Hi, I am Jonathan Vallade, Osteopath, Martial artist and Yogi.
Born in a French family where yoga is a second nature, I have always been immersed in the spirit of yoga and Indian culture. I was fortunate enough to follow my parents at a number of yoga seminars, conferences and yoga retreat in and out of the country. I particularly have fond memories of my time spent in India living in ashrams (place for yoga and meditation retreat) with Indian yoga masters at a very young age.
The love I have for yoga comes from my father, a traditional yoga instructor since 1979 at a time where yoga wasn’t so ‘hype’ and fairly unknown to the mass public. He met my mother in a yoga seminar and I guess, this is how I came along, sharing the same burning passion for yoga, learning and teaching.
My childhood in Paris was a happy one, living in a cosmopolitan city, filled with cultural activities and countless fun. Despite all this, something wasn’t quite right. I found it challenging the violence I’ve been exposed to both in and out of school, affecting my self-confidence and eventually my school grades.
One day, I was tuning in to a movie that has something to do with “Kung Fu”, it instantly caught my attention and enlightened me in such an inexplicable way. From then on, I started training Kung Fu Wushu and a newly found interest in Asian culture.
I found a new purpose in life. I was determined, motivated and my heart couldn’t contain the enthusiasm I had. Every day I trained, and my goal was to get better each passing day. The impact it had on building my self-confidence, personal strength and overall school results was only positive. Not only did martial arts opened up a world of opportunities to me, it also shaped up my entire future. To the places I travelled to for demonstrations, training and competition, the amazing friends I made along the way, and last but not the least, the one and only person who encouraged me all along – and continues to be the strength and pillar of my life, my wife.
Practicing Martial arts for competitions at a high-level means that your body is inexorably prone to injury. I have been frequently injured from training to the point where my close friends came up with an endearing nickname: ‘’Robocop’’ as I had to wear a lot of joints support during my training. After having a knee reconstruction surgery, I recognized the risks inherent to intensive sports and training, I decided to study Osteopathy.
Osteopaths have healed my body with efficiency and humanity in multiple situations. Likewise, I wanted to help others in the same way, so I jumped at the opportunity to learn and make it my profession.
Osteopathy gave me a massive insight into the extent of the learnings I needed to take such as, anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and the relevance of holistic principles.
Finding balance in my studies and were periodic times when I was challenged to balance my time with studies and competitions. Amidst this, I still was able to organize myself well and even participated as a member of the French National Team of the 2007 World Wushu Championship in Beijing and starting to teach martial arts in three sports associations.
In 2011, I graduated with a master’s degree in Osteopathy and began my career as an independent practitioner. I continued to assist a number of senior Osteopaths while pursuing my education. I learnt various holistic therapies to widen my knowledge and fulfill my curiosity.
Out of my busy schedule, I have been promoted as a 3rd Dan Black belt in Kung Fu and decided to enroll in a high national diploma in physical education and sport with a major in martial arts (called DEJEPS in France), which took me 2 years to complete.
It has always been a dream to live oversea, especially in an Asian country. Back in 2016, this dream came true when my wife got a work opportunity. Moving to Hong Kong was the best decision we ever made, we spent the first year discovering and adapting to this new stimulating and fascinating environment. Yet another world full of learning and studying opened up for me, and this time I had to learn English.
I joined Integrated Medicine Institute clinic (IMI), Hong Kong’s largest natural and integrated medicine clinic and few years later Quality Healthcare Medical Center in Discovery Bay.
My drive and motivation never stopped, while in Hong Kong I was encouraged to develop myself even more, so I took the opportunity to expand my practice and begin new martial arts with wonderful masters like Sifu Chris Collins and Sifu C.S Tang. I began to broaden my knowledge of martial arts through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Wing Chun, Boxing, Kali and some traditional Kung Fu.
Yoga is also evolving in Hong Kong, which is why I was inspired to develop my own practice and reconnect with my family’s yoga roots, assimilate my father’s life yoga experiences, and open my mind to various yoga styles and practices. As I taught anatomy for Yoga teacher Training, I also decided to complete a 200 hours Teacher Training at YogaUP studio led by ChauKei Ngai and Yogesh Varun.
Drawing on my experiences, I came to a conclusion, Life will throw stones at you. As long as we move along and use the challenges as an opportunity, all will go well. Likewise, it allowed me to help people in various situation from healing to teaching and learning, sharing many values including respect, humility and sincerity.
Rich in these experiences of life and practice, I found it appropriate to unite all of them together in Jon In Motion.
This is my vision of body motion and health, as well as my personal experience and professional background. With this I believe there’s always a solution to anything, and absolutely everything – we just need to find it and take action.
