Rope Tales: Anita Paling

Hi, I'm Anita (@nzropeflow), and I live in Christchurch, New Zealand 🇳🇿.

I began my Rope Flow practice after watching @kathyjumps for some time on Instagram. Kathy was injured then, and she used Rope Flow to stay active during that time, which is when I became really interested in Rope Flow and its benefits.

Why Rope Flow?

I decided to give Rope Flow a try because it seemed like a lower-impact "sport" and something I could keep doing without my aging body telling me it was time to hang up the running shoes, road bike, mountain bike, etc. I was also aware of the benefits to your brain 🧠, such as learning new things and keeping both sides activated. I've watched my parents and in-laws get older and less capable and, unfortunately, have trips that have caused them to alter their lives to their new limitations. That's not how I want to enjoy my life when I reach that age. And I've had enough injuries through various sports to know how annoying it is to not participate in life as you once did, albeit temporarily while recovering. The recovery gets harder and longer the older I get.

Maybe my interest boils down to vanity or sensibilities.

Getting Started

I'd just returned from a wedding in the USA when I decided to order my first ropes from @slushropes. The SlushGoku and ProtyoHype Throttle ropes arrived in late February, and I bought the @wayoftherope course. It took me a few weeks to make a start.

Learning Rope Flow in those early months of working through Tim's course was very challenging. The rope was a tool I was unfamiliar with and the way it moved took some getting used to. I thought I was OK with Overhand Matador but Underhand never seemed to click the same. That non-dom sneak and cheetah's tail are the ones that stick in my mind the most. I took private lessons with Siniša (@AlpacaFlow) to correct my Underhand Matador and picked up a number of new moves like Anchored Sneaks, Wraps, Cheetahdor and some sequences like HADAS.

I've been practicing for 18 months now, and I've learnt a lot. I've done this through Tim's course, one-on-one coaching lessons, and observing what's happening in the Rope Flow community. When I see something new, I'm all fired up and want to try it right away. Often I’ll download the video/reel I’ve seen, put it into an editor and slow the speed so my brain can catch up with what’s happening. When I learn the pattern (usually badly), I tend to leave it alone and turn my focus back to the patterns I'm working to improve. There's so much to learn, and the community's ability to inspire and develop new patterns or sequences is never-ending.

Practice Makes Progress

Before I knew it, I was practicing daily. I just love Rope Flow. That's not to say I haven't been through spells of losing my mojo or life getting so hard that I don't have the same space or time to practice as long as I typically would. But even if time is limited, rope flow is never skipped.

I'd like to say that every day includes the basic patterns, but that's not always true. Again, it depends on how much time I have available. Aside from the patterns, I'm currently focusing on footwork. It's taken me a really long time to feel like I'm progressing there.

I have some favourite patterns that I could spend all my time on, such as underhand bowlers, underhand backmills, and anchored sneaks. I'm at a point in my practice where I'm looking for the finer details in the patterns to improve. I can see the bits that make me cringe. I wish I could analyse and immediately spot the things that need to change to better them, but it's a process of trial and error for me. There are so many minor adjustments that can be made. A pattern might look basic on the surface, but a lot is going on in the body that can either improve or worsen the look.

I think I’m more agile than I used to be before picking up the rope. I think my reflexes have vastly improved to the point I like to gloat about it at home. And there’s been a couple of times that I’ve tripped (in an unfamiliar building on stairs) and my ability to correct my feet/ankle and not succumb to the same injuries has helped. The long-standing injury I have in my left shoulder has also improved. I have far less resistance once I’m warmed up and can do things like a Backmill without the same level of discomfort. The pain I get in my left knee has also reduced thanks to using the rope with lunges and switches. Rope practice has made subtle but significant improvements in how my body moves and responds to every-day activities.

The Importance of Community

The people I've "met" in the community are very encouraging and supportive. Living in a country where there’s almost zero other practitioners, the online community is extremely valuable. There are some Instagram accounts that I interact with more than others with DMs, going back and forth with discussions and sharing of other accounts. There’s mutual cheering on, encouragement and the all-important hearts on a post. Even if you’ve run out of words/time to post a comment, that heart or other reaction can make you feel like you’ve got the backing of a group of rope-loving (or other movement) individuals.