MMA’s biggest prospect, Michael Venom Page, started to work with infamous movement coach Ido Portal last year.
Page describes his discipline as “not Karate, not Taekwondo, it’s a hands-down kickboxing style” and likens himself to a matador. As a movement-based fighter his game plan revolves around controlling distance. He engages in histrionics while fighting to maintain focus, unnerve his opponents, and rile up the crowd.
This is not the first time that MMA fighters have gone in search of ‘alternative’ methods. GSP trains gymnastics, and Alistair Overeem works with adventurer and movement specialist Wim Hof. It looks like MMA fighters are now returning to what martial arts is all about: timing, precision, movement, and mindset.
Conor McGregor began to concentrate more on balance and flexibility and freeing his body to move in new ways. He mimicked alligator crawls and chimpanzee walks. He watched videos by Ido Portal, a martial artist turned movement teacher.
McGregor started using the services of Ido Portal a few months before his UFC 194 title unification bout against Jose Aldo.
Thanks to Portal’s work, McGregor’s has been showing nimble footwork in taking evasive action to avoid being hit.
Who is Ido Portal?
Ido Portal was born in Israel, and started training Capoeira when he was 15. Capoeira. A Brazilian martial art, combines element of dance and acrobatics and involves high-energy kicks and spins.
Portal stated:
‘I was in a romance with Capoeira for 15 or 16 years,’ he has said. ‘What struck me was the fancy stuff and not what it really is which is a social interaction.
‘The fancy movement got me in there then I stayed because of the more intricate movements.
‘My nickname was the ‘The Missionary’. I had an extreme following, people lived with me and ate with me. Everything was Capoeira.’
Portal was famously credited with much of McGregor’s success and even more so after – as soon as McGregor stumbled many blamed Portal for his downfall.
Portal stated about his new partnership with Page:
Its a great pleasure to learn from as well as share with some movement, fighting and life perspectives with my friend and amazing MMA fighter Michael ‘Venom’ Page
Recently more and more athletes and performers are using a non traditional way of looking at things – examining potential missing components from their sport/art through the eyes of a bigger picture than their field – the wider scope of MOVEMENT.
These athletes are investing no less time into their sport practice but ADD something on top of their specialized practice without subtracting from it since a more limited scope training has more finite resources than a wider practice. A Movement approach is not there to replace technical work, strength and conditioning, endurance, etc but to ADD A GLUE AND FILL IN THE BLANKS TO ALL THAT IS ALREADY THERE.
Specialists will often mistaken their field as static, reality is that all things are evolving as we speak. It is often necessary to bring information from cross fields to inject maturity and quality into your own field.
History teaches us the unknown bring with it misunderstanding, misrepresentation and often… FEAR but Movement goes into a broader human layer that touches all of us – whether one likes it or not.
The movement approach is about a new way to approach physicality, living and being. Our vary nature of BEING in a body ultimately means one does not have a choice whether to move or not… We all do – RIGHT NOW.
Its only a question of how well one is doing it…
MORE MOVEMENT = MORE LIFE.
