Agility and ingenuity of the body & mine

It is not easy to be right when the authorities are wrong. They come and go, but 2 + 2 is always 4. In history, during Copernicus life, the famed scientist urged the “religious elite” that the earth revolved around the sun and not vice versa. His life ended tragically – but was accurate and proven correct!

Matthew Linton, Galina Smushkin and Chris Cahill, was among my best students in the 90s. These students masterfully perfected and demonstrated a unique agile style of individual skating on hockey skates including with a stick and puck. In contrast, other children were taught the “strength skating method” often referred to as «Power Skating».

My unique agile style of teaching hockey players based on “Sports Biomechanics Exercises”, developed by Professor N.A. Bernstein, from the biomechanics laboratory of the Central Scientific Research Institute of Physical Culture and Sports. The purpose of the sport biomechanics – find rational, efficient and economical training methods for increasing the skills of athletes, upgrading sports equipment and use of mechanical apparatus.

I was the first employee of this laboratory from figure skating, where I wrote my first scientific thesis on the use of mechanical teaching aids and evaluation techniques of mandatory exercises on the ice.

Because children have “weak absolute muscle strength”, I prefer to focus “on the elastic force for developing muscles”, i.e., using the rate and magnitude of muscle expansion and contraction. Moreover, in contrast to «Power Skating», “where they teach from the lower body”, my system encourages, “to teach from the upper body”. Judge for yourself, birds and butterflies fly using wings and walk the earth on their feet. Biomechanics body skating movements on the ice begin with hands, not their feet! Science – This force is pointless to argue against!

To say that “facts are stubborn things”, you must observe the results! Look at Matthew, Galina and Chris; you will see a demonstration of no force but agility of the body and sharpness of mind.

A few words about Galina Smushkin. I put Galina on hockey skates in Toronto at 10 years of age, and she began to train with my other students, but with one condition – do not play hockey. My goal was “pure experiment” of agile skating development with stick-puck outside of a hockey game and team interference conditions. I am happy that the experiment was a success and proved in the “pure” learning opportunities of my system.

And “under the veil” I like to ask one question to all enthusiasts of children’s hockey: where are “the former stars of the hockey world” and in what “hockey countries” are they working with kids today?”

To watch any of 3 videos below click on the picture: