To fully understand FOM conceptually, it would help to also understand how I came up with it.
It really goes back to my early childhood, a perception I had as a little kid, back in Tel Aviv, Israel.
As a kid I used to look at adults around me feeling that they look so far from nature, un-natural and deformed. I also couldn't understand some of the behaviors I saw that did not correlate to nature, which I always enjoyed observing. Behaviors that I would always ponder, was it a mere invention of our creative ability that had nothing to do with nature, just like our physical issues, or is it that you don't see them in nature due to the fact that we are the most developed creature intellectually.
At the time it made me feel a sense of disconnection, thinking I would not want to live in Israel, thinking America, through what I saw on TV, made much more sense, only to discover later that these problems are world wide phenomena.
I recall thinking I would not compromise with looking anything less then in a way I would be able to survive in nature had civilization would cease, thinking hardly anyone I see would be able to survive live in nature.
As you can tell I had lots of questions and very few answers.
Run it forward a few years, at 15, I started yoga with some friends, discovering oriental philosophies which were the first thing I found that went along with my observations. I practiced breathings and mediations, later to be followed with exercise, which till that time I used to hate. But I adopted the thought of control your body control your soul; I needed a cause to start moving with intention.
At 16 I started going to the gym, at first for the girls. I used to be very short and skinny, but my body changed very quickly, and then right before 18, I found Capoeira. That was a real rescue for me, on a social level the community was very tribal, everyone was very communicative and I got to interact with people I had never interacted with before, a community that practice social inclusion, and is designed for it. That was my first encounter with a community of people that made sense for me, was a real therapy, and I have been very fortunate to be able to provide that to many generations of groups and peoples.
Another thing Capoeira gave me was a great chance to explore my body, ways of movement that are very organic, very natural ways for people to move, which also made more sense biomechanically than other forms of movement, that also gave me many tools to distill into my workout practice.
Then came gymnastics. I got to do some flips in Capoeira by 1994, 95. and in 97 I was going to school for sports in a facility in Israel where the Olympic teams train, I used to go watch the gymnastics team, and I got into good terms with their coaches. We ended up partnering to teach a class open for the public in that institution, which was very successful. I got to get a major start with the gymnastics field, to be later further explored with many elite gymnasts and coaches.
In my late teens and early twenties I was also heavily involved in searching, I got into studying and practicing various alternative medicine such as classical homeopathy, Chinese medicine and various forms of massage therapy, which I also became certified at and took many courses to increase that knowledge at various of the disciplines.
On another note I was a heavy user of marijuana, experimenting with my mind.
And then I was also looking into the study of nutrition, reading research and lots of material about the field, trying to maximize results from my hard practice in a natural and healthy way.
Over the years I tried many diets and food philosophies till I achieved the knowledge I could fully control my own weight and look the way I desire, which ever look that is.
While those fields mentioned are the ones that had the most impact on my development, I was also involved in many other fields of movement.
I was swimming for many years, I did running, I tried many martial arts, as well as tried my Capoeira skills against them on a friendly basis.
I took many dance classes, Classical Ballet for a few years, martial dance and contact improve, various Latin dances, some Feldenkraiz, and jazz dancing. At the top of my dancing career I had numerous stage performances with major Israeli artists, as well as being on TV for the beauty contest of 1997, escorting one of the models as a dancer.
Since Coming to the US I’ve been involved with stunt work as well as live shows, which I’ve been doing since my early days in Capoeira, and added various circus skills to my repertoire, such as hand to hand balancing, Parkour, Aerial (dancing and acrobatic moves on fabrics and other apparatuses which are hanging from the ceiling) and Equilibre (one hand balancing).
Since my early twenties I was eating lots of grains which I was dealing well with (macrobiotic diet).
In life there are corner-stones that tell you that you are on track for your fulfillment, I usually find those by trial and error.
In my early youth I did any activity under the sun, various instruments among others just to find the ones that stuck. Those were yoga and then Capoeira.
However recently I came across another ones of those, around 2007-2008 a childhood friend I had from Capoeira, that also did his own track of research around the same fields I did, introduced me to the Paleo Diet. Eating according to our genetics, ancestral diet, which is a whole field that made so much sense to the level that it really put an end the this lifetime research trying to understand what really happened to us, humans, on this planet, and how things came to be this way.
Together with that and some further research I was conducing, I also put together this system that encompasses all of the knowledge I had acquired, to prepare the body for strenuous activity and building strength, in a way that work with the body, and prepare the body to perform many skills, teaching individuals how to listen to their bodies and preventing injuries in an active way.
Basically taking the skills and expertise from the fields I worked with, and processing them in a way that would be easy for any individual to practice, needing no prior knowledge, and maximizing the results by understanding the Fundamentals Of Movement.
While I had been inspired by so many individuals throughout my life, I can't take the time on this blog to thank all who sure deserve it. I would really like to take this opportunity to thank some of the people that took a major part of my formation:
First is my older brother Itzhak Solsky who always shared my life perception, and desire to benefit mankind.
My Dad, Ze'ev Solsky who always have been a great inspiration with his strong character, man of values that know how to navigate through
life and get the best out of it. Around this man everything always fall in order, I am so lucky for his example and wish to one day reach his magnitude.
My high school friends Kobi Hanoked and Amir Armoza which introduced me to Yoga, followed by Erin that took that knowledge further.
My Capoeira Master that initiated me to Capoeira, Daniel Sela, without him I would not have been attracted to this art, he was the first to reaffirm many of my believes.
Mestre Marcelo Perreira and Mestre Espirro Mirim who inspired me forming my Capoeira style.
Dianna Farr, who always inspire me with the most thoughtful advice and insight into life and people as well as her deep knowledge of Naturopathy.
And last but not least my Friend Ido Portal who has been there with me through everything I’ve been through with my journey. He helped me discover Paleo diet and formulate FOM, shared knowledge of various movement arts and contributed a lot to my knowledge of Capoeira in particular. Ido has been a more technical inspiration than I can say and I highly recommend looking him up.
Thank you for reading this far. Now I would like to know your story and how did you come this way, I would love to know what I can learn from you.
Much care,
Amir Solsky
www.FundamentalsOfMovement.com
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