BuddhaX Founder Ari Kassman [Photo: Ian Carlos Crawford]
BuddhaXtreme is a new fitness and lifestyle system out of New York developed by Ari Kassman that combines breakdancing and yoga for what is probably a pretty intense workout. Given the hybrid nature of both practices, it's not really as crazy as it may sound!
BuddhaX Teacher ATS of Rock Steady Crew [Photo: Ian Carlos Crawford]
Kassman credits an exchange with Crazy Legs, an early practitioner of breakdancing, for the basic concept of BuddhaX:
"If you're doing either [breakdance or yoga], you're down on the ground, balancing your body and twisting into contortions. 'I can't believe we'd never put this together before,' says Kassman, who joined up with Crazy Legs to incorporate breaking elements into a series of 10 vinyasa-inspired sequences. The result is a 'breakflow' that forms the basis for BuddhaXtreme (or BuddhaX for short), a program Kassman launched in New York this year."
BuddhaX – Energy Up! [Source:Energy Up!]
Kassman clarifies that BuddhaX is not a dance class but works more like a yoga class with breakdance moves as transitions. DJ Premier, a legendary New York dj, has created music for the new discipline. You can get a sense of how all this comes together in the above video of a guest class for Energy Up! taught by founder Ari Kassman and ATS of the Rock Steady Crew, one of the team of BuddhaXtreme teachers.
I could see this being a huge hit among fitness enthusiasts and folks looking for a more upbeat form of yoga.
Official Site: BuddhaXtreme