全浸教練竹內的故事

Working on this post has brought me thegreatest happiness of anything I』vewritten in the 23 years of TI. (The first-ever TI Adult Swim Camp, at ColgateUniversity, began June 17, 1989!) AfterShinji became the 『most popular swimmer』 on-line earlier this week, I felt itwas important to share his story–to let his many fans know something about theperson who swims with such inspirational beauty.

寫這篇文章的時候給我帶來了這23年來寫全浸的種種快樂。

（第一個全浸訓練營是在1989年）。

在竹內成為網絡上最受歡迎的游泳選手之後，我覺得應該分享他的故事，讓更多他的粉絲了解這位給我們帶來如此游泳之美的選手。

ut also because the real story of TI is about using swimmingpractice as a vehicle for self-realization. Michael Phelps became the world’smost recognized swimmer-as-athlete in the world with expert guidance from BobBowman, often called the world’s best swim coach. Shinji is not only the mostrecognized swimmer-as-artist; as you』ll read here, he’s also the worlds #1Self-Coached Swimmer and an embodiment of the philosophy of Kaizen. As he putsit 「I still am just a middle-aged average swimmer who tries to improve everyday.」 His example is as inspiring as his form.

全浸真正的故事是如何利用游泳練習作為自我實現的工具。

菲爾普斯是最好的游泳運動員，他的教練被稱為最好的教練。

竹內則是最受認可的游泳藝術家，他是最好的自學成才的選手，持續進步的典範。

就像他自己說的，我只是個普通的中年選手，試圖每天都有所提高。

他的例子和他的泳姿一樣給人啟發。

Terry: Why did you begin swimming and howdid you find your way to Total Immersion?

Shinji: In 2002, when I was 37, I wasn』tgetting any exercise and had gained so much weight that my doctor warned me Ineeded to exercise. I had learned to swim in elementary school, as mostJapanese children do, so I decided to swim for weight loss. But I got tired soquickly that I didn』t think I』d be able to lose weight.. Because I could swimbreaststroke longer than freestyle I searched on-line for a breaststroketechnique video. I noticed a Total Immersion video featured both breaststrokeand butterfly. I thought two strokes for the price of one was a good deal. Thatwas how I found TI. I』d never even visited the TI web site at the time.

特里：你是為什麼開始游泳的，又是如何發現全浸呢？

竹內：在2002年的時候，那時我37歲了，因為沒有運動，我的體重增加很多，我的醫生警告我要加強運動。

我在小學的時候學過游泳，就像大多數的日本孩子一樣，因此我想通過游泳來減肥。

但是我發現很快就感到疲憊，而且也沒能夠減肥。

我的蛙泳比自由式好，因此我就在網上搜索蛙泳的視頻。

我注意到全浸關於蛙泳和蝶泳的視頻，我想這個不錯。

這是我第一次接觸全浸，那時候連全浸的網站都沒有上過。

Terry: How did you make the leap from justswimming for weight-loss to introducing TI to Japan?

Shinji: I started learning the breaststrokedrills on the DVD. I wondered how practicing balance, without any pulling orkicking, would help me swim better. But within a month both breaststroke andbutterfly felt much easier and smoother. Plus, as an engineer, I alsoappreciated the logic of TI. Finally, because I was excited at improving soquickly, I swam more often, and lost 18 pounds. All that from just a $40 video.It was the best money I ever spent.

特里：你是如何從開始的只想減肥到後來介紹全浸到日本呢？

竹內：開始我只是照著DVD學習蛙泳，我在琢磨如何通過練習平衡而不用划水和打水，就可以幫助我游得更好。

在一個月內，我的蛙泳和蝶泳就取得了很大的進步。

此外，作為一個工程師，我很欣賞全浸的邏輯。

最後，因為我對自己取得的進步感到很興奮，因此我經常去游，減掉了18磅，而這些僅僅花了我40美元，這是我最好的投資。

So I moved on to freestyle–and a whole newset of balance drills. It seemed like I was swallowing a quart of pool waterwhile trying to do them, but I was now a True Believer in Balance, so I keptworking on those drills. After two months, people began to compliment me on myfreestyle.

然後我又轉向自由式，一組全新的平衡練習。

剛開始練習的時候我好像喝下了池子四分之一的水，但是現在我是平衡的忠實擁躉，因此我一直在練習。

在兩個月後，人們開始稱讚我的自由式。

Next I tested the method by trying to teacha friend. The buddy-system steps on the Freestyle Made Easy DVD made teachingreally easy. At our first meeting, my friend couldn』t swim 25 yards. After ourfourth lesson, he was able to swim 40 minutes nonstop. I knew TI was good, butI never dreamed it was this good. So in 2004 I decided to attend TI CoachTraining so I could introduce TI to Japan.

接下來，我試著用這個方法來教我的一個朋友。

DVD里介紹的同伴練習真的很有效。

最開始的時候，我的朋友25m都游不了。

但是在4節課後，他就可以連續游40分鐘了。

我知道全浸很棒，但是沒想到這麼棒。

因此，在2004年的時候我準備成為全浸的教練，想把全浸帶到日本。

Swimming is very popular in Japan. Thereare more than 10,000 pools and over 6 million people swim regularly. Also theaverage age of swimmers is rapidly increasing. I chose middle-aged swimmers as ourtarget market and promised to teach them to 「swim with more ease and grace.

游泳在日本非常流行。

全國有超過10000個游泳池，大約600萬人經常游泳。

游泳選手的平均年齡也在增長。

我選擇中年選手作為我的目標人群，教他們如何更輕鬆更優雅地游泳。

Terry: Please describe the process youfollowed to develop such extraordinary grace?

特里：請描述一下你的學習過程，怎麼才能游得這麼非凡的優雅？

Shinji: I built my first Swim Studio inChiba [a prefecture near Tokyo] where my parents live and I have an apartment.I installed an Endless Pool equipped with four cameras to capture underwaterand surface video. I began to regularly video my swim, looking for errors Icould fix. In addition to comparing my video to TI DVDs, teaching others was abig help in mastering the technique.

竹內：我在千葉[東京附近的一個地方]創辦了第一個游泳工作室，父母也在那邊，我有一間公寓。

我在那安裝了一個無邊泳池，並且裝備了4台攝像機來拍攝水下和水面的視頻。

我開始有規律的拍攝泳姿錄像，從中找出錯誤並修正它們。

除了將我的錄像跟Ti的教學DVD進行比對，我發現教其他人游泳對於掌握技術也有很大的幫助。

Since TI Japan emphasized swimming withgrace, I made it my goal to become the 「most graceful swimmer in the world.」Whenever I was in Japan I spent 3 to 4 hours in the Endless Pool. usually from10PM to 2AM, four days a week, recording my swim, analyzing it frame by frame,finding and fixing small flaws, one by one.

日本Ti強調優雅的游泳，我將我的目標設定為成為「世上游得最優雅的泳者」。

在日本的時候，我每天花費3到4個小時在無邊泳池裡練習，一般是上午10點到下午兩點，每個星期有四天如此，拍攝錄像，逐幀的分析、查找並且逐一修正小的瑕疵。

When I practiced in a lap pool, instead ofthe Endless Pool, I would start with at least 30 minutes practicing drills. Ienjoy practicing drills so much because I can feel much subtler things. Then Iwould move on to whole stroke practice–at that time, a combination of Focal Pointsand stroke counting.

除了在無邊泳池，我在普通泳池裡練習的時候，通常會花三十分鐘來練習分解動作。

我如此喜歡練習分解動作，因為在此過程中我能感受到很多細節。

接下來我會繼續練習全泳，那時候則更關心專注點和劃次。

I followed the same skills progression weteach all TI students: Balance –> Streamline –> Propulsion. It took me ayear to be satisfied with my balance, another year for streamlining skills, andtwo years for coordination and propulsion. I still feel I am improving allthree elements, but now I use those improvements to swim faster, not just moregracefully.

我遵循的提高過程跟我們教給所有Ti學員一樣：平衡-> 流線型 -> 推進力。

我花了一年時間來達到滿意的平衡，一年來學習保持流線型的技巧，以及兩年時間來學會協調和推進力。

我仍覺得還能改善這三方面，如今我在改進如何游得更快，而不僅僅是優雅。

Terry: Now that Youtube viewers have『voted』 you the most graceful swimmer in the world, what are your new Kaizengoals?

特里： 現在Youtube上的用戶已經投票認為你是世界上最優雅的泳者，你有新的「改善」目標嗎？

Shinji: Some people say you can』t swim withgrace and do fast times, so I now focus on swimming faster with grace. Gracefulswimming allowed me to swim any distance with fewer strokes. I use a TempoTrainer to train my nervous system to adapt to faster tempos, without sacrificingefficiency. The point is sustainability–not just to swim faster, but to be ableto do it longer.

竹內：一些人認為你不能以優雅的方式游出好的成績，因此我目前的專注於如何游得既快又優雅。

優雅的游進可以讓我以更少的劃次完成任何距離。

我使用了節奏訓練器來訓練的神經系統，以適應跟快的節奏，同時不失效率。

重點是持久力——不僅僅游得快，而且可以游得更久。

Terry: You』ve lived in the US for abouthalf your life now but still teach TI frequently in both Japan and the US. Whatdifferences do you see in TI swimmers in Japan vs. the US. What similarities?

Shinji: In Japan, more than 80% of TIswimmers are fitness swimmers, so they』re excited to swim with ease and grace.In the US, 70% of TI swimmers are triathletes. They want to swim more efficiently,but faster too.

TI swimmers in Japan and the US may pursuedifferent goals but they do it the same way. They strive to swim like me. Theypursue that goal the same way I did — byfollowing the logic and fundamentals Terry teaches. And both groups use drillsand focal points. Also, people in both Japan and the US enjoy swimming forimprovement, not just fitness.

特里：你人生的一半時間差不多都是在美國，現在又同時在美國和日本教授全浸，你是如何看待美國和日本的全浸選手之間的區別呢？

竹內：在日本超過80%的人是為了健身而游泳，因此他們會為能夠省力優雅地游感到激動。

而在美國70%的全浸愛好者是鐵人三項選手。

他們想游得更有效率，同時還想更快。

他們追求的目標也許不同但是方法都是一樣的。

他們很想游得像我一樣。

他們也是按照特里教授的步驟和方法一步步學習，都用相同的練習和關注點。

他們都很享受提高的過程，而不僅僅是為了健身。

特里：你把成為世界上最優雅的游泳選手作為目標是很有遠見的，現在你已經把這一標準提高到了新的高度，你認為youtube的視頻點擊數量是這一目標的標準嗎？

竹內：能從我的老師那裡得到這種評價，我感到很榮幸。

我同意就優雅來說不像速度有個統一的標準。

但是我認為可以把優雅的游泳定義為「最多的人想擁有的游泳」，以這個定義來說視頻的點擊數是個很好的衡量標準。

我想人們看我游泳是想像我那樣游。

我的主要目的是啟發更多的人去相信他們也可以做到。

這也是我沒有在視頻中加入技術指導的緣由。

我希望大家通過觀看我的視頻，他們會有種代入感，想像我的感覺。