To understand why Israeli movement coach Ido Portal is so successful, you only have to take a look at his diary. Two weeks before we met him in Berlin in early March, Portal was in the United States, correcting professional baseball pitcher Michael Lorenzen’s throwing technique. A week after that, he was in Bulgaria, tweaking the motion choreography on a multi-million-dollar Bollywood production. During the course of our conversation, Portal sends text messages to US two-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Anthony Ervin, a client he's trained with for many years.
Portal is the founder of Movement Culture. He teaches human body movements in all their variety, rather than individual disciplines such as yoga or CrossFit. Portal first came to the attention of the wider public in 2015 when he prepared mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor for his world title fight in the featherweight class. Portal had the tattooed Irishman crawling along floor mats like a lizard and catching playing cards mid-flight. McGregor won the bout by a knockout, 13 seconds into the first round.
Since then, top sports stars have been queuing up to pay Portal six-figure sums for two-week private training sessions. Companies including Google and Facebook fly him in to train their staff. But when Portal is sitting opposite you in his T-shirt and trainers, he resembles a sporty school teacher more than a high-flyer. The former soldier doesn’t want to reveal his age, but he's happy to share the basics of his teaching.
Fitness coach Ido Portal in training.
Ido Portal is the founder of Movement Culture
© Cyrill Matter
You’re an internationally renowned movement teacher, but you were once thrown out of a gym, right?
I’ve been thrown out of gyms on many occasions.
Why?
For doing handstands on the machines, for example. That happened to me in Berlin. The member of staff was concerned I might hurt myself. But I’m more secure on my hands than most people are on their feet. I can maintain my balance on one hand for a minute. Most people can’t do that on one leg.
Break your ankle and you’ll soon become painfully aware of your corporeality again
Ido Portal
But you’re not all about performing spectacular handstands. You teach top sports stars about movement. What is it exactly that most people are doing wrong?
They don’t see movement as a form of exercise. People don’t think about their body, because it’s just there, right up until the moment that it gives up on them. But break your ankle and you’ll soon become painfully aware of your corporeality again.
You’re the founder of Movement Culture. What’s the meaning behind that term?
Movement Culture covers everything we know about human movement: breathing, fighting, dancing, sitting, strolling around the supermarket in the morning.
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You developed your method during a backpacking trip around the world that lasted several years, studying under various experts including circus performers, yogis, martial artists and dancers. How did you find the people you wanted to train you?
I searched for them according to subject. For instance, I wanted to learn to balance from a handstand expert, someone who had devoted their whole life to handstands. I thought he would have the answer to the balance question. But what I actually discovered was that he had the answer to the handstand question, but he wasn’t all that steady once he went back to balancing on his feet. I want to understand movement as a whole. That’s what drives me. The experts were a disappointment surprisingly often.
Charlie Chaplin was an acrobat, a daredevil and a stuntman all in one. He acted in an extremely physical way
Ido Portal
But were there also teachers who surprised you in a positive way?
Monkeys and little children.
Really?
When monkeys come bounding out of a new enclosure at the zoo, or small children walk upright for the first time, they have to apply what they know about movement in a completely new context. It’s movement at its rawest, and it’s extremely exciting. Whereas grown-ups usually want to specialise; they want to improve upon what they can already do.
Fitness coach Ido Portal.
Ido Portal helps sports stars reach the top
© Cyrill Matter
But there must be one adult who you could say was a shining example as an all-round talented mover?
Maybe Jackie Chan. He can fight, dance, perform acrobatics and sing, and he’s kept it up as he's become older. Also Charlie Chaplin, of course. Chaplin was an acrobat, a daredevil and a stuntman all in one. He acted in an extremely physical way. He could walk expressively in a number of different ways and express emotions using just his facial muscles. Today’s actors should train their movement more, just as amateur sportsmen and women and office workers should.