JERRY COLKER

I'll start at the beginning of my journey.

At Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, I was an All-League gymnast.

I then competed in gymnastics for Harvard University.

In fact, I alone, was the entire Harvard gymnastics team, but that's another story.

I came to New York, determined to perform on Broadway and so I immersed myself in ballet and jazz dance classes with the top teachers in the city: Joffrey Ballet, Finish Jhung, Don Farnworth, Luigi, Rhett Dennis and others. I had the good fortune of working with Bob Fosse in "Pippin," Michael Bennett in "A Chorus Line," and I played the role of "Riff" in the Broadway revival of "West Side Story" for Jerome Robbins. Coming back to Los Angeles, I studied Kung Fu and T'ai Chi with James Wing Woo. I then earned my black belt in Tae Kwon Do studying with Jun Chong and Philip Rhee. For many years I also tutored, coached and taught gymnastics and martial arts.

Having done handstands and back-flips on Broadway stages and after sparring with nationally ranked martial artists I thought I was invincible.

Until I heard the dreaded words: "Herniated disc, L5, S1."

How did it happen? The specifics would require another book, but the short version is — my career shifted from performing to writing: in theater, "3 Guys Naked From the Waist Down" an Off-Broadway musical about stand up comics, "Mail" a Broadway musical, several drafts of "Aladdin" for Disney, projects for other studios, television shows for network and cable, "JohnnyTime" an original kids show for all ages that I also executive produced while at the same time funding, managing and coaching a club soccer team of at-risk inner city kids. The combination of old sports and performance injuries aggravated by the incredible stress of literally carrying other people professionally and personally finally took its toll on my back. I was crippled. And in constant mind-numbing, soul-destroying pain. I was unable to stand up, let alone walk properly.

A top neurosurgeon told me I needed an operation.

I couldn't believe it.

How could my body betray me after all these years of honing and cultivating it into a well-oiled machine?

I begged my neurosurgeon for time to rehab without surgery. He said if I couldn't rise up onto the balls of my feet within 10 business days, I was going under the knife.

A close friend of my family recommended that I go to Leroy Perry at his International Sports Institute. Leroy Perry is known as "the chiropractor of the stars." Some of his clients include Elizabeth Taylor, Sharon Stone, Warren Beatty, Shirley Maclaine, Gary Shandling, Danny DeVito and many others. He developed an innovative technique called "Hydrokinetic Decompression Therapy." Essentially I was in the pool with a flotation device and heavy weights pulling my vertebrae open while I bicycled my legs in the water.

After 10 days I could just barely rise up on the balls of my feet. The neurosurgeon said, "Well, technically, surgery is now elective." I said, "Then I elect not to have it."

For the next two and half years I struggled in the pool. I was slowly getting better but still feeling pain and unable to even think about the kinds of physical things I used to do. Now it was about being able to walk again. I could get around, but the least amount of stress went straight to my spine ringing in pain like an alarm clock, waking me up to the reality that …

I WAS NOT THE SAME!!!

I didn't want to accept it but wearing a back brace and carrying a special lumbar support whenever I had to sit had put me in the category of the physically challenged. The first thing out of anyone's mouth when they saw me was "How's your back?" I became my back. I was herniated. I was in spasm. I was "limited."

Another turning point came when I was dragged, kicking and screaming into a yoga class by Dotty Candler. Dotty had trained with Bikram, known as the "Yoga Teacher of the Stars" (another "of the stars" person) and after experiencing her own injuries she had worked extensively with Ana Forrest a gifted healer/yoga teacher with her own school and system. For several years I worked with Dotty and also with Jerry Candler.

Little by little, I felt some of my strength and flexibility coming back. I progressed to the point where I was able to teach my own yoga classes at ISI. I was a step closer …but still …

I WAS NOT THE SAME!!!

I began to take yoga classes all over the L.A. area trying multiple styles, hatha, ashtanga, power, flow, Iyengar, Anusara, restorative. The L.A. yoga scene is a pantheon of great teachers and I learned what I could from Anthony & Rebecca Benenati, Tara Judelle, Andrea Marcum, Vinnie Marino, Shana Meyerson, and many others. I was coming back, I was almost out of pain, but still...

I WAS NOT THE SAME!!!

And then it came to me. Using the best yoga techniques I had gathered as a foundation, what if I slipped in the most basic, fundamental, safe and FUN elements of all my other training: Gymnastics, Dance, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Chi Gong, Tae Kwon Do, Athletic Performance Enhancement, Balance, Quickness & Agility. And what if I added the most cutting edge Full Range Resistance Training, and Interval Training using the most effective FROM (Full Range Of Motion) Equipment including Russian Kettlebells.

What if I devised a system where I could:

• Completely heal my body

• Rejuvenate and improve both my slow and fast twitch muscles

• Create a constantly evolving program that was so much fun, I would actually look forward to doing it as opposed to wishing I was already finished.

• Get back that confident edge where I could look like an athlete again and feel the energy and power of the Broadway performer.

I threw everything together in a giant workout mishmash and began to hone and choose and see which techniques were compatible, safe and synchronistic. I studied and worked on different meditation techniques utilizing sound, visualization and both established and new relaxation techniques.

I devised an eating plan and took the best supplements continuing with the practice of bringing together the most effective ideas and products from the East and West.

As I experimented to see how things could work even better in specific sequences and combinations with fitness, food and supplements I finally created my system:

YODO®
“The Union of Many Ways”

And after all this pain, effort, study and hard work, I found that still

I WAS NOT THE SAME!!!

Because...

… I was better than ever!