David Fox gave the first talk, on the history of contortion, from the Pharaohs to the internet. Then Phil Lancaster, the noted trainer from England, talked about his experience and philosophy of training in contortion. I was particulary pleased to meet Phil, because I'd had contact with him over the internet for many years, and he'd given me some very valuable advice.
I gave a talk on "Pre-exhaustion - a method for rapidly stretching muscles". The talk can be downloaded as a PDF file (453 kB)
(photos by Norm Barber, with thanks). In this method the muscles are loaded very heavily and contracted against a weight, such that after only 5-6 contractions of only 1-2 cm, they unable to contract any more. Immediately the muscle is put into a strong stretch, which is held for 5 minutes. Precautions are needed (see PDF file).
We were privileged to meet Lorna Chester, the famous German contortionist (left: being interviewed by Walther Kahl), and to see a beautifully made and very moving documentary about her life. This wonderful and sensitive piece of film making stays with me still. Her stories about her life were very illuminating (and she had a surprise for us at the end of the meeting).