300 Second Interview: Erwan Le Corre (MovNat)

An inspirational interview with the founder of MovNat - Erwan Le Corre.

Why MovNat? 

MovNat is a synthesis of my philosophy and practice.  In a nutshell it's my lifestyle that can be shared, taught and transmitted.  I’ve been researching and working on this for 20 years.

MovNat the notion of natural movement, a practice, a discipline, fitness regimen, physical education method or a lifestyle choice, can gain recognition and obtain a well-deserved place in today’s society.

MovNat so that people will not be intimidated to move naturally in public spaces anymore.

MovNat so people are liberated and empowered thanks to a powerful and effective way to become strong, healthy, happy and free, or if you will, true to their nature.

What did you want to be when growing up?  Any regrets? 

When I was a kid I wanted to be an explorer, a sailor or even a pirate.  I’ve done a bit of all these :D.  I don’t have any regrets, life is a fabulous adventure to me. 

Having a clear mental picture of what you want to experience in life is really important because when your vision and reality match you feel uplifted. Life becomes a process you can play a creative role in, a journey that is the destination. 

John Lennon said, “life is what happens while you’re busy planning.”

That’s true because spending your life planning all details of it is the best way to not get to where you want to go.  The devil is in the details. You want to stay creative and adaptive. Visualize with confidence, but sometimes go with the flow. 

You now live in the US, how does it compare to life in France?

Everything goes faster here.  The pioneer spirit is still alive, with this desire to do something new and to achieve.  I love that can-do-attitude because that is my mindset too, so in that sense I am very American. France can be very creative but also very conservative.  French people generally tend to see everything in a negative light. 

But I also sense a increasing fear of the future in the US.  I think this country is still young, and therefore still has a great power of resilience, but I don’t see change coming from politics.  The most powerful change will come from a change of lifestyle. I would like to help. 

What are you reading at the moment and what inspired you to do so? 

I’m reading “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers” by Robert M.Sapolsky.

It perfectly explains the science behind the “Zoo Human Syndrome” - the plethora of physical and mental afflictions that undermine modern human's health and wellbeing.  If you want to be strong, healthy, happy and free again, it is high time to question what’s “normal” in our modern lives! 

 What is your favourite holiday destination? Why?

Holiday?  Honestly, I’m never really on vacation, I tend to be at work all the time, but I love what I do.  It’s more an expression of who I am than a chore; I’m driven by passion and vision.  I do have a favorite place in the world though; it is Corsica, a French island in the Mediterranean. It is a beautiful island that combines mountains, forests and lakes, desert and sea.  The nature there is phenomenal. It is a unique place.

 What is your favourite pursuit when not doing MovNat?

I love to learn new stuff and to travel.  But to me that’s the MovNat attitude.

 If you could have any super-power what would it be?

The power to heal people and to relieve them from any suffering they have.  I’ve designed a concept that I hope will help many to engage in a healthy lifestyle. We’re not supposed to be weak, sick, depressed and caged.  Quite the opposite.  We were meant to thrive.

 What are the differences between Georges Hebert's Methode Naturelle and MovNat?

The main difference resides in the coaching system, which has been updated.  It is more elaborate and efficient in MovNat.  It also has solid scientific backing.  MovNat's philosophy is formulated to better fit with today using modern forms of communication, for instance video and the Internet.  

To clarify “Methode Naturelle” is not where this started, since Georges Hebert modernized the work of Amoros that preceded him by a century.  MovNat is today’s evolution of a philosophy that is more than 200 years old, the story will go on and propel itself into the future. 

 MovNat has been gaining momentum in the last few years - did you ever feel as if the world was never ready for this form of natural movement?  What kept you going?

I did not think the world was ready when I was 19 and living a similar lifesyle. 

What kept me going was a strong sense of self, of who I had chosen to be and how I had chosen to experience life in today’s world.  I've always had the intuition that my quest had a meaning and that I would have things to share on a larger scale some day.  Over time this feeling has proven to be true.

20 years later much has changed, it is easy to see MovNat is one of these things people really need  today.  MovNat is more than the coaching or the practice of natural movement, it can be a lifestyle.  I envision that more and more people will crave for such a lifesyle, because it is the perfect antidote to a Zoo human predicament.

What has been your most surreal experience?

Feeding wolves in a park one night, by holding raw flesh between my lips, and inhaling their breath as they would snatch the meat with mind-blowing speed and lightness.  I was 20 and it has been the most primal experience of my life.

60 Second Interview: Erwan Le Corre (MovNat)

Who are you?

I'm Erwan Le Corre.  A man with a vision, that aims to explore life and be true to my nature.  To enjoy and share my experience with others.

What is fitness to you?

I am interested in movement, the way we move in nature.  To be fit, is to be 100% practical and adaptive.  To prepare me for life, not a mirror or to look good on a beach.

What are your goals?

Moving naturally is the best way.  I want to make this vision accessible to everyone.  That everyone feels free to exercise any time, anywhere.  The way that humans have been moving for millions of years, efficient, strong, healthy and free.

What is one of your main concerns in relation to health?

That fact that people have lost the ability to move, squat, walk.  That one day everyone will become couch potatoes.

There needs to be a cultural shift, which goes beyond fitness.  It is a philosophy.  To be strong, happy, healthy and free.  Not weak, depressed, sick and imprisoned.

What is your favourite exercise/activity?

Jumping!

What is your favourite meal?

Organic scrambled eggs, bacon, coconut oil on a bed of green leaves and walnuts.

Blog:

http://www.movnat.com

MovNat - Exploring my True Nature

MovNat:

My first exposure to MovNat (pronounced Move Nat) was reading the 2009 Men's Health article "Fitness to Survive in the Wild".  

I was intrigued not only with Erwan Le Corre's MovNat but also the similarity to it's distant cousin Parkour - "the art of movement".  This is not surprising as there is common ancestry.  Both are based on the early 20th Century Methode Naturelle (Natural Method - "be strong to be useful") by George Hebert.  MovNat however contains much more of its ancestor's DNA, modernised to maximise efficiency with additional categories of movement.

Components of Fitness:

Even though I have covered a great base of fitness with Crossfit/300 style training and furthered my education with qualifications in Personal Training.  I still felt there was something missing.  In many aspects some of the components of fitness e.g. balance, accuracy and agility don't have the same prominence as the areas covered by strength, speed and power.  

In order to progress to being proficient in all fitness domains, I had to explore them with equal dedication.  MovNat seemed to speak my language, but at times appeared too abstract.  Was this suitable only for those who spent significant time outdoors?  With that in mind I subscribed to the newsletter, pondered those questions and assigned this to the 'interesting list'.  Hastily moving onto the next workout of that particular day... 

Little did I know there was time for more personal development.

So what happened?

Since then I've read Frank Forencich's book 'Exhuberant Animal' (and attended seminar's exploring natural movement).  I've read several books on Evolutionary Fitness.  I've researched Paleo and 'real food' nutrition and studied movement based therapy in managing low back pain.  All of these experiences have re-affirmed my belief that highly varied movement across many disciplines is more important than a specific fitness 'regime'.

I watched the MovNat video: "The workout the world forgot" (see below) again.  It then dawned on me, this was all about the expression of natural movement, variable, adaptive and functional.  This got me excited again!

I decided it was time to learn more.  I booked a place on the MovNat 5 day workshop entitled the 'Reawakening'.  This was held at the beautiful Summerville Lake Retreat in West Virginia, USA.  July 6 to 10, 2010.

 

This covered movement, and lots of it!

Movement:

MovNat's 12 movement patterns stem from the fundamental moves that humans universally possess.  Regardless of cultural differences, heritage or environment: humans were designed to run, jump, carry, lift, climb, etc.  Movements we often take for granted as part of our fitness goals, either neglecting to do any of these or just focusing on one or two of them at the expense of the others.  These moves are natural and as Erwan demonstrated on more than one occasion, may one day prove essential for your survival.

Nutrition:

A strict Paleo diet, prepared on site by Allie (consisted of 3 meals a day):

organic meat/fish/fowl,
good fats,
nuts,
fruit/vegetables.  

Avoiding sugar, grains, diary and processed/refined foods and drinks.  

We avoided the afternoon crash, burn and hunger pangs typically experienced on typical Western diets.  Inbstead we sampled a rich and diverse menu used to fuel workouts and to aid in our recovery.

The highlights:

We were assessed on the first and final day to compare our 'before and after' abilities;

We explored techniques in all MovNat movement patterns;

Introduction to optimising the body's ability to perform everyday and extraordinary tasks;

Focusing on scaling, efficiency and safety;

Creating combos of movements with mindfulness, relaxation, focus and control;

The food!

Coaching:

Erwan and Vic imparted their knowledge via theoretical and practical presentations, personal experience, inspired debate and on-going assessments.  We were challenged both physically and mentally with his passion, authority and philosophy.

"Power is nothing without efficiency, accuracy and control"

Erwan's instruction was sublime, scaled to the abilities of the group as well as individual instruction.  Erwan was patient, but tough when required.  Safety and technical precision was also presented in context.  Vik's encouragement and anecdotes were refreshing.  The correct balance at all times between instruction and hands-on tuition. 

Metaphorphosis:

Everyone on the workshop experienced significant development.  Tasks we struggled with on day 1 we found much easier to perform on the final assessment day.  

Of course the process continues.  I look forward to working on all those skills picked up on the workshop as opportunity presents itself.  The diversity and varied ability of the attendees allowed us to focus on the efforts of pulling together as a team. I was also able to re-focus on my own goals and the new path I wish to take. 

Summary:

I realised my search for the ideal workout programme, or prescription is not what MovNat is about.  Nor is it what I need.  

It is about a lifestyle, where you engage the mind and body to explore fundamental movement patterns in whatever environment you are in.  Breaking out of the confines of modern life to re-engage with nature, adopting a 'real-food' diet, and sharing this knowledge in a pragmatic fashion.  

This workshop allowed me to create workouts combining these essential movement patterns in a fun and interesting way.  Using various degrees of intensity, interaction with the natural environment - (the only limitations being your imagination).  

I want to be prepared for anything in the fitness domain.  MovNat seems to offer one of the highest levels of variability, natural movement, breadth, skills transferability and scalability I have experienced to date.  The possibilities are endless.  Many times throughout the workshop I realised brute-force was not enough, intelligent application and technique was often just as, or more important.  I will now incorporate MovNat into my workouts, in conjunction with my strength and conditioning work.

Now I am back in England, there is only one area where I strongly disagree with Erwan.  With the British climate being so temperamental I will be doing these workouts indoors as well as out!!!

Thanks Erwan, Vic, Allie and all involved that week in West Virginia.  For helping me to explore my true nature.

-Darryl.