Foucault Sports Training Project

Somehow, I'm working on using Foucault and some disability theorists to support the notion that greater access to physical training videos on the web should take place. So, that's sort of my goal. In the mean time, I need to actually gather some useful data about physical training sites and that sort of thing. In order to accomplish this, there are several steps necessary.

First, I must select a specific type of training videos online. At this point, I do not want to select intense or specialized training knowledge or trianing which requires normal bodies or bodies that are already trained. This enables me to work with materials which I think are more accessibility to disabled folks as well as agining communities. Similarly, this enables me to test out my current ideas of disability/ability and how it could be defined as an individual's ability or level of success in meeting their current potential. That means, if they have a normal body, but they are stiff, inflexible, and unable to move well, they are more disabled. If they are in a chair, but they are able to use their body to maximal capacities, meeting their potentials to 90 percent or more, then they are able bodied. Measuring by ability to meet potential is a far more effective, realistic, and accurate form of measurement than dealing with general norms, whiach forces the flock of humanity to move towards center and gives dominance to herd thinking and mediocrity while worshipping ideals--forms which few people will ever obtain. Instead, I am more interested in a culture that drives and works towards fulfilling individual potential. As a culture, community, and individuals, we would benefit by the increased rate of self-fulfillment and achievement as well as the reduction in unproductive competetition. Competition has its role, but it is not the end all be all. Instead, by asserting this sort of potential measure of disability, I think there's the potential to at least reassess,, if not critique, current norms in a meaningful and beneficial way. And this way also offers room for me to do some potentially interesting scholarly work. Then again, this proposed crtieria of ability could easily have already been tested and sunk--I don't know.

"Ich trinke auf gute Freunde!"

The end result, is that I am going to seek out training videos which center on flexibility and/or joint mobility. I don't want to do yoga or martial arts; instead, I am looking for things that people can do from simply sitting in a chair or standing up. This provides criteria for the greatest potential audience, and this strikes me as very important.


Once I have selected the basic movement exercises, I need to find three vendors.
Steve Maxwell at Amazon

Dragon Door article on "What is Joint Mobility"

Ultimate Joint Mobility nutrition product


I've also searched flexibility dvds. I went to google and looked at the top hits--not the sponsored links--as well as at the top sales numbers at Amazon. I figured these results would give me a good sense of what is moving in the market.

Rodney Yee's Power Yoga Flexibility


From google, TRX Essentials: Flexibility

Functional Flexibility at allegro medical site


My tentative starts are:
TRX

Rodney Yee

Scott Sonnon/RMAX

Make sure that I have clear criteria for selecting these. At this point, here they are:
came up high in rankings at google, youtube, and/or amazon
I am familiar with all three of them
TRX does TV ads--I think Yee might
Each of these has flexibility/ joint mobility as part of their larger fitness program
Two are centered around personalities: Sonnon & Yee
The products are represented as open to novices/beginners--anyone can do them
There are laddered or increased levels of expertise available to the pracititioners



After the three vendors, I need to run a brief accessibility study on their sites.

This is NOT done yet. Need to generic basic heuristics.


In the mean time, I need develop an argument that grounds my work in a lot of "persuasive facts about people with disability" [quote from Sean]

Then, once I have collected the information which is available, I need to:

examine YouTube and see what kinds of materials are available there & at Hulu for free
examine the accessibility of the materials at this site
write up and include my personal bias/involvement with the RMAX/Sonnon materials


Then, work on composing video, audio, and text to present a persuasive argument.
After that, construct the background scholarly document which provides an explanation of the theory which informs the position as well as the engaged academic involvement.

off the top of my head:
first, dA studies as an activist practice in and of itself
second, the G-A readings about/including discussions of Mullins, I think, where you can work for change while being assimmilated into the market place--the complex and conflicting natures
third, foucault and the already punished state of disability and working to redo that, to present disability as priviliged or base line assumed
fourth?