Republic of Movement

We teach movement classes in Wynwood, Miami.

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We Now Accept Bitcoin

We now accept Bitcoin. Not as a matter of convenience, but as a matter of principle, of ideology, of commitment to human evolution. 

Many people put bitcoin/blockchain currencies as opposed to cash. But… I don’t see blockchain currencies as representing a divergence from cash. Rather, blockchain currencies are an evolution (by leaps and bounds) of the infrastructure underlying our digital economy. But blockchain doesn’t need to replace cash. Cash and crypto, side by side. The best of both worlds. Crypto representing the natural evolution of digital currency, which we already use now anyways.

Blockchain currency is scary. Besides the threat of physical disconnect that may result from an internet of things, the potential to naively rely excessively on a technology. 

I have fears, strong fears, around blockchain. Two main concerns – one is that I hate to empower an internet of things. An internet of things is a… a serious existential threat: we don’t need to disconnect ourselves even further from the physical world. Secondly, and more immediate – I fear any technology that we rely excessively on, that we put excessive trust in, and that empowers a small technocratic minority.  But in a way, that’s always been the system. Maybe blockchain has the potential to take us beyond that.

Despite the fears, we have to move forward. There’s no bigger way of embracing jumps in complexity. I’m a firm believer that complexity is the best direction to move in. At the same time, don’t forget who’s on the boat on that journey… A kernel of the past, of our primal nature, should always be pulled along with us. Not just philosophically, but also to sustain our existence. Because we ARE that kernel. If we lose it, WE will become the AI of the future. 

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#miamimovementculture

Movement Culture

We grow when we practice together, inspire each other. Something special arises when people chose to share their personal evolution within a social environment, when they confront their fears and weaknesses together. The momentum of your evolution pulls mine along, and I return the favor.

And moreover… other bodies are completely critical to the growth of our movement. There’s an infinite world waiting for you in the mind and body of another human. To deal with a sack of flesh illuminated by the spark of human soul… well that’s world’s apart from performing some acrobatic or lifting a heavy barbell, isn’t it so? Ido put “Movement” and “Culture” side by side. That’s not coincidence; it’s wisdom.

Miami

And Miami… Miami is our home. It’s our playground. And anybody living here knows… Miami is unique in it’s character – the chaos and vice living hand in hand with the magic and joy and peace that only Miami can bring, saturated with the special culture that is all our own.

You can’t deny it… we’re all a product of this place, the simultaneous Vice City and Magic City. 305 ’till I die.

So let’s make it…

There’s this thing we have in our head, an impression of the future, a vision for what could be – a Miami Movement Culture. A completely singular phenomenon, unique amongst all the aggregates of human collectiveness. Our die-hard 305 identity and culture, infusing the practice that we share. A community of people who motivate you, and you motivating them in return. A tribe pushing itself up from the roots of the palm trees and limestone…

We’re movers. No need for a reason, movement is our reason… so we’re obsessed. And if you’re obsessed too, let’s be obsessed together.

Under the sun, by the sea…

Miami Movement Culture!

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Ido Portal Locomotion New York – May 19/20

Friday (5/18)

Went through my morning process- starting with a cold shower. Hard to get a good cold shower in Miami. (Lucky for me, I’m off to Rochester…) Then, some stillness/sitting practice. Been following Dudi’s instructions every morning, and the stillness becomes more and more accessible…

Aaand, off to the airport. Sage came along for the ride; when it was time to get out, it was weird leaving her 🙁

In line for the flight, a stranger began talking to me. It was an opportunity to practice not being so shy. Anyways, I love people, but it’s sometimes awkward for me to talk about random things.

In flight, a good time to experiment with binaural beats. It’s been on my mind lately. For a long time I disregarded B.B. as bullshit, but been curious. Using some sleep-oriented B.B., I’ve had some singular sleep experiences (the hypnagogia getting out of hand, and aural hallucinations as well…).

Todd/Carcara, the event host (a capoeirista who runs a facility and some events as well), picked me up from the airport and we went to his place. Meghan (Soneca) showed up (she was also hosting; she came from Pennsylvania to participate). Got into a few sets of handbalance, just alternating between Todd and I. A bit of other internal work.

When Johnny arrived, we went to the famous Wegman’s – a huge grocery store. Finally got a chance to try a recipe I’ve been curious about: dandelion greens. Well, I guess that’s not really a recipe, it’s more of an ingredient, but whatever.

Meghan and Todd exposed me to Art of War, a dice game. I won! My competitive side slithered out and soon I was making evil eyes and wishing ill fortune upon my enemies.

Saturday

Morning cold shower – got more than I bargained for! That shit was COOOOLD. But I stuck with it. By the end, felt like knives in my skin, but it does the job.

Since Johnny’s around… of course I’m going to make plantain pancakes (plancakes!), with a side of spicy sausage.

Event was at the same spot as last year, a Crossfit box. Many familiar faces, and… so many Canadians!

Spirits were high throughout. While assisting, I always start to feel “depmoved“, so I’m grateful every time Johnny asks me to demo. As he put it, after one demo that culminated in some applause, it’s not a performance, just an opportunity to sneak in some workout!

Lunch break; forewent the nap, had coffee and read. Sat down with Nick for a bit, then, back for the second session of the day. This was when participants began to feel it the most.

For dinner, I lost 2 games of Art of War 🙁 I think it actually had endocrinological effects on me).

Sunday

Another round of pancakes alongside some ground bison. Johnny exposed me to that famous chaga-coffee. I feel so hip now! But we still had real coffee afterwards. It’s a fun idea, but… I enjoy the coffee ritual.

During lunch break, played with some material that we’re sharing over the weekend. It’s always good for me to revisit the basics, from a basic perspective. After lunch, hanging out with Johnny and some coffee, talking about this and that.

Afterwards, the routine of photos and such. Always a good moment to have 1 on 1 time with participants, a human connection, even if it’s short.

Afterwards, BBQ ribs at Sticky Lips! What a place… some participants met us there, and we ate well.

Back home now… maybe tomorrow we get some sun!

Monday

We got some sun!

Johnny took me through a few partnered tasks – I failed miserably, but I’ll be chewing strongly on them with Aylin.

Before the airport, we got a coffee. Well, Johnny got two. His obsession is… intense.

Then, a park to practice. And Rochester has some NICE parks. We found a hill, and decided to work with some acrobatics. The idea of rolling down the hill escalated into some crazy ideas.

There’s something liberating and gratifying in that moment when you’re presented with some new environment or structure, and you can approach it in a way that you will grow… Liberated, because suddenly the world feels open to you. And gratifying, because you can pull something from anywhere. I went to this hill-side with a one-dimensional concept, and walked away with a refined 3 dimensional perspective.

In flight, I watched Star Wars. I didn’t grow up on S.W., so I don’t know much about it. But I was quickly, like others, interested in real-life analogues of this idea of a “force”. Except, I don’t think it’s chi, prana, energy, etc…

It’s the brain’s mapping, the way our minds create representations of the world. Our minds, through exposure, can co-opt ANYTHING. It allows us to feel what others do, their bodies, objects, space, floor…

Holding a stick extends your maps beyond your body, and so does relating to other humans, so does anticipating the floor, etc… this is a super-power available to us. These representations aren’t illusions, or irrelevant/unimportant. They shape what we can do, define how we feel. To be a person who feels through a physical stick held in the hand, is to have a different experience while holding a stick, and also to be able to produce a wider array of outcomes and consequences.

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“Movility” (beyond “Position-fetishism”)

(Disclaimer: the term “movility” here is used tongue in cheek, and is definitely not intended as a lexical solution.)

Evolution doesn’t stop as you go from flexibility to mobility.

The ability to actually move into, out of and around a position, not just in one or two scenarios but within a variety of scenarios, from a variety of other positions, across a variety of speeds, etc, is a higher level yet (shall we say… “movility”).

This perspective is less about the position itself, and more about what it connects to. You don’t get there by hyper-focusing on the element itself, by sitting and precisely articulating a single joint or pattern over and over… instead, you need to actually connect the pieces, and with variety.

You need to attack the position not as a “bridge” (a stretch of territory between two other territories), or God-forbid, as an “island”, but as a flexible “nexus”, capable of closing and opening in any direction, at any time, for any purpose. In a way, this de-emphasizes the position, and puts the attention on the system as a whole.

This is uncomfortable for us. We’re so attentive to the party tricks that we’ve become accustomed to looking for the obvious, and what’s more obvious than a snapshot in time? What’s easier to see than the position held? To see the contortionist achieve a position and hold it just long enough that our eyes can digest the most easily digestible of movement characteristics, and then move on, before the banality of position-fetishism rises to the surface of our consciousness.

The higher level is to blend…

not just to toss some ingredients together into a salad, but to homogenize a mixture, so that nothing seems separate. By destroying the acting philosophy of the party trick, and instead looking after the quality of the connectiveness. Here, we don’t see contortionism, but instead breakdancers, capoeiristas and traceurs. (But as Guatarri/Deleuze point out regarding any evolved form, these are quick to calcify and devolve).

While mobility work can be great for addressing weak links, often the weak link (from the perspective of the big picture) isn’t the mobility itself, but the connecting of the pieces. Because this sits one-plus conceptual level(s) above mobility work, it’s a bit more complex and ends up neglected – there are too many gray zones. It’s easy to create one or two connections to a position, but how do we OWN the position- connecting it to everything else?

This idea means we need to go beyond the muscular and connective tissue components; it’s not enough to think in terms of the chassis here. Instead, we go to the wet-ware – the basal ganglia and cerebellum, to the movement pattern processing functions, where context defines what we look for, and what opportunities we can carve out from the scenario.

And then, when you’ve gotten to this layer, it’s necessary to make the jump again. To integrate one level above…

This kind of approach shows up in a movement practice, but NOT in a mobility practice. Don’t get stuck combining a “mobility” practice and a “strength” practice and an “acrobatic” practice… Become the unified field phenomenon – evolve into a movement practice.

(And then, when you’ve gotten to this layer, it’s necessary to make the jump again. To integrate one level above… And no, I’m not repeating myself here.)

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A moment in Rawai (Phuket, Thailand)

I find my way past the tourists, to where the locals gather – where children engage in the purest kind of play as mothers watch, and the men work on boats and other contraptions.

As I sit before the water, as it laps against the sand, it doesn’t feel real. Rather, it seems behind a curtain. This isn’t a new feeling; whenever I try to turn to the sensory world it seems inaccessible, especially the shore with it’s shimmering. Inevitably separated…

But I think I found the brick. I dig my hands into the sand, and let it brush my nails in the way that usually disturbs me. And for a moment, it makes sense, the visual is virtual and the tactile is real, and I’m inside my body for half the half of a half of a moment.