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| Larry Schultz is coming to our local Ashtanga Yoga Studio for a workshop next week. Is it worth spending the money? Has anyone had any experience with his style of yoga. He teaches something called the rocket. I have no idea what that is.
Edited by MrD 2005-02-18 1:25 PM
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Hey MrD - you hit the 100 mark! 
PS - would it be worth going just so you could tell us all what the heck the rocket is????
Edited by tourist 2005-02-18 7:23 PM
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| The studio where I practice at does the Larry Schultz "Rocket Series"--the studio's owner has studied extensively with Larry and was certified by him. Larry basically created two series of postures (Rocket I, Rocket II) based on the different series of Ashtanga when he studied with Pattahbi Jois. He took many different postures and just moved them around (keeping the traditional 5 Surya Namaskar As and the 5 Surya Namaskar Bs in the beginning of his sequencing) as he saw fit. While on tour with the Grateful Dead, he created the Rocket in hopes to make yoga more fun and accessible to the average Western Joe (legend has it he taught his Greatful Dead buddies yoga to help pass the mindless and boring hours they spent on the tour bus). He calls it the Rocket because supposedly "it get's you there faster" in terms of opening up the nervous system and opening the practitioner more to invite prana into the body.
If you'd like more info on the "Rocket" you can visit Larry's studio's website at www.itsyoga.net.
IMHO, as someone who's done the "Rocket" lots of times, I think it's tons of fun (especially if you have a really irreverant, light-hearted teacher), but if you're more into traditional Ashtanga and don't really like the idea of deviating from Pattabhi Jois' teachings, then it's probably not for you. So it really depends on what you like if you're willing to drop the cash on the class or not.
On a sidenote, Larry is a really fun and light-hearted teacher. He's not a terribly strict or stoic kind of guy. Actually, if you've ever seen Steve Ross' show, Inhale, on Oxygen, Larry sort of reminds me of Steve in terms of his happy-go-lucky manner.
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| Thanks Rachelle. My background actually is Baptiste Power Yoga rather than pure Ashtanga so if he changes the order around I won't have a prolem with that.
Five Sun Salutatations did you say  OK, I'd be a little tired after that. We usually do 3 half sun salutations, 3 Sun Salutation A's, and 3 Sun Salutation B's.
Based on what you've said, I'll give it a try. I cou ld use a teacher who doesn't take himself too seriously. |
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| So I signed up today. I'm going at 4:30 this Friday and will see what happens. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | With apologies.....
Everytime I see the title of this thread, the thought that I have is
"Sargeant Schultz Workshop"
Bay Guy  "I know Nothing!" |
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| MrD, please keep us updated. Let us know how the workshop went. Tell us what you did--I'd like to know if Larry has made any changes to his teaching style or the sequencing. |
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| Well I went Friday Night. Larry was there, and immediately introduced himself to everyone who was new there. He did this personally, and visited wth those he already knew. He apparently comes out at least 3 times a year. This made for a lot of personal attention to both the advanced and newer students like me. He got one guy who had never done camel to touch his heels, and then turned around and got one advanced students to bend clear back on the top of her head. He was very enthusiastic and was definitely having fun himself. He was also very confident.
As typical ashtanga training however, he called out poses and didn't give a lot of specific instructions like Anna Forrest did a year ago at her workshop.
We did a variation of the Rocket that he uses on Friday. It uses a lot of abs and leg stretches. But the thing that blew me away was the "signature arm balances." Apparently as part of the Rocket they teach advanced poses right along with the basic ones. Now I was ok with Bakasana, and side crow, but when they started doing extended crow and eight angle pose I was blown away. I'd only seen 8 angle pose ONCE before. They do this even with beginners. Amazing.
The second day was a workshop and we spent most of the time on inversions and on where to hold Dristi on poses and when moving from one pose to another. I've always worried about gaze on balancing poses, but did't know how much it can improve standing poses.
I think it was well the effort and will be taking more classes from the studio in the future. I'm ready to start working on arm balances, and this studio seems to specialize in them. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
Eight-angle...also called Astavakrasana.
Extended crow...?...probably Dwi Pada Khoundinyasana?
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I know Nothing! I see Nothing! I hear Nothing! --- Sargeant S.
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Larry does teach alot of teacher trainings where the students want to "feel the burn" and do too many handstands and inversions and sometimes feels like taking a push ups and inversions class, most of his classes feel effective becuz theres alot of advance people and you just follow along but he's not very inspiring and doesn't give instructions much, and if you like inspirational meditative yoga, it might not be for you, but when i was moving from beginner to intermediate it really was helpful in the advancement becuz you were just thrown into doing things you thought were too difficult but if you want a teacher who is more hands on his "rocket" series might not be for you.
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| "Extended Crow" is Bakasana II.
One leg is in regular crow, but the other leg is extended up and out behind you.
It's on my site YogaDancer.com
Christine |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
Okay, cool, that's Eka Pada Bakasana I in LOY.
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I know Nothing! I see Nothing! I hear Nothing! --- Sargeant S.
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Larry Schultz Workshop
