Wrestling is always known for its hard hitting and extreme maneuvers, especially for the ones such as WWE and TNA. Hence, when Diamond Dallas Page (DDP), a former WCW world heavyweight champion, became a fitness and yoga guru, some were relatively surprised. He is the developer, CEO, owner and face of DDP Yoga, which is a growing health and fitness company accompanied by a line of instructional DVDs.
When he ventured into yoga after his retirement, he also had hopes of making a difference in the life of his friend and former mentor, Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Jake, who previously taught him about the wrestling business and coached him along the way, is now a student of his attempting to restore a life filled with addiction as well as physical and financial ruin. Currently, he is one of DDP’s work in progress. Although he has made significant strides forward, he will occasionally take steps back too. “I have a lot of stuff to overcome. But I’m not going to go down and I’m not going to give up,” stated a motivated Jake.
Known popularly by wrestling fans throughout the 1980s and ’90s by his ring name, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, he now simply resembles a dad or young grandfather. In reality, he is actually both and he also admits that he hasn’t been handling it well. His reason for taking up DDP Yoga is redemption. Sadly, there is a long list of former wrestlers who have ended up dead or maimed. This is something that Jake himself is trying to avoid by shedding weight, trying to restore his body and overcoming addiction. In the eyes of wrestling fans, he has always been one of the best performers of all time. However, in some of his more recent appearances, he has been on celebrity TV gossip shows for his intoxicated meltdowns.
DDP’s career as a yoga guru was never planned at all. “The first 42 years of my life, I was a guy who wouldn’t be caught dead doing yoga,” he recalled. It was only a potential career-ending injury that led him to yoga. In 1999, he was sidelined by ruptured discs and doctors informed him that he may never be able to wrestle again. However, he decided to try anything that would help make it better, even yoga. By the third week, the pain was reduced and he felt a whole lot better. After which, he started to invent a workout to cater to his own needs. This included weaving in rehab exercises, calisthenics, mixed martial arts and dynamic resistance and that was how DDP Yoga came about.
In Singapore, we do not currently have DDP Yoga classes. However, OMG Yoga does offers you with other varieties of yoga. If you would like to learn more, just take a look at our website.