“Diamond” Dallas Page, better known as “DDP”, a former three-time WCW Heavyweight Champion, has invented a new form of yoga called DDPYoga which is helping millions not only to stay healthy, but is also saving the lives of other former wrestlers.
Starting his career in the late 70’s, Page began his career as a manger, leading the team “Badd Company” (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka) to tag team gold in the AWA (American Wrestling Association) in 1988. Page continued to have success as a manager in World Championship Wrestling starting in 1992. It was there, at the age of 35 that Page decided to make the transition to being a wrestler.
DDP worked his way up the ladder in WCW eventually winning the World Title on April 11th, 1999. At the height of his popularity and just after inking a long term, multimillion dollar contract, disaster struck the 42-year-old superstar. He severely injured his back blowing out his L4 and L5 discs. This left him sitting at home with his future in jeopardy.
During this time Page was introduced to yoga through his then wife Kimberly, who was also one of the “Nitro Girls” dancers on the WCW Monday night wrestling program WCW Monday Nitro. Page, a self-admitted critic of yoga initially,
“I was a guy who wouldn’t be caught dead doing yoga.”
was eventually persuaded to try it out. Eventually he developed his own brand of yoga, incorporating rehab techniques and calisthenics into the routine. What came out of the process is now known as DDPYoga.
Since going into semi-retirement in 2005, DDP has been focusing on yoga full-time. His first mainstream success came in 2012 when footage of a man called Arthur Boorman, a disabled veteran
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448
who could only walk with the assistance of wrap-around canes, knee braces and a back brace came out. After ten months of doing DDPYoga, Boorman was not only walking without the canes and braces, but running, having dropped nearly 150 pounds.
Since then, DDP has been making headlines by helping his former mentor and one of the most recognizable names in the history of professional wrestling Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Roberts is known not only for his incredible battles inside the ring, but also for his battles with drug and alcohol addiction outside. This was most infamously documented in the 1997 documentary Beyond The Mat.
In the fall of 2012, Roberts moved into Dallas Page’s house to clean up his act. Page put him on a strict diet and began doing DDPYoga with him on a daily basis. Half a year later Jake The Snake has lost over 60 pounds and has been clean and sober ever since.
Another twist was added to the story when a second former wrestler with a substance abuse problem, Scott Hall moved into the “accountability crib” with Roberts and Page. If anyone in wrestling had a struggle to overcome drug and alcohol abuse that was as publicized as Roberts', it was Hall. In early 2013 DDP reached out to Hall and offered to do for him what he had done for Roberts.
The road has not been easy for these former legends of the ring, though. Both men had nagging injuries from their days in the squared circle that required surgery that prevented them from working out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lCEJ2quQTw
Without insurance, it seemed their progress may come to a screeching halt. However, thanks to the outpouring of support from fans across the world, an Indiegogo project was set up for Roberts raising over $9,000 needed for his shoulder surgery and Hall garnered over $100,000 for a number of his medical expenses with the excess going to charity.
Page says the key to his DDPYoga success is that “I mixed yoga with the rehab that I was already doing, some old-school calisthenics: push-ups, squats, crunches, with a slow-burn motion movement and what I realized is that every time you engage a muscle, your heart has to beat faster to get the blood to the muscle, hence you end in a fat burning zone standing still.”
Daniel Austin
daniel.austin@spiintl.com
