Mick Dodge

Mick Dodge, also known as "The Barefoot Sensei", "the Barefoot Nomad" and "Walking Mountain"[1] is a television personality and rainforest-dweller in Washington.

Early life

He is a native of the Olympic Peninsula. His great-grandparents settled in the region and Dodge grew up there as a child. He loved the outdoors. Dodge also lived in many other places around the country and the world as the son of a career Marine,[2][3] Ronald L. Dodge.[1] The younger Dodge graduated from high school in Okinawa, Japan.[1]

Prior to venturing into the Hoh Rain Forest in western Washington State, Dodge spent six years in the Marines before working as a mechanic at Fort Lewis.

In the forest

Mick decided to leave the modern world and retreat to the forest due to foot complications and the stress of modern living.[4] He was nicknamed "The Barefoot Sensei" due to his preference to not wear shoes or sandals when walking in the forest. Since 1991, he has been living barefoot, a decision that he believed helped cure him of plantar fasciitis, back pain and hammer toes. He also felt that it helped him connect more intuitively with the natural world.[2]

EarthGym program

Despite the preference to be separated from modern civilization, Mick is still involved with the community. In 1994, Mick and Jacquie Chandler created an earth-based fitness program they called The EarthGym, fitness program in the forest where nature provides most of the equipment for physical training.[5]

Media

Dodge is the subject of the National Geographic Channel reality TV series The Legend of Mick Dodge, about his unusual life dwelling in a forest.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Smilie, Joe (19 February 2014). "Mountain man Mick Dodge loves the wild but isn't a 'wild man' (CORRECTED)". Peninsula Daily News. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 "The Barefoot Sensei – Former Marine Left Everything Behind to Live in the Forest", Oddity Central, January 30th, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Mick Dodge, rain forest dweller" The News Tribune, January 7, 2014.
  4. ↑ "He lives in a tree, doesn't wear shoes, and brushes his teeth with a pinecone, MNN.com January 07, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Mick Dodge bio, the Barefoot Sensei - The EarthGym", Retrieved on 16 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "The Legend of Mick Dodge | National Geographic Channel", National Geographic Channel
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