Son of award-winning journalist David Oancia, Patrick Oancia was born in Hong Kong during his father’s tenure as the only North American non-communist correspondent in China during the most critical period of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. Patrick grew up in Spain and Canada before he moved to Tokyo, where he was based from 1989 to 2020.
Patrick’s background as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist spans back to the 1980s. From 1986 to 1988, he took over Anthony Mark’s role as the lead vocalist of S.C.U.M. In 1989, he moved to Tokyo and became the frontman for the Tokyo-based thrash metal band Ash To Ashs. Later, he formed the progressive-alternative power rock trio Death Comes Spring as co-songwriter, singer, and guitarist.
During the 90s and early 2000s, he DJ’d acid house, techno, downtempo, and electronica during the rise of electronic music in Japan. He founded Para Impacto, launching various projects in Tokyo that focused on subculture, the creative arts, and education.
Patrick’s athletic background includes skateboarding, snowboarding, competitive cycling, and competitive swimming. Since the late 80s, he has been engaged in martial arts, yoga, and meditation, all the while continuously pursuing his passion for practicing different movement disciplines.
In 2003, he established the YogaJaya and JayaDojo multidisciplinary movement studios in Tokyo. Over two decades, the studios had an attendance of over half a million students and conducted more than 40,000 teaching hours across various educational offerings.
The studios were renowned for their exceptional teaching standards and innovative programs. With the Tokyo studio projects, Patrick consistently adopted a thought-provoking stance to address the dilution of Eastern practices and philosophy caused by the expansion of the health, wellness, and fitness sectors. This vision served as an underlying objective to clarify the goals of these projects.
His commitment to continuous learning in athletics, the creative arts, entrepreneurship, and contemplative practice led to improving the efficacy and standardizing the delivery of his movement education method across his entire teaching body. This resulted in the creation of the Baseworks Method.
Patrick consistently updates the method’s curriculum. He hosts seminars worldwide and collaborates with artists, designers, scientists, and educators. His goal is to bridge the gap between movement education and cutting-edge research findings and to explore the relationships between physical movement training, creativity, intention, and thinking.
Embracing technological advancements, Patrick envisions a future where education and collaboration transcend boundaries, allowing for the exchange and remixing of ideas.
Patrick is currently based in Montreal, Canada.
