“Wow, did you see that!? That was amazing! What was that?” I asked the skater sitting on the bench next to me. I had just witnessed the most amazing jump as he was putting my skates on me in the lobby, preparing me to step onto the ice for the first time after a hiatus of almost a decade. The skater next to me replied nonchalantly, “Oh, that? That’s called a triple flip…David is a top skater and he does it all the time. He shows off…”
I will never forget that day because until that moment I had never witnessed a jump this close and in person. I had only seen ice skating on television, where professional figure skaters seemed to execute jumps effortlessly, almost as if they were dancing, and not running around the ice rink at 20 miles per hour. And I have to tell you, nothing prepares you to see that kind of power and speed up close. What I also remember is seeing David’s skates almost eye level with him when they hit the top of the boards that day, nearly 4 feet off the ground! That’s what I call flying!
At that rink, I got to see a lot of great skating like that all the time. It was my new skating rink and I was still a hobby skater, just getting to know the sport. Seeing the raw power of that jump and the perfect landing made me want to learn how to jump and spin and do all those tricks that I saw the other skaters do, and I decided to do what David did that day…
But my skating career started much earlier, when I was about 9 years old. It all started one summer when my mom asked me if she wanted to have a hobby for the summer. She introduced me to the idea of learning to roller skate or ice skate because she thought a hobby with an exercise aspect would be good for my health. Initially, I thought of skating, but the streets around our house were uneven and had many cracks, which made skating difficult, so I chose ice skating because there was an ice rink near our house. It was that simple!
I came back to the sport at 21 and since then I’ve learned a lot of turns and a lot of jumps and all the moves in between. And yes… I even saw the flip I saw David perform that fateful day. Over the years I picked up new elements, practiced them, fell down quite a few times, got up and finally mastered them.
I’ll tell you, there’s no greater feeling in the world than learning to spin so fast it feels like you’re floating on ice, or the brief weightlessness you feel when executing a jump, it’s almost like flying. And learn to control the edges, nail the landing and move through the footwork as if it were a melody played before you. It took me years to master some of these movements, but they have been the best years of my life, because I not only learned the physical movements, but I gained the confidence that comes with mastering difficult physical routines!
In addition to the learning elements, I also learned other things along the way, such as discipline and perseverance, attention to detail and grace, strength and confidence, all of which have served me well on and off the ice. I spent many hours on the track practicing and working hard on my elements and I did it as often as possible, not because anyone told me to, but because I loved it! I even went so far as to take gymnastics and dance classes to improve body awareness and grace, and trained off the ice so I could become strong and confident. All of this spilled over into other aspects of my life and created the person I am today.
I should mention that I did almost all of my skating as an adult. I know that ice skating as a sport can be intimidating, especially for adults, but regardless of your age, you can participate at any level you want. And the best part about learning to ice skate as an adult is that you get to choose how often you practice this amazing sport. You can just do it once a week, recreationally and just have fun, or you can do it every day if you want for an awesome workout routine.
Another great aspect is that there is no learning barrier. You can take lessons from a professional trainer or simply get a program to learn to skate and practice on your own, at your own pace and comfort level. The most important thing for adults to realize is that anyone can learn (women and men) and no one is too old! Over my years I have met people of all ages and from all walks of life on the ice and have formed great friendships and realized that anyone can learn to skate.
I have been teaching skating for over 15 years and I love passing on the passion of this amazing sport! Please join me on the ice and let me share the joys and personal development it can bring to your life!
