In The Words Of Karl Gotch Regarding Bodyweight Training And The Evolution Of Animal Movement Training

"Go back to nature and you'll find that animals in the wild are in the greatest of shape because they use their own bodyweight and stretching." That's what the old man said in Conditioning For Combat Sports as he narrates while his student Tom Puckett demonstrates the squats, jumpers and rope skipping. Although he preferred conditioning exercises from the wrestlers in the Middle East, it still doesn't take away how profound his words were to how animals are as strong, conditioned and powerful as they are. 

The profound impact knowing that the greatest teacher when it comes to natural exercise is nature itself. After studying and training on the teachings of Gotch and those that came after, it become an evolutionary transition from the pushups, squats, bridges, handstands and pulling exercises to the animal movements that have shaped my philosophy on fitness and it's history through physical application. It wasn't about moving away 100% from those exercises I learned at first but to generate interest and going down a path that led me to my all time favorite form of training. 

Sometimes words in a complete sentence are more than just letters put together or phrasing something that is simple. What I took from Gotch's words after really hearing them and interpretating them to my own goals and journey, it became clear that this is what I was meant to learn. I didn't really get into the animal stuff till I was 23-24 which was around 2008 and getting Ed Baran's Animal Kingdom Conditioning course at the time. This gave me the foundation for what these last 14 years of doing this specific style of training. Sure I did other things along the way and always experimenting but animal movement always pulls me back in and I can't help but do it. 

The more I got sucked into the physicality of animal moves, the more I wanted to learn from other places and how they interpret this style of fitness. Some of it is weird and some seemed like a rip off or taking one thing and morphing it into something else but the one place that takes those exercises and shaped them into an all-around athletic endeavor was Vahva Fitness. Eero Westerberg & Samuli T. Jyrkinen have taken bits and pieces of some of the very best teachings and molded them into their style that just keeps evolving. When you learn the true aspects of the course Movement 20XX there are similarities with the style of Animal Flow, Gold Medal Bodies, Primal Movement, MovNat but Vahva took them and shaped them to create something beautiful and incredible to watch and learn. 

Eero is a Finnish Trainer that's roughly in his 30's I believe. Although young and has a model type look, his enthusiasm and incredible athleticism is just unbelievable and can move with such power yet limberness. He's a poster boy for the current ideas on animal movement training but I say that with great sincerity. He can do some incredible things and have learned quite a bit from him by observing and testing out his style of training. Some of it is way to advanced for me and can't jump even 20% of what he can do (100% chance knowing that we're about 60-80 lbs apart and our way of moving is different) but I take in what he teaches and experiment with my knowledge and physicality. He utilizes old school methods in a modern setting that blends the two worlds together. 

Like him, I've taken bits and pieces of things and shaped them to my goals and have done pretty well with them. Is he the end-all-be-all? Hell no, nobody is but I love his passion for this stuff and continues to work hard on making the most of what the human body is capable of doing. Of course not everyone is able to move like him or be able to do everything he's capable of, fuck I wish I had half of his ability and I'd be happy but we all come in different shapes and sizes, move and train differently and go at different speeds of progression. As we age, we may not even move 65-70% of what we use to do but we can make a difference in how we shape ourselves physically and mentally. Train in ways that aren't the norm and explore our capabilities without risking our health. 

The quote in the first sentence of this article for me has evolved to exploring my body in ways I wasn't doing even in my teens and my 20's. At 38, I'm finding more and more ways to move like a beast in the wild or even format my own flexibility and agility. I'm losing weight, gaining strength through awkward movements, progressing little by little with my coordination and everyday is a chance to have fun and play. From a fitness stand point, there's no way of knowing what will happen and what will come next. All I know is, there's a whole universe to explore and the road just keeps going on.  

Be strong, get wild and be amazingly awesome. 

The BIG 500

For those that haven’t read or counted, this is officially the 500^th article written for Power & Might. For some 500 doesn't seem much in certain standards but to most, 500 is a golden number among elite groups of people in popular culture such as sports, exercise, books and in Television. In sports like baseball you hear the gold standard for a big-time power hitter is 500 homeruns. In Exercise there are 500 reps of an exercise like squats and push-ups, in weightlifting there’s the 500 lbs. mark in top lifts like the Bench, Squat & Deadlift. This number is significant to me because it marks a long and enduring journey to get better and provide quality articles for you guys.

            I’ve been honored to have had some very distinct and incredible guest writers throughout the years and although the number is small, it still has had a big impact on this site. From Strongmen, Martial Artists, Expert in Isometrics, World Renowned Physical Culturists and a young man that is making his mark in Physical Culture faster than most I've ever seen. You guys are my inspiration and tremendous athletes in your own way. Thank you for all you've done and continue to do. I've been friends with every one of these people and I’m grateful you took the time to help build this site because I love helping others out and give them exposure in another way.

            Some people look at my site as just a series of articles but to the untrained eye, they go far beyond that. I take a different approach to how things look to me and I know for damn sure I've offended someone but you know what so be it. The evolution of Power & Might is a great one. I don’t like boasting about what I do but I’m damn proud of what it has become and what will continue to grow in the future. This site gives you a variety of choices from top quality experts in their field and it provides insight that a lot of other sites are too damn scared to write. Some are controversial, some are funny, some are spiritual and others have a mystery to them that only those that read them can recite them in their own way. I don’t look for people to read and follow my advice, I want people to read these articles and find their true calling within themselves that give them the strength to follow their own path. Yes I’ am opinionated but it’s because I see so much out there that isn't written and needs to be.

            500 entries is a lot for one site and yet it continues to evolve and at times take on a life of its own. I want to inspire future writers whether they write blogs or books or whatever and help them find the one thing we all strive to get; seen. I’m no millionaire by any stretch, I’m not a professional athlete or a celebrity but what I’ am is a man who loves to train and share various philosophy, spirituality and exercise that gives even the weakest person hope that there is something you can do to make your life better. I can write up anyway I want but the true inspiration I get is from people of all walks of life all over the world, that’s what I strive for is to help you be better than yesterday and help you on the road to your own success.

            Thank you all for who have read, listened, commented and shown love for this wonderful place. It is a safe haven for anyone who is willing to take a chance and become stronger, healthier, more vibrant and do it with heart, love and admiration to be the very best that you can become. Keep your dreams alive and do what’s best for you my friend no matter how big, small, easy, hard or tough it is, you have the power to make things happen. 

Evolution Through Mythology

My Judo sensei once said to me, “a man’s reach must exceed his grasp, or else what’s a heaven for?” He was telling me about his old training schedule, the weights he used to lift, and the body weight exercises his sensei would demand that he perform. I was awestruck, doing 500 pushups, or bodyweight squats in one day? At the time I could not conceive that such a thing could even be possible.

His Judo sensei was a member of the Iroquois nation of native peoples, and while they would train he would tell them the stories about mythical warrior Hiawatha. Hiawatha is said to have wrestled the unconquerable Bear of the West the gatekeeper to the realm of the dead to a draw. Hiawatha is supposed to been able to paddle a cannon with such ferocity that he could change the course of rivers, outrun day light so he could continue speaking with the spirits of the night, and shoot twenty arrows into the sky before the first one came back to touch the ground.

Was my Judo sensei actually supposed to believe that Hiawatha preformed such supernatural feats? Well, no, but also yes, within the appropriate context. His sensei was doing from him what the Iroquois elders did for the young up, and coming warrior-braves; inspiring them to forever keep their reach exceeding their grasp. By telling the stories of Hiawatha the young warrior-braves felt encouraged to test themselves over, and over again. They sought to become as fast as the wind, and as strong as a bear. Like Hiawatha, these represent subjective units of measure. How fast is the wind? How strong is a bear? How powerful is Hiawatha? The answer will always be faster, stronger, and more powerful than you are currently. So you must always seek to improve, be better, and achieve greater.

The heroes of mythologies are meant to spark something deep within us, to light a fire that we could use to courageously explore the depth of our souls, and inner recesses of our minds. As we immerge from our own dark psychic forest, we return from what Joseph Campbell termed the “hero’s journey”, and we now have been remade more in the image what we individually believe heroic to be. These heroes are symbols and as such are mutable. They can be changed to fit societal needs, but still represent the values deemed virtuous by an entire collective, and heritage of peoples.

In my own studies of mythologies, I began perhaps intuitively, to feel as if the writers of these sagas where speaking not only across time, but speaking to more than just ancient superstitions. I started to see a deep, if not hidden wisdom within the stories. Thor’s magic glove which translates to “Iron Grip”, and his belt which literally means “earth’s power”, are what enabled him to wield his famous hammer. In order for a man to be mighty like Thor, he would need to train his hands into possessing a vice-like grip, and obtain a well develop lower back, and legs. In reading the works of old-time strongmen I found this confirmed many times. The key to superhuman strength is found in grip strength straining, and focusing on heavy lifting exercises such as dead lifting, squats, and swings.

What transpired next was an immersive study into the mythologies, and hero legends from around the world. This was the impetus of Heroic Evolution and its strength training programs.

However I wanted not only to share quality strength training, but also to promote the qualities of having good character, or at least an examined character. What is the purpose of being strong in the first place? That is a question that has a dizzying amount of potential responses, and is for the trainee to explore for themselves if they wish, and certainly worthwhile if they do.

The stories of heroes like Hiawatha, or even King Arthur, set forth a code of conduct, as well as I believe, contain physical training protocol that where meant to be discovered by young members of different warrior societies. These stories are laced with clues in not only how to get strong, tough, and fast, but also what to do with that formidability in their society, and how to act appropriately.

Embodying one of these mythological heroes is a life changing process. The hero exists only inside you, and to go within to find them is actually to find your greater potential. The exploits of the hero can never be matched; but the hero doesn’t care, as the point is that you attempt. It is in the fierce attempts at the impossible that we discover just how amazing we can be. The hero can’t ever judge you, and thereby this places all the responsibility back on you. How do you feel about your efforts? Do you feel you are meant for something greater? Do you believe you can, or should, do better in whatever endeavor you have chosen? 

Your answer to these questions can be sobering indeed.

Mythologies allow us to glimpse into our own lives, the roles we, and those around us fill. We all live out a certain “personal” mythology whether we are conscious of it, or not. The simple truth of the matter is that if we don’t like the story we are living we need to change it. The strength to change it comes through becoming our own greatest hero, by moving past our own perceived limitations, and reaching into our infinite potential to grasp at something we never dreamed we were capable of until we found the courage to try.

-Kevin Wikse

www.heroicevolution.com