Chicago Movement is a lifestyle. I've been active my entire life and have seen all the "latest and greatest" workout fads and tried some of them along the way. Some have produced some real results, some not so much. But all of them got me results in "X" number of days and then that is. The programs I did see benefits in could be repeated but eventually doing the same thing over and over again became very monotonous and my progress plateaued. I've been in constant search for the "magic workout program" so to speak. Enter the discovery of Ido Portal, I stumbled on him doing some internet research and quickly realized this is what I've been looking for. He focuses on gymnastics movements, strength training, balance, flexibility, animal movements AKA locomotion, and mobility. and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I quickly started down a rabbit hole and tried to teach myself everything I could find through YouTube videos.
Fortunately, I had mentioned my new discovery to my brother and sister-in-law who are also very active and said they "got a guy for me!". “His name was Jose and he has his own movement studio and he does all the Ido Portal stuff" is what they told me. I reached out to Jose and came in for a class and discussed what I was looking for. After a nice talk with him I learned he is trained directly from Ido Portal and his fitness journey had many similarities to mine. I was all in!
My first week had begun and I was about to get my first lesson. A wonderful piece of humble pie! I had played multiple sports my entire life, I was a college athlete and competed at the national level, so I thought I was going to fly through the "basics"...was I wrong! My entire life I had been taught to grind it out and keep pushing no matter what. That caused my fair share of injuries along the way. Jose seen that was my mentality right away and educated me that technique in extremely important at Chicago Movement. No more pushing myself with the worst technique known to humanity just to say "I lifted X amount". I had to unlearn a lot of bad habits, but Jose patiently worked with me. He explained to me this is "practice", it's not competition. This was a difficult thing to wrap my head around coming from my competitive background. Slowly but surely, I've become to understand this concept more and more. I still have a long way to go but I've already seen a change in my mindset and appreciate and understand the programing Jose has crafted for me. Speaking of programing, everything that Jose implements for us has a reason and a progression and he's mastered everything he teaches us and continues to develop his practice to a very impressive level. In week one I seen grandmas (literally a grandma) doing handstands with zero background in gymnastics. I saw a wide variety of ages, both men and woman, that didn't have any previous background until they started working with Jose, doing way more impressive things that me (a self proclaimed advanced athlete in my own head...silly me) could do. I was so sore the first week from doing pretty basic moves with zero or very little weight, but with perfect technique.
Fast-forward to today, I've been in my practice now for a little over 6 months. I have made tremendous strides in some facets of my practice and still have a ways to go in others. And I will continue to have the same successes and humbling experiences as my practice progresses. Most of society is fixated on making their life as easy as possible, my eyes have been opened to the fact that isn't good for us. We need to be challenged and face adversity, it makes you stronger mentally and physically and we need that more than ever in our current day and age. The Chicago movement family is truly a family. Everyone is so kind and helpful and genuinely wants to see each other progress physically and mentally. Jose is a trailblazer in the "movement" game on the south side of Chicago and he has attracted people like him. He has incredible patience, he's a wonderful teacher, he has an advanced education in the human body and performance, he is a true FRIEND and is genuinely grateful for all of us to join him on his journey and in our practice. I look forward to heading to the studio for every session.
If you want to learn how to move like a nimble cat, get strong like bamboo (it has no weak points and is stronger then wood and much more flexible), and become mentally tough get, in contact with Jose. There are only two qualifications to join (in my opinion of course), you must be open minded to new ways of fitness, and you must be a good person. Otherwise zero fitness background up to elite athlete are welcome to join the family.