A Commentary on virtual Fitness

[gallery]

Greetings it's been a while since my last post. Pardon... work, life etc.

Here is an article that was published in the Epoch Times print addition came out Monday and 2nd part this Monday online links above. let me know how you feel free to send the online to anyone whom you feel may be interested.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/health/a-commentary-on-virtual-fitness-part-1-202839.html

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/health/a-commentary-on-virtual-fitness-part-2-202847.html

A commentary on virtual Fitness

Times change and technology is moving at a pace never seen before in history. Things that were science fiction 20 years ago are children's toys. We are truly living in the future. The cities are large urban metropolises where people no longer have the physical demands of the past. Food once personally cultivated and procured are pre-packaged deliveries to the door. Mechanized conveyances carry us to and from.  Stairs move to bring us, up and down.

Modernization diminishes human physical activity.  Amazing methods of virtual communication negate the necessity for actual contact. The video game is replacing our human games that centered on movement activities and human interaction. Children play with virtual representations of them and are having dance parties of one, with avatars of increasing sophistication and no human interaction. However, the human body is designed to move. Gravities pressure develops and maintains bones, muscles and connective tissue integrity. It aids in the proper function of our internal organs.

Movement play teaches the brain patterns. The nervous system realizes its potential building copious pathways. Children's games, like kittens sparring in the grass teach us basic movement skills that we need to build our foundation for functional interaction. Collision gives us feedback and pain teaches us what consequences are. Our minds learn how to cope with fear using the tools of focus and perseverance.

We will draw upon this knowledge for the rest of our lives. Critical movement transitions, protective reflexes, balance and developmental movement patterns keep us safe as we move through the world. Or are we developing a society where a lot of people will in fact not move through the real one? I can only wonder at the deleterious effects of children connecting to a machine in lieu of our natural environment before they know what it is. Maybe making virtual mud pies and playing virtual stickball virtually meeting with friends? We are severing our basic connection from our original nature and the Earth. We are tampering with forces not fully understood or fully considered. This has consequences and they are not good.

The Wii and the new video games use motion capture technologies to put us in the game. They inspire participant’s to move and have those movements interact with avatars and be represented virtually on a screen.  Games are designed to mimic old favorites like baseball, basketball, tennis and fencing to name a few. Exercise routines have also been developed enticing people who possibly would otherwise not exercise at all. These machines allow fitness routines to take place in the climate controlled familiar environment of your living room.

No more do people have to leave the comfort of their homes. The weather or memberships to a gym are no longer factors for many virtual exercisers.  Can the machine replace traditional physical fitness and sports activity and if so should it?

Is it not safer to exercise at home rather than traveling to a location like a park or a tennis court or a river where any number of things could happen?

The Wii table tennis is an amazing feat of technology. The responsiveness of the interface is indistinguishable from the action you make. When you swing the controller the movement is translated accurately to the screen. There are other games where the translation is not so satisfying, but technology is working hard to improve the systems so that one day not too far in the future I can envision it being even more convincing. Other companies like Microsoft and Sony have already introduced controller-less game interfaces through motion monitoring cameras and movement tracking based controllers.

Can it ever replace the feeling of satisfaction that you get when the bat connects just right with the ball and the body is in harmony? Transmitting the forces at its disposal like an uncoiling snake. The feel and heft of the bat. The interplay between pitcher and batter sizing each other up, the weathers affect on everything, the feel of moisture or lack of it. Playing in the mud that allows the slider to slide longer! The game is sweeter because of the mess.

Part 2

Developmental movement patterns are taught and reinforced by childhood play. We learn the limits of traction how to jump and land. We learn a lot about ourselves and our bodies that we will inhabit for the rest of our lives. Essential brain pathways are shaped through play. Measured exposure to pain and discomfort instruct on how to overcome adversity. Through “real play” reflexes are reinforced and confidences are built. Mental toughness and the seed of self-reliability are inherent in football, tag, jump roping and countless childhood games; as well as negotiating the complexities of getting along with others and mastering the mysteries of human interaction. The highest value should be placed on providing an unaltered framework in society for “true play”.

Movement patterns that derive from playing virtual games as opposed to actually exploring the “real” environment and our interaction with it may be causing problems by reinforcing improper movement patterns.   Developing pathways of movement that are not biomechanically correct or functionally relevant to how a body has to move through space and interact with a “real environment”.  As opposed to the movement patterns in a virtual one that do not have to necessarily follow the rules imposed on us by gravity and solid objects.

Developmental movement patterns are reinforced and introduced in much of human culture through physical games. Above all video games have little or no consequence for failure of any kind. They down play consequence as a whole and in the case of those that emphasis violent action for reward it deliberately warps reality for the game’s sake.

Human interaction has consequence; playing tennis incorrectly can lead to strain and pain or being struck with the ball. Being clumsy or inefficient in our energy expenditure, while really running, swimming or biking has consequence. Pain and discomfort leads us to modify and adjust behaviors to minimize them or alleviate. During a virtual session especially for children it reinforces a view of the world that really does not exist. In many cases it is now supplanting the experiences normally present in their developmental games as the time spent playing virtually and the ages that children begin get earlier and earlier. The duration of their involvement with them is longer and longer.

Next level

Spill over’s and civilian applications of technologies developed by the military are finding their way into more games. The same virtual technologies and simulations that where previously only available to military personal, sophisticated software/hardware costing millions of dollars is now available for a few hundred in home consoles featuring motion tracking. Virtual representations strive to get closer and closer to providing as full a sensory experience as possible.

And to what end? I have no doubt that it won’t be long before the lines become blurry and we are running by the lake …inside our living rooms the technology is already making inroads into direct communication between machine and the human brain. But should we want this? Should we want for our children and ourselves a world that is not distinguishable from the classic existential question? How do we know we exist? How do you know you are not just a brain in a vat being stimulated by aliens and that everything you know and have ever known is not really real?

I think that we need to safe guard our human entirety and reach back into antiquity into the ancient ways and training systems that help us develop ourselves intrinsically. Mediation and inner cultivation systems that celebrated returning to our true selves develop our innate capabilities of which we know so little about. Why not develop to be better people evidencing truth and compassion while harmonizing with our environment.

It was not that long ago…

There was a time when we could walk through a forest and know when rain would come. We could sense danger with accuracy better than radar. We were attuned in and harmonized with the planetary environs.  Myriad native cultures had respect for what we are. Coupled with sophisticated mind-body training systems intertwined with the cultures

Even today there are stories of Yogi’s who control their heart beat or men like David Blaine who’s discipline has led to a level of self control so high that some call it magic. In the human world every action has consequence. There is nothing wrong with playing a few games, but let’s be careful when it eclipses true experience particularly in our children who are still developing and the foundation that they receive will be a great part of the tool box that they carry into life for life.

Creation of virtual reality will never remove the necessity of taking care of the reality on which the other is built. We can’t play hide and seek forever the truth will find us…

Emory M Moore Jr is a multi-certified fitness professional, the founder of EM Techniques training system. www.emtechniques.com and twitter