Ido Portal rocks. And he makes me laugh. Watching his videos is very inspirational even though I can’t do a great deal of what he or the people he teaches can do. And he curses a lot so I have to watch what I show my kids. Ido Portal and his students are amazing specimens. So I take the Ido Portal lite approach. Anyone who has read the blog for any period will know that I am interested in all kinds of movement practices and exercise—walking, running, rollerblading, yoga, kickboxing etc., but who has the time for all that with two children and a business to develop? So I live vicariously through people like him and do my best to move in many ways. But…
I recently had an exchange on Facebook with a reader who sent me the video above along with another bit of amazingness from Scott Sonnen(thanks Alfredo). He wrote in response to something I had posted about alignment in wheel pose, a backbend from the yoga practice. His point was that for static poses he agreed with me but for dynamic movements he let alignment go out the window. Fair enough, but…
The adage about writing that you need to learn the rules before you break the rules applies even more so to the body and its mechanics. Very few people are taught to walk, and fewer still are taught to run. We stand up at a certain point and are left to our own devices to figure out how to move, often imitating siblings and parents who had no more guidance than we had.
Amateur and professional athletes are a different story. They are almost always schooled in the techniques of their sport though they are rarely taught anything about posture and movement patterns outside of their respective fields. This is a fact that amazes me but they also have a natural gift that mere mortals don’t, and that will often sustain them. Though a great many athletes don’t retire well, or have happy senior years, in their bodies.
Back to Ido Portal and the improper alignment speech in the video posted above. I first saw this video about a year ago and have watched it many times since, always bugging out at the crazy ankle jump thing he does.
While I love the sentiment and agree with it, I think it is important to acknowledge that no one can jump on their ankles until they are schooled in the basics of movement, especially standing and walking, and it is astounding to me how many people have no foundation upon which to build their exercise routines. You have to learn the rules before you break the rules. Or I should say you have to learn to walk before you can run.