Who invented running?

Recently, I was teaching my stepson to swim. He said he had tried to learn swimming with other coaches before, but he never could.

In my eyes, there's nothing that can't be learned, and no one who can't learn. The key lies in a person's definition of "learning". As for swimming, if the goal is not to drown when falling into the water, it's quite easy to achieve. So, we cheerfully headed to the swimming pool.

At the beginning, he was very nervous. Maybe his previous coaches were harsh, and many people had told him that his posture was wrong, causing his whole body to resist the water. Even asking him to put his head underwater for 5 seconds seemed like it was taking his life.

In the same swimming pool, there were other children learning to swim. They were following different teachers, some were strictly correcting their swimming posture, while others were gently guiding the children's hands to kick the water. Obviously, my stepson's nervousness drew everyone's attention, which made him even more nervous.

My philosophy is that the fundamentals of swimming are not about having the perfect swimming posture, nor about mastering many types of swimming styles. The most fundamental thing is: not to be afraid of water.

So we played around in the pool until he relaxed a bit. Then I let him lie on the water and pushed him out to feel the sensation of floating on the water. At this point, the uncles and aunties around us started discussing us, thinking that I was not teaching swimming at all. A couple of aunties even wanted to come over and join the teaching. In response to their enthusiasm, all I could do was demonstrate. After the demonstration, no one wanted to join the teaching, but a couple of aunties were sneakily following along.

Actually, many of the people there had good swimming postures. Why did they seem to struggle and swim slowly? The problem often lies in trying too hard and being too impatient. I repeatedly emphasized to my stepson that the best swimming posture is the one that requires the least effort. When the body is in its most relaxed state, it can naturally float on the water. Then, with just a light paddle, the water will naturally push you forward.

Just like that, my stepson learned to float and paddle a few times in the first lesson, and he was no longer that afraid of water. Then, in the second lesson, his father joined in, constantly asking me when I was going to teach his son the frog kick, whether he should practice freestyle swimming, and this and that.

People are always concerned about their swimming posture, but who invented running?

We don't have too many definitions for running posture, so why are we so obsessed with swimming posture? What beginner swimmers need the most is not practice, but enjoyment, just like the joy we felt when we ran on the playground for no reason when we were children.

Since I was a child, I have had a deep connection with water. The first time my mother took me to a swimming pool, I, being five years old, jumped in without a second thought. At that moment, I swallowed a lot of water and struggled to go back to my mother. But obviously, those few gulps of water didn't scare me off. After a while, I realized that when I stretched out my toes, my thumb just touched the ground, and I started hopping around. I felt like I had discovered a new world. It was very peaceful in the water, and the world looked particularly beautiful from the water. Then I fell in love with water, started to realize that it's actually quite hard for a person to sink, and found that it's quite easy to float in the water as long as you open up and relax your body. Although I swallowed water several times that day, I found out it was no big deal, I just needed to go to the toilet a few more times.

Just like that, I fell in love with water.

From observing how others swam in the swimming pool to having others observe how I swam; from learning postures from books to improving the postures myself; from trying to sink to being able to lie on the water effortlessly; from a landlubber who could only stand up in the swimming pool with the help of my right toe to being given the nickname "Little Flying Fish"...

The only key to swimming is: relaxation.

As long as you're not afraid of water, you will be relaxed. As long as you're calm, you can feel the flow of water. As long as you don't fight against the water, the water will carry us and allow us to swim freely.

Of course, the water in the natural world can still be very ruthless. Even a good swimmer can be in danger when faced with huge waves or rapids. Understanding the energy contained in water, we should never underestimate its power.

In the end, we only went swimming with my stepson three times. However, just by observing, he learned to snorkel with me at the bottom of the pool. I hope when he goes back to school, he can also enjoy swimming with his classmates.