My online peregrinations recently chanced upon Joe Eigo, a young Canadian fitness trainer and film stuntman (who has worked with Jackie Chan). He has combined his original training in gymnastics and tumbling with elements of martial arts, le parkour, and breakdancing to produce a new freestyle genre he calls 'multi-level moves'. It is quite spectacular and, er, gravity-defying.
There are a lot of videos of him doing his stuff on YouTube, but this one below seems to be the most definitive demonstration. Of course, during my days at the Shaolin Temple, running up trees, peforming a dozen backflips on the spot, and bicycle-kicking footballs 10ft off the ground were routine amusements for the young monks and me at the end of a long day's training. But there are a few things Mr Eigo does here which seem to be pushing beyond the boundaries of the very difficult into the outright impossible. There's a stunt in the middle of this compilation where I'd swear he appears to accomplish a radical shift in speed and direction in mid-air, to pause and hover for a split-second.
But can you run barefoot up a steep mountain path while balancing a big rock on your head, Mr Eigo? No? I thought not. Lightweight!
2 comments:
The best I've ever been able to achieve is getting right up to start pushing again when the boulder rolls back down over me.
From the Multi-Level Moves page about him, I see that he's advanced philosophically and spiritually as well as physically.
(And can it be coincidence that Blogger's word verification prompt which it insists I enter is fogie? Maybe, but I doubt it.)
I found Mr Eigo's New Age burbling rather disturbing, veering towards David Icke territory. Better, I think, to admire the man's extraordinary physical skills, and not concern ourselves with his mind.
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