I felt like playing basketball for the first time in a while, so I went to shoot around.
The weather was nice, moving my body should feel good, and above all, I used to play in a school club. I'd been away from it, but my body would surely remember. There was a time I thought that.
Teens are light. I am heavy.
Arriving at the court, I found active teenagers all around.
Light footwork, sharp cuts, jumps that float. They float so much I wanted to ask, what happened to gravity?
Meanwhile, KAZUKIN.
Heavy.
Just heavy.
I think I'm jumping, but I'm basically on the ground. In my own sensation, I'm in the air. I even feel I can grab rebounds. But on video, it would probably look like just bending my knees. A squat. The warm-up kind.
Testing the gravity-did-it theory
At first I seriously wondered, “Did gravity get stronger than it used to be?” I wanted it to be the Earth's problem.
It wasn't.
I had just gotten fat.
To sort it out, the culprits are as follows.
- Increased body weight: Load a ship with more cargo and it sinks. Physics
- Declined muscle strength: An engine you don't use rusts. Also physics
- Lost quickness: Between thinking “let's move” and the body moving, there's clearly more lag than before. Poor connection
So the Earth did nothing wrong. Gravity has always acted equally on everyone. It's just that the mass receiving it increased.
It's not practice. It's rehab.
While teens glide through the court, KAZUKIN whips his old body and takes shots.
It's no longer practice.
It's rehabilitation.
Even so, sweating feels good. When a shot goes in, I'm plainly happy. Even when it doesn't, I give myself a lenient call—“that was close”—and somehow enjoy it.
ほぼ飛べてないね
Summary
The body is honest.
If you don't use it, it properly declines. And if you gain weight, it's properly heavy. The output is perfectly correct for the input. Honestly, it's trustworthy.
Next time, to jump a bit higher, I'll start by making my body lighter. Probably.
Exercise really is important, huh.
KAZUKIN Rating
- 🏀 Jumping ability (self-reported) — ★★★★★
- 🎥 Jumping ability (judged on video) — ★☆☆☆☆
- 🌍 Persuasiveness of the gravity-did-it theory — ★☆☆☆☆ (it was me after all)
- 🩹 Rehab feel — ★★★★★
- 😆 Fun (all's well that ends well) — ★★★★☆