Zero Forms and Movement Situations with Michael JMK

The Berkeley Alembic Foundation aims to facilitate, teach, and cultivate awakening and liberation for everyone and function as a force for peace, kindness, and good in the world. We envision a world where every human being has a community for practice, education, and connection.

The Berkeley Alembic Foundation

A twice-weekly all-levels class exploring many facets of skillful movement development and physical preparedness.

The Berkeley Alembic

A twice-weekly all-levels class exploring many facets of skillful movement development and physical preparedness — with special emphasis on whole-body coordination, rhythmic intelligence, structured play, and creative adaptation. Our inquiry is animated by questions rather than fixed protocols:<ul><li>How can our movement practice be self-corrective, preempt injury, generate insight, and forestall physical degeneration and cognitive rigidity?</li><li>How can we skillfully and safely channel energy and forces through our whole structure and enhance our expressive power?</li><li>How can we better attune to each other, supporting each other’s kinesthetic learning and problem solving?</li></ul> Our approach is grounded in the movement pedagogy of Jozef Frucek and Linda Kapetanea (Athens, Greece). We also draw on classical strength &amp; conditioning methods, physical preparatory techniques from Hatha yoga, and universally relevant aspects of dance, sports, and martial arts disciplines. Zero Forms encompass a range of solo practices including durational stillness and postural exercises, controlled whole-body joint articulations, dynamic rhythmic coordinations, and improvisational scores. Through these, we develop embodied understanding of our bases of support, bodyweight centers, axes of rotation, locomotive patterns, reflexive alignment and joint centration, tensile and elastic qualities, as well as a more profound appreciation of the complexity and subtlety of the human form. Movement Situations encompass partner- and/or object-based games, scores, and tactical “simulations” that test our adaptive strategies amid unpredictable, nonlinear, semi-chaotic, real-world-like contexts. Under this framework we also address skills relating to movement empathy, interpersonal attunement, and intersubjective awareness. We are oriented by a needs analysis of culturally and spiritually meaningful movement disciplines as well as the “mundane” choreographies of everyday life. We aim for a sense of autonomy and influence over our long-term psychomotor development, more expansive body awareness, and general athleticism. All are welcome. This class is particularly suited for those engaged with meditation, somatic practices, dance, and martial arts. We try to cultivate a class atmosphere that is focused, calm, playful, non-competitive, spontaneous, and responsive to the needs of the group. Michael JMK is a movement teacher and physical training coach. He is a student and authorized instructor of FM Practice, which he has studied since 2016 under the direct guidance of founder Jozef Frucek and senior teacher Natalia Pieczuro (<a href="http://fightingmonkey.net/" title="http://fightingmonkey.net/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">fightingmonkey.net</a>). He holds 10+ years of professional experience in classical strength &amp; conditioning, having taught at some of the most well-loved gyms and movement facilities in the SF Bay Area. His focus is on adaptive physical preparedness and movement-skill development for culturally and spiritually motivated disciplines like dance, yoga, bodywork, and martial arts. <a href="https://michaeljmk.com/" title="https://michaeljmk.com/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://michaeljmk.com</a>