Formosa Fitness

Yep, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior. Ok, so I've mentioned it before. But I think the movie's various messages are what a lot of people need to hear.

The main thing that I took away from the movie was Socrates' idea of athletics from an internal motivation. Remember the scene where he took Dan out in back of the garage and showed him a set of gymnastic rings and told him to do the rings just for the sake of doing the rings?

That kind of motivation is what is missing in both sports and the fitness industry at large. Sports is all about winning and external motivations like medals, trophies, etc. Fitness is usually about how you look or some other shallow motivation. But internally driven fitness satisfies a deep human need to move and enjoy skilled movement for its own sake. It become about expressing and enjoying your body at a more efficient level. 

Yes, the movie is cheesy but how could it not appear so? The message runs so completely counter to modern thought that it must appear silly. But if you look past the cheese, there are some important messages in the film and book.

Check it out.