the internal fountain of youth

Juan Ponce de Leon was the early 15th century conquistador famous for his quest of the legendary Fountain of Youth. Rather than searching through Florida, he should have tried searching within the body for better results.

According to Tom Myers, author of Anatomy Trains, the body ages because of dehydration of the fascia (the connective tissue) in the body. The fascia loses its elasticity. To rehydrate the fascia (get water back into the tissue), we need MOVEMENT.

Most of us "keep sending water to the same places" because we follow the same movement patterns. So movement must be varied. Myers also warns against heavy exercise without rest periods. This squeezes water out of the tissue and may lead to fascial injury. Rest allows the tissue to rehydrate.

Ruthie Alon's Movement Nature Meant is a good start for daily mobility of the whole body.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only.

Are you Aging or Just Drying Out -- Tom Myers

above photo: Iquito Plaza de Armas, Peru by "AgainEric"

cartwheels for the not-so-happy-go-lucky

We associate cartwheels with gymnasts, cheerleaders, kids, and happy-go-lucky people. But you don't have to be any of these to learn how to do one decently.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

How to do a Cartwheel for Beginners by GMB Posse

photo above by Aaron Fulkerson, coutesy of Wikimedia Commons

"classic old school footage"

"I suppose you might've thought that all I'm interested in is wild animals, and birds, and flowers, and trees...like that. But we forget that we human beings are also animals, and incidentally, one of the most graceful...."

"Well, there's a chap who needs a little help to get up to the rings, but that's alright. That's allowable."

-- Narrated by John Kieran, Human Grace -- Gymnastics 1952

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

photo above courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

natural running

There's more to natural running than just naturally putting one foot in front of the other.

Natural running improves running efficiency and reduces impact and injuries. Notice the knee is slightly bent when the foot lands on the ground.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Principles of Natural Running with Doctor Mark Cucuzzella

Photo above: Statue of Shirley Strickland outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Sculptor: Louis Laumen.

functional schmunctional

All the buzz is about functional movement. Functional schmunctional. We should want more than functional movement. We should want fun movement, which is always functional. Adapt an environment for play. An empty room will do. 

In the video below is a performance on the cyr wheel, invented in the 19th century and typically made of aluminum tubes and coated with PVC.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Billy George Cyr Wheel Training

natural movement philosophy explained

Why do we turn to boring "hamster wheels" for movement? Do we no longer trust ourselves to move adaptively to a natural environment? Do we think of our bodies in terms of isolated components as in a man-made mechanical machine, instead of as living organisms?

Erwin Le Corre and Vic Verdier of MovNat teach how to reconnect to our human animal natural movements in nature. The two videos below explain the natural movement philosophy and contrast it with the "human zoo exercises" we do at the gym.  

"The rejection of animality is a rejection of nature as a whole." -- Paul Shepard

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

MovNat presentation at NASA by MovNat

Generalist vs. Specialist by Flow

photo on top of page and caption by "Zorba the Geek," courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

"Side by side, rusting and rotting. Laid to rest alongside each other, these two dissimilar objects, one man-made, one natural, are following their parallel paths to dissolution. The salt in the estuarial water is attacking the old pipe while it is possibly delaying the rot of the old trunk. Compare the subtleties of Nature's work to the plainness of Man's." 

the ukemi sushi roll

The delicious ukemi sushi roll? Well, not quite. Although the ukemi is a roll brought to us from Japan, it's not a sushi roll. Ukemi is the Japanese word to mean a controlled falling of the body, which encompasses rolling.

The ukemi style of rolling is safer than a gymnastics roll and is taught in Aikido and Parkour. Unlike a gymnastic roll, you don't roll on the spine from head to tailbone. This is dangerous on hard surfaces. In an ukemi, you roll diagonally on a soft tissue pathway from the back of your shoulder to the opposite hip, and there is a rebounding from the ground.

To easily roll, curl your body like a ball (or a sushi roll). Tuck in your chin and tilt your head so that you're looking under the armpit of the opposite side of the shoulder you're rolling on.

The video below demonstrates an Aikido mae ukemi (forward roll) and a ushiro ukemi (back roll). When learning a movement, research it thoroughly. Helpful for me were also these videos found in youtube: Ryan Doyle's Parkour Tutorial Roll, LaFlair Parkour's Parkour Roll Tutorial, and Amos Rendao's series on the Roll Tutorial -- Parkour Ukemi.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Aikido Ukemi: Meeting the Mat

photo of sushi by Stacey Spensley, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

jump start the body

In "halleluJUMP," we looked at how to do a vertical jump. The mechanics to jump forward are a little different. Here's some pointers in the following tutorial: 

Lean forward to initiate the jump and swing the arms back (before the push)

Don't bend the legs too deeply for a more powerful explosion

Drive the knees up and swing arms forward for more propulsion

Bring feet in front of you for landing. Aim for accuracy of landing. 

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Standing Jump | How to Flow (ep. 4)

And for the free spirited, there's the jumpstyle dance....

yes, your grace

Your Grace: "Can everyone move with grace, including big fellas like me?"

play bodies: "Yes, Your Grace."

Your Grace: "How can I learn this?"

play bodies: "By moving the same way practitioners of Tai Chi and Qi Gong move.... "

Your Grace: "Stop beating around the bush or off with your play bodies head!"

play bodies: "Tai Chi and Qi Gong practitioners move slowly, Your Grace. Their arms and legs appear to float in the air. Nothing is rushed or hurried. They don't just go through the motions, they feel the motions."

Your Grace: "Anything else?"

play bodies: "Yes, Your Grace. The more you practice a movement pattern mindfully, the more graceful your movements will become."


We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Kuan Yin Standing Qi Gong (part 1 and 2) -- Shen Zhen

Portrait of Henry VIII by Hans Holbein the Younger (1539-1540)

Henry VII was the first monarch of England to not be called "Your Grace."

bad word! bad word!

BAD WORDS:

1. training
2. exercise
3. workout
4. processed food
5. discipline
6. stationary bike / stair master / elliptical trainer
7. calories
8. cardio


GOOD WORDS:

1. moving
2. play
3. playout*
4. real food
5. blissipline*
6. outdoors
7. movement skills
8. swim, run, climb, jump

* credit to the Zenkahuna

Who is the Zenkahuna? Watch here, as he performs an advanced version of the plow pose. Note the weight is on the shoulders, not the neck.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

How to do the bodyweight rolling plow with the Zenkahuna

keep those socks on

"Now is the time for all good men (and women) to" slide. Slide?

Just like for the squat, jump, and locomotion, no equipment is required. All you need is open space on a surface you can slide on (hardwood, or linoleum, or tile floor).

Here's a double feature on fun ways to slide. Don't forget to breathe.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Pommel Horse: variations on hanumanasa by TajYoga

The other side of abdominal training by Global Bodyweight Training

photo above by Tony Alter, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

location, location, location

move, move, move 

is to the body as

location, location, location

is to real estate

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

handstand, crab, and swivel flow by marlo Fisken

above photo by Mike Dodman, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

dump the yoga mat!

Yes, you read that right. Throw away the yoga mat! Not because it stinks or has holes. Throw it away because it confines you to a small space. Why limit movements of your limbs to the frontal and sagittal plane? Go outside and play with your hatha yoga in the dry grass or beach. Broaden your yoga self-practice with movement in all planes, encompassing 360 degrees. Create your own flow with contralateral, ipsilateral, rotational, and even explosive movements.

If  you suffer separation anxiety from your mat or must do yoga indoors, then expand your space with more than one mat.

Freedom is found in open space.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

mad love by Megan Currie

halleluJUMP!

"Love to see when ya move in the rhythm; I love to see when you're dancin' from within!"
-- Bob Marley

Squat. Jump. Squat.

But don't jump ahead of yourself, first learn how to squat properly and be sure to have full hip and ankle mobility.

Here's a great tutorial on how to jump from a squat for the vertical jump. Notice the thighs in the squat position are parallel to the ground, not lower as in a full squat position.  I would add to land on the balls of your feet before bringing the heels onto the ground.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Jump Techniques by GMB Posse

Once you got that, throw in the soundtrack.

30 bananas a day?

Do you eat 30 bananas a day? Some people actually do. Why would someone eat so much of this hybrid fruit? Ideally, we should eat from a wide variety of sources of natural and nutritional food, especially those found in the wild.

Variety is not only the answer to eating, it is also the answer to moving. However, the majority of us limit locomotion to a linear fashion (biking, running, walking).

Ido Portal, a widely respected natural mover, wrote, "In a linear culture where everything around you is comprised of straight lines and angles, it is only natural we drifted in this direction in our movement and physical culture. I like the efficiency of linear work, but without organic movement, it loses its meaning. This is what we train for."

In the below video, he demonstrates.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Locomotion Research by Ido Portal

photo of bananas by Keith Pomakis, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

be the pendulum

Few things have remarkably changed the life of mankind like the invention of the pendulum to mark time -- that is, the clock. Before the clock, the rhythm of life moved about according to the rhythm of nature. There was a season to plant, a season to harvest, and so on. But with the introduction of the clock, life became regimented into small spaces of time, such that it would take about 8 units, called seconds, to complete a deep breath.

Our lives in the modern world are governed by the clock, now in digital form. It is not a stretch to say we are slaves to it, measuring productivity by the minute.

To come back to play, we must put away the clock. Return to experience life in its natural rhythm.

Here in this video of body movement, we are the pendulum.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Video by movefitness.us

Above photo of grandfather clock courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

mobility first

"To avoid predators, De Brazza's monkeys may remain immobile for hours at a time." 

Photo and caption by Aaron Logan, taken at L.A. Zoo (Wikimedia Commons)

We don't have the same excuse. Mobility should come first in our training priorities. What is the point of too much strength training on tight muscles? Mobility is the key that unlocks stiff muscles and fascia.

For shoulder, scapular, and hip mobility in a gentle flow, watch this video.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Flow Movement by Marlo Fisken

The invisible kettlebell

Go ahead and look silly!  Do a "Naked" Turkish Get Up -- not to be confused with doing a Turkish Get Up naked. The "Naked" Turkish Get Up is a Turkish Get Up performed with an empty hand. It  is a safe and effective way to learn how to do the Turkish Get Up. Once your body has formed a "movement memory" for the proper technique, then you're ready to use a real kettlebell.

Below is a nice video demonstration of the empty hand variation. For verbal instructions on the Turkish Get Up, see Pat Flynn's 'How to do a Turkish Get Up' video on youtube.

 "To become full one must first become empty." -- Lao Tzu

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

"happiness come back I say." -- Bob Marley

As adults, we seek happiness in all the wrong places. As children, we never sought happiness. It came automatically. It came with love and play. We have not forgotten love, but we have forgotten play. Return to play.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Bioginastica, Metodo Orlando Cani

think with your feet!

Why should you know how to climb a trunk of a tree, even if you don't want to climb one?

Well, you never know if on some unfortunate day a pit bull charges at you and bites your ass if don't climb that tree nearby.

Maybe cats have nine lives because they're great tree climbers.









Here's a video tutorial on climbing a tree bare handed. Key concepts:
1. don't look down
2. think with your feet for powering up or down
3. wrap legs and arms around tree
4. place core and hips into the tree

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

photo by "IvanPit" courtesy of wikimedia commons. 

the parkour bench

Play begins in the mind. This play in the mind is what we call imagination. If we look upon an object without imagination, we can only perceive its function by design. But the mind in play will create new functions for the same object. As in the case for this video, a bench is not just a bench to sit or lie upon.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

never too old to play

"In organic life, movements are circular and serpentine. We grow up thinking of movement in terms of straight lines, denying not only the expression to our body but also permission to our minds to imagine the full dance." -- Ruthy Alon

If I had to pick only one video on movement, Ruthy Alon's Movement Nature Meant would be it. The soft movements, which are learned intuitively, relax the nervous system. It can also be used as a warm-up. Here it is broken up in 4 parts.

You are never too old to take on a beginner's mind and play.

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

how to be a wild swinger

Admittedly, playbodies.com sounds like it could be porno website. We are not altogether far from it in one sense; we are swingers...monkey style, in fact.

Here's a good sample video on arm swinging. Or, if you prefer the fancier term, brachiation. You can also find a series of short videos about this on the movnat channel in youtube. 

Dewey Nielsen's list of Brachiating Basics (on a bar)

1. linear swing

2. lateral swing

3. lateral swing -- hand off

4. linear traverse -- bent arm

5. lateral traverse -- bent arm

6. linear traverse -- swinging

7. lateral traverse -- swinging

But before you swing, listen to Dewey, who teaches us to develop strong scapular muscles before swinging. The second video shows you how.

Reminder: We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

Dewey Nielsen's list of Scapular Hanging Progressions (on a bar)

1. bar hang (notice shoulder packing)

2. bar hang -- knees tucked

3. bar hang -- L sit

4. bar hang -- arching (credit to the movement genius, Ido Portal)

5. one arm bar hang

we don't know squat!

But toddlers do know squat.

Adults in the modern world struggle to remain in a flat footed, low squat position only for a minute. Our bodies have become too domesticated from years of sitting on chairs for hours each day.

Squating is a foundational movement to "re-wild" our bodies.

Here's a great instructional video on a progression toward the flat footed, full squat. Funny how he explains how bad sitting is for us while he's sitting. But let's give the guy a break. At least he can do a full squat for an entire minute!

Reminder: Do not squat if your knees buckle in (valgus).

We document and share a catalog of movements. This blog and the videos are for entertainment purposes only. Please seek guidance from a certified instructor to be sure you move with proper biomechanics and safety.

The Flat Footed Squat: Human's Natural Rest Position by Daniel Vitalis