HOW TO WALK A WIRE

Or learning to walk on one foot. Our brain got used to walking on two feet, with one foot always feeling for a solid place to stand on to balance the other foot that is walking. When it can not find a solid place it panic's and you fall. The brain is simply fooled into thinking you must use both feet to walk, so when you do not use both feel, like trying to stand on one foot, it gets confused, and it panic's causing you to find a solid place for your other foot or causing you to reach out to grab something to keep from falling. An Example: When you set in a swing and get twisted around and then spin around real fast and get off that swing, you cannot balance yourself because the brain is confused by the motion of that swing and thinks you are still spinning. Sailors on a ship get used to having to walk on a platform moving up and down and side to side, so when they get back to shore there brain still thinks it is on a ship and sailors have problems walking on land. Once the brain is able to adjust, they can then walk on land just fine and before long they can walk on a ship and land without worries of falling. So our brain needs security to even walk, and a wire walker gives it the security it needs, by giving it something to hold onto and teaching the brain that it does not need the other foot to stand or walk. The balancing pole it one of the tricks they use to teach the brain. As a little boy I used a TV antenna pole because it was nice and long. You hands then have something to hold onto, so your other foot is not so worried about having to find solid ground so fast, and eventually never thinking it needs solid ground. It is like a monkey. It walks with its tail in the air and grew up this way so they don't need all four feet on the ground to walk, the tail is there balancing pole. I learned by just standing on one foot on a wire holding the balancing pole thinking about nothing except letting the pole do all the work. Now I mean with the pole in the air, not one the ground. The way to hold the pole is with both hands under the pole spread apart far enough so you feel comfortable, then Just let the pole do all the work for you. Your brain will tell your hands where to move the pole without out your input. Just like it tells you where to put your feet when you are walking. After you get used to standing on one foot change feet and stand on the other and keep doing this every day to build up strength in your legs, because, remember you are walking on only one foot, not two feet. Once you get this down pat you will be walking and like a riding a bike it is easier when you are moving, The trick is to be able to stand or even set without any problems and soon walk without a pole. Though you will most likely use a prop most often that acts like a balancing pole. Like something heavy in each hand like weights for balance. Some use umbrellas and other things just like the monkey uses his tail.