In person with Tenco Movement.
I recently attended my first ever Contortion class titled Extreme Flexibility Training and wow did that class by the very meaning of that description deliver. I want to share my experience by diving a little deeper into the mind of James, founder & commander and chief of Tenco Movement.
Harriet
My glutes are still on fire, literally 3 days after! I didn't expect a Contortion class to be like that and how strength based it was. I was totally expecting something different, like folding into a box. How did you get into Contortion and then onto teaching it?
James
I am so glad you came and enjoyed your 1st Contortion class. I was practicing Contortion movement alongside Hatha yoga for the last 4 years after 8 years of teaching Bikram yoga, progressive Hatha yoga and 3/4th series Ashtanga. I found going into my 40's that my body needed more stability and strength in my muscles to stabilise back bending and Handstands where yoga really concentrates on a flow of flexible postures moving in such different directions of the spine most of the time bypassing the strength element, so it was getting harder for my body to keep pace heading into my 40's.
Harriet
I've taken loads of yoga classes and haven't missed a day of practicing mobility work over the years, yet my back and hips haven't felt as open as they did post class - extreme flexibility training. Why am I noticing such a difference?
James
One of the huge differences between Contortion practice and Hatha yoga is the time we spend warming the body from the front side aka the wrists ,hips , lower abs to prepare for the backbends. One of the challenges of yoga is that it can be too fast with an endless flow of postures to get through. Typically, yoga is dominated from the back of the body which unless your body is versed in that movement it can put undue pressure into the spine and shoulders or by the very nature of something like vinyasa can be fast at times so you need to deal with decent agility and mobility to switch to and from postures. This Contortion practice is based around three things. Back bending, arm balances and hand balancing, through a never ending journey of discovery and body contouring possibilities where we move in the movement but stay put developing the strength so we can fully maximise our back bending potential.
I think you liked the corkscrew in the lunge right to split and the tick Tocks?
Harriet
Yes!! that lunge was a complete game changer, after stretching the hip through the lunge technique you taught, I manged to reach a depth I haven't managed before, and it felt super square. I've since practiced every day and I'm almost on the floor with good form. What's the technique behind that?
James
The hips are everything! My contortion coach and extraordinaire Jonathan Nosan trained at Cirus School in San Francisco in the last 70's under Master Lyui and under Chinese contortion lineage everything weight bearing comes from the front with weight into the hips. The hips can take the most weight in the body so the lower back and extension from the lower abs up to the sternum will feel like a dream when we come to those beautiful waterfalls and backbends, arm balances and handstands. Everything is in the hips. They really don't lie.
Yes , the tik Tocks are great fun and actually a huge cardio vascular boost the system as well as incredible spinal condition.
Harriet
You are also a food coach. How did that evolve as part of your business?
James
I was heavy into body building from my mid 20's to 32 where I started to break nutrition down to the bare bones and test out where I could really push food to enhance and develop my body through proteins, carbs and fats, timings and quantities of food. I used to write people programs free of charge as my food schedules seem to work and theirs didn't. Fast forward 10 years I lived in America and started food coaching for real, writing programs and mind maps for people who wanted to lose weight. It got so popular that I developed a program on the website that you can buy that has helped 100's of people around the world in sort and organise how to eat in accordance with their movement practice.
Harriet
Where can people find you?
James
Right here at www.tencomovement.com or take my class either online or on Saturdays!
This man is a genius!