by Shawn Myszka, MS, CSCS, PES
“No natural phenomenon can be understood without carefully considering how it emerged.”
These famous words of kinesiological wisdom were delivered by the late and great movement scientist, N.A. Bernstein, and forever changed our lens on how we should view sports movement behavior. It’s funny how a standalone quote is capable of doing that, isn’t it? In fact, if you read Bernstein’s words and the idea(s) it conveyed a number of times through, you will quickly realize that its influence could extend far beyond the study of movement behavior in sport, or even just moving in everyday life…instead, it can apply to almost all matters of the world.
Of course, that’s what great words, uttered by incredible thought leaders, can truly do. They can shift the paradigms within a particular Form of Life for generations to come. Words have that kind of power in standing the test of time. In our field, this is how the ideas of those Movement Giants who have come before us are able to live on forever.
This is also why the team at Emergence has decided that here, in early 2020, is an appropriate time to begin to put together a blog. We are not doing this implying that our words are anywhere near the same extraordinary level and magnitude as those from the likes of Bernstein, Gibson, Brunswick, Newell, Davids, and others who have inspired us. Instead, we want to use this blog here as a living, breathing, ever-evolving record of where our thoughts currently stand while taking the time to expand upon many of the ideas housed in the educational content we put together.
Additionally, we also feel as though it provides a certain challenge point for us in how we aim to take part in this learning journey with all of the members out there of the movement community. We place tremendous importance on being able to more effectively articulate these ideas that we hold near and dear to our hearts to each one of you. We aim to communicate in such a way that the words and ideas resonate within your craft; to do that, we know that we must get better and that’s precisely what we intend to do through the writing that is delivered here.
We know it is all of us together, acting as a coupled dynamical system with reciprocal relations, that will allow these concepts, theories, principles and practical applications to have life breathed into them. Additionally, we know that what our collective Form of Life looks like in 2020 is going to surely evolve further and get us all closer to the truth with each passing year (and hopefully each passing blog post!).
So, with all that said, we stand here at a new sort of beginning. We hope that what will emerge from here, will be nothing short of phenomenal.
To get a grasp as to where we currently are (or rather, where we were), those of you who have picked up ‘Underpinnings’ know quite well that it is a comprehensive resource of the thoughts and ideas that we felt needed to be understood to pay respect to those thought leaders who have shaped our craft. Countless hours went into its compilation and creation and we are humbled by the response of this project across the community. For those who have yet to check out, ‘Underpinnings’ you can do so here.
Additionally, if you are looking to advance your craft and hear some of these words from the horse’s mouths themselves, we would highly recommend diving into the following resources. We feel that this would represent some of the careful consideration that Bernstein spoke of in his quote above.
For more reading:
- Gibson, J. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception, 1979
- Bernstein, N. On Dexterity & Its Development, 1996. In: M. Latash and M. Turvey (Eds.), Dexterity & Its Development
- Davids, K, Button, C, and Bennett. Dynamics of Skill Acquisition, 2008
Shawn is the Co-Director of Education & Co-Founder of Emergence. He developed content for the educational brand, Movement Mastery, from 2014 till the formation of Emergence, with the sole purpose of helping to enable a deeper understanding of the processes involved in the acquisition of more masterful movement for athletes in sport. Shawn has served primarily as a Personal Performance Advisor & Movement Skill Acquisition Coach for National Football League (NFL) players since 2008, working with approximately 12 players each year.
