Where did the name come from? What does The Jungle represent? What is the Path to Dragon?
The Jungle Movement Academy loves animals, and the beautiful various movement styles each animal possesses. Different animals have different talents, and something can be learned by watching their displays of movement. Cats are powerful, yet graceful. They can be fierce, and they are flawless with their technique. Monkeys are playful and have incredible climbing skills, as well as the ability to flow with their challenging environment like water over rocks. Birds are fearless, soaring through the sky and mastering air awareness. They push the limits of their boundaries daily and they adapt to their environments quickly.
As humans, we have the unique opportunity that most animals don’t have and that’s the ability to master all types of movement. We can jump, climb, swing, hang, crawl, swim, and FLY! … ok, more like fall. At The Jungle, the pursuit of mastering all forms of movement is called the Path to Dragon.
The idea behind The Jungle Movement Academy is that we are all different animals with different talents. Some of us are more like monkeys who like to climb and play, while others are more like birds who like to flip and fly. No matter what kind of animal you are, everyone can come together in one place where we can learn from each other and become more well-rounded movers. That’s why The Jungle has so many different programs to choose from, and students can bounce around from program to program freely!
Along with the idea of exploring all types of movement comes the necessity to be wild and free! The Jungle is a place with few rules. The rules that are in place are important, but we try not to put too many limitations on people. The Jungle provides an environment where people can freely express themselves and try new things without whistle-blowers preventing fun and creativity. If something is too dangerous or a conflict occurs, of course a coach will be there to help, but our coaches are trained to allow people to explore their surroundings with curiosity. Rather than telling students not to climb up past a certain height, we tell students, don’t climb up something you can’t get yourself down from. This allows for the opportunity for students to make decisions for themselves and learn from the decisions they make, better preparing them for the outdoor world! By operating in this way, students tend to be a lot more aware of their surroundings which actually helps prevent incidents!
Fitness should be fun! Traditional workouts are important and satisfying, but how many times do you see people laughing and smiling while doing dumbbell curls? Strength training and cardio training have an endless number of benefits and should never be ignored, but other than overall health and longevity, what’s the point of getting stronger if you don’t use and apply that strength? Finding some form of skill-based movement to practice not only is fun, but it’s also neurologically stimulating and can enhance cognitive function!
Our motto is MOVE. LEARN. ADAPT. You can apply this motto to almost every aspect in your life. First, you must MOVE through challenges and experiences to get a grasp of what you are up against. As you make mistakes, you will LEARN how to improve upon what you have been working towards, correcting your techniques and growing your knowledge base. Now, you can take what you’ve learned and ADAPT it to all environments and challenges that you must move through.
