I do Movement, Part 2

Ten months on from my first ‘live’ exposure to Ido Portal and his work, I’m sitting in a plane on the way home from another four days of the Ido Portal method in Finland. I’m writing to help me make sense of my thoughts/feelings, and to perhaps offer some advice/suggestions to the uninitiated.

Last year my wife and I took both the ‘Movement X’ and ‘The Corset’ workshops, delivered by Ido and Odelia. Those four days were extraordinary, to the extent that, in the immediate aftermath, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to resume teaching Pilates. I had heard Ido on a podcast describe people crying, and saying Movement X was life changing. At the time I’d been sceptical but, depending on the degree to which you can surrender to and engage with what’s being taught, I’m certain that ‘life-changing’ is a possibility. (You can read about that first experience here).

This year we signed up to repeat ‘Movement X’ and to do the ‘Hand Balancing’ workshops. It was great to be back in Turku, and we were curious to see how different ‘Movement X’ would feel second time around – would we hear the same jokes and stories? Would the material have changed? As they arrived I instantly recognised Odelia, and in the same instant that I registered that Ido was not there, recognised John from a YouTube clip I’d seen of a jaw-dropping one-arm ring routine. I have cherished the experience with Ido and surprised myself that I didn’t feel any disappointment that he wasn’t there. (The promotional material usually makes it clear that workshops will be presented by members of the team – there’s no guarantee that Ido will be there). I knew for sure that we were in for a new experience.

The chemistry between Odelia and Ido seemed like something very special last year, and I feel very lucky that we had the chance to see and feel it in action. Of course, the combination of Odelia and John was different, and I really enjoyed Odelia leading the sessions, which hadn’t happened before. Much has been said about Odelia and her teaching before, suffice it to say that she is an extraordinary woman and a wonderful teacher – her seriousness and expectation tempered by her warmth and kindness. John is not Ido, and I can imagine that puts pressure on him sometimes. If it does, he never shows it and he teaches with the same combination of assuredness and humility that Odelia has. And to see them move……I can’t help grinning with delight when I see anyone making the difficult look easy, and there was a lot of grinning over the four days. This time I began to understand the level of commitment and dedication that is required to do what Ido’s team do. I’ve never seen anything like it, to the point that it’s almost scary how far beyond my own capacity it appears. I doubt many Olympians train this hard, and they’ve both clearly done their research and have knowledge of a wide range of disciplines and human function, biomechanics etc.

To business. It took two goes for me to see that ‘Movement X’ represents a taste of the four main spokes of the Ido Portal Method: the Corset, hand balancing, locomotion, and upper body strength. I think I was too blown away the first time around by the variety, complexity (and simplicity) and playfulness to be able to see the wood for the trees. So this is probably the place to start (and I’d recommend repeating). Time-keeping for the start of the day is strict, and not at all strict at the end of the day. Day one finished sometime after 7, day two around 8.15. Aside from 90 minutes for lunch there are no breaks, so you do A LOT of moving. My current practice means that I may do 1 hour a day, so at the end of two days I’d probably packed in two weeks worth of movement. The exhilaration only slightly diminished by the feeling of having been beaten all over (like Angelica Houston and the oranges in ‘The Grifters’, perhaps) only without noticing that it’s happening. This is down to the workshop being so well structured, and the material being high quality. Many many squats and lunges are hidden in a game – hidden because you’re so busy trying to manage all the other demands on your nervous system (“Sound is the mark of an inefficient mover”) that the game imposes. And this wasn’t the best game that we played. If you’ve attended Movement X you’ll probably know the game I’m thinking of, and if you haven’t I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

The upper body strength segment makes the most strength demands (weird!) and is also the segment when there is most scaling. There’s a way for everyone to tackle the movement and, while you may be taken well outside your comfort zone, no one is pushed beyond their limits. It’s also when it was most clear to me how much thought, experimentation and perfecting has gone into Ido’s methods of teaching, for instance, chin-ups and muscle ups.

It must be very rare that anyone attends ‘Movement X’ and isn’t asked to do something that they’ve never done before, or doesn’t discover a gap in their skills, mobility or capacity. This too is why John and Odelia are so impressive – not only do they need to be able to deliver the material but they are most likely substantially better at all of the movements involved than everyone else in the room.

It seemed like chance at the time and now I’m grateful that ‘The Corset’ was the second workshop we did, not least because the content is so broadly applicable. It’s described as something like “how to make flexible armour for your whole body”. Some of the Corset protocols appear in Movement X, and there were a lot of them included in the Hand-balancing workshop. Having some prior exposure to them felt very helpful so, in an ideal world I’d suggest Movement X first, then The Corset, then whichever of the other workshops appeals to you the most.

The Hand-balancing workshop is mostly geared toward teaching you Ido’s progressive method for gaining a 60 second freestanding handstand. Odelia will tell you that this is the best method there is, with thousands of success stories and when you see the process you will most likely believe it. Again, it’s very well structured. There were more games to play, lots of joint preparation drills to strengthen and increase range of movement, as well as a lot of time on our hands. On the morning of day two my chest and shoulders were so sore I couldn’t imagine spending any more time on my hands, but the warmup easily took care of that and a lot more time was spent on our hands – and not just in handstands. We were left with a clear program to follow, scaled according to your starting point. It will take a lot of commitment and work, but if I do commit and put the work in I’m convinced that I’ve got the tools to make it happen.

I was impressed by how many people attending the 2015 Turku workshops seemed to have very little idea of what was coming and were just ‘dipping their toe in the water’, especially those that were there like us for all four days. They were, for me, very physically demanding. And yet just the day after I feel great. Perhaps it depends on individual preference, going in blind, or doing some research. Personally I’d recommend listening to Ido’s London Real interview prior to attending, just to get a sense of the man and the philosophy that underpins the work.

Ido offers online coaching, and it’s made very clear that they only want to work with people who will make the time commitment they deem necessary. Similarly, if you turn up at one of his workshops I think he and his team have high expectations for you. If you look like you’re not giving your best you may get short shrift, but they recognise and appreciate your effort, regardless of your ability.

Of course, all the attendees influence the feel of the workshop and with all four that I’ve done I’ve been lucky to meet some wonderful people. If you’re one of them reading this, thank you, it was fun to be moving with you.

Other things I’ve learned

You can’t judge a fabulous mover by their resting posture. (Don’t believe me? Just look at cats.)

Learning, and quality teaching deserves optimum focus. Be quiet, look, and listen. (Yes, this IS hard on the afternoon of day four).

Don’t try to integrate if you can’t yet isolate.

Variables may vary but standards are non-negotiable.

Speed is something you have to earn.

Wipe; look; lift; reach; replace. (Sing it with me!)

Last words

Find a Movement X event that you can get to, and sign up. Do it!