Basically it claims that modern yoga descends mostly not from any Indian tradition but from the 19th century anglo-german Physical Culture movement ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_culture ), which also birthed the Muscular Christianity movement championed by Teddy Roosevelt. Seems like it was controversial initially but now widely accepted.
This makes me much more excited about going to yoga class, since I admire the achievements of 19th century Northern Europe much more than premodern India. It also makes me curious about tracing cultural history as a history of patterns of bodily movement. I grew up Russian Orthodox, and the standard liturgy and prayers involve a lot of physical exercises like prostrating yourself - a movement that reinforces at a somatic level a feeling of surrender and helplessness.
It's obvious that people who lift weights vs people who run a lot vs people who do lots of yoga have quite different personalities and ways of being in the world. If we are to rebuild Western civilization, how should we moving our bodies? "Sun and steel" seems to be the answer in these parts but I think that's overly simplified grug mindset. Cultivating skill and grace in movement, not brute strength alone, seems necessary.
It's true of many Eastern traditions, and especially those that might seem to wear a fairly ancient patina—they're the products of transcultural circulation: young men were traveling out of the East in the early modern period, and others were traveling in, and one side was looking for the modern, and the other was looking for the prehistoric. This is true beyond physical culture, but I think of judo, which comes from Erwin Bälz—a German—as much as it does Kano Jigoro. The techniques are ancient, but the practice modern (abandoning the perfection of forms, adopting the practical test of sparring). When promoted in Germany, the appeal was in part its supposed ancientness and foreignness; when promoted in Japan, the appeal was its modernity; and the results are a strange hybrid sport-combat system, Olympic sport and honor code... And then from Bälz and Kano's ideas, as well as other men who were moving back and forth, we get, through the patriotic returnees to China, what we now think of as kung fu (this is a simplification, as is everything here). But will any of that help anyone to decide how to move their bodies? I don't know.
I don't know how to answer the question, however. At first, I never stuck with any particular program or discipline. I wanted to emulate men I admired. Isn't that enough? They didn't fear someone getting the better of them physically; I figured out that they knew how to throw a punch, and they knew how to grapple. They were fast, as well as strong, so I looked up their programs, sprinted, and snatched. They were limber and graceful, so I followed them in stretching, doing some hybrid program. Later, when I was less vain and fearful, I enjoyed devoting myself to the orthodoxy of various program (I wanted to stay friends with the people I met, as well, probably). But I think it's better not to think too much about it—or at least not to think about it in a neurotic, modern way, even if that's what Bälz and Kano did, in a sense. Their students were dumber. I don't want to be Kano Jigoro. So, sun and steel are good. And I was at my most fit when I went clubbing most nights out of the week for a stretch of a summer years back. I admire the noodly guys I see jogging in the evenings, too, though. CrossFit is fine, even if I don't particularly admire the achievements of 21st century Northern California. Most men would be better off following yoga workouts on YouTube, rather than whatever else they occupy their free time with. I think it is as simple as that—to cultivate yourself in a way that makes you and your loved ones happier and safer is good. That might be precisely the mindset you're trying to avoid, though.
Some thoughts: If one is to listen to a yoga teacher, does this not still prostrate yourself to the teacher only in a way more agreeable to you than the Orthodox liturgy? You admit yourself you were not excited about going to yoga class: the activity has not changed, only how you feel about it. If somebody dressed up Indian tradition yoga as Anglo-German Physical Culture, would you feel better about doing it?
Is a manner of movement something that comes from the outside in, or something the peoples already have themselves, expressing themselves in ways representative of them?
Very interesting, looking forward to reading this. I suspect yoga asanas do have some roots in ancient Vedic Kshatriya combat training culture along with grappling, archery, etc. but all that has been long diluted along with Indian civilization in general.
Prostrations and certain other physical practices are a big part of Tibetan Buddhism, which probably have yogic roots, and are allegedly for the purposes of purifying energy channels, strengthening the body, and removing excess pride. It is more physically demanding than the Christian or Muslim version and requires fully flattening the torso and extending the arms and legs on the ground. I admire the Tibetans and Nepalis who choose to perform them as part Himalayan mountain pilgrimages.
