FIGHTING MONKEY - DIVERSITY BRINGS IMMUNITY

DIVERSITY BRINGS IMMUNITY:

So I finally get to meet Jozef frucek of Fighting Monkey. I say finally because the last time I attempted to attend a fighting monkey workshop to meet Jozef it wasn't to be. The workshop was in Prague and I managed to arrive only to find that I had left my wallet at Luton airport. I had no money, and ended up sleeping that night and spending a full day after in the airport until the next flight became available.  Since taking the time out to work on self I now handle these kind of "crisis" differently. I ask "self" what is the lesson here? So whilst at the airport I set the intention. Let's see what comes out of this, I spoke with someone at Luton and my wallet was safe for 24 hours. I sent a message to Katarina explaining the situation and then I emailed Jozef.

There is always something to learn from the experience, aside from the obvious "don't leave your wallet in the airport man" 

But what was it?

I had been looking forward to meeting Jozef as he is coming in April to coach at my signature Worrier to Warrior retreat at 42 Acres next year.  We had messaged a few times and were going to meet and discuss the work, and sadly me leaving my wallet at the airport meant that this wasn't to be.
There I am at the airport in Prague, after quite possibly the worst nights sleep, PING! I have a response from my message I had sent to Jozef

.
"Don't worry about it man, I can pick you up, lend you all the money you need and find you somewhere to stay"

Bam! that's the lesson right there, that sentence was it and to top it off Jozef then offered me a guest slot on his next workshop. So here we have a coach that is coaching from example. This is a guy I want to work and learn with, this was exactly the response I was looking for. You see there are coaches that share, and coaches that care. Then there are coaches that choose not to care and share and display primitive expressions of material ownership. The latter behaviour I have been exposed to and have observed in the past from those people who claim to be guru, very dangerous this self proclamation. The expression "guru" should not be self proclaimed. 

With the Caring & Sharing box ticked I book my slot:

The next workshops was held at Elite Athlete in Antwerp and there were to be a number of my good friends, and a number of faces I could put to Facebook Faces attending.  Andy Myers, Ben Medder and Rolando Avenza were to be my house mates as we rented an apartment from airbnb. The fact I was staying with friends was exciting enough.  I had joked with the guys that this could be a new trend, a great way to spend a lads weekend. And something we should try to arrange more often.  The Fighting Monkey morning had arrived, and with it, workshop excitement had come. I had that Christmas morning feeling.  

We arrive at the venue and I already had that feeling. You know that feeling when all the conditions are just right, and it's turning into that perfect storm. The place is filled with movers eager to get going. If you see us in any other setting you would think that we have a form of movement Tourette's; Movers are tweaking, twitching, mobilising, hand balancing, hanging and generally pacing up and down in anticipation. 

"I am always in the right place at the right time."

There are coaches that share, and coaches that care. Then there are coaches that choose not to and display primitive expressions of material ownership. The latter behaviour I have been exposed to and observed in the past from those people who claim to be guru, very dangerous this self proclamation. The expression "guru" should not be self proclaimed. Personally I feel that nature is thy guru.

For me there is only room in my listening heart, for an open, honest, caring, sharing and free of ego approach of coaching. There are teachers, that teach and there are those that you choose to learn from. Jozef 's teaching encompasses all from the very beginning,  from the way he handled me missing the last workshop (my own mistake not his responsibility) and then from start to finish on the fighting monkey workshop.

There were so many pearls of wisdom from Jozef, which I enjoyed just as much as the movement practice. This is a guy that has completed a huge apprenticeship. There were system theory moments when I felt another old friend and teacher that I deeply respect Nicholas Romanov coming through. I thought how I would love for them to meet and exchange their systems thinking knowledge bombs. 

From a nature and systems theory approach our coaching philosophies are very much aligned and it is so nice to hear the same messages presented from another source. I believe that people come into our lives for a reason. I am convinced of this, it is all aligned really, we just have to "trust the process". It is the words "trust the process" that I first see at the workshop drawn up on the huge black board of a coaching wall at the venue. These very words came to me in an Ayahuasca ceremony I attended in Ibiza back In May. The message I received; "respect the process, trust the process and above all be patient whilst in the process". 

DIVERSITY BRINGS IMMUNITY

Jozef first gains my learning ear when he hits on something that I am very passionate about; teaching by example and living it. How he teaches his children through his own human practice. Preparing them and giving them the skill sets they need, so they do not need him for their future survival. Also accepting young children and the elderly as our teachers. Boom, this is something that resonates even deeper with my own teaching. This is the way of the elder, to teach from the depth of the experience.  Jozef discusses preparing ourselves for later life "this is our primal training, is it going to serve you for the future, if not why are you doing this, you have just this time" (something I learnt from Nicholas Romanov as an overlapping theory) 

There are so many great coaching cues, as well as scientific facts learnt over the period of this weekend, that I simply can't possibly do it justice with this Blog post. But what I can say is if you want to improve, gain, grow, rewild, debunk, demystify and find a better sense of purpose then whenever a fighting monkey workshop is in town, be sure to book yourself a spot. You really won't be disappointed, and I am not just talking from a movement perspective. This is for a life learning experience that will stand the test of time.

Here are some details of course content, and this is only 50% of the lessons you will learn. I promise you that It is in the breaks, and the brief moments of kneeling silence that the remainder will be learnt.

What is Fighting Monkey:

From the Fighting Monkey events page:

Fighting Monkey is a platform on which we are testing various movement situations in which practitioners can improve their adaptive mobility in creative way. Prevent or heal their injuries, improve their performance and understand better how they function and what is their individual style.

We are specialised in designing irregular training methods; cultivating a self-organized, adaptive system that provokes more creative variability to challenging situations (public exposure, competition, rehabilitation etc…)

We compose movement situations that we co-create with each group or individual based on their specific skills. So each athlete, mover can find his own movement solutions to given task to re-enforce their own development and understanding on “who they are, and how they can improve their training methods to evolve their game”.

Reshaping neuromuscular patterns, rebuilding memories, evaluating perception, observation and movement co-ordinations in relation to dynamic ever changing environment in which they operate. Learning about improvisation and creativity in mostly stressful and demanding environment.

Movement situations that you will encounter in seminar will help you to see and evaluate your

Situational tactics/ creative responses to given obstacles and challenges.

Understanding basic movement blocks from which you can cultivate a self-organized, adaptive system.

How to work with motion that involves multi-plane multi-joint co-ordinations

How to recognize poor motor skills to prevent or diminish potential future injuries.

Using 180 continuous squatting system to enhance strength and power of feet, knees, hip and lower back.

Reshaping neuromuscular patterns, rebuilding memories, evaluating perception, observation and movement co-ordinations in relation to dynamic ever changing environment in which they operate. Learning about improvisation and creativity in mostly stressful and demanding environment.
Movement situations that you will encounter in seminar will help you to see and evaluate your
Situational tactics/ creative responses to given obstacles and challenges.
Understanding basic movement blocks from which you can cultivate a self-organized, adaptive system.
How to work with motion that involves multi-plane multi-joint co-ordinations
How to recognise poor motor skills to prevent or diminish potential future injuries.
Using 180 continuous squatting system to enhance strength and power of feet, knees, hip and lower back.

We will challenge you with various ‘movement situations’ to examine and test: 

Your movement abilities - and your perception.

Your capacity to remain soft, adaptable and functional in the face of difficulty and danger. 

Our aim is to cultivate a physical structure able to tolerate the turbulence of life. 

An EARTHQUAKE ARCHITECTURE.

They are vital to PROBLEM SOLVING.

Which is vital to ADAPTABILITY, LONGEVITY and SUSTAINABILITY.

Thank you Jozef and Lubo for creating a great learning experience. I look forward to our experience together at 42 Acres Somerset when the Warrior initiations retreat begin and maybe we might hook up at christmas in Slovakia.

Take Responsibility to Re-Wild your Physical Self.

I recently attended the screening of Project Wild Thing at the Chain Store, hosted by Dan Edwardes. Dan is a founding member and executive director of parkour generations

This was to be my first visit to the chain store and I wanted to arrive a few minutes early to have a look around.  I was the first to arrive, which meant Dan and I had a few minutes to chat.  We have similar opinions about movement and are both enthusiastic about getting the young to move.  Dan and I discuss the project wild thing predicament and how little time children actually spend playing outside. 

I had said it seemed that we are about to have a huge shift in paradigm. Dan highlights that this might just be the bubble we are living in, and the harsh reality is that kids really are suffering from natures deficit disorder. 

So children simply aren't spending enough time in nature, links are being made to ADHD, depression, anxiety and much more based on the lack of interaction with nature. But it seems to run deeper than that, this would be outdoor deficit disorder, where children are actually spending only a small % of their time outside.

The Project Wild Thing screening premise:

Filmmaker David Bond is a worried man. His kids' waking hours are dominated by a cacophony of marketing, and a screen dependence threatening to turn them into glassy-eyed zombies. Like city kids everywhere, they spend way too much time indoors - not like it was back in his day.

He decides it's time to get back to nature – literally.

So David becomes the marketing director for nature and has to make nature more desirable to his children. As the film progresses he discovers that this isn’t just about his own kids, and moves to the wider audience of children in general. 

This is a concept that I am all too familiar with,  but something we have never had to battle with our own children with.  Playing in nature is the last thing I would struggle to ask them to do. 

But how, how can it be so different for other children?

You will be familiar with the term "be the change you want to see in the world" how about "be the change you want the next generation to be in the world.

I see this with our daughters Lola and Millie A.K.A  #StrongLola and #MightyMillie A.K.A #TheRiddlekids. We wanted them to absorb natural information, to nurture them, and help them survive, thrive and flourish.  So at the very beginning of life they had natural births, and were carried in slings and not carry seats, they had breast milk not farmed industrialised formula. They slept in our bed and still do (co-sleeping). When they learnt to eat, we followed the idea that they should learn texture and colour and develop enzymes and not consume anything inflammatory.  Now they only eat good organic food that we trust from a good source and organ meats that are either wild or grass fed. We ditched the sofa and adopted ground living to encourage a solid foundation and keep their movement pure. They have spent all their lives either barefoot or wearing barefoot footwear. We decided against conventional schooling and they are now flourishing beautifully within the un-schooling philosophy.  

What's my point?

If you stay at home, slouched on the couch,  zombie eyed, fixated on a screen; be it a TV, mobile phone, tablet or laptop, then your child will want to mimic this behaviour. You are their representative of the world, and who they will choose to emulate. The child is a reflection of your own behaviour. If you the parent spend your free time out with your children discovering nature and playing in the woods, then this is the behaviour they will choose to emulate,  pretty logical right?

This of course carries over into all areas of a child's development, nature goes in, natural comes out.  

I wish this really was just about movement out in nature or even just that stroll in the park. The bigger picture is much more daunting.  The reality is that movement is just one part of the physical self to be addressed. In my opinion our role is to pass on vital knowledge on a physical, social and spiritual level. It is our duty as the marketing directors of nature,  tribal elders of survival wisdom, parents or teachers to become successful in each one of these environments so that successful knowledge is passed on to the next generations.

Perhaps the solution:

Remove a Human animal from its natural habitat and it will become a Worrier; suffering physically, socially, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. Replace the Human animal back into its natural habitat with natural movement, natural foods, natural rest and natural sleep and with the right knowledge it will begin to heal and return back to Warrior.

The Real PE...

Our role as physical successful self teachers isn't just about taking our children out to kick a ball, or to play on the playground. This philosophy runs much much deeper than that.  A whole "how to" education of physical self is what is needed. A re-wilding in how to breath, how to heal in the sun, how to move in nature,  how to play, how to get stronger in sleep, how to rest, how to make human contact, how to eat for your cells, how to digest and how to drink real water.

But surely this all comes natural to us, right?

The truth is that it takes a huge amount of skill to be a human animal in the modern world. The blue ring represents our physical foundation and each element offers nutrition to keep us in a state of growth. If one of these Physical self elements is out, then that particular element is starved of nutrients and the emotional balance is out.  This is a whole education, it is also an education which should have already been passed down from generation to generation.  Through the current schooling educational system people can become experts on so may levels and can present you with the most incredible useless facts. 

But how do I become educated to deliver this wonderful gift and become an expert of SELF growth? 

There are so many great sources of information out there, but there are also so may conflicting views too.  Personally I have spent many years refining my own filter.  I have been gaining knowledge from my teachers and wisdom from my own experiences.  

In searching for the truth to develop and communicate a system of coaching to enable us interdependently to grow as one, I arrived at an understanding of what my true quest is; to transform Worriers into Warriors, by keeping what should come natural to us natural, what is compromised returned back to, or as close to nature as can be, to enable, and to support future growth. 

Through this philosophy I have helped many of all abilities and ages discover their true capabilities, resulting in strong, healthy, positive, mindful and connected people, who are now responsible and can communicate that same message for future growth. 

My quest to transform Worriers into Warriors now has a home at 42 Acres in somerset.  Combining this developed philosophy for optimal health; physically, socially and spiritually, with the strong sense of tribal community at 42 Acres, great transitions towards growth are being made.  

We of course are not alone, there are other fabulous retreats like our friends at wild fitness that are on the same rewilding healing path. There are many places like ours that you can attend to fully submerge yourself in the rewilding philosophy. 

You can attend talks or listen to podcasts, one podcast in particular I like and recommend you listen to is By Daniel Vitalis. http://www.danielvitalis.com/rewild-yourself-podcast/  

There are also movement classes that will introduce you to like minded people with the same rewilding , bigger picture view point.  I can only recommend people that I have worked with personally and 100% believe in; so If you're in London I highly recommend Ben Medder’s movement class  - if in Dublin Andy Myers classes  - if in Denmark try Benjamin Buus' class  - if in Berlin Joseph Bartz 

Alternatively you can always pick any one of the elements within the physical foundation and do your own research and become your own expert.  To register for my "Wise Move News Letter" or to register for "Worrier to Warrior" Coaching,  talks, workshops or retreats

Taking responsibility for yourSELF.