Recently, this documentary was release. It is titled Just Move and is about Ido Portal and his teachers regarding movement.
For anyone interested in movement (and hint: everyone should be considering you move throughout your life) this is worth watching.
You can find more of the movie, as well as bonus Q&A’s and more at this link.
I first became familiar with Ido Portal years ago. While you’ll see some great examples of his skill at moving in the above video, the video below is what really captured my attention of his abilities earlier on.
Few people are going to get to the level of mastery that Ido has. Few people started young enough for that to happen. But everyone can take some ideas from this and get better.
Here’s a couple of things I took from the documentary:
“Many fitness people are the poorest movers, for the amount of time they spend on moving”
This quote from Ido is sad but true. Because most people specialize in certain types of movement, so much of that comes at a cost of other types of movement. If health is your aim, then lots fo different types of movement is number one, over any specific type of movement.
I really like the Spine Wave drill that is shown in the movie. Although I’ve done plenty of similar drills, I’ve never seen it done with a wall like this.
In addition, he discusses more typical movements, like hanging and squatting. But what is not typical in how people do them, is his recommendation to spend five to seven minutes a day doing each. While many people do these movements, they are not spending lots of time in the positions, which may be what the body really needs.
Another quote I liked:
“I challenge you to not like it when you’re good at it.”
This speaks to the learning curve. Yes, things are hard in the beginning, but he’s right. When we’re good at something we tend to like that thing. That’s why Ido loves movement. That’s why I love it too. It is getting through those first challenging stages that is what you must do.
Lot’s more is found within, so be sure to check out this film when you get a chance.