Bikram Choudhury
Bikram Choudhury began studying yoga at the age of 4. At the age of 13 he was the youngest ever National Yoga champion of India, holding the title three consecutive years until his guru Bishnu Ghosh (brother of the famous Paramhansa Yogananda, who founded the Self-Realisation Fellowship and wrote "Autobiography of a Yogi") asked him for the sake of fellow competitors to just demonstrate. In less than 30 minutes Bikram had executed over 500 postures to physical perfection. Swami Shivananda declared him "Yoga Raj" (King of the Yogis) and "the best Yogi of the 20th century". Bikram went on to pursue an athletic career as a marathon runner and a champion weight lifter, setting world record lifts and competing in Olympic style weight lifting.
Bikram Choudhury
At age 20, a weight lifting accident crushed his knees, severely crippling him. He was told by doctors that he would never walk again. Not accepting their pronouncements, Bikram had himself carried back to Bishnu Ghosh's school. With the guidence of his guru Bikram created his yoga series and restored his health. He quickly established himself as an expert teacher, opening schools throughout the East. Combining Eastern doctrine with five years of working with Western doctors and scientists at Tokyo University Hospital, Bikram perfected his comprehensive system of 26 poses.
Bikram Choudhury
Bikram has scientifically formulated and demonstrated yoga's ability to regenerate tissue and heal chronic ailments. He tailored his technique for the Western person, specifically for our cultural problems of occupational stress, chronic overeating, poor posture, and fast paced lifestyle. Thus he became known as "the world's most knowledgeable yoga teacher". Bikram has been teaching his method of classical Hatha yoga all over the world for over 30 years.