Bikram Choudhury has been sued for sex-based discrimination and sexual harassment, YD has learned and we have obtained the court documents. Because of his perpetual state of sued-ness it’s easy to brush off yet another lawsuit against Bikram with an eye roll. And we’re tired of hearing bad news, too. [...]
Yoga Asana Championship. Three little words that will ruffle many a yogi’s crow pose. For all intents and purposes we’re glad Rajashree Choudhury wrote this piece to try to clear up a few things around competitive yoga, because we’ll be darned if we ever quite get it. As the wife of [...]
“That man in a speedo has literally made millions off the sweat of others.” Last night ABC Nightline featured a story on the great and controversied, sweat-soaked loose cannon yoga guru named Bikram Choudhury (video below). We know him for his hardass personality, outrageous quotes, lawsuits over copyright and oh yes, [...]
Lately yoga memoirs seem to be blossoming like mold spores on a Bikram carpet, but Benjamin Lorr’s new ”Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain, and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga,” has a lasting stickiness, more like a fungus (yogi’s foot?) and we mean that in a good way. For instance, [...]
Bikram copyright lawsuits are the gift that keep on giving. As we learned last week, the year-round Santa of Sweat, Bikram Choudhury, was more or less triumphant over defender and former Bikram consort Greg Gumucio who, according to the settlement, will no longer offer a somewhat copycat class of 26 poses in a heated room at his Yoga To The People studios come February 2013. Faced with being sued by Bikram threatened to be “incredibly expensive as well as mentally and emotionally exhaustive,” but Gumucio fought on mainly on the principle that a sequence can’t be copyrighted (which the U.S. Copyright Office actually confirmed themselves in June). But don’t call Gumucio a hero. Don’t call him a victim or a martyr. Just call him a smart guy getting the hell out of bedlam.
Joy to the world, the latest Bikram million dollar lawsuit is over. Or is that ding dong, the yoga copyright witch is dead? Well, not quite. But at least the most recent ugly brawl between Bikram Choudhury and former student turned successful yogapreneur himself, Greg Gumucio, with bi-coastal studio chain Yoga To The People has been settled.
The two were at odds over Bikram’s “copyrighted” sequence of 26 poses, which Gumucio’s studios generously borrowed along with the heated temps and for a much cheaper price at the growingly popular YTTP. So, naturally, Bikram launched a million dollar lawsuit against Gumucio in November 2011 claiming copyright infringement, which as we learned, is kind of bogus. More on that later.
Breaking news: incredibly wealthy antivirus software magnate and budding “observational” yogapreneur, John McAfee, wanted for his possible connection to the murder of his neighbor may have been captured by Belize police whom he thinks will kill him, CNN reports. Yep, it’s kind of a crazy story.
McAfee whose name is synonymous with virus swashbuckling (or more likely nightmares of trying to remove the ironically plague-like program) and recently for headlines like Girls, guns and yoga: John McAfee’s odd life in “pirate haven” has set up residence on a tropical island in Belize, a place still known for, yes, pirates and its “party, party, work, party” atmosphere, according to a local waitress. In short, his neighbor was murdered and he is wanted for questioning but is afraid the cops have it out for him.
It’s an election year, so it’s not unusual to find a hot-headed, sound-bite spouting, zoot suit-wearing party leader stumping for a candidate. So naturally, Bikram Choudhury can’t pass up the opportunity! A tipster sent in this VIP invite for an exclusive event this coming weekend hosted by “World Famous Yoga Guru” himself, B Chou. Representing the asana competition platform (see what we did there?) Bikram will be on hand this Saturday, September 23rd in support of Democratic candidate for Senate, Las Vegas Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.
Pole dancing and Yoga in the Olympics? We had this conversation (and YD poll, appropriately) back in 2010. It didn’t happen for 2012, but the crusaders are still afoot.
Oh, Bikkie. You make for scintillating headlines, head-shaking of the “no” variety, and the occasional chuckle. Recently, fellow YogaDork YogaDawg dug up a collection of oldie-but-goodie quotes from ol’ Bikram Choudhury. One sweet little gem in particular stood out amongst the eye-widening crowd.
Yoga competitions. Oxymoron? Many believe so, while others make it a point to bring their yoga on stage to compete on a regular basis. Bikram of course, being the prominent style in the US to host yoga competitions, has the hopes and the chutzpah to bring yoga to the ultimate global competition, the Olympics.
In the Case of Bikram vs Yoga to the People, Copyrighting Yoga, Who Wins?
Bikram is pissed. And when Bikram is pissy, you can bet he’s suey! The beef between B-Don and Yoga to the People went public a few months ago with the closure of a Penn Station Bikram Yoga location and the subsequent slinging of blame in the direction of YTTP in [...]
And where the fitness regimen goes, so will the vitamins and supplements follow. Not only can you get your profuse perspiration on at Bikram class you can chase it down with partnered coconut water and sponsored ayurvedic supplements. Bikram yoga has announced its collaboration with a supplement company called Natrol, Inc. and [...]
“I started at a very early age doing yoga because my father was very big on it and I was still too young to outrun him.” Jason Bateman: TV Star, movie actor, apparent child yoga prodigy. Bateman tells David Letterman about his young days of 105 degree yoga hell. “What [...]
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