Should There Be 'Yoga' Competitions?

One of the hottest topics of discussion today in yoga world is - should there be an existence of yoga competitions knowing its spiritual values and ethics which ancient sages has bestowed on the modern society. A lot of practitioners are favoring this idea globally where many are strictly against this concept.

Many of my earlier years of yogic existence were under the shelter of yoga championships and as I have evolved as a teacher, my perception towards this entire apprehension has changed over time which I would like to share. Please keep an open mind as you read below and do challenge your existing belief so that you can see from the perspective of both ends.

What is Yoga? We can answer this in different esoteric ways but a simple statement would be - Union of body, mind and spirit. As per what Maharishi Patanjali has authored in Yoga Sutras, yoga got 8 limbs which complete it and asana is one of these 8 limbs. In ancient times, the sages used to practice the asana for eliminating discomfort on physical body when seated prolonged in meditation. In modern world, asana is used as an active tool for maintaining physical health, where strength and flexibility are given lots of importance. Asana also leads us towards physical body's awareness which develops a better sense of self-understanding and leads us to the pathway of spiritual practices which can be attained through meditation (which is another limb among the 8 mentioned above).

However the western approach of yoga practice these days focus on using asana as a tool for weight loss and fitness. Some approaches and styles of practice almost eliminate its spiritual values and essence, when not practiced with importance given to Prana and Meditation during classes. So can there be any competitions in YOGA? The simple answer is - NO!

There cannot be comparisons of two people with different levels of consciousness as to who is greater or evaluate if one's spiritual practice or growth is better than another's. Hence, the so-called Yoga competitions are simply demonstrations of expressing the physical body's excellence from years of hard work and determination towards sculpting their physique and can be safely called as 'ASANA Competition' instead.

Next question would be - Shall there be Asana Competitions and why? Please read through till the end before coming into any judgments.

Practice of asanas help one to gain not just the physical strength but provides them with mental nourishment and confidence to excel in their daily life activities. One sees the growth of asanas as the growth in their self-discipline and introspection which is highly functional in daily life to surpass the challenges. Healthy competitions in any field encourage this human growth in all formats of their life, without which creativity and quests gradually fade out.

If asana competitions help one to unleash their limitless physical potentials, it should be encouraged on a global platform with sincere rules and friendly precedence, but keeping the fine line between an understanding of Asana versus Yoga. This would definitely strengthen the bondage between people of different cultures, religions and beliefs. This union is YOGA in its supreme spirit.

                                                                    Samrat Dasgupta          
                                                           Hong Kong Yoga  Federation

Story of a Shy Boy

There was a person in my neighborhood who liked to collect kids and took them to the playground near my home for morning gathering. He also approached me. I was around 7 or 8 years old. Me and my brother started going in the morning for the
activity. It was really fun to chant prayers and mantras, practice sun-salutation and then had some fun play. Later I knew it was the activity of R.S.S, an organization in India whose objective is to promote Indian culture and history, moral values and
nationalism among the kids and youth. My first yoga practice began with them. Few months later I found one of my friends started going to learn yoga with her aunt. She was a yoga teacher for St. Anne’s girl’s School. I requested him if his aunt can
also teach us. She agreed and every Saturday we started going to her classes at her home. We were not able to pay any fees to her, but she still agreed to continue teach us.

Almost 5 months later, the teacher asked us to join yoga competition. At that time I didn’t know about yoga competition. Out of curiosity I decided to participate in the competition. I was always a shy guy, avoid to talk with girls, very introvert and had
inferiority complex. My confidence level always very low and find difficult to face challenges. I seldom attend wedding ceremony or birthday party’s as I felt uncomfortable in the crowd.

Whatever, we arrived at the venue of the competition. It was an inter school yoga championship. Around three hundred students were present at the venue. It was the first experience for me to watch students performing yoga postures in shorts and costumes. I felt very nervous. I observed, students appeared on the stage once their name announced and performing their poses mentioned on the circular. I watched for an hour and tried to make up my mind for my performance, but the stage fear and lack of confidence was one of the big factors that I decided to withdraw. I went to my teacher and said “I cannot participate and I want to go home”. She asked me the reason. I mentioned I feel uncomfortable to wear just one short and perform poses on the stage while hundreds of people watching me. She understand my problem and convinced me to finally show up. I gathered all my courage to be on the stage when my turn came. I started doing my poses avoiding eye contact with
the audience and judges. I stood 5 th out of 40 students in my age group. It was an unforgettable moment in life. That five minutes on the stage was like an age for me but because of that 5 minutes I pursue learning yoga more seriously. Last 35 years of my life has been dedicated to promote yoga in its different forms.
 
The yoga competition created a sheer interest in me about yoga. In coming years with every competition I learnt various new postures. I might have never known and tried the poses if I don’t attend yoga competitions. I began to practice intermediate and advance poses. Yoga competitions test the asana, or physical movement, with
balance, stillness, breathing, and concentration factored into the final score. The easier you make a difficult pose look, the more points you'll receive. Some poses are also worth more points than others: advanced poses like Pincha Mayurasana
(forearm stand) and Tittibhasana (firefly pose) are worth more points than, say, Ardha Bhujangasana (baby cobra).

There were poses I couldn't do that were required. And yes, a lot of yoga instructors will tell you not to push yourself, and yes, you should never push yourself to injury, but when you actually set a goal and work to it, it's amazing to see what you can do.
It was mind-blowing to see how much more progress, I made in three months getting ready for a competition than in a year practicing yoga. I used to practice every day two hours in the evening to maintain my postures and also practiced new and difficult poses.

Many times while I practiced I had fallen but I never gave up and strengthen my will power to accomplish the challenging poses. My first phase of intensive yoga practice for the competition level was a bit painful and I can still feel that immense feeling up to this day. It was a really hard time when I had a feeling of souring body for many days. As the days and months passed with my self-practice, I was more comfortable and slowly the poses came to me as a gift, flawless and easy to me.

By the time passed, I could see a great change in my personality and the way to look at life. My inferiority complex and stage fear gone. I could feel a great deal of confidence, courage and will power. There was never in my mind to win or lose. I was simply happy to perform. As far as asana was concern, I was quite good now I wanted to know other dimensions of yoga. At the age of 16 I decided to attend one month short teacher training course in Shivananda Ashram. It was my first teacher training course. That training changed my whole perception about yoga.
Philosophy, history, meditation, therapeutic aspect of yoga and other studies were . My local view changed to global. Now I could feel the essence of each asana I practice. I started teaching yoga in schools after the training. At the age of 14 years usually students like to play and enjoy their life. My life has changed to be a yoga
teacher and I could financially help my family as well.

In India, there are inter school yoga championship, district yoga championship, state yoga championship, inter college yoga championship, inter university yoga championship and national yoga championship. I had participated in all of them multiple times in my 15 years tenure of participating in yoga championships. After
receiving the “Yoga Shree” and “Yoga King” I left participating in competitions and became a jury member.

The yoga championship is just one small dimension of yoga. But I can say it can be first door of yoga king-dome. As it sharpens interest in you, the other doors will open. Yoga has become popular among the people in Asia around 20 years back. There were many big yoga companies started opening in many countries. Many of the
Indian yoga teachers joined these companies and most of them are from competition background. People like to watch their yoga postures. The classes you practice, all designed by them. Your favorite yoga teacher may also from the competition background. So he can teach you intense poses as he practiced those poses to attend the competitions. In normal yoga practice, no one wants to do the intense postures such as full wheel pose, forearm balance, handstand and full locust pose. If there were no yoga competitions, may be the world are limited to practice only 50-60 yoga poses. The world will never know there can be firefly pose, flying
dragon pose or full camel pose or a person can stand on his head.
We should appreciate those teachers who can teach you advance poses they learnt from the competitions, not to curse the people who organize yoga championships. The diamond of yoga has different shades and from each shade the light reflects with
the same intensity. Yoga competitions can be considered just as authentic as practice rooted in Hindu mythology. As much as people want to fight the rise of competition, history has shown there is room for all manners of yoga. A competition approach, as
well as a transcendent one can coexist.

We should appreciate and value each and every dimension of yoga. The active and the passive, outer and inner, relaxing and dynamic, yin and yang, health and fitness, meditative and sport.   


                                                                       Nilesh Karmakar
                                                                      Taiwan Yoga Federation 
 

WHY THE YOGA COMPETITION IS ESSENTIAL

Before coming to the subject- why the yoga competition is essential, we need to understand a brief history of Yoga in India. I am mentioning India , because India is the birth place of Yoga and it is where Yoga has been nourished . We can find the presence of Yoga culture even during the Indus Valley civilisation, which is over five thousand years old. But this Yoga knowledge was evolved and cultured only by a special group of people. Usually saints, take renunciation, hide themselves from the social life and go to the lonely caves to understand the real meaning of life and engage themselves to be united with the supreme , through the knowledge and path of Yoga . Yogis are least interested to promote Yoga.  Their only aim is to be united with the Supreme. So this hidden knowledge lied in the cave . Thousands of years the situation remains unchanged .  With the flow of time and the reformation of the society, the things started changing. Yoga remain shuttered among the high class people of the society. The cast system in India encouraged only Brahmins ( the intellectual group of the society) to practice Yoga, that too inherited to the predecessors. So the Yoga knowledge only remain in the same Brahmin families. Other cast people were not allowed to practice this subject, even were not allowed to question about it.  Yoga knowledge was being passed  from forefather to the father and to the son n then grandson and so on. So Yoga was very much confined among the Brahmin society and slowly a part of that society got corrupted and started misusing the power . Diverted from their path , suppressed and misguided the common people of other casts and slowly started losing the respect. Talents from other casts revolt and made a change in the system by working hard to practice Yoga. And thus we got Lord Buddha, almost three thousand years back. Since then Yoga become partly for common people, better to say - non Brahmins ( other cast people ) started practicing Yoga. But actually it was still not for the common people. Only the master Yogi , by his great experienced eyes, will chose the talented people and make him his disciple, who needs to follow the master for rest of his life and pass the same linage, received from ancestors to his predecessors. But three thousand years back since Buddha, Yoga started spreading out of India, especially in east and south east Asia. Also along with the essence of spirituality, Yoga became a part of physical fitness.
 
Again come back to India - the whole eighteenth century and half of nineteenth century , India was ruled by British. Health conscious British rulers used to do some physical exercises. Sometimes they will invite some local Indian physical teachers to guide and motivate themselves. Also these local physical teachers were invited by the kings, landlords or rich business class people. These are the places, where the teachers or Yoga gurus got chance to explore Yoga in a different perspective. They started mixing Yogasana postures with some western exercises, to make it easy acceptable . And slowly that started getting popular in the British society in India and also in kings' courtyards.  That style of learning Yoga was not that rigid and tough like authentic traditional way of learning Yoga. Still the practitioners started getting benefits out of it. As they were the leaders group in the society, their extended hands helped Yoga to be known commonly. This is the way , how Yoga first got the promotion in the common society and also in abroad. Outer world had no idea about Indian Yoga or Yogis. They used to think that India is a country of black magic and Yoga itself is a black magic and Yogis are magicians. Their understanding and perception changed when they found Yoga has also a different perspective , which is logical and based on science and philosophy . Practicing which can see the practical change in one’s life and body. That is the turning point of the promotion of Yoga in all over India and in abroad. Swami Vivekananda was the first person, who promoted the spiritual side of Yoga to the modern western world. After him Paramhansa Yogananda, Mahesh Yogi etc followed his footsteps and made common people to get the flavour of Yoga easily . But remember, the physical side of Yoga was still neglected.

Start from early nineteenth century, some Yoga expert masters, like Krishnamachary, Kuvalayananda, Swami Shivananda Saraswati, Bishnucharan Ghosh, BKS Iynger, Pattavijoice etc. they toiled very hard to establish the physical side of Yoga to the society. In order to do that ,they tried to find many different ways , such as Yogasana posture demonstrations in interior villages, yoga rallies, introductory speech and demonstration in schools and colleges. Sometimes to create bigger crowd or attraction, they will combine some stunt games or body building shows along with Yogasana demonstrations.  But for the active participation of the common people, they created a very popular and effective way to promote, propagate and popularise Yoga, which is Yoga competition. In last fifty to sixty years , Yoga competition recognised itself as the biggest promoter of Yoga. Even many people , they never participate in Yoga competition, but they became interested in Yoga because they watched Yoga competition and started Yoga practice and also enjoying the benefits out of it. 

Yoga competition is a total game. A champion not only needs flexibility to win a championship, also he or she needs power, stamina, balance, graceful appearance, an artistic sense of demonstration, stage freeness and also needs to be a good orator with profound knowledge on Yoga. So the lack of one of those qualities can be the disqualification for a Yoga competitor. So a Yoga champion is expected to be a total person of the society. Thus we cannot ignore the promotional contribution of Yoga competition in the field of Yoga. Many people they criticise Yoga competition, because they don't know the history. Many of them may be came to the Yoga world- directly or indirectly because of Competitions. Yoga is a complete subject. As it is enriched with its spiritual assets, also it has got social , physical, aesthetic, commercial sides. As Yoga has started becoming more and more popular in all over the world, people started relating their different walks of life with Yoga. And thus they are being benefited . So, let's respect the Yoga competition organisers, competitors, competition promoters, guardians , whose constant joint contribution brought Yoga what it is today. But at the same time we have to be more and more conscious about maintaining the real essence of Yoga. By no means the principle ethics of Yoga, that is the spirituality, should not be abolished or destroyed from self practice. I would rather say - even in competition field, make yourself a different person. Be positive and see your competitors as target and not as rivals. Reach the target, overcome the target, go beyond and enjoy the fulfilment. 
 
Oum    Shanti    Shanti    Shanti

                                                                   
                                                                             Debdatta Biswas ( Deva )
                                                                             Working President,
                                                                             Hong Kong Yoga Federation