About the Basics
An extremely daunting prospect for any novice figure skater.
A little bit about me: I started skating as a 27 year old adult in March 2018. As a kid I used to impromptu roller blade and I think I’ve gone to an ice skating rink maybe a handful of times during holidays or on dates. But the extent of my skill was to march forward, unable to stop, and skate right into the side of the rink with a resounding THUD and bruised knees.
Going backwards? Forget it. I didn’t even understand the physics or mechanics of skating backwards, it seemed like an impossibility. Gliding up and down the ice seemed so effortless for the show-offs at the rink, but when I tried I resembled more of a new-born deer learning how to walk for the first time. It was an ugly sight.
Fast forward to 2018--working from 7am to 5:30pm, only to go home and work some more. Life was sedentary. Life was boring. I needed to move around, to feel free. Something more than just sitting all day and working. Something that would get me on my feet and remind me that I’m still young, still capable of pushing my body to do extraordinary things.
In my search there were many contenders. My interest was piqued watching beach volleyball players in Central Park. I loved watching their legs carry them up and down that court, all the empathic grunts and teamwork--sexy AND a workout. But ultimately not for me, since I injured my wrist in 2016 and can’t bend it or apply pressure, aka no slamming my palm into volleyballs moving at 20mph.
That’s okay, there was always soccer. Though soccer is a team sport and I was looking forward to doing something alone as a way to re-center and ground myself from a long day of working with others. There was also yoga (see: 2016 wrist injury), the gym and running...though those became boring quickly.
I was just about to call it quits on finding a new fulfilling exercise hobby, when I watched...no joke...Yuri on Ice for the first time. Instantly, everything clicked into place. A solo sport? Check. No wrist needed? Check. Energizing, adrenaline pumping workout? Check. All year round sport? Check. And so I found myself googling rinks in NYC, finding which ever was closest and had public skating hours, and checking it out.
I’m sure other skaters understand this--when you fall in love, you fall hard. I became completely obsessed with all of the possibilities. The freedom, the heart racing workout, the feeling of flying. Even the cold biting against my face, nipping at my ears and cheeks, it felt better than I had been feeling in a long while.
And isn’t it so funny that when I was a kid, ice skating never seemed very appealing? It was like going to the zoo, something out of the ordinary but ultimately nothing too memorable. Well, as an adult that perspective shifted completely. This quickly became something I was willing to pour my soul (and my wallet) into, with absolutely no regrets. Skating is my solace. When I got on the ice I resolved to pour all of myself into becoming a freestyle figure skater.
The rest? History.
After that day, I bought my first pair of figure skates. Jackson Ultima Excel's, which would hold me down as I learned the basics--stopping, gliding, edges, turns. And thus, I began my journey with Learn to Skate (LTS) Basics 1-6 as an adult skater.
What was it like for you? When did you fall in love with skating?
