Paris↗2018–2019

The String of the Body

This training is the outcome of many years of practice of Jakub Gontarski and his collaborators in the fields of martial arts, sport, dance, theatre and body therapy. The training tools support mobility, motor control, speed, body stability, spatial awareness, motor intelligence, and help keep the body in good psychophysical shape. The work aims at arriving at a conscious body that is agile, flexible, resilient, unblocked, sensitive, instinctive, present and in-the-flow; a body ready to enter into physical dialogue, in a state of conscious breathing, rhythm and agitated senses. Each session can be a chance to discover an authentic language of movement expression.

The work will primarily focus on:

  • exercises that reduce the risk of injury
  • team exercises – a common body
  • mobility and statics
  • balance, imbalance, maintaining one’s balance
  • orientation and spatial awareness
  • falls, flips, cushioning exercises, reversed positions
  • dynamics, momentum, strength, gentleness
  • interactive games to develop the diversity of our perception and motor intelligence
  • work with your own body weight and partnering (in pairs, threes, etc.)
  • the risk zone, limited comfort, trust and distrust
  • boundaries and crossing boundaries
  • the strong and supple body structure
  • the energy and expressive potentials
  • fatigue and psychosomatic ways of reducing bodily tension

Jakub Gontarski

graduated from Wrocław-based 13 Stunt School. He is a movement recreation instructor specialising in self-defense (AZS-AWF Wrocław), certified personal trainer and movement trainer (under the direction of Steve Maxwell, USA). Jakub initiated The String of the Body and Martial Partnering workshops dedicated to exploring expression, presence, dramaturgy and creativity in martial arts within the path of Warrior-Performer. To find inspiration, he travels to Brazil, where he documents his expeditions and takes active part in candomblé rituals.

Photo by Yousef ZafariPhoto by Jacek NiedzielskiPhoto by Magdalena MądraPhoto by Humberto AraujoPhoto by Marcin MaO Osman
Photo by Yousef ZafariPhoto by Jacek NiedzielskiPhoto by Magdalena MądraPhoto by Humberto AraujoPhoto by Marcin MaO Osman