that because it is alive, because it does have a vital spirit, that it must pass, that it cannot be artificially prolonged past its natural "life".

This is the question of how to live, isn't it? Knowing that everything you love, and everything you do, will pass away. Sadness is an obvious consequence of deep reflection, but I would argue that there is joy too. Spirit (and it is not necessary to add any metaphysical element to this, but I do) always exists NOW. It can never exist anywhere else, and if you enter boldly into it the sadness evaporates. It is a question, in my view, of exposing your heart openly to the daggers of life, without fear. You'll get the poop knocked out of you sometimes, but you will also have LIVED.

Everything in that quote would apply to us, too. In the sense that building can be natural or artificial, so can people. And artificiality is nothing other than stopping the process of risk; saying, that's it, I go no farther.

A fundamental trick to risking is cultivating resilience. I know, for me, that I can survive drastic, hard emotional shocks, and that makes me better able to risk, and thus better able to live.

Think back to your past. Most people feel most alive when they are living in the moment, when everything is exciting. Often, when things are hard, and you're not thinking about how good things are. Then you think back from a period of years, and realize it was one of the best times of your life.

There is little or no resonance to ease. If you live your life (and no one here does, I don't think) living for TV and Cheetos, you won't have any memories of anything. 50 years will disappear in a blink of an eye, and you'll wonder what happened. The opposite of that is busting your *** growing, changing, and getting the crap knocked out of you often. That's a great thing.

As far as CrossFit, it doesn't matter. It is what it is, and will be what it will be. Hell, I may have just had an effect. Work in progress, like all of us.

Sorry for the sermon. Sometimes I have to express myself to see what I think.