I am not a person who likes to pretend I am a monkey. Or a reptile. Not even on Halloween. But Cameron Shayne got me crawling around on all fours for three full hours this past Sunday—and loving it.

L.A.-based teacher Shayne is the founder of Budokon, a practice that melds together hatha yoga and martial arts with the theory that they are a more complete art form when blended together than when practiced separately.

The Castro's Yoga Flow hosted two workshops with Shayne this past weekend. The Art of Floating lent insight into the physical and philosophical tenants of the practice, which are core and upper body strength, controlled and precise movement, and personal empowerment. In Animal Awakening, we moved our way through human evolution, embodying single-celled organisms, lizards, four-legged mammals, and finally primates. Shayne's own physical imitation of these creatures is uncanny, and when you walk on four feet yourself, you begin to understand what your arms are really capable of.

The practice is lighthearted and fun, but also offers incredible strength training. It was a great introduction to martial arts and did wonders to inform my yoga practice. What I appreciated most is the way Shayne slows everything down. He says that speed covers up weakness, and he teaches you to move from one pose to the next with perfect deliberation, pointing out that asanas were not designed to be unconsciously bled together.

Shayne's both a yogi and a martial arts master. He's encouraging and kind—but not afraid to engage in conflict. "You don’t really know someone," he says, "until you have a fight with them."

There was some talk after class about the possibility of a local teacher training, but nothing yet planned. In the meantime, if you want to learn how to gracefully connect your backbends with some forceful kicks, take one of his donation-based classes next time you are down south. It'll be worth it.