And now for the coolest story you've heard all day... if not longer. This just goes to show working the body and the mind is just that. BOO to the artists vs. athletes mindset. We are whole, complex organisms. Boxing crosstraining with bass playing? This is a beautiful marriage.
Eastman School double bass professor
proves to students that
pugilism boosts performance
Excerpted from March 30, 2011 University of Rochester News Release
When internationally renowned double bass soloist and Eastman School of Music Professor James VanDemark took up boxing two years ago, he saw immediate crossover benefits to his playing. VanDemark, a "lightweight" at only 5'6" and 138 pounds, immediately thought of the impact boxing could have on his students, so he sent some of his women students for a conditioning and strength-building session. They, too, came back with greater bow control, more confidence and stamina, and more energy, producing an even bigger and more focused sound from their big instrument.
This Saturday, April 2, Van Demark is sending 18 more of his double bass students, male and female, to Rochester gym ROC Boxing & Fitness for an introductory regime of boxing basics, exercises, and strength training. According to VanDemark, it's a unique sports-and-music crossover, the first collaboration of its kind between a world-renowned music school and a boxing gym.
"Boxing is the most rhythmic of sports, and many of the basic gestures of boxing have an immediate relationship to string playing," said VanDemark. "Learning how to punch involves very rhythmic use of the hands and arms. The speed bag necessitates an internal rhythm and excellent eye-hand coordination. Boxing also offers complete conditioning, building upper body and leg strength and giving a huge cardiovascular workout, all of which have a really immediate application to playing a large upright bass.”
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