Mercedes Performance

Just finished the performance on the 20th this month at the Beijing Auto Show for the new Mercedes GLK car. It was the first high profile performance I have done, and after my initial hesitations, I am extremely glad that I said yes to it as it proved to be extremely good fun and a great learning experience for me. I had the priviledge of working with Luke Markey, DC, Andi, Danny Ilabaca, Sebastien Foucan, and Oleg Vorslav. We had some days of rehearsals in Cologne, then they made a short movie for the event in Barcelona, and finally we all met in Beijing to have one day rehearsal and then the actual performance. At the event was Zhang Zi Yi (from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon/Memoirs of A Geisha) and also the guy who was top of the company that owned Mercedes. Loads to say but will just post a few pictures and what I learned from the whole experience.

Just want to say that it was so good to see some familiar faces after so long and has really reminded me of how much I am looking forward to seeing everyone back in the uk for the summer.

Rocking the Jacuzzi!

Minutes after the performace

Rehearsals in Cologne

Tiananmen Square, in front of the Forbidden City

Rinsing the 5* buffet at the Marriot!

On the way to rehearsals

Mr top executive and Zhang Ziyi

Lessons Learned:

- Need to follow own way and not be influenced too much by other people and ideas.
- Remain playful and childlike - dont be too serious!
- Think like an animal, not like a person 'training' a sport or activity.
- Remember to treat everyone as equal regardless of age, skill, experience, etc.
- Stay open to all movement, dont categorize.
- Maintain and develop network of positive people.
- Dont be confined by definitions, be it parkour, acrobatics.....at the end of the day I am a four limbed being who can move in any way allowed by that so dont confine it be definitions.
- Work on weak points and push comfort zone.
- Leaning much more toward calling what I do 'movement' rather than parkour. Want to be open to everything and forget definitions.

Thanks to all the guys there who inspired me individually in many ways,

Young English Fellow in Xuan Wu Lake!

Its quite amazing what can get in the papers and how easily even in such a big city as Nanjing.


Basically there is a fairly big lake in Nanjing center which is about 8km around the whole thing, and a great place for running (except weekends when it is packed).

So recently I have been training a little more barefoot with movement and running because I want to do the 10k London run barefoot in July. Also I have been thinking about swimming across part of the lake here in Nanjing but just never got round to it so decided a few days ago to actually do it. So I cycled to the lake barefoot, shorts and a vest and towel in bag to run round the lake and then swim some of it. It was pretty cold outside and the water was especially freezing! So after about 6km of running I found a spot to jump into the lake from, unknowingly being watched from a distance by a journalist (where he came from God only knows) who probably reckoned I looked silly enough to get a story out of. And here is how it went!


Translated by yours truly from the article.

"Hey! Someone has jumped in the lake!" While taking a walk at the lake, city resident Mr Wang shouts, with his eyes fixed upon the young fellow who jumped into the lake. Yesterday, an English fellow abruptly jumped into Xuan Wu lake wishing to swim to the opposite bank. At the lake side he spotted a pleasure-boat manager, and worried that the young fellow could not carry on, they harnessed a speed boat to go and rescue him. However, the young fellow was unexpectadly not so grateful and simply shouted "I am almost there, why have you come to help me!"

According to a witness, this golden haired (hmmm....) young fellow was barefoot, wearing a vest and shorts, and on his back a travel bag. This fellows clothing was very obvious attracting a lot of people's attention, who just saw him take a deep breath, do a few pushups on the ground, then from his bag take a bottle of orange juice and drink it in a few mouthfulls, as soon as he finished, finally leaping into the lake. "At first I thought he wanted to play in the water, but he all at once got into the water, then started swimming for the other side of the lake!" This young fellow swam along a straight line further and further, in the centre of people's eyesight, very quickly becoming a black spot.

"The weather was so cold, the lake water so freezing, how can he bear it?" The crowd of onlookers talk amongst themselves, looking very worried. "Quick, quick, he is going off course!" Some people were pointing to the black dot shouting "is he unable to bear it!"
Met with this situation, the lake boat's manager before saying a word, harnessed the speed boat and drove toward the 'black spot's' direction. Upon hearing the speed boat, the young fellow turned his head around smiling with a thumbs up, moving toward the boat. The manager said loudly "the water is too cold, quickly climb up onto the boat". He then helped the young fellow climb up onto the boat. The young fellow was trembling with cold from head to foot, but his faced showed an innocent (?) expression, pointing toward the shore in broken chinese said: "Why did you pull me onto the boat, I had almost reached the other side." "Xuan Wu lake does not permit swimming," the manager explained. "Can you take me to the other side" said the young fellow impatiently. "No, you are wearing too few clothes, its very cold." The manage looked at his shivering lips, the young fellow said nothing else.

Arriving at the bank side, the wind was blowing, and the young fellow was holding his arms with the cold. The manager promptly fetched a coat to give him to wear, the young fellow shook his hand and said "thank you, thank you, i'll return it to you tomorrow." This young fellow said he is from England and a foreign student and Nanjing University.
(Here is a bit of embellishment courtesy of the papers...)
The reason for jumping in the lake, he enthusiastically said with open arms was "Xuan Wu is simply too beautiful, I couldn't help but embrace it!" (yes...just what i said haha). However, the young fellow previously didn't know that swimming was not allowed. "Later at the bank side I was able to drink in the beautiful scenery," said the young fellow, smiling with his head tilted (hmmmmm......).