GYROTONIC’S Big Moment: Can It Go Mainstream Without Losing Its Soul?
The picture above is back in 2and rotation, imitating everything about nature and real life flow. It is energy in motion, a clearing of blockages, using expansion and contraction. 011 with St. Helens Saints Rugby players Paul Wellens, Jonny Lomax and Josh Perry at my St. Helens studio on the pulley tower. In-case you have not heard of the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®, it was developed by Julio Horvarth and delivers a non linear form of movement, including spirals Horvath says his technique does to the body what opening the windows and spring cleaning does to a house. The movements look fluid, balletic and yogic. They open up and create space in the body, as well as serving to expand and elongate the joints. The complex apparatus has the most amazing woodwork craftmanship. The standard of training and integrity of the work was strictly upheld with a set number of private sessions prior to the training. You could not just jump on a course, you had to feel it in your body. There were so few studios and I had to travel 2 hours each way to Harrogate to get my one to one hours in. It is not a fitness pumping system like what much of main stream Pilates reformer has become; it’s a system that has delicate intricate detail which actually many Pilates teachers still uphold.
There are no positives without negatives. GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® has now been purchased by the Merrithew corporation. All corporations want to protect their investment, they aim to maintain the standard and also stop counterfeit apparatus and unauthorised training courses. I am so fortunate and have great gratitude to have studied with some of the top people around the world. The legacy of Julio’s work can continue and be expanded with new fresh energy and of course, mass marketing.
But I also have some hesitation. The fitness industry has taken Pilates to a cable pumping machine, more about aesthetics, coiffured hairstyles, green matcha’s and toe socks. Many of the Rugby coaches back in my teaching time just wanted to load the delicate machine with heavy weights, not wanting to go slow, open the humeral head and ground through the floor. I stood my ground! The other aspect is that the method is very detailed and needs to be one to one, unless the relevant movement patterns are in the body. Studios with group session have no more than four machines and clients are extremely experienced through privates in order to go into those sessions. I have numerous enquiries from clients wanting group sessions and if its something I would do – of course I said No! There would not be the commitment to one to ones prior, in order to get return on investment.
There is a beautiful word in Greek language ; ‘Parthenogenesis’. ‘A common form of asexual reproduction in animals and plants is parthenogenesis, derived from the Greek words παρθένος (parthénos, “virgin”) and γένεσις (génesis, “creation”) In parthenogenesis, an embryo develops from an unfertilized egg, producing offspring that are usually female and genetically similar to the mother. This occurs naturally in some invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and even certain plants and algae. In Greek mythology, parthenogenesis is also depicted as a form of divine creation. Hesiod’s Theogony describes several female deities, such as Gaea and Hera, who reproduce parthenogenetically, creating offspring without male intervention. This mythological asexual reproduction emphasizes female creative power and plays a role in shaping the cosmos, reflecting both creation and the dynamics of gender in Greek myth.’ 1
This is what I see happening, like ‘Parthenogenesis’, there are many off shoots and inspirations from GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®which have developed into other movement systems. Everything comes from somewhere, none of us own the right to own anything, we are energy in motion, always changing and evolving. Going forwards I see big corporations doing well from GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®, but I also see other system like the James de Silva Garuda Method and William Hedberg The Shen Tao Approach, taking people out of their left brain into the right.
My studios are not flash, aesthetic, coffee burn out, pumping tunes and mood lighting. They maintain a quality of standard and training, and this means higher quality, higher ticket price, lower volume and most importantly better results for you as the client. They also naturally connect to nature with lots of natural day light and plants.
This is the amount of work that I had to do to qualify with GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® in level 1 only, this was how Pilates was in the old days.
- January 2013 – GYROTONIC Pelvic Application, Milan, Italy
- October 2012 – GYROTONIC Level 1 Certification, Germany
- September 2012 – GYROKINESIS Level 1 Certification, Germany
- August 2012 – GYROTONIC Apprenticeship, London, UK
- June 2012 – GYROTONIC Apprenticeship, London, UK
- March 2012 – GYROKINESIS Apprenticeship, Paris
- January 2012 – GYROTONIC – Foundation, London
- December 2011 – GYROTONIC– Pre-Training, London
- November 2011 – GYROKINESIS Foundation, Paris
- August 2011 – GYROKINESIS Pre-Training, Berlin
I will be doing 30 minute introduction on one to one sessions at my St. Helens studios for anyone with curiosity in the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®. You can read an old St. Helens star article here.
“The body is like a musical instrument,” says Horvath. “With a violin if you over pull the cord then it won’t play the right note, but if you don’t pull the cord enough it also won’t play the note. You have to find the exact pull in each movement and each dimension so the music becomes possible.”
Bibliography
Profile: Juliu Horvath, Founder, Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis methods | @FitTechGlobal