This text is a free translation from an article thats in my book, which would be called in English Wounded healers and

other frankensteins. I thought itd be hard to translate it into English as I dont know the climbing jargons in Portuguese, much less in English. But although challenging, it was very exciting to translate it.

Climbing and Physical Rehabilitation: A Dialogue

RIP Vitor Negrete, my dear friend.

Everything I know about climbing is what I saw and heard in movies. Therefore, I only dare talk about it according to my personal perceptions. i remember that during under graduation, Id be fascinated to see the Physical Education students climbing a wall outside their school building. I guess that since that time I hinted there was a link between walking and climbing. One day I joined them and was told that overcoming a hold and getting to the following one required balance. The word balance caught my attention as I thought that climbing was just a matter of strength rather than of balance. So, up to that minute I had never thought about the need of balance when we crawl up a wall on our hands and feet. Actually, when climbing one usually has to step on the footholds and push, while gripping the handholds and pulling. Since the holds dont move, this coordinated movement makes their body move forward, or rather crawl up the wall, During that move, the closest the chest stays to the wall, the better, because if one detaches it from the wall, the resulting loss of balance can cause a fall. To keep the trunk close to the wall is sort of easy depending on the difficulty of the climbing route; I mean, when the holds arent too far apart from each other or too closed together. So, one can easily step on two of them and still hold on two of them at the same time. However, as the route becomes more difficult, one may have to simultaneously step with both feet on just one hold, while hanging on another one with both hands. And it becomes even more difficult if one has to swing from just one hold so that a single hand supports their entire body weight (if Im not mistaken, when this happens, one says that the holds are in an overhang or roof). Strength is certainly very important in climbing, still in all those cases the climber must keep the control of a body that becomes more or less stable as their legs and arms are kept tightly close to it or not, as

the body has more or less points of contacts with the cliff, or as the wind is stronger. Height also affects balance, and I mean physically, not just psychologically as when one is afraid of falling.

To make similar movements on a horizontal plane rather than on a vertical wall, people would have to raise their torsos further from the ground and go in all fours. Then, support the body weight on both feet and just on one hand; next on both hands, but just on one foot; following that, on one foot and on the opposing hand, finally, on one foot and on the hand of the same side of the body as if in a horizontal barn-door. To extend the free arm and leg or to bring them close to the body, just as to swing them, also changes balance. Well, theres a physiotherapy exercise exactly like that and I assure you its not easy at all. See, by taking a closer look at a climber and at patient in physical treatment we realize that both need balance. Then, we can imagine their movements in a scale where to keep balance becomes more and more difficult as the torso is further separated from the ground, whether by getting or by becoming position. happen with any bodies so that it strange when we balance of a very bridge, out tree, crawl about a

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I conclude then that the skills and knowledge the climbers acquire when confronting their bodies and intentions with the environment are very similar to those one must acquire to walk or be physically rehabilitated. Would those persons inhabit different sites? Certainly, as well as their need to develop finer body awareness according to their aims differs. Nevertheless, as we saw above, the principles behind their movements remain the same. Therefore, if we were flexible, humble, and broad-minded enough, and accepted that different persons know things different from us, we would not only exchange more information about our experiences, but also learn with each other, perfect our performance, improve our skills, and ultimately enlarge our knowledge.

See video post India Monkey King scales new heights.