Movnat London Seminar - Review

Article Health & Food >> Health & Body :: Movnat
By Finn Christo
Last Saturday, slowly sun-burning Londoners on Hampstead Heath were witness to a
group of people crawling around on all fours, lifting logs, throwing rocks, jumping (and
occasionally landing) from trees generally following the instructions of a barefoot, barechested
Frenchman seemingly made up entirely of tan and muscle.
This is Movnat (‘natural movement), a grassroots revolution that ensures you’ll be in the
best mental and physical shape of your life without a 2 year iron clad gym membership
or 3am call-now-infomercial-equipment. From its slightly story tale origins (ancient tribal
skill-sets turned into a 19th century training system, adopted by French military and
then almost blasted into extinction thanks to the First World War) Erwan Le Corre has
revolutionised and breathed new life into the system making it more relevant to the 21st
century ‘zoo humans’, who suffer physically, mentally and spiritually to being
disconnected from the natural world. Modern society being the zoo.
Erwan is the charismatic and obviously passionate proponent of the idea our true nature
is to be strong, healthy, happy and free, travelling the world to ‘rehabilitate zoo humans’
escape the confines of their conventions and lead happier, healthier lives by sidestepping
the convoluted orgy of Swiss balls and rubber tubing the fines industry has entangled
itself into. He’s also a hard task-master who demands I muscle up a tree; seemingly
uncaring of the shredding my soft, supple northern skin is taking against this cheese
grater of a London oak. I jump back down ready to pick up the nearest block of stone
he’s made us carry all day and cave his head in but then explains why I’ve had to shed
blood to climb the tree and the gestalt shift stays my hand.
I consider myself fit and regularly train boot camp style to the obvious distain of my
fellow gym brethren, but this is hard! Sure, I can do a pull-up or twenty in the gym but
Erwan demands to know if that means I’d be able to do the same if my life depended on
it? Short answer; no. The shredding design of the swaying branch that has miraculously
become an osmotic part of my arm is very different from the pristine, rubber covered
pull-up bar hidden away in the corner of my gym and Erwan forces me to ask how much
of what I’ve done in the gym is transferable to a real life scenario. Am I fit or as fit as a
zoo human could get?
Would I still be able to get up on the tree if I was simultaneously being chased by a wild
animal with a pack on my back and having to save a small child (an example Erwan uses
with alarming regularity all day making me wonder if we need to call somebody). It’s not
paranoia but constantly qualifying every exercise and movement, creating what Erwan
calls ‘a situational mindset’.
The entire day is the same, forcing us to strip away the conventions of fitness until we
have to relearn the very basics of body movement; the principles of correct tension,
using gravity, ‘bodyweight shifting’ and ‘transfer’ as well as mental acuity, willpower,
focus and concentration, optimum body alignment and placement. Muscle size becomes
unimportant compared to the output they can achieve, flexibility only goes as far as how
low you can crawl and how much you can lift is as important as how far you can throw.
Where some systems like Crossfit aim to recreate real life demands on the body and
general preparedness, Movnat, cuts out the middle step and places you barefoot in any
given situation, creating a deeper, more vital understanding of how our body works and
what its capable of.
The 5 hour seminar has suddenly become 8 hours, infused by Erwan’s genuine desire to
help and educate. It’s a joyous yet demanding experience that is surprisingly
empowering. MovNat has subscription fee, no instalment plan or need to attend weekly
classes. ‘In fact,’ he playfully admonishes, ‘after today, I don’t want to ever see you
again!’ Basic movements are stripped down to basics then combined with other skill
sets; as your skills increases so do the variations you can perform until you’re left with a
seemingly never-ending toolbox of movements that focus on essential techniques and
fundamental principles. Movnat has an inherent scalability and dedicated coaching
system which, alongside natural movement means the system is applicable to everyone
from all walks of life, ability levels and ages. Even after eight hours it’s obvious we’ve
barely begun to scratch the surface of what Erwan wants to share.
It’s hard to want to go back into the gym and do a bicep curl in the air conditioned,
mirrored confines of the gym when we could be running barefoot and bare-chested
under the glorious sun, surrounded by fresh air and nature, using our own bodies and
what unprepared materials around us. This isn’t just monkeying around in a local park
but rediscovering the same joy of movement most of us felt in our childhoods. With an
almost Ayn Randian approach to fitness, Erwan highlights what was good and pure about
how we interact with our bodies by discarding the unnecessary and conventional and
finding something purer and more honest.
For more information check out www.movnat.com or email Erwan at
contact@movnat.com