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| Roll Call Before Starting Watch a video slide show of the Competition here: |
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| Rajayshree Choudhury |
Some might not even wish to waste time on this debate about whether it is nor is not a sport, as it's all been said before, and just want to enjoy the display of skill in competition, but yoga has five thousand years of sacred prestige weighing heavily on its shoulder stand. Yoga, while being difficult, is not usually known for its spirit of rivalry, or point scoring, but more for its private and personal body/mind/spirit inner development. It certainly cannot be compared to the body elastics of gymnasts, but there is nevertheless a purely physical aspect to yoga (called asana) and many believe that this athletic strand in yoga which takes long hours of practice and training, is gaining prominence and, yes, even more acceptance, mostly through the efforts of the IYSF (International Yoga Sports Federation) with back up from C.J. from YogaBrighton and Lorraine Bell from Sohot Yoga
who run the UK Yoga Sports Federation.
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| Joseph Encinia |
But asana or posture, as you can imagine, is no ordinary sport. Once you go beyond the physical, and it does not take much, then yoga's rightful sphere is the field of consciousness. I don't think there could ever be a points-out-of-ten for the achievement of Samadhi for example, or that could we ever envisage a situation where people's experience of Bliss is 8.5 while someone else's is only 7.9? Never, because that is the hidden, mental aspect of yoga which is beyond comparisons of better or worse. Some things cannot be measured on a points scale. Yet the the body-mind connection is evident in yoga, and it can inspire people to know more about it.
However, on the ground level, it does actually look mighty fine considered as a sport. It requires intense discipline like any other sport and is eminently watchable, just as we watch divers, who also wear speedoes which are necessary for unrestricted movement of the body. Yogis, in this sense, would have to be called 'athletes' and not yogis or yoginis, but they are clearly kind of both, depending which aspect is focussed on, so we might settle for the term yogathletes? No doubt the argument will go on, and on, as debates that push around words tend to do. It seems to me and others that you are either in with it or you are not. It is a personal choice.
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| A Female Contestant |
The fact that a huge number of athletes from Ryan Giggs, David Beckham to Andy Murray all swear that it is Bikram that has enhanced their performance, should be enough to fuse athleticism and yoga in our minds. Yoga, especially Bikram, seems tailor-made to suit the needs of athletes, as it promotes increased detoxing, lung capacity, endurance, and flexibility. It is especially good for restorative work of all the numerous injuries to muscles, joints and hamstrings that athletes, runners and tennis players suffer. Years ago, I had intense sciatic pain in the hips- and that was some serious pain- and it was only my attention to yoga that helped me gradually overcome that. It is also true for dancers, and it should be no surprise that pop stars like Madonna, Beyonce and Lady Gaga choose Bikram yoga to tone up their bodies for their intensive dance routines.
Budokan is an example of yoga which fuses with martial art ( kind of sporty?) based originally around karate. Cameron Shayne, the founder at Budokan University, defines himself as an ‘artist’ and 'guru killer' rather than a yogi pushing the boundaries of how that is defined.
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| Jared McCann in Full Bow |
Yet some still argue that yoga is this or that, or not this and not that, yada yada, as if it would somehow be defiled or contaminated by the spirit of competition. I personally do not find it so difficult to accept, but I am not about to take part in any competition anytime soon and I can handle a fair share of paradoxes. But I do know that it can be utterly breathtaking and inspirational to watch and if you do practise, watching great practitioners can help you visualise the alignment of poses much better in order to realise any improvement. What it must do for the contestants is really increase control of focus, sharpen the precision of movement and access
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| Tiger Scorpion Pose |
The rules are simple: practise hard, state the choice of pose before beginning, perform it to the best of your ability, keep an even pace, keep breathing silent and finish within 3 minutes. Total silence must accompany a session, and I was mini-policeman in charge of keeping people out at the door, to avoid causing distractions to the athletes, which mostly come from mobile phone ring tones. Points are awarded by the judges, who check for well-paced timing, regular quiet breathing, precision of alignment, stillness, and whether the hand grip is fully on the ankle in standing bow pose. It all amounts to a graceful performance. The judges, often ex-world champions themselves, use their expertise as teachers to assess the performances often down to fine degrees of different points. Anyone having the skill to compete should be congratulated, but to get into the international top ten as Alessandro Mauro Vanegas (UK) did, is an achievement indeed.
As the last day came to a close, with contestants from the USA sweeping the board, it became clear that these yogathletes have developed to an extremely high standard. But they are not unbeatable, as Eric Persson from Sweden, caught up, getting into the top three. But it would
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| Jared McCann |
The event brought mostly aficionados, yoga lovers, but I talked to a lady from Sheffield, who I could have sworn looked like the writer, Karen Armstrong. She had come to see her daughter compete. She said it is amazing to see how all the competitors are such great friends. Most likely there is a respect rather than rivalry in the green room where Mary Jarvis prepared the athletes for their moment on stage. Yogathletes will happily share the top positions if they happen to be in the top ten. A healthy form of rivalry may be necessary to give contestants an edge, but everyone who does Bikram knows how hard it is to be really exceptional; so they are more inclined to stand back and admire those who have put in the work.
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| Zeb Homison |
A real highlight of the event is the performance of last year's champions with Jared McCann really showing his level-best sustaining a one-handed peacock pose for well over two minutes, and even laughing casually in the middle of poses, showing his innate sense of control and confidence. Chaukai Stefanie Ngai, last year's winner in the women's division, gave a beautiful, highly polished demonstration of some seriously advanced poses. It is not just the athleticism that amazes us when someone nails a pose with technical precision, but the art inherent in the balance required to sustain the
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| Jared McCann |
Before the awards were issued, Rajashree Choudhury spoke at the point of tears about how valuable these competitions are. She first started in yoga through local competitions in villages, which was how she met Bikram. She mentioned the struggles and challenges of getting the championship rolling, and sustaining it with proper funding and countering all the attacks, which yoga even helps you to endure. These words came from the heart. That's where it's best to leave it - in the heart centre.
She said "We all belong to one big yoga family," but like all families, there are disagreements. The point is that the prestige of yoga has grown enormously in the West, perhaps even
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| The Winners |
The Yoga Sports Federation competition is just one of many forms of the expression of this great shift to a deeper understanding of the impact of yoga. Roll on next year to see who else can show the world they've pulled it all together.
"Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes.
If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralysed.
Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding,
the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as bird wings."
Rumi
Watch a video slide show of the Competition here:
© Kieron Devlin, 2014
all rights reserved
www.kierondevlin.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/KDjupiter
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