Since 2008, our mission/intention/definition has always been, and still is, in line with that of Tupac’s in his 1994 MTV interview (which I remember watching). His definition of a “thug” was the underdog who, despite life’s hardships, holds his head high and overcomes obstacles to succeed. From the beginning, when exclusive, expensive studios did not welcome my shredder friends, we held our heads high and created our own style of yoga to overcome those obstacles. If you’re saying,”WTF”? Listen to these quotes:

We started our own class in a place we felt at home, our “Thugz Mansion”…Radio Boardshop. We played our favorite rap music because that was more authentic to us than Indian sitars or whale sounds. We created our own pose names that were more familiar to our world. We emphasized breath over pose and allowed modifications for every body. After all, the purpose of yoga is getting to your true authentic Self. While other people called us “thugs” because we listened to 2Pac in class, I chose to keep the name to continue his intention of changing the connotation of the word. We created an acronym just as Tupac did:

The Hustle U Give Yoga Opens Greater Awareness.