The Outdoor Movement Training Highlights
In our second summer as Bewegungskollektiv we decided to offer 4 weekly classes in Berlin, each focusing on a different topic. Led by one of our movement trainers, in each class different perspectives of movement were shared and various approaches complemented each other to make one diverse week of training.
Now that the outdoor season at Gleisdreieckpark is ending, we want to look back at what we did and learned together this summer. Not to forget our summer party movement jam in August at Treptower Park with many people from different communities and places.
You can find more videos and pictures of our classes on our Instagram: @bewegungskollektiv_berlin
Monday: Parkour - Training in and with the urban environment
Our movement week always started off with environmental practice: Parkour with Oscar Boerger. In parkour we want to move from A to B over obstacles such as railings, stairs or walls without any aids - trying to reach our goal as efficiently and effortlessly as possible. In our interpretation of parkour training we don't just want to get from A to B in an efficient way. Moreover, we want to learn a creative approach of interaction with our environment. In order to dive deeper into the creative aspects of parkour, we use lots of low impact but flowy movements in the practice.
Our environmental training this summer took place outside at different locations in Kreuzberg. We always met in Park am Gleisdreieck and then went to look for a location with obstacles that we learn to overcome together.
A challenge we were focusing on for example was falling/rolling and the fear of heights. We faced and practiced it in different scenarios, for example pushing each other to fall, jumping through a swing and rolling off as well as climbing on a swing.
Even if some people were very scared in the beginning, we always took it step by step, increasing the challenge slowly. It was super cool to see how some people overcame their fears and felt more secure with each practice. In this Instagram post you can find a video of a typical class: Parkour in September
Tuesday: Yin & Yang in Movement
After Monday comes Tuesday and with this our second class of the week with Clara Lohmann. Inspired by principles from Tai Chi, Qi Gong and Contemporary Dance we learn to move harmoniously while continuously connecting to your center. In different situations we look for the connection between posture, body structure and connectedness with the goal of developing inner strength and inner connectedness. We learn to be more aware of our body center of gravity & the connections in our body.
This summer we always started off with a standing Qi Gong before going into playful partner and group exercises. Every class we focused on one of the following topics:
Floorwork: Learning to fall and giving our weight into the floor, doing different rolls.We played with improvised flow movements, which are less about acrobatics and more about a continuous flow of movement.
Practicing with a partner: Learning to perceive and test the connections in our body, giving our weight and moving with our partner. Using the input from a partner to play with dodging and reacting.
Building up strength and flexibility in different scenarios: Versatile exercises with our own body weight or with the counterweight of our partner
Balance and connection: In meditative exercises we connect to our breath and our center, to let go of tension & then bring this feeling into our movement.
You can find a video of a typical class on Instagram as well: Ready, Set, Go!
Wednesday: Strength & Flow
In this class with Michael Baumert we did what is nowadays considered the "classic" movement training with a good mix of partner and individual exercises, focusing on building strength and mobility.
In addition to that, we made use of many other movement elements such as
- Balancing on rails,
- Object manipulation with sticks,
- Control of the spine,
- Coordination exercises,
- Locomotion Flows on the floor and much more.
Helping our attendees to get stronger and more agile, this class worked well as a preparation for the acrobatic part of the movement world as well as getting back the freedom of movement from your childhood.
People who attended the class regularly also learned how to independently develop training plans/programs to achieve their strength and flexibility goals in the long run.
A typical movement locomoption flow would look like this video: How to build a locomotion flow
Thursday: Handstand Training
The handstand training by Jordan Jablonka was not based on the approach that there is a perfect handstand form or type of handstand. Instead, handstand approaches from different disciplines (circus, capoeira, gymnastics, dance) were adopted and flowed into the training. This way people learned the art of hand balancing in all its different uses and aspects, not just one set up.
The training included floor acrobatic basics with a focus on static elements. The training consisted of a playful warm-up, followed by a handstand specific warm-up. We then practiced the basics of movement coordination which is necessary for the handstand as well as strength and flexibility specific conditioning. Self-exercises and partner exercises were both part of the training.
People who attended the class regularly could improve their handstand a lot, it was really nice to see this progress.
See the handstand training in action here: Handstandtraining with Jordan
Saturday: Movement Jam (and Summer Party)
On Saturdays, we met up for free training so everyone could do what they want or get inspired by the ideas of other people. Sometimes we spend lots of time doing stick balancing, other times we played around with some breakdance moves.
The final movement jam was our summer party at Treptower Park and we invited people from different movement communities in Berlin to come. It was super nice and we played several games and gave each other different challenges. But most importantly everyone brought food and we talked and got to know each other a little better.
This video gives you an impression of the day: Summer Jam 2022
How do we continue our movement training in Winter 2022?
We are going into the winter season with two movement classes. The first class is "Movement Basics", focusing on the basics we need for integration and more complex movements. In this class we build strength and mobility, work with a partner and improve basic coordination skills.
The second class is "Movement Flow". In this class we use what we learned in different scenarios.