Last December, I sheepishly admitted that there was a huge hole in my Nerd cred.
I grew up drawing cartoons, took AP art in high school, and was always fascinated by hand-drawn animation…
But I had .never seen a single second of any Studio Ghibli cartoon.!
Studio Ghibli is the Japanese equivalent of Disney, with Hayao Miyazaki as the Japanese Walt: the studio has won several Academy Awards for its beautifully hand-drawn animated films, and Miyazaki has reached legendary status for making these films in the last 40 years.
Luckily, the awesome community on Threads gave me hundreds of supportive comments and helped me decide which movie to start with!
Ever since I made that announcement, I’ve been watching .all 20+ Studio Ghibli films., .fell in love with Japan.and became endlessly fascinated with Hayao Miyazaki.
(My favorites are Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Whisper of the Heart, and The Wind Rises.).
After watching each movie, I moved on to watch documentaries about Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli because I needed to know more.
Thanks to these documentaries, I had a fascinating look at Miyazaki’s creative style and the experiences of making these films alongside his co-workers.
The correct joke is that Miyazaki is the “endless man” and cannot retire.
There was something that stood out to me in each documentary:
In The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, at one point all the Studio Ghibli employees got up and moved through a series of mobility exercises and calisthenics, including Miyazaki.
Later in the paper, I observed .Miyazaki demonstrates a very deep squat. with perfect form and no assistance. How many people do you know in their mid to late 70’s who can do a deep squat unassisted!?
In The Man Without End: Hayao Miyazaki, Miyazaki is .filmed several times woodcut. with an ax in the courtyard of his studio.
And in Hayao Miyazaki and The HeronMiya-san (his nickname), now in his 80s, is still out cutting wood, going for walks in the woods, climbing fallen trees, doing his office exercises, and working hard on the film that culminated his life’s work. .
(Yes, I know. Miyazaki also has a cigarette in his mouth for almost every minute of every documentary! He’s lucky he hasn’t developed lung cancer yet, and I’m reminded that he’s not the perfect picture of health!).
I bring this up because I think it shows a different side of exercise than we might normally consider.
Train for your body of the Elderly
Watching this documentary of Hayao Miyazaki staying active and keeping his brain sharp in his 80s…
I remembered this .amazing post by Elizabeth. (@ThisGirlLifts on Instagram):
As we get older, it’s easier for us to move less, which gives us less energy, and makes it harder to find the drive and mobility to keep moving. This could prevent us from spending time with our family or our friends because we cannot gather the energy.
Teddy Roosevelt once said “we’d rather run the risk of rusting.”
In other words: use it or lose it, bub.
It’s not a stretch for me to imagine Miyazaki’s ability to be an “endless man” is not only due to good genetics (and luck), but also because he actively chose to wear down rather than rust.
Reflecting on why he chose to push to complete another animated film in his eighth decade on this planet, he simply replied that this was all he knew how to do: “I’d rather die doing this than die doing nothing.”
Fitness is more than weight loss
At Nerd Fitness, we encourage all rebels to think about their “Big Why:”
Why bother exercising and building new habits and pushing yourself to the next level of your life when the couch is crashing you?
What’s the point of exercising and learning to deal with discomfort when retreating to comfort is easier and so damn seductive?
A really strong “Big Why” can help us stay on target, especially when life turns into a dumpster fire or we want to give up.
For Miyazaki, he decided that “getting out what’s in me” is a worthy use of his time. He found peace and fulfillment in creating things rather than consuming them, which means he needs to take care of his body enough to stay alive enough to do those things!
For my gram (which .I visited the hospital last month.), his goal is to support his community and help those around him. Staying active has allowed him to do this well into his 90s!
If you are having trouble coming up with a reason why to do something…
You can do worse than “Training for my old age body”. This is the only body you have, and the only life you have, so today is as good a day as any to start treating your body with a little more respect.
It doesn’t have to be dramatic. We can start simple:
- We can go for a short walk every day.
- We can stand all day and do mobility work like squats and arm swings.
- We can .start strength training. to build strong bones and prevent needing assistance for as long as possible.
It is up to us to keep our bodies active, and using them is better than rusting for lack of use.
As a chaotic creator who spends a lot of time in my own head, Hayao Miyazaki gave me a lot to think about:
I hope that when I am in my 80s, I will still be writing this newsletter and helping people, chopping wood and going for walks and spending time with loved ones.
I know I can’t control what happens and accidents happen and so much of life is out of my control, but I have to do my best to give myself the best chance to keep creating and destroy rather than rust!
I’ll leave you with the last curmudgeonly quote from Miyazaki that closes the documentary Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron:
“Stop whining and move.”
Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for me to train for my old body!
– Steve
PS: The original Japanese title for The Boy and the Heron is it How to live?. This is a much more interesting (and apt) title for the film; it is truly the encapsulation of his life’s work, those who influenced him, and his deepest thoughts on the meaning of life.
PS: Need guidance and accountability to reach your fitness goals? Nerd Fitness has helped over 10,000 humans over the past 8 years with 1-on-1 online fitness coaching. .Click here for more details..
