MovNat.com - Methode Naturelle 21st Century Style

Erwan LeCorre has launched his website and released his latest video to the public.

I have been corresponding with Erwan since 2006 and have been anxiously awaiting the formal introduction of his school of physical fitness.

According to Erwan, Movnat is:

an education system that empowers zoo humans to experience their true nature. Our true nature is to be strong, healthy, happy and free.

Please take a moment to visit Erwan's website www.MovNat.com. I plan on becoming a certified MovNat instructor.

BFT

BFT's Newsletter - January 2009

Hansen Dam Polar Bear Swim 2009

I have kept the tradition alive...barely. Almost didn't make it to my 4th annual Hansen Dam Polar Bear Swim. I am sure glad I did. Per usual, it was a gorgeous sunny morning in the low 50s, but so nice in the direct sunlight.

My secret weapon this year? Practicing a little in a MUCH colder pool during the week. I decided I wanted to try and swim the entire distance rather than walk across or dolphin leap across the 100 meter pool.

At first it felt great, yet little by little my strength started to drain from my arms, as I got closer to the finish of the swim, the harder it became to make forward progress without allowing my feet to touch the bottom of the pool.

Why do I do it? Because it makes me feel alive. It makes the New Year really FEEL like a new birth. It cleanses me and awakens me to new possibilities and new hopes.

Also, it is the comradeship. People whom I see just once a year on this day at this place. The ritual we share: swimming, warming ourselves by the fire, hot chocolate, smiles and an attempt to sum up our past year in a flurry of flowing words and stories. Delightful.

If you haven't tried it already, I recommend a New Year's Day ritual that allows you to feel reborn and new. The polar bear swim at Hansen Dam is one great way to do it.

What's really beautiful for me this year is the fact that I can look out across the Hansen Dam Recreational Area and see where I live at Weathertop Farms, looking south across the big lake in Hansen Dam. It gives an interesting perspective on life when you can see beautiful mountains and hills, unspoiled by development, all around you...even in LA...a paradise to me.

Hercules Passes

HERCULES 1996-2008
Goodbye Dear Friend
Your Big Heart Survives
In All Those You Loved
In All Those Who Loved You

Barefooting in the Snow in Seattle

I have been reading about folks running barefoot in snow for years on Barefoot Ken Bob's Running Barefoot Yahoo Forum, but I have not had many chances to try it myself.

Well, my chance came this week while visiting friends in Seattle. Seattle has been snowed out for an entire week, and I have had several opportunities to go outside in the snow barefoot.

I don't like running barefoot in the snow... It is way too cold if you get the wet, icy snow on your foot! Wish I would have brought my FiveFinger Flows! Now I understand how they would have been VERY useful.

However, I did manage to run exactly one mile barefoot. That is my barefoot snow running limit, my PR. It is actually quite nice to run on packed snow. It's kinda like hard packed sand...just cooler.

I prefer wearing my moccasins in the snow as long as it's not too soggy.

BFT

PS. Short distances in the snow is fine and easy...as long as you go from a warm place to a warm place.

Survival Skills of Native California

Book Excerpt: Survival Skills of Native California

"To forget the lessons of the past is to not only endlessly repeat its horrors but to lose its most magnificent possibilities....The early inhabitants of California had that folk wisdom, almost a gut intuition built over millennia, of what was good and bad, a sense of value which allowed them to make what must seem to us an astounding choice: they rejected progress, the tilling of the soil in favor of a hunter-gatherer way of life."

—Paul D. Campbell (from back cover)

from Introduction: Secrets of Indian Survival - Survival Skills of Native California by Paul D. Campbell, p. XIII

This book undertakes the task of restoring what we have methodically destroyed: California Indian survival skills. From the scattered bits and parts it seeks a critical mass of essential detail on each representative skill to recreate a whole technology.

Not an end in itself, California survival lore unlocks a paradise too long maligned as mere unused land marked for development. Beyond the sprawl, the asphalt, the final orchard gate, the very end of the last dirt road, looms the mystery and vitality of California wilderness. The stars there still glitter like ice, the sun burns more brightly.

Valleys, mountains, streams, deserts and sea--not long ago all of California was wilderness.

The first Californians lived in harmony with that untamed place, using skills refined over 10,000 years. For those who believed in the sacredness, it was a garden, carefully tended. Conquest, greed, the mercantile juggernaut of Western civilization, in a few short decades crushed a marvel but weakly understood. California native skills were lost, buried beneath highway and city without end...

BFT's Newsletter - December 2008

Download the pdf version of the newsletter here. Web version here.

Barefooting Joshua Tree National Park

My 1966 VW Beetle at camp in Indian Cove, Joshua Tree National Park

Spent the long Thanksgiving weekend scrambling the gorgeous boulders of Indian Cove in Joshua Tree...barefoot naturally.

Indian Cove Campground from on High
(if you have good eyes, you can see the Volkswagen on close-up photo)

The beauty and primordial elegance of a landscape of boulders is almost too much to bare. One wants to run and jump and play among such wonders. The eye cannot take in enough. The feet beckon to explore and climb and see. And that is what I did.

The Beetle from Afar

Most people assume that the desert is totally unsafe for barefooting. Filled with hot rocks, plants with sharp points, poisonous animals...it must be far too dangerous to barefoot, right?

Wrong!

Barefoot Boulder Play

With your eyes open and your senses keen, one can make one's way through the maze of Joshua Tree unscathed and pain free. I must admit, 10 years ago, before I had been barefooting as much as I do now, I did do a day hike barefoot in Joshua Tree and found it to be difficult at the end of the day.

Many of the rocks, although appearing smooth, can sometimes be quite rough and sharp. But my feet were fine this time.

Bliss of Barefooting

I spent several days just climbing among the boulders, finding my own routes up to the top, playing a giant rock puzzle game with endless possibilities.

Cholla...best not to step on...

All in all, I would say that Joshua Tree is a barefooter's hiking, climbing, scrambling paradise and look forward to a barefoot hiking group camp out in the future.

BFT

Trail Trash - Hansen Dam, CA

This (see photo above) is what I typically collect each day along the horse trail leading into Hansen Dam from Shadow Hills.

Everyday, beer cans and beer bottles thrown on the ground.

Do some of these riders think that this is a kind of offering to the poor or something? I mean really. Trash is NOT charity. Carry it out and deposit in trash can. Do NOT throw it on the ground or in the bushes...please.

Perhaps some shared space understanding and training is necessary here. I am working on it.

Why barefooting? I believe it makes one more aware of one's surroundings. You are part of the world, grounded and connected to it. Barefoot, you feel the connection to the earth, and therefore want the earth to be healthy and beautiful and pure...

There is a connection.

BFT

PS. BFT's Challenge: pick a place in the world, a public place, and become its caregiver. Your care will carry over to those who use that space. All will benefit. Encourage others to do the same. Smile.

BFT's Newsletter - November 2008

Download the pdf version of the newsletter here. Web version here.

Brent Mayne visits BFT Land

Retired professional baseball player Brent Mayne stopped by today. Brent has a very interesting life history and has recently written a book (the book) about baseball catching, you can read more here.

He dropped by to pick up a pair of custom Vibram-soled huaraches and learn a little about how to wear his FiveFinger Sprints. He is convinced through research that the way to go for running is more minimal. We went for a little run in my backyard testing grounds at Hansen Dam. I was impressed with Brent's overall form. I believe he has started a very interesting fitness journey, one repeated by so many of you, discovering that LESS is MORE when in comes to running shoes.

Brent had a chance to see the lay of the land around the 15 acre horse ranch I live on. It was a perfect day in the upper 80s with bright sun, clear skies and a cool breeze. SoCal October. Nice.

Being a personal trainer who helps people re-think and re-evaluate what it means to be fit, and how to go about being fit, is my goal. Join me.

BFT

Leather Lined Vibram FiveFinger Sprints

Leather-lined Sprints

So, I finally tested out something I had been wanting to do for a long time. I lined a pair of Vibram FiveFinger Sprints with upholstery quality black leather and glued it in. Oh my Gawd! These feel nice...

Vibram, let's hear it for a beautiful leather FiveFinger in the future!

I prefer to wear my FFs without socks. Most of the time that is just fine. However, I always wondered what it would feel like to have a soft leather interior. Now I know, and I like it.

Leather-lined would not be good for situations where you would be dealing with a lot of water. It is just a fun experiment to try...to see what is possible.

Perhaps I will start offering kits to line your FF too. Basically, a couple strips of fine leather and a special shoe rubber cement, so you too can give it a try.

BFT

My Neighbor and His Leather FiveFingers Copyright BFT's Adventures

Barefoot Ted's Adventures - NO TRASH

We abuse land because we view it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. —Aldo Leopold

From Hansen Dam Tunnel

While I start my personal training business and am introducing folks to the beautiful Hansen Dam Recreational Area that we in Shadow Hills are so fortunate to live next to, I am also making a commitment to having NO TRASH anywhere on the trails that I use as my outdoor gym.

From Hansen Dam Tunnel

There is nothing quite like the beauty of pure nature...untouched by man. Nothing destroys that beauty more quickly than trash. Living so close to an urban environment makes it difficult to keep trash from collecting. Many people need to be educated about litter. It does seem to make it harder to litter if the area is kept clean. That is my goal.

From Hansen Dam Tunnel

I want to be able to make my way through the Hansen Dam without seeing a single piece of trash. If more of us make this commitment, the Dam area will start looking more and more like that gem that many of us have already fallen in love with.

From Hansen Dam Tunnel

You can support my cause by taking advantage of my services as a personal trainer, computer coach and other small businesses that I operate locally.

From Weathertop Farms, Shadow Hills, California

My location at Weathertop Farms puts me in the perfect location to act as a mini-caretaker for our entrance to Hansen Dam. I have been doing it for years, but now feel like pushing it to the next level and integrate trash clean-up into my regular exercise routine.

BFT

PS. Learn more about my personal training business, Barefoot Ted's Adventures, at www.BarefootTed.com/pt/

PSS. Learn more about my famous running sandals at www.BarefootTed.com/shop/

PSSS. Learn more about Hansen Dam and the Tujunga Watershed at www.theriverproject.org

BFT's Newsletter - October 2008

Download the pdf version of the newsletter here. Web version here.

Half Dome Yosemite - Barefoot

Half Dome, Yosemite, CA (wikipedia here)

Had a great time this weekend traveling to Yosemite with some friends and climbing Half Dome...barefoot of course.

Had no idea what the hike would be like with nearly 5000 feet of elevation gain in about 8 miles, so I brought my FiveFingers along just in case. Didn't need them...the path was barefoot friendly.

One thing that was really an eye-opener is how many people attempt the climb so late in the season. There were 100s of folk climbing up! A permit is not required (except to enter the park). Next time I go, I want to run up.

On the way down, I stripped to just my running shorts and backpack. Nothing like the freedom of being able to move through nature with just the bare essentials.

One of the highlights of the trip was meeting up with fellow barefoot runner Noah Elhardt, 21, who is studying at UC Davis. We just happened to run into each other. How's that for a coincidence? Two barefoot climbers...should get people to start thinking that this is not so uncommon or impossible after all. I hope so.

I would strongly recommending climbing Half Dome. You won't soon forget the climb nor the views.

The following morning we had brunch at the Ahwahnee Hotel. It doesn't get better than that!

Big thank you to Lily Lee for the invitation!

BFT