The Passive Hang

#84: Julian Disterhoft, Movement Bielefeld: How to become a better teacher

Julian Disterhoft of Movement Bielefeld (@movementbielefeld) is on the Passive Hang podcast! Julian runs a movement school in Bielefeld, Germany, teaching a generalised practice on many different subjects and aspects of movement. He’s learnt from many of the very best in the field, travelling the world over to seek, practice and research.

A few months back, Julian came to Australia for Juan Rueda’s 9 week intensive program. During that time, he stayed at my house, and we had the joy of going to many trainings together. You can view a video log of our experience going to Praksis together on YouTube. Evenings were filled with discussion on various topics and debriefs from the day. We share some thoughts of that experience in this podcast.

Julian spends a lot of time educating himself, and thinking about education. What does it mean to guide someone in a movement practice? How can I be a better teacher? How can I communicate more effectively? How can I construct an environment preferential for learning? In this podcast we discuss what are some of the key concepts in how Julian tries to guide people towards in order to help people find their own path in a physical practice.   

Julian has been running his school for many years now, and he describes his transformation into becoming confident in your own style of teaching and material. It can be difficult trusting yourself - that you are enough, a challenge I think many people who teach face. His journey is one that I think many will find helpful.

https://xn--juliandisterhft-ltb.de/

#83: Benjamin Byfield, Meditative Monkey: Fusing the work of Gurdjieff and Movement Culture

Benjamin Byfield @meditativemonkey is on the Passive Hang! Ben is a dear friend of mine, who runs the Meditative Monkey, a Movement Studio based in Central Coast, Australia. You may recognise him from some of the Passive Hang video logs and previous episode #48 - he is a regular accomplice to movement workshops, and we’ve spent many nights discussing movement and beyond.

Ben is considerate, thoughtful and dedicated to the practice and the people he supports. Using the physical practice as a foundation, Ben is committed to guiding others into self-transformation, heavily drawing from the work of the Movement Culture and Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way. The Fourth Way identifies the human centres of the body, intellect and emotions, studying the self through self observation and self remembering. Ben discusses practical tools on how he fuses these teachings into the physical experience he creates at Meditative Monkey.

We cover Ben’s own evolution of physical practice, and how it led to the creation of Meditative Monkey, sharing how he organises classes and content within the class. We have a valuable discussion on how to introduce the movement practice to beginners - particularly around the idea of setting and holding integrity to standards.

Ben’s studio is a must visit if you’re in New South Wales or around Sydney. You can get in touch by sending him a message @meditativemonkey or www.meditativemonkey.com.au

#movement #movementculture #meditativemonkey #thepassivehang

#82: Simon Thakur: Ancestral Movement - Physical Culture and the Human Evolution

Simon Thakur, founder of Ancestral Movement (@ancestralmovement, www.ancestralmovement.com) is on the Passive Hang! Ancestral Movement is Simon’s life work, practices and studies of human development through the lens of evolutionary biology, anthropology, comparative anatomy, neuroscience and whatever Simon has digested. And Simon has digested a lot! Originally from New Zealand, Simon has spent time all over the world learning different practices not only in the physical realm but also in many others, including, in his own words - “weird fantastic Druid cults”.

Simon runs Ancestral Movement camps, which I attended in April this year. It was a profoundly deep experience which affected my perspective and ability to, actually experience. I felt this sense of wonder of being alive, in a very connected way. Set in a forest beside a river nestled in a valley, with no sound of modern civilisation, we practised for 7 days with no distractions. I was exposed to many subjects, from barefoot walking and running technique to freestyle wrestling to African drumming to elemental contemplation practices. It was wild.

I had many notes from my journal, and in this podcast I ask Simon about some key ideas from the experience - aimed at both his material presented, but also - the way Simon presents - his teaching methodology. Key ideas which I continue referring to, for example are the concepts of “relaxing the mental fist”, and “silk reeling”, and inhabiting the “worm/fish body”.

For anyone interested in embodied practice, Simon is a must to learn from.

Check his material out at @ancestralmovement, www.ancestralmovement.com or on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/AncestralMovement - many great video explanations there!

#ancestralmovement #movement #movementculture #thepassivehang

#81: Craig Mallett: Da Xuan - Diving into the Big Mystery of Chinese Internal Martial Arts

Craig Mallett (@craigmallettdx) features on the Passive Hang podcast! Craig is a teacher based in the Sunshine Coast, Australia. He was originally part of a Canberra community featuring Simon Thakur and Kit Laughlin, associated with past podcast guest Emmet Louis. He is now a teacher and practitioner of the Da Xuan Daoist tradition.

Da Xuan - “The Big Mystery”. It’s in the name - what is all these Chinese internal Martial arts about? I had the chance of attending Craig’s Internal Strength workshop a couple of weeks ago, a fantastic experience which challenged me on different levels. In this conversation Craig gives an introduction into the Da Xuan school, and the key pillars that underline the practice.

Da Xuan is rooted in practice over ideas - something I strongly resonate with. So in this special podcast episode, we not only talk about ideas, so attached at the end is a guided standing practice that Craig has prepared for us.

Craig has many fantastic resources available on his website.

https://craigmallett.com/

Sign up to his community to see: https://community.craigmallett.com/about

Thanks Craig, it was a pleasure to chat and train together!

#movementpractice #thepassivehang #daxuan

#80: David Wilson, Oldscoolmoves: Thinking differently about growing older - redefining age perceptions and physical capability

David Wilson (@oldscoolmoves) is on the Passive Hang! David is a movement coach, anti-ageism advocate and educator, based in Toronto, Canada. David teaches at @spiritloft and online. David’s challenges our societal narratives around age-ing and what it means to become old.

David used to be an English teacher, before committing himself to physical practice. Letting go of a sedentary lifestyle, David, in spite of his age, has transformed his capabilities beyond what he was able to achieve in his 20s and 30s. He spreads a powerful provocation - to recognise how our coupling of ability and age is misinformed, and in many cases, limiting the potential of what people can do. Age-ing and frailty is not an inevitability. Even so, David is particularly nuanced in his message - avoiding “grey-washing” where we present an over optimistic view of the ageing process. We age, there is a natural decline of some capacities - but just not to the extent that we are led to believe.

In this episode David talks about some of the main limiting narratives that we can recognise as trainers, students and participants of life. We all age, and it’s our responsibility to build a better culture around the ageing process. We don’t have to believe that the best days are only that spent in youth.

David shares many creative ideas on his Instagram page - and we get to discuss how his values of curiosity, compassion and play inform his practice.

A powerful conversation with a person shifting the conversation.

Thanks David for joining the Passive Hang!

 

You can find him on Instagram at @oldscoolmoves or https://sites.google.com/view/david-wilson-movement/home

#79: Stanislav Kazanovich: Building the Movement Freaks community and improvisational groundwork

@stanslavkaza, founder of @movementfreaks is on the Passive Hang! Stanislav is a movement teacher based in Herzeliya, Israel. Stanislav shares his story from wrestling during adolescence, to being exposed to hand balancing from Odelia Goldschmidt, and surprisingly - reluctantly adopting a broader practice, starting first with locomotion and then other subjects via the Ido Portal method. Stanislav has been in this game for over 10 years, and if you dig through his Instagram - you can find clips of his journey from 2012 to 2023 - inspiring for how much the practice can transform you.

Stas has been running Movement Freaks for 8 years, and he has been very specific in how he has built his community. Movement Freaks is actually his second group, after he made the decision to relaunch a group class after his first one didn’t initially fit the vision he was after. You can see this on their page, that there is something different happening - people are engaged very deeply into the practice, but with a big smile on their face. There is a sense of authentic connectedness, not just in the class, but outside of the class - which was purpose designed by Stas.

Stas shares some approaches to improvisation within practice - particularly on the topic of ground floor work, which he is a fantastic practitioner. Surprisingly, Stas doesn’t actually follow a prescribed written program for any of his work - he has a unique intuitive approach of listening to what he needs. It’s worked for him in many areas - as you can see from his level of strength work, handblancing, floor work, environmental practices.

Thanks Stas for connecting with us on the Passive Hang!

Stas teaches in person in Herzeliya, otherwise also offers online coaching.

 

#movementpractice #thepassivehang #movementculture

#78: Tasha Louie: Recovering from Spinal Fracture and exploring unconventional strength skills

@tasha.louie is on the Passive Hang! Tasha is a personal trainer teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area and also an online coach. She is an incredible practitioner who explores creativity within strength work. Tasha’s ability to exert strength in all sorts of ranges shows the potential of what you can achieve.

Tasha just recently went through a traumatic fracture of her spine. She chose a movement based rehabilitation approach, and within 8 weeks was close to back to her previous abilities. I ask about how it happened, what she did after, and how she structured her training to aid recovery.

Before becoming a trainer, Tasha’s background was varied, from wedding photography to bartending. She hasn’t always been leading with the healthiest lifestyle! Tasha shares her story, and her training journey from bodybuilding to bodyweight calisthenics to now exploring various subjects such as old strongman lifts.

Tasha has a unique way of guiding clients, providing them with all the tools that may help them reach their desired goal upfront, rather than only revealing the next step per program. It’s an uncommon approach which is worth considering.

It was a pleasure to connect, thanks Tasha!

#77 Ron Dobrovinsky: A Dancer’s Guide to Flexibility and Application Specific Training

Ron Dobrovinsky @rondobrovinsky, founder of @swingitisrael is on the Passive Hang! Ron is a dancer, teacher and personal trainer based in Tel Aviv, Israel. He is an amazing performer, who shares a lot of his own personal process in developing capacities he desires for dancing. I highly recommend you check out his Instagram page.

What is a dancer’s take on physical development? Ron doesn’t take the usual, intuitive stretch here and there approach. He is scientific, considered, and does the hard work over time. You can see this as he not only develops positions such as the W-sit and splits, but owns the movement in and out of them such that he can drop and pop out of them in fast, explosive ways. It’s very rare to see such qualities.

Ron shares his thoughts on his approach in this episode, covering his own process, but also advice for not only dancers but general movement practitioners. Ron is always clear about the specific application he is developing the capacities for - which helps guide his research process.

Ron is available for in person classes if you're in Tel Aviv as well as 1-1 online coaching. 

An enjoyable and insightful conversation. Thanks Ron!

#76 Erdi Babili: Success in Online Coaching, Spearfishing and How to learn the Press to Handstand

Erdi Babili, @learningtohuman joins us on the Passive Hang to talk about his journey from personal trainer, gym owner, to online coach for bodyweight strength, flexibility and hand balancing. Erdi shares wonderful insights on his page, I highly recommend you check it out - with a lot of nuance on the details which matter. I love Erdi’s story because he has achieved everything with a lot of hard, smart, consistent work. You can see it with his radical physical transformation of his own body. 

Erdi has a passion for spearfishing, and he shares a few childhood stories and close encounters with dangerous water beings. We also touch on the use and development of lung capacity and breathing, something I appreciate as a snorkelling enthusiast myself. 

Erdi shares a number of tips for those going on the online coaching journey, how he approached it and what he would do if he had to do it again. We get very practical here. 

Finally we do a deep dive into how to develop the press to handstand. Similar to his Instagram content, Erdi explains his preferred approach and key concepts in trying to tackle this movement. Great for those on the journey, and those teaching other’s on the press journey.

A killer episode. Thanks Erdi! 

#75: Juan Rueda: The Ido Portal Mentorship and establishing the Melbourne Movement Practice

Juan Rueda (@huan_lueda) shares a wonderful conversation on the Passive Hang podcast! Juan is a movement teacher in Melbourne, Australia, and is a former Ido Portal mentorship student. 

I recently connected with Juan in person and attended a few of his movement classes. All of them have been a mind-boggling experience of opening new doors and sneak peeks of how many more layers the movement practice holds. 

Juan is originally from Colombia, where his pursuit to learn circus brought him across the world, to Melbourne and Paris. Juan has recently shared an “anthology” of the last 18 years of training clips on his Instagram, which I highly recommend you check it out. In this conversation he provides the background of his journey, from martial arts, to circus, to the Ido mentorship, to teaching and starting a group. 

I get to discuss at length with him one of my favourite topics - “How to approach what topics to teach a student in the broad perspective of movement” - and Juan has one of the best ways of approaching it that I’ve heard. We also get to the root of what drives Juan to teach and what he is trying to teach - the transformational qualities beyond the physical. We touch on the topic of strength, the romantic notion of carryover, opening the body and the mystery of the fascia. 

With the world now opening up, Juan is now expanding his teaching opportunities, including for remote work and travelling to teach workshops. If you’re interested, get in touch! 

Thanks Juan for coming on the Passive Hang!

#movement #movementpractice #thepassivehang