Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Yoga and Bruce lee

Just came across this photo of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar via DAMNGOODYOGA on fb via the Asheville Yoga Center's archive the basketball center and Sri K Pattabhi Jois, seems karim used to practice yoga.

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Here he is talking about yoga in an article in Mens Health

"There is no way I could have played as long as I did without yoga," says Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, not retired after an extraordinary 20 years in pro basketball. Many consider Abdul-Jabbar to be the greatest center, maybe the greatest player, in basketball history. "My friends and teammates think I made a deal with the devil. But it was yoga that made my training complete," he says.

Abdul-Jabbar first discovered yoga in 191 when he was a nearly 7foot tall 14-year old high school student named Lew Alcindor. He came across a book on the subject and immediately saw how this Eastern discipline's emphasis on suppleness, concentration and breathing rather than sheer physical strength could benefit him. Particularly the breathing: "Basketball is an endurance sport, and you have to learn to control your breath," he says. "That's the essence of yoga, too. So I consciously began to  use yoga techniques in my practice and playing."

When he got to UCLA, Abdul-Jabbar read more books as his interest in yoga grew. By 1978 he was routinely employing yoga exercises as part of his training program. Since 1984 he's studied with Bikram Choudhury--the "Yogi to the Stars" and a former amateur world weight-lifting champion--at the Yoga College of Beverly Hills.

Abdul-Jabbar is unequivocal about the contributions yoga made to his longevity. "As preventative medicine, it's unequaled," he says. "Once I started practicing it, I had no muscle injuries during my career. Yoga can help any athlete with hip joints, muscles, tendons, and knees. Plus it keeps you in touch with your body."

The article can be found in full at the link below and goes on to discuss yoga and other top athletes

http://www.bikramyoga.com/News/MensHealth-KareemJabber.php

I dont really know much about basketball....kinda like netball right?

 I know Karem from Bruce Lee movies. Here he is in one of my favourites scenes in any Bruce lee movie, from Game of death.

and more recently speaking at UCLA