Agility

Today, I worked on my agility. Now I don’t know if any of you reading this have ever been to China, but for those of you who haven’t, imagine a place where traffic laws are not obeyed. Imagine a place where pedestrians don’t have the right of way, turning signals aren’t used, and red lights are ignored. Then, you are in China.

Being a driver, these rules, or lack there of, can be considered an advantage. But being a pedestrian, you consider it a lucky day when you’ve crossed the street without getting in the way of a speeding bus or taxi. As for the native Chinese people, everyday is their lucky day. Their ability to stop as a car whizzes by, and then quickly dart across the road astounds me. Only with the help of my Chinese teacher can I be so lucky.

After crossing the street a final time today (and after uncrossing my fingers that were held behind my back), I thought about how all of this stopping and starting I was doing was improving my agility. Agility is important in every sport. The ability to stop quickly, turn around, and run at full speed in the other direction is a necessary skill that improves your game, whether it be football, basketball, soccer or lacrosse.

But what about those of you who don’t have a major Chinese city at your disposal? What can you do? Well, don’t fear my worried readers, there are plenty of things you can do. One exercise I’ve found particularly helpful, which I’m sure many of you would know, is running through the flimsy ladder that’s been laid flat on the floor. By stepping each foot into every square as quickly as you can, you get a good work out while focusing on your quickness and agility. Also, jumping rope and short suicides can improve your dexterity as well.

You could even work on your agility by playing red light green light. Yes, you might be too old for this game. But if you get your younger siblings, cousins, or even neighbors to play with you, you won’t feel as stupid or childish. You might even enjoy it, remembering why you liked the game so much when you were younger (although you would never admit it).