An inspiring interview with an incredible human being, by our girl, Tara Grando.
We are so honored, fortunate, grateful and excited to have this opportunity to host Kancho Cameron Shayne! This kind of opportunity will not come around every day! Cameron teaches all over the world and will be at Revolution Yoga next week Tuesday 9/13 @7:15p for One Night Only. Do. not. miss. this!! REGISTER HERE
T: What got you into
yoga?
C: I was first
introduced to yoga many years ago when a girlfriend of mine was taking a Yoga
Teacher Training. I was already a
Martial Artist at the time [a black belt in various different styles]. Honestly, I had some pre-conceived notions
about yoga. I thought that it would be
too easy for me. I didn’t think it would
be challenging enough. I was happily surprised
when I found the class to be physically very demanding. I was fascinated with the efforts (both
physical and mental) needed to succeed. These are some of the things that got me
hooked initially, but more than that it was the spiritual component of the yoga
practice that inspired me the most.
From my very first
class I had an immediate sense of mind, body, spirit connection and was
inspired by the Message and Community. Although
spirituality had always been a part of my practice in Martial Arts, I
appreciated how the philosophies intertwined with the yogic way of life. Spirituality in the context of Martial Arts practice
had always had Buddhist leanings and I appreciated the way yogis incorporated
spirituality without deference to a particular religion. In general I found
that there was more of an emphasis on self-reflection in yoga.
Later, I began to gravitate toward the philosophical works
and texts of great yogi masters. I read
the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads and the Yoga Sutras and began to look for common threads in each of the
different systems. It was these common
threads that eventually lead me to develop Budokon.
T: What does Yoga mean to you now?
C: First of all, I think of yoga as meaning what it
literally translates to which is “to yoke” or “join”, “the union [of things]”
and for me it is the union of the mind, body and spirit. That’s my intention for my yoga practice.
Ultimately though,
yoga is what you bring to it and this whole concept becomes much broader. Yoga can be like a gateway into the self or
into self-awakening, self-reflection and self-awareness. Yoga is like a vehicle which if used and
operated correctly (just like any other vehicle or tool) can take you to
amazing places or allow you to build beautiful things.
On the other hand, I do not believe that a practitioner will
automatically gain an ability to
bring all the parts of their self (i.e. the mind, body, and spirit) into
harmony simply by doing asana (physical yoga poses). The Intrinsic quality of yoga is what the
practitioner brings to it (the intention). An unconscious person [someone who
has not set any intentions or is not actively bringing awareness to their
practice] doing asana will have an unconscious experience and not gain much.
T: How did this
mixture of yoga and martial arts occur to you? How does it fit?
C: When I began to study Yoga more deeply I started noticing
that it was almost identical to Martial Arts in many ways. This is especially true in terms of the
physical elements of each. As for the
spiritual elements, I began to see common threads and to look more and more
deeply for what I’ve come to think of as universal truths. The spirituality of yoga is like a missing
component to the existing martial arts system, yet they share an almost
identical physical expression. It just
made complete sense to me to put the two systems together. They are inherently complementary to each
other.
T: What is Budokon? How does Budokon transform people?
The literal Japanese
translation of the word Budokon is “the warrior spirit” or “the warrior
spirit’s way” it perfectly captures what I’ve aimed to do with this hybrid Yoga
and Marital Arts system. Budokon, like
yoga is precisely what the practitioner brings to it. As the founder of the
system I have set ideals and ultimate intentions in place but the actualizing
of these ideals is within the complete control of the student. There is just potentiality, an idea, a
floating possibility, an intention, and energy - everything is a reflection of
a human being, a reflection of the practitioner.
The ultimate intention of Budokon is the harmonizing of the
3 bodies in which we exist i.e. the mind, physical body and spiritual
body. I believe this is probably the aim
of most forms of art. I believe that
even painters and sculptors have all three experiences when they’re creating
masterpieces through their work. Budokon
is all about igniting the spiritual, intellectual and physical selves simultaneously
and synergistically.
Budokon aims to develop what is already there and facilitate
the process of realizing one’s true self without simultaneously suppressing
one’s individual genius and authenticity.
It reminds me of an Einstein quote: “Genius is always met with
mediocrity”. Too frequently when a
person attempts to fully express her true individual genius and authenticity
she is met with a kind of resistance and backlash from mediocre minds. It takes a lot of effort and a lot mental
work to actualize your full possible potential. Finding the strength to
actualize your full potential and prevail against this backlash is one of the
aims of Budokon.
If you follow the Budokon system and come to the practice
ready to be the student and the receiver of what your teacher is trying to give
you there can be many measureable benefits.
A student who wants to improve has to come to practice thinking “I am
open to and willing and ready to be transformed to what is already inside me. I am open to the potential of a pre-existing
enlightenment and I am READY TO BE A STUDENT.”
Some of the measurable results from Budokon include physical skills in
terms of agility, balance, strength, coordination, and integrated
movement. Budokon can help you realize
your own potential as a dynamic athlete.
The system is has its own intrinsic value different from and
complementary to already existing systems in Yoga and Martial Arts alone.
Who have you worked
with in the past, we've heard about some celebrities, what do you attribute to
your success to? What grew you to such a large platform?
Before I became a trainer I was very interested in the film
industry. I moved to Los Angeles to work
and was working on the production side of film including doing site scene
production for the movie
Rush Hour. Eventually I started doing body guard work
and was a body guard for Charlie Sheen at one point. Later, almost by default I began training
many of the people around me in Martial Arts and Yoga. This is when I created Budokon and when I
began training people like Meg Ryan, Rene Russo, Jennifer Anniston and Courtney
Cox. Both Rene and Courtney were really
supportive of Budokon and each of them enthusiastically endorsed me during that
time. This helped bring me national
exposure in magazines and publications around the country.
However, I eventually became quite disillusioned with the
Hollywood scene. I decided to leave Los
Angeles when I realized that I was in the wrong place doing the wrong work. I
refused to compromise my morals and I ended up leaving the “ladder climbing” of
L.A. to explore the things I really loved. I concentrated my efforts towards developing
Budokon. At one point, sometime later,
I stopped talking about training with celebrities altogether. For years I refused to even use any
celebrity’s name because I never wanted Budokon to be seen as some product of
Hollywood or fad fitness program.
For the past six years all I’ve done is travel the world teaching
Budokon as a system and as an art.
