Barefoot Moe!

Hey all,

Just wanted to write up a quick post on a training session I had with barefoot Moe who has a great blog over at http://barefootplanet.org/. It was really a lot of fun to engage with Mauricio as he is a very open and gregarious guy with a great outlook on life. This is of course coupled with the barefoot experience that he has made the training session a dream.

Usually when I start out with a new client I need to run through a series of assessments to ascertain their level of movement and stability as everything I do is based around these concepts. Mauricio barely needed anything in this regard. In an earlier social meeting he had mentioned flat feet and his subsequent treating of the condition by simply getting rid of the shoes that were creating the disorder to begin with. I was watching when I first loaded him up with the kettlebells and I could tell straight off that from his time barefooting that everything scapula down just needed to be loaded and "woken up" a little. Through the course of our conversation I think I have been left with a good clear idea of what his goals are and how to get him there. I sincerely feel that Mauricio is going to go much further than he suspects as his body awareness and natural "springiness" give him a great base to work from.

Hey Mauricio, get ready buddy you're going to have an ass kicking summer!

Mauricio is a great sport and we definitely loaded and woke up his posterior chain and with some club work his scapula and shoulder joints opened right up as well. Mauricio's time with dance and massage therapy have provided him with good insight into the body as a simple extension or composite with consciousness. This also led us into some interesting conversations around our body's and our body's as a focus for moral judgement.

Mauricio, like most other barefooters I have met, has had some issues with with well intentioned, but misguided, security staff and business owners who feel that there is some sort of by-law in place against barefeet in public places. I would like to assure everyone reading this that unless you are in a dangerous environment (construction site for example) no one has the right to demand that you leave because of your barefeet. There has never been a law of this sort in North America and the only reason that this persists is because of a moral panic that took place in the 60's to keep the hippies away and subsequently has been fed by individuals with a stake in continuing the myth.

To anyone reading this who has, or does, enforce this sort of thing you need to be aware that you are violating peoples human rights and engaging in an embarrassingly outdated form of discrimination. Not to mention the complete lack of reason that this sort of thing exposes as an individual without shoes is far less likely to lose their balance or slip and fall. In terms of hygiene I have no idea how a person with barefeet is "dirty". This again shows the aforementioned lack of reason due to the simple reason that those without shoes are conscious of the state of the soles of their feet. If I am wearing boots I don't care what I track around here and there, the complete opposite is in effect without them. The worst that I seem to track around is a little sweat and anytime I notice a nice dry warm patch of earth I give my feet a little dirt bath on the bottom to clean them up and protect them a little. The research that I have done shows no danger of contracting anything more than a pain free back and overall sense of wellbeing. This contrasted against the fact that people tromp around with dog shit on the soles of their shoes fairly makes my point.

I can feel myself beginning to get a little off the farm so until next time Gadget, next time.