My fourth time in the wind tunnel in Eloy, Arizona I decided to absolutely maximize my time. I had moved from Arizona to California and back again so it was somewhat like coming home. It was just me and the instructor so when I was not in the tunnel the instructor got to play around a bit allowing me to see additional things that were yet to come.
The sport of skydiving is most certainly benefited and supplemented from the increase in physical fitness and coordination gained inside a wind tunnel. I was under the impression initially that the goal was to be able to do all of the moves within the tunnel quickly and efficiently whereas I started to learn that where the true benefit of the sport is in the fine-tuned control. It makes sense. No skydiver wants to be around someone that could at any moment lose control and generate a dangerous situation for everyone. The ability to hold positions and adjust one’s position in the air inching to and fro is difficult to achieve at first and then muscle memory starts to kick making it much easier to perform.
I learned various ways to spin around using arms at first, then knees, and essentially the entire body. You can whip around incredibly quickly, which is both fun yet potentially dangerous for anyone that is near. It is pretty great to be able to whip around, stop, and then whip around in the other direction. I started to get the feel for it a bit more and was able to feel a bit freer inside the tunnel. By the end of the session I was able to essentially think about where I wanted to go and by body would adjust to get me there. Accelerating directly forward and backward took some time to get the hang of but it was certainly fun trying.
There was a moment when I did something that was sort of ridiculous and I opened my mouth to smile and a vertical stream of drool ran up the side of my face. It was absolutely hilarious. The best part was that about 3 seconds later my face was dry by the fast moving Arizona desert air.
I know of no other sport where the health and fitness benefits are so well put together into a workout that does not even seem like a workout. The wind tunnel is physically demanding and by the end of the session a little fatigue is felt but it is just so much fun and natural that I think that humans should have wings. Orienting up, down, left, right, front, back, and turns can be combined to do almost anything you want. What a great challenge of coordination.