Exciting weeks lie behind and ahead of us. A lot is happening at OGNX. We have big plans and travel a lot. Berlin Fashion Week was very exciting and we have just finished our shoot for the coming autumn/winter season in Mallorca. As always, it was mostly a lot of hard work, good food, little sleep and lots of fun! We can't reveal everything yet, but we are very excited to introduce you to our friend and the new face of our campaign, Melayne Shayne.
OGNX: Dear Melayne, who are you, where do you come from? And what was your life like before Budokon?
MELAYNE: My name is Melayne Shayne and I am an exotic, perhaps even contradictory mix of a Brazilian mother and a German father. I was born in Berlin and have lived in both Germany and Brazil.
Before my time at Budokon, I worked for adidas in Herzogenaurach as Global Trend Marketing Manager for five years. I traveled digitally, socially and physically in emerging subcultures around the world and connected the brand, its niche products and experiences with the target group.
During my time at adidas, I was not only able to expand and expand my skills and fascination for brand building, but also delve deeper into the world of sports.
I was an avid runner when I started passionately teaching yoga on the side. All my life I have been magically drawn to movement. It all started with ballet and horse riding as a young girl. I have always had a fascination with the human body, its form and expressive qualities through movement. I love exploring the possibilities of my physical body, my mental limitations and the connections to my life story. I have always been interested in exercise, but of course there have been times with more or less focus on it. Until the day I met my now husband Cameron during my Budokon yoga teacher training in Frankfurt in 2014. This opened a new chapter in my life.
OGNX: How did you come to Budokon?
MELAYNE: A very good friend from Germany had already taken part in the Budokon training and invited me to her first workshop. I immediately felt a deep connection to the method, the philosophy and the way of moving. At that time I had been practicing other styles of yoga, mainly Vinyasa and Prana Flow. I felt that Budokon brings together many elements in a very intelligent and intuitive way: strength and softness, structure and flow, male and female energy. I felt like I had found the last missing piece of the puzzle.
OGNX: What is Budukon? What is the philosophy behind it? How does Budokon differ from yoga? And what different disciplines are there?
MELAYNE: Budokon is a mixed movement arts system founded in 2001 by Cameron Shayne. Our globally recognized curriculum combines yoga, mobility, calisthenics, animal movement, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts. In Budokon we train holistically in order to gain the ability to perform very fine movements, both physically and mentally. We call this the “Mixed Movement Athlete.” Our motto is 'The way we do anything is the way we do everything'. As we approach movement, we approach life. As we show ourselves in relationships with others, we also show ourselves in our relationships with ourselves.
Through Budokon I realized how much my behavioral patterns had limited my potential in the past. Observing that my mind had so much control over my body and how I expressed myself verbally, physically and emotionally was a massive realization for me and has certainly contributed to how I live my life now: more consciously, compassionately and more forgiving, stronger.
OGNX: What is the difference from other yoga styles?
MELAYNE: Over the last 20 years, Budokon Yoga has greatly influenced the culture of contemporary yoga. Our signature techniques such as rolling up and down the spine, yoga coupled with the combination of martial arts and strength training, have greatly changed the classic approach to posture and transitions between poses. Budokon Yoga is one of the most influential and important innovations in modern yoga history.
It is definitely a type of movement that you have to experience in your own body. In practice it's about moving holistically - sporty, strong, sensual and intuitive at the same time. It is a challenging exercise on different levels, physically, mentally and emotionally. All-encompassing. A lifestyle.
OGNX: Where did the inspiration come from to invent a completely new style? And how did the connection between so many different disciplines come about?
MELAYNE: When my husband started developing the method, he focused primarily on combining martial arts and yoga. I further developed Budokon as a "non-classical" style. A balanced mix of traditional Hatha Yoga, Japanese Karate-Do, Korean Taekwondo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu without a strong connection to any particular style. Unlike more traditional martial arts, Budokon has no set striking style and focuses on self-defense. Budukon is not only a martial art, but also a philosophy with universal principles. All mental activity (beliefs, thoughts, consciousness) is subjective and temporary.
As more and more animal movement and calisthenics were added, Budokon developed into a system of movement arts made up of six pillars: movement, intelligence, emotion, relationships, nutrition and environment. These six pillars are taught in a belt classification system: White, Blue, Purple, Brown and Black. Each belt level covers all six pillars and becomes increasingly complex as you approach the black belt. Although the movement arts portion is the most enticing aspect of the work for many, it accounts for only fifty percent of student progress. The other fifty percent comes through individual development within the remaining five pillars.
Today, Cameron and I are co-designing and expanding the method in new ways. We are constantly developing our technologies. Our personal practice and our human experiences continue to drive us to grow and share. We want to build a community and leave something behind that has an impact and makes a tangible difference.
OGNX: What does a typical day look like for you today? How many hours a day do you practice?
MELAYNE: Actually like “Groundhog Day” - hahaha. I start my day with my matcha morning ritual. I take about 20-30 minutes to grind the tea and enjoy making my own nut milk and making my matcha.
After that, my day is pretty “normal” - I have two dogs who want to be loved, fed and played with. I'm also a housewife and a normal wife who tries to keep up with all the responsibilities and privileges that come with it- HAHA.
And last but not least, I manage two companies - our Budokon University with our teacher training courses and BDK University, our headquarters and training center in Miami. This is also where I actually spend a lot of time working from my computer.
I typically exercise when I am teaching, taking classes, or when I have scheduled time for my personal practice.
OGNX: You and Cameron are married and you also have other levels of relationship with each other, such as a teacher-student and business partner level. How do you deal with it?
MELAYNE: Our mutual commitment, our love and our two visions allow us to have a passionate, creative, ever-growing and evolving, highly productive relationship. Living together, working together, being married and loving each other is a daily roller coaster ride, I'm not going to lie. It ignites, nourishes, inspires and challenges you at the same time. It's hard work. We both have strong personalities, ideas and visions that we share with passion. Cameron brings a very artistic and abstract element into my life that has been dormant within me for a long time. I, on the other hand, bring with me well-founded and realistic qualities that always get us going. This is how we nourish and complement each other. It's wonderful to share a vision and bring it to life. Cameron is my best friend, lover, husband, teacher and student.
OGNX: Many people think they can't practice yoga because they are too rigid. As teachers, we always say that you can't be too rigid for yoga. But when we look at your videos, the thought comes to our heads: How can we possibly learn that?
MELAYNE: In my opinion and experience, everyone can start to discover yoga for themselves. It is our perception that we must already be good at something to excel. We humans don't like not being good at something. We do not want to show physical, mental or emotional weakness. And here, in my opinion, lies the real problem. People often don't want to develop, don't want to fail, don't want to learn and don't want to grow from this place. Instead, they want to be “there” already, but that doesn’t allow them to be “here.” For me, this is basically the true practice of yoga. It's not the contortions we can do with our bodies, yoga begins with mental work, with stretching the mind, the emotional state, being here in the moment. Only then can we connect with our body, discover our freedom of movement and our individual anatomy. Once the mind opens to this process, the body will adapt over time. It will become stronger, more flexible, more open and more mobile.
If someone is interested and takes this work seriously, they should definitely come to us at Budokon University. There you can immerse yourself in it and develop incredibly.
OGNX: Are there points at which you reach your limits in your practice?
MELAYNE: Most of the time my biggest challenge is my mind and the voice in my head about not being good enough. My own frustration then manifests itself in me becoming impatient, not listening properly, and not taking the time I actually need to train and learn.
As already mentioned, our mind, in the form of limiting beliefs, can be our greatest enemy or our best friend and motivator. When I realize that I'm stuck in the story I tell myself every day, I can break through and move beyond it.
This applies not only to exercise, but also to every other challenge in our lives that shows us our limitations.
OGNX: Which people does Budokon appeal to? And what about your proportion of men? Do men feel more attracted to Budokon?
MELAYNE: Budokon is for everyone who wants to grow physically, mentally and emotionally. It is aimed at professional athletes and everyday people who want to embark on a journey to bring body and mind back into harmony. Because we offer a broad spectrum ranging from flexibility and endurance in yoga, mobility in free movement work, strength in weight training to martial arts, we attract all types of people. Thanks to its powerful practice and martial arts component, Budokon certainly appeals to more men than any other yoga style. But a very specific type of woman also feels at home in Budukon: the strong and wild woman who doesn't want to lose her sensual femininity.
OGNX: You also offer women-only workshops/retreats. How do these courses differ from other Budokon workshops?
MELAYNE: YES, and I love it :)
This work is very close to my heart because it is primarily self-reflection and sharing my own path and process.
Bringing women together through my work with the Warrior Women concept is a natural evolution of my personal work as an athlete and woman, as a teacher, wife, friend, partner, daughter and sister.
I create and hold a space for empowerment and vulnerability, for responsibility and leadership, for softness and wildness. For women on their personal journey, this is just a small moment of connection with other women. And yet it is so important. Because knowing that our fears and stories are not just ours, but those of other women, makes it easier for us to ask for help, to reach out, and to move together to a level of intimate connection.
These experiences - whether workshop, course or retreat - offer women a unique opportunity to discover themselves and create space for real, honest yet connected and co-creative growth.
OGNX: How does your training work? What content can you expect as a student?
MELAYNE: Our curriculum combines all of our six pillars that we talked about earlier: Yoga, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Martial Arts, Mobility, Animal Movement and Strength Training. During our teacher training we develop the “Mixed Movement Athlete”, teacher and thinker in our students.
With us you can choose between 5, 10, 15 day, 3 or 4 week training camps. Our unique approach to training is based on our innovative Budokon course module matrix. Students have the opportunity to customize their movement training by choosing from our various course modules - BDK Yoga, BDK Mobility, BDK Calisthenics, BJJ and Martial Arts.
To have a transformative experience, we generally recommend completing an intensive, month-long training at our headquarters in Miami. Our 5-day / 50-hour training camps in BDK Yoga and BDK Mobility, on the other hand, are the perfect introduction to integrating Budukon into your own practice.
OGNX: What new projects do you have planned?
MELAYNE: We are always developing everything further and creating new things. Right now we are working on updating our online store with all of our BDK merch and our Melayne Shayne line. We are also creating an online academy program so anyone can practice with us from home.
This fall we will be back in Europe for teacher training, workshops and retreats. Keep an eye out and stay connected!
OGNX: Wow, thank you dear Melayne for the many insights, we are excited and are already looking forward to autumn with you!
If all of this has made you curious and you would like to find out more about Budokon and are thinking about training, take a look at www.budokon.com and send the Budokon team an email to info@budokon.com.