Famous Taoist master Lao- Tzu said ‘Use the light that dwells within you to regain your natural clarity of sight.’

When the stars align and humans are born with all of mother nature’s gifts intact, a chance is given to operate inside a universe rich with natural reoccurring patterns. Could these be finger prints pointing the way? In the time when no distinction was drawn between philosophers or mathematicians and awe produced revelation of ecstatic rapture, these great explorers purported nature’s patterns as sacred. The father of the sacred geometric arts was, Pythagoras. He declared that not only are numbers sacred but that they have a separate and real existence beyond the markers of counting. The regularities derived from such numbers contain a fundamental connection between abstractions like music, astronomy and architecture and ultimately show all things of a finite nature are contained within these ‘sacred’ geometric principles.

For a couple years I’ve been trying to correct my running because distances beyond two miles would cause major cramping in my right calf muscle and Achilles’ tendon. After years of hard martial arts training, including different types of strength and conditioning with lots of running and sprinting in short intervals, I believed I should be able to tackle distance running. I quickly found out this was not a rational way to think. I could train full force in the gym, but I felt I could not transfer the effort into running real distance. My goal was to be able to run consistently ten to fifteen miles, but the repetitive motion of running shut me down in pain. I went to the functional exercise drawing board to correct the thing I felt needed to be my most functional practice. While investigating therapies and realizing the depth of the rabbit hole I found myself in the dark. Per usual when I’m ready to give up, a peripheral flash blindsides me and in this case it was exactly what I needed to see. A clear vision to correct my issues. First it was an image that really peaked my interest for many personal reasons (more on that in another blog) and I immediately wanted to see what this group was implying with their method.

I’ve always turned to nature for a better understanding of myself and I believe all the secrets to life are there. This idea has always informed my philosophies. So gaining information about movement strategies to better interact with it seems reasonable. Through many practices I’ve seen lots of glimpses of the whole, but, now I was really understanding it holistically. Seeing it complete gave me the clear impetus to put it to action and I felt in good company because those actions have been identified to be that of the greatest of all time athletes or the GOATA.

(borrowed from their website)

‘GOATA (Greatest Of All Time Athletes) is the science of observing human movement patterns in slow motion. Via slow motion video technology we are able to recognize and compare the identical movement patterns of crawling babies, bipedal indigenous tribes, Injury resistant movers that stand the test of time & Elite Super Athletes. These athletes have had multi decade careers and were non-contact injury resistant.’

Do you believe you move as you should?  What motions do you most often repeat? Do you understand how that repetition effects your nervous system? Are you looking for optimal movement like that of an athlete or artist or do you move through your environment based on patterns formed without much awareness?

The fundamental idea of GOATA is that imprinted on our genetic human potential is a code from which our forward locomotion is derived. This movement programming or code protects the vulnerable areas of our body ie. our joint segments and soft tissues. These are primitive actions because they were necessary to utilize for the survival of our species. They are the forward locomotive actions: crawling, walking, running, jumping, throwing, swinging, and slinging and all motions derived from them.

What defines a ‘movement’ system? Is functionality, skill or strength the objectives? We as bipedal beings depend on our movement but we sacrifice it for all different reasons. In the GOATA world the greatest movers belong to what is known as the four super tribes. These so called tribes are: babies/toddlers in their late stages of crawling and walking, the untouched indigenous groups around the world, multi decade super athletes (there are many that fall in this group from all different sports) and lastly senior age group champion marathoners and pain free eighty and ninety year olds. These 4 groups seem to be resistant to the modern day repetitive stress and unexplained acute tear or rupture injuries which manifest in the endurance and interval sports community spaces. Basically, there are a lot of unexplained injuries that are often devastating to athletes who run, jump, throw or use locomotion forward or backward. GOATA claims to have identified, through slow motion video study, the essential human movement patterns that keep an individual or athlete safe from detriment during performance or life in general. These forms of movement are as ancient as the hunter gatherer and are alive and well and highly observable in the untouched indigenous around the world. Tribes like the Maasai in Africa or the Aboriginal natives of Australia whose civilization is supposed to be the oldest known.

Interestingly these exact patterns exist in animal kingdom and can be shown to shape all things in motion. The four super tribes remain structurally healthy by following innate spiral and wave forms. The fractal variation of these forms scale from the ultimate macro-sized universe to the minute micro-sized atom.

To move forward we often have to return to the past… when studying science, art and history we must always study the masters of old. The great philosopher Confucius stated, ‘I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.’ The body and its movement potentials has taken shape due to the stresses of the environment and what is demanded for survival. We were great hunters and survivalist and what was needed to traverse our world were those exact skills that would move us into the future protecting our species. The ancients intuition and sensitivity of their environment can give us insights in today’s modern world. Our culture often ignores ancient understandings because of our technology and ‘advancement’ but in the GOATA philosophy there is no difference between old school and new school. We have a design and the trick is to learn to play your best inside its parameters. It is my opinion that if there is a universal movement system to understand it is this one.

If you’ve ever used forward locomotion you have interacted with these principles. If you’ve ever thrown something like a ball or a punch you’ll recognize the defining aspects.

Since applying these interpreted strategies of old, I have been able to overcome my running dysfunction. It inspired me to go as far as becoming a GOATA instructor.  Understanding the basic concepts first is crucial, then undergoing the evaluation by a competent coach and making the prescribed shifts to the body will create change in the nervous system that allows performance without pain. My story may be just an anecdote but if you suffer from pain in your joints or soft tissue I’m here to say there are certainly non-invasive ways to approach your healing. You’ll have to make a conscious decision to alter your patterns, should you start down this path, but the value I see in adopting this blue print will connect you deeper to an understanding of yourself in nature.

~B