Jock Yoga brings guys to the mats
May 30, 2011
Paul Aguirre Livingston
SPECIAL TO HEALTHZONE.CA
As an enthusiastic newbie yogi, I thought I had dabbled in it all. Hatha, ashtanga, moksha. Beginner yoga, intermediate yoga, hot yoga. But never – not in all my time writing about health or feverishly learning the schedules of downtown yoga studios – had I heard about Jock Yoga, a new branch of yoga designed specifically for guys.
My curiosity led me to Buddha Body Yoga in downtown Toronto, one of the first studios to give founder Michael DeCorte’s method a chance. Immediately, I saw what was so novel about DeCorte’s techniques. The rigor of arm balances paired with increased posture times made me see stars.
In the mid-90s, DeCorte struggled with substance abuse, and stints in rehab plagued him until, in 2001, he went sober, entered a 12-step program, and started getting fit. When he began doing yoga, his life was changed again. After trying both ashtanga and Bikram (hot yoga), which focuses on aligning the breath with the movement and holding postures for a predetermined number of breaths, DeCorte found that the classes started to get less challenging. He was already athletic enough to keep up, but not flexible enough to move forward in the levels. He recalls one particular moment of shame when he wasn’t able to do the splits or the famed lotus position in an advanced class. After months of practice, DeCorte decided to become a yoga teacher, but with an oversaturated teachers’ market, ended up moonlighting as a restaurant server.
After a trip to Los Angeles to observe some of the industry’s most revered yoga teachers, such as Vinnie Marino and power yoga guru Bryan Kest, DeCorte gained a new perspective. “They taught intense classes, but it wasn’t necessarily about being flexible; it was more about holding postures for a long time and vigor and sweating. So I thought about that, and thought I should take that into my own practice.”
Jock Yoga has driven men to mats in hoards, both devoted and converted. “When I started my first class, it was mostly guys who came – these athletic guys who wanted something more,” recalls DeCorte. Thinking back to what he learned in L.A., he decided to start teaching what he was able to do best, focusing on poses that made the most sense for strengthening, not a flexibility.
Mike Ditommaso, a 47-year-old designer who practices at Buddha Body Yoga, is a prime example of the demographic. He’s been doing yoga for five years and Jock Yoga for two months. “It’s a really challenging class that targets every part of my body; building muscle and building strength. I’ve lost about 15 pounds around my waist in the two-month period, going to Michael’s class.”
When DeCorte got the green light from 889 Yonge, an ultra-chic, yoga studio and spa in the city’s affluent Rosedale neighbourhood, to teach a one-off Friday night class, he drew in a large crowd of men and some Lululemon tastemakers. Melissa Da Costa, store manager at the Yorkville Lululemon, saw promise in the practice to drive men into classes, and into the stores. Shortly after, Lulu offered him the chance to become an ambassador for the brand’s Yorkville location. Da Costa also encouraged 889 Yonge to give DeCorte a regular class, and the result was the new addition called Athlete Flow. The new class is basically Jock Yoga, renamed and softened up slightly to attract the studio’s female clientele. Indeed, the women have come out in droves.
But that hasn’t kept the guys away. When I tried Athlete Flow for myself, guys divided up the room like a high school dance. Andrew Mainprize, a noticeably buff 32-year-old project manager, was both here and at the class I attended earlier in the week. “I have been doing yoga for years, but not very seriously until I got into Jock Yoga,” he tells me. So what attracted him? “I’m an athlete. I do a lot of running and working out. I met Michael at a local gym and he sold me on the concept. He told me yoga will always help your running and working out, but running and working out will never help your yoga. So it was using yoga to get better at the other things I do.” Mainprize cites greater flexibility, higher endurance, and more stamina when running as the reasons he keeps coming back for more.
DeCorte also introduced a Jock Yoga bootcamp, focusing on different body parts for an hour an morning, three days a week. Alison Ku, a 26-year-old project manager, has become a bootcamp groupie in her second session. “My first bootcamp was really tough, but in a good way. I’d been doing the Athlete Flow class since November, so I was prepared.” A dedicated runner, Ku has also found the practice has saved her from injury a few times, allowing her to stabilize her legs and her core upon minor falls. But was Jock Yoga intimidating to her as a woman? “No, I liked [the idea] better because my physiotherapist urged me to build my strength. So I signed up because I heard it was a really big challenge.” The bootcamps have become so popular that DeCorte has started his fifth installment at LiV Yoga Studio in Toronto’s Liberty Village.
“We’ve made it a real mission to provide programming that is about passion and life purpose,” noted LiV co-owner Toni Grates on the decision to offer Jock Yoga. “Michael is a very passionate person and passionate about what he does, and we wanted to bring that into the studio. Jock Yoga is such a niche practice that we’re certain it’s going to appeal to a lot of the people. It’s innovative and different, that’s what’s at the core of it.”
For complete class listing, visit http://www.strongbodystillmind.com/whenwhere.html
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