Before discovering Budokon, I was a typical “yoga not for men” kind of a guy for a really long time, doing a desk type of job for even longer. I always felt that something isn’t quite right, but I really did not know what else I could do better? I have trained myself for 30+ years of my life to do the job that I do. It’s a scary thought to explore an unknown terrain. But you know what – if I don’t try, I would keep on wondering forever.
After a lot of thinking, counselling sessions, I came to the realization that I have always been in some way or other in touch with fitness related activities, although I have not been consistent with it. But when I was, I enjoyed it to the fullest – be it running or spending time in the gym. My grandpa (who lived 102 years) always said: if there is one thing that any of us really have to live with for all of our lives, then it is our body. So we better take care of it. I couldn’t agree more.
I decided to go back to “Budakan” – a martial art that I learnt ages back. I googled for schools around me but found none. However, google suggested if I am looking for “Budokon”. I got curious and hence started digging deeper into it. The more I read about Budokon, they more intrigued I got. I decided to give it a try, but I was fully aware that I am in no shape to do the crazy stuff that Cameron Shayne (the founder of Budokon) does. But I was determined.
I gave myself one year to be ready for the 500 hour Budokon Teacher Training course in Miami. I started going to yoga classes. That was a big step for me knowing how much of a “man” I was. I went to 10 painful classes of Bikram yoga in 10 days. I was miserable in the beginning, but from the 3rd day onwards, I started seeing some improvements – read “when bent over aiming to touch my toes, I moved from my knees to the middle of my shin”. That was a big boost to my motivation. After these 10 days three things happened:
- I got bored with the repetitive nature of Bikram yoga
- I became brave enough to explore other types of yoga
- I learnt a lot about the inventor of Bikram yoga and I wasn’t very impressed
From here on, I started doing Vinyasa and core training 4 days a week. I found two amazing teachers who helped me improve massively. In the meantime, Cameron and Melayne were in town for a Budokon workshop. I went and met them. They were really warm and welcoming that somehow made me more determined. All this while, I have been cooking up the idea deep in my mind that I would like to open a Budokon school in Zurich and help people experience the amazing path that I traversed.