Julian (Jin) Donovan

BON VOYAGE!

2009-09-23T15:19:00.008+01:00

The time of this blog has come to pass.

Thank you for reading and commenting but i feel it is time to streamline things and start afresh as i no longer feel the need to write about so many things. Switching over for a few reasons to a simpler and more focused site.

so.

NEW BLOG FROM CHINA.

.

Niger Delta / June 2009

2009-07-01T12:07:00.009+01:00

Just returned from spending a week in Nigeria in the Niger Delta with New Foundations. This trip consisted of my dad, our good friend who is a Pastor from the States named Joey, and myself. We spend the entire time in the village/town of Enekorogha, basing ourselves at the clinic. The main things we and all others involved engaged in were seeing patients (about 250 over the week), surgical operations, preaching the word (in houses, the clinic, in church), teaching about nutrition, fixing the solar panel powered battery, as well as a bunch of other things.
I went over with the goal of making some kind of bamboo training structure for the kids and teenagers, of whom there are many. Things seem to operate on a bit of an age hierarchy, so the young kids tend to get a lot of flak from the old guys in the form of physical assertiveness.

Anyway, as is the per usual, I will explain my own personal experience in bullet points since I tend to loathe overly long winded posts.

STUFF DONE:
- Canoed with two of the lads to the bush to hack down huge lengths of bamboo with a 'cutlass'.
- Made the Bamboo frame successfully in a few days. - Played and hung out with the manic kids a lot.
- Saw a cesarean performed 4 feet from me as well as the baby and mother recovering well.
- Killed a chicken for lunch (with an unsuitably blunt knife which wasn't so nice).
- Experienced a full-on, mad-for-it, booty-shaking, hucker-bucking, 3 hour african church service....hallelujia!
- Saw a lot of the village when my friend who i met four years ago on my first trip took me to see his many relatives and friends.
- Got told i look 15 years old.
- Accidentally formatted 4 days worth of incredible photos....
- Made a walking stick for an old lady who was using a heavy metal rod.
- Met some very humbling and next level people who make me feel like a total noob at life.

Child with bad malaria

Myself and some of the boyz

Constructing the cane out of a piece of bamboo we found

Hopefully it should last and bring some relief from her other one

Only some of the many crazy kidz, bunch of nutters!

The Chairman, his committee and us

"Off with his head!"

Lovely jubbly.

Rose, one of the healthcare workers (and a total legend) teaching about nutrition to mothers.

Some of the typical marks of a witch doctor treatment

The finished construction. Very sturdy despite appearances!

New Foundations tribute to Ronnie Coleman

Pancreatic Musings

2009-05-24T21:18:00.013+01:00

Diabetes is a condition where the pancreas either cannot produce the adequate amount of insulin to keep blood sugar balanced within a healthy range, or where the pancreas just simply stops being able to produce insulin. These two types are known respectively as type 2, and type 1.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease which usually occurs in children and adolescents, with the pancreas completely unable to produce insulin. In this type, injections and regular blood sugar testing must be undertaken daily, and permanently for the rest of one's life (although there are developments in research with cures).

The result of not keeping a check on blood sugar, are potentially serious future complications such as kidney failure, blindness, limb amputation, heart attack etc. Therefore, its important to do the job of the pancreas as accurately as possible through checking blood sugar regularly and injecting insulin accordingly throughout the day.

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 14 years old after the experience symptoms of extremely high blood sugar such as blurred vision, unquenchable thirst, frequently needing to urinate and tiredness. I arrived at the hospital with a reading of 40 mmol, bearing in mind that a 'healthy' person has a maintained blood sugar of 4mmol - 10 mmol. I was kept overnight on a drip and given a cardboard container to piss into through the night since my body was still not retaining much fluids. I didn't feel massively phased by being diagnosed to be honest and didn't really internally rebel against it or anything, but rather accepted it without too much questioning. There was actually something strangely alluring about having a bag of syringes that I could carry round and use on myself in front of people at school.

After 7 years of having a condition like this, I would say that it has made me who I am in many ways. One of my biggest motivations to stay active and pursue a healthy lifestyle is because I have a real-time, constant indicator as to how I am doing. I inject about 5-8 times a day and test my blood sugar about 10 times a day by pricking my finger and applying blood to test strips. Looking at it, this does sound like quite a bit of hassle, but I am extremely used to it now. I would get asked whenever going out to a bar or whatever "why are you taking a rucksack?". I need to carry my insulin and testing kit 24/7 wherever I am, which essentially acts as my pancreas externally, with me regulating manually instead of my body doing it naturally.

Diabetes has really helped me clean up my diet (post below not counting!!) and given me a further reason to keep moving and active throughout my life. It is kind of an internal laboratory I can use to experiment with different foods, seeing the direct effect of starches and sugars within minutes. You might 'know' that a french baguette has a glycemic index of 95, but I can see the demands it places on my body when I eat it and try to balance it with insulin. I know just from experience that a melon is an absolute bitch to counter correctly, and so I know what a healthy pancreas has to do to keep up with what people are eating. Fruit can be quite demanding on the insulin, but the effects something like some cake or pastries can have on your insulin demands is another level. From eating that half a cake and entire vienetta (admittedly not an average desert!), I was feeling the effects of it and having to act accordingly right through to the afternoon the following day. To see what some people eat as a daily lifestyle really scares me to how hard their body is working, and also how amazing the body is at dealing with the amount of crap some people put it through.

Don't worry though, this isn't going to turn into a rant about how people's health are going down the drain, or how Oprah Winfrey is winging out free KFC for her American viewers in an effort to promote health.
Having diabetes has given me an increased sense of responsibility in keeping on point with my health on a daily basis, spurring me to pursuing better nutrition and to train daily. It's become like brushing my teeth. However, in the first few years I had some really struggles with it, and still do depending on my situation, such having to make my own food in China last year rather than die an early death from the local cooking. However, now unlike before, I don't get overly depressed from a month of poor control, but deal with it better and acknowledge that life is a learning process and this is just an element of that for me.

It seems to be quite a popular and perhaps western ideal that the fewer responsibilities, the better, that freedom comes from being free from responsibilities. Staying at home playing video games without a plan for a job or study, or taking off "Into the Wild" to utterly detach oneself from society's expectations (awesome film btw).
Its pretty attractive to be independent of responsibility, or further from that, accountability. People who don't look after their health in a society where it is possible to, are neglecting the most immediate responsibility given to them from birth.

Aside from this though, the challenge to such a notion: "is it not our responsibility, to seek responsibility?" By this, I mean that instead of pursuing freedom through trying to live as independant, 'free souls', is there a kind of obligation and merit to taking on responsibility? The ideas of becoming bogged down by mortgage, getting to work, writing that 3000 word essay, getting up to feed the baby, are all fairly unattractive in themselves. But they are the responsibilities required to fulfill greater ends: keeping a roof over your family, supporting the family, getting a good degree, taking care of your kid.

Within the culture of parkour is an almost universal notion of altruism, of helping others. Sometimes I lose perspective that I am in the minuscule percentage of the world who have the privilege to train and do what I do, whilst most of the world are struggling to feed themselves, or working 40+ hour weeks to pay the bills and support their family. I actually find that through parkour, I have become very precious with my time, hating to be interrupted when training hard or having to sacrifice a planned session for something else. This is just my personal experience, and I actually think its fine to be like this to a degree because certain things need to be done. For me staying active and well is primary. But being honest, how altruistic am I, or you? I have heard so many people talking about the freedom parkour brings, and it does in a way for sure, which is very positive. But in order to 'be altruistic', responsibilities must be beared. Responsibilities to not put yourself first and to widen your net of responsibility further, bearing more upon yourself, but also being involved in more than your own microcosm world of training.

This is something that I struggle with. Through 7 years of fairly steep learning, I have learnt to fully accept and bear the responibility of being diabetic and accountable only to myself for my health. What used to get me down such as poor blood sugar control in a certain month still happens, but I more readily accept it and learn from it. If someone told me before I was diabetic that I will essentially have to do the job of one of my organs for the rest of my life, regulating my blood sugar non-stop, I would have found that difficult to take in. Now though, its fine.

Can the same be applied for other things? I think so. Tasks or responsibilities that initially seem daunting or highly unattractive, over time can be beared and accepted more easily, until it is like brushing your teeth, or regulating your blood sugar.

I am definitely finding out that as I grow up, more responsibilities are coming my way. I used to really run from the idea of perhaps having to get a mortgage, saying that "ill just live in a van or something". And it still does turn me off, but if its part of a greater good, then its something that I can accept. With a year left of my degree before I try and do something with myself, I am responsible for being the one to get off my ass and engage with the world and pursue something worthwhile. I am no longer fully independent, with responsibility for another person with my girlfriend in China, which is great. I am sure things will just increase and pick up speed as life goes on, which I guess is otherwise known as growing up! With this process, I think there also needs to be a healthy and frequent dosage of 'manning up', and getting on with life.

How do you view the relationship between your 'freedom' and 'responsibility'?

Optimum Nutrition

2009-05-16T09:04:00.005+01:00

We all know how important a good diet is in life, and when coupled with correct and intelligent training, can help lead to massive gains in all kinds of training goals such as weight loss, strength building etc.
With this in mind, it is important to keep a check on what we put in ourselves and to research optimum ways to fuel our bodies in order to promote longevity and health.
In the constant, relentless pursuit of optimum nutrition, I believe I have come up with a way of covering all bases in terms of what the body requires to be lean, resilient, strong and able.
Supplying an impressive 1900 calories, this is a great post-training meal or just daily way to keep the excess weight off. Our body is like a car, we need to give it the best fuel possible if we aim to perform well.
Bear in mind, this is one portion for one person. It is important to eat the whole thing otherwise you don't get the right mix of vegetable oils and saturated fats, and...stuff.
Behold, the cake-ennetta...
I'm sure Bruce Lee missed something here...

Arbitrary life update:

2009-05-09T13:09:00.003+01:00

Been putting off writing anything for a while, mainly because not much has happened which is worth writing about after Libya to be honest. Be that as it may, I feel that 2 months without writing anything is pretty poor form on my part, regardless of how few people are interested anyway.

At the moment I am in my last few weeks of term for my 3rd and penultimate year of university, so predictably I am just pushing through with essays, revision, and keeping on top of other bits and bobs before finishing up for the academic year. So in terms of that, the work is going ok and I am keeping on top of the Chinese in general, viewing it as a real investment for the future which I envisage will be predominantely in China.

In terms of training, its been a bit of everything to be honest. I have been climbing quite a lot during my time in sheffield, pretty much exclusively in an indoor bouldering wall down the round from me, much to my shame when the Peak district is just an 8 mile bike ride away. I am just poor at planning for a whole day of something!
So my climbing has been going ok and steadily improving I feel, and also parkour/movement is going ok. I have been a bit of a lone ranger with training after my time in China. I just got used to training almost exclusively by myself and still seem to enjoy it more than with other people, which is something that I need to work on before I become a complete recluse I think.
Been trying to work on slightly more extroverted movements rather than just retreating into drilling precisions and simple movements, so I have been trying to push out a wee bit and do things a little more challenging, albeit still simple stuff overall.
Strength training is good and fun. I have stopped doing certain reps and sets and rest times with things and instead go out to find a playground for example, and concentrate on perhaps doing 40 minutes of dynamic pulling movements in a very free way, just doing any and all kinds of movements I can think of just using the arms for pulling muscles.
Routine kind of looks like this:

MON: Pulling (dynamic), movement, drills
TUE: Squats, deadlifts, climbing/resting/running
WED: Pushing, movement, drills
THUR: Squats, deadlifts, climbing/resting/running
FRI: Pulling (max strength), movements, drills
SAT: Pushing, running/movement/climbing/whatever
SUN: running/climbing/movement/resting

Admittedly, I miss the occassional session at the moment when I am trying to smash a deadline or if life in general gets in the way, but thats what I aim for each week at the moment.

Plan for summer:
20 - 29th June = Nigeria.
Making a bamboo playground for the kids in a village, going out with dad and 3 others, should be full on hectic steez!
20 - 29th July = Iran.
Family holiday to Iran!
5th August - 18th September = CHINA.
Going to see the lady in Shanghai (will have been 6 months) and do something productive. Definately want to hook up with as many people as possible for training and chilling, so anyone in the oriental area, get in touch!

Site of the moment: Always Be Ready

live long and prosper!

Return From Libya

2009-03-05T08:18:00.008Z

Got back from Libya a few days ago and have had a lot of time to reflect and mull over the whole experience.
January was a mad month to build up to it. I had two weeks in China, then exams for two weeks, and then had to get onto some last bits of decent training for Libya, taking the weight vest for runs through the snow in the Peak District.
Me and my dad set off for London on the 21st to catch the Eurostar and a chartered flight with all the other competitors from Paris to Libya.
We had a day at the camp prepping or equipment (and minds), and the actual event began on the 24th, Tuesday morning at 10am. Everyone was up at 6am to get driven to an inflatable starting point in the middle of the desert. There was about an hour of hanging around and then we were off! The first section was a 15km run to a steep climb up about 1000ft. After that, the terrain was varied throughout with steep sand dunes and rocky paths.

Before starting, I made sure my blood sugar was fairly high to compensate for the 3 days of movement that lay ahead, because if it dropped too low and i ran out of food, that would be game over straight away. Conversely, my blood sugar stayed far too high the entire time, going off the scale of my blood sugar meter at one point. It seems that the high temperatures de-natured my insulin so it was very ineffective. With high blood sugar came dehydration as little water was retained (one symptom of diabetes pre-diagnosis is drinking and peeing a LOT). This was not ideal considering we were in 40 degree C heats in the day, and you can only drink as much water as you can carry between each 25km checkpoint.
Aside from all that, me and my dad were feeling strong for completing the race, and it was fully on our minds to do so. However, at check point 4, 100km in, my insulin pen went missing between setting off from the checkpoint, and stopping 500m down the road to search for it. After a couple of hours of searching and having the entire checkpoint and bags in the vicinity checked and emptied, it was game over. Without insulin I can't eat or get the glucose to the muscles, and with high sugar levels already, it was just not feasible to carry on. We had to drop out and get driven 5 hours to a hospital to find insulin (which was out of date) in order to eat for the rest of the days in camp from dropping out.

Although it is gutting to have had to pull out not from choice, me and my dad are on for doing it next year (without appealing for sponsorship from you lot, don't worry haha). It is something which I know I can do, and will not let a medical condition like diabetes stop it.

Aside from that though, it was an incredible trip and i plumbed new depths of having to 'dig deep' for me. I learnt a lot from it and met some mad people, such as ex French Foreign Legion security guards and someone who had run to Beijing in 150 days!

Thank you SO MUCH for the support, we have raised over £6000 in online and offline donations, so that is flipping awesome, a big two finger salute to the credit crunch.

Peace and love everyone.

Equipment and food for the event. About 10,000 calories.

The day before just taking a stroll outside the camp...

Minutes before the start

The British and Aussie contingent

Taking stock at checkpoint 2 before the push through the night.

Day 2 as dawn is breaking

Chilling having a sandwich

My crack kit supplied by the hospital after my insulin went missing on the race.

'HI', meaning 'your blood sugar is off the charts mate'.

Free, quality Hip Hop!

2009-02-20T01:23:00.004Z

Illspot.net
Sphere of hip hop
Triple H Mixtapes
Sacred Apparel Mixtapes

Get it in!

A Peak District Beasting

2009-02-11T13:00:00.006Z

Me and my Dad went for a final training session before the (now 200km) Libyan Challenge whixh takes place in about 10 days.

We decided to go for a trek through the Peak District starting at 9:20pm doing a loop back to my house in Sheffield.

Some Stats and things:

Total Distance: 54 miles
Total Time: 22 hours
Total time awake: 37 hours
Temperature: Below freezing (our liquids all froze to blocks of ice)
Total time not walking: 2 hours altogether for eating
Highlight: Perhaps seeing sheep being herded by a sheep dog and its owner
Low point: Realising the final push was another 6 hours when we thought it would be 3.
Physical effects: Blisters, nausea, unstable knee joints, a few hallucinations, untold joy ;)

2:00am zub zero temp steez.

Please support the Libyan Challenge if you haven't already and can/would like to,
I hope everyone is good, keep in touch

Big Loves,

Audio Truth

2009-01-25T10:50:00.005Z

Trying to make a little more effort to keep this updated more regularly I think now, but on the flipside don't won't to post just for the sake of it.

Well I get quite a few questions as to what music I used on my Nanjing video, so I thought I would post a bunch of Christian hip hop up for people to hear. The Christian hip hop scene is growing fast, and refreshingly positive and constructive for the most part.
Just a few artists to check out:

Shai Linne
Evangel
muzeONE
Stephen The Levite
Japhia Life
Braille Poems

Some Good websites to dig further:

Holy Culture Download - Online store
Rapzilla - Online Christian Hip Hop Magazine
Sphere of Hip Hop - LOTS of free MP3's, store, podcast.
Wade-O Radio - Podcast with lots of really good interviews of artists
The Syncast - Podcast with a lot of very good music

Peace and blessings,

Libyan Challenge

2009-01-20T11:27:00.006Z

Ok, me and my dad are booked on this Libyan Challenge now, and in order to make it truly worthwhile we need some donations. Its on the 22nd of February (a month from now).

Short blurb:
190km foot race in 75hrs, everything carried on the back except water which is stationed about every 25km. Sleeping in the desert, temperatures very low at night and up to 40c in the day.

Half proceeds to New Foundations, half to Juvenile Diabetes.

SHORT VIDEO:

SPONSOR ONLINE HERE (Its very secure and takes 2 minutes)

On a side note, am pursuing the possibility of returning to China after summer to finish my degree out there, but thats a side story.
Slap bang in exams right now, so training has taken a serious back seat, as has most things. Last exam on the 27th, then can train properly for the Libya run.

Ankles were feeling shot after a 23km run in december, so have stopped running until the actual event. Instead just going to do long endurance sessions with general movement using simple things like climbups and jogs etc.

Hope everyone is well, dunno if anyone is really reading this anymore haha, all good!
much love,

j

Vibram Fivefinger KSO's Review

2008-12-03T23:03:00.005Z

I got sent a pair of Vibram KSO's from Fitness Footwear to help me train running in.

I was running regularly during October and most of November, perhaps 30 miles or so a week so nothing crazy. Basically just been trying to prep for the Libyan Challenge still. Been only running in a ball to heel fashion, in some fairly thin soled trainers because I have just gotten more used to it and prefer the technique to the 'normal' heel to ball action, which now feels very heavy and stressful in terms of impact upon my legs.
However, I have managed to pick up an ankle injury which has stopped me from running at the moment. Its right at the point of the tendon insertion at the inner ankle bone, so tendonitis or sprain is what I am thinking, so currently rehab-ing that.

I did get to do about 10k or so in the KSO's though, and got a good feeling from them in general. Basically, they are very, very similar to running barefoot, except your skin is protected. I know it kind of defeats the point in terms of developing the sensitivity of the sole of the foot, but the shoes enable you to keep running beyond when your soles are torn to shreds, which I have experienced already on some of the nastier pavements here in Sheffield.

The ball to heel technique is a serious challenge for the calfs in the beginning of training it, but after experiencing no muscle soreness after 25k runs using this way of running, it was suprising and refreshing to get some soreness the day after running 10k in the KSO's. Obviously they really enable you to work the entire foot and leg. About a year ago, about 1 mile would have been fairly punishing on my calfs and legs in these, but I feel a lot stronger in that area now.

The shoes themselves are pretty simple, with some very resistant rubber on the bottom, and stretchy synthetic on top. This means you have to get the sizing pretty much exact. I have pretty small feet and squeeze into size 7 kalenjis snuggly, and the size 40 (6.5) KSO's are a decent fit for me. Too much room will mean blisters are likely to develop when moving in them. The velcro strap enables a tight fit, and once on they really feel very comfortable and almost part of your body.

In terms of parkour and that kind of thing, I havent actually tested them for that. I think they would get shredded apart fairly fast, especially around the top of the toe where the rubber meets the upper mesh material, so basically I am not going to use them for movement like that. Plus I don't think they offer much above barefoot training in parkour, and the high price tag (around 80 quid) means that they aren't the kind of shoes you can wreck and replace cheaply.

For running, chilling, climbing and other things, I think they are pretty appropriate. I do however, think that running in them could seriously ruin somebody's legs if they are not prepared for it. I would thoroughly recommend looking at barefoot running techniques and easing into it very slowly, because as I have found out, ankle injuries and the such are pretty easy to pick up from this kind of running.

Check out Barefoot Ted for an ultramarathoner who uses Vibrams frequently for long distance events.
The official Vibram Finger website.
For UK suppliers, Fitness Footwear.

jellytots and bananas

2008-10-18T16:54:00.002+01:00

First, thanks everyone for all the comments, want to meet up with bobby, brad and others since its been too long. Really like seeing how other people are doing so thanks for comments and your views, love ya's all,

Just have to give a shout and bigupsness to chase and the 3run guys for the video they just released at www.3inspiration.com
These guys have been constantly on the grind and are elevating their stuff in terms of skills and professionalism so much support to them! Loved the video,

Been back at Uni for 3 weeks, really enjoying my course and has got past the point of fearing deadlines or doing work because after being in China, I really enjoy it all and actually find the economic policies of china post Mao-era pretty interesting, although i couldn't tell you what it is! So just staying on the grind with doing me translation tings and reading etc,

Very much enjoying training at the moment. In practical terms, I am running quite a bit in preparation for the Libyan Challenge next march, bouldering indoors, some calisthenics, lifting couple times a weak just deadlifts and a few basic exercises, and aside from that some basic movement training. Booked in for the PKGEN Rendezvous 3, of which I have a feeling I am going to get destroyed at. Still training parkour, but not with the striving that I used to have, just in terms of enjoyment and enabling myself to move, adapt, and play. So basically I am training without any underlying motive, just for the sake of doing it with no stress, which is awesome.

Also if anyone doesnt keep a training diary, I really suggest you do. I have one that I have kept since 2 years ago and its really great looking back and seeing how mindsets, priorities and methods adapt and change over time.

Been doing a homeless outreach every saturday evening as well with guys from my church here, which has been really good for me. Has really blown a lot of my preconceptions away, like meeting a homeless guy who graduated from the same uni as me with a degree in geology. We basically go into town with food and hot drinks and chill with them for a couple of hours, just being there to give food and chatting to them. Quite a few regular faces which is wicked since you get to know a few of them better. We all meet them near the main bar strip, so you can feel the counter-cultural nature of it when students and such are going past dressed up and going out clubbing or whatever.

Meanwhile, here is some torch bombing:

soopadoopa.

2008-09-21T22:27:00.003+01:00

Beenaweewhile.

I haven't written anything for a while....for no particular reason actually other than I haven't really been bothered or compelled to.
Back to uni on wednesday, so the holiday since coming back from China is quickly drawing to a close. China seems like a bit of a blur, and has been an excellent illustration of how fast life can pass by.

Summer holidays = Good.

Past month I havent really trained much, if at all. Something has changed since before when i used to only think about training. I started getting back into drawing and painting very suddenly, shortly after the drawing session that was had at Soul Survivor. So been doing that a lot to be honest. In terms of me as person, I think I have changed quite a bit. Things have fallen into perspective a little, for me in regards to my life anyway. I feel like something inside me, the obsessive nature that used to drive me to think about and train parkour/movement/whatever everyday, has died. Its actually weird because it has taken place over the past month and is actually quite a huge change. I just feel like parkour and movement has been moved from being the only thing in my vision, to something at the side in balance with everything else. Its still very important to me to move and be healthy, but I do not feel the same internal pressure or obsession to excel at it, but instead to enjoy it and just use all forms of movement to stay strong and able. Being a Christian has changed me the most since now all i want to do (although i fail often) is be in God's will for my life, so thats my main focus, which I am still having to work on. So basically parkour/movement has taken a more, what i think for me, balanced place in my life and I feel more open to everything else.

One recent venture is Mangoshoguns, which has been set up with my good friend Mat. Basically we are trying to get opportunities to do spray paint commissions for whoever, and have just today finished painting a company's van, which was pretty stressful!
Anyway, check out the website by clicking the tag below and give us a holla if you want anything done!

hope everyone is well, always good to here from peeps so give us a shout,

j

Return Home

2008-07-13T09:13:00.002+01:00

I returned to the UK on the 2nd of July, about 2 weeks ago, and have been pretty busy and very happy since that time up till now.

Did the London 10k on the 6th barefoot, but unfortunately I picked up a bit of a knackered ankle from it. During the training for the 10k, the runs were going alright, so I think it just needs a bit of rest at the moment from any overuse, but regardless completed the goal of running the 10k barefoot. Not sure of the time because didnt really care too much, just ran!

The summer is promising to be fairly busy, with a few projects on the go and trips here and there. This month is the Trace Gathering, as well as the exam for the BPCA qualification that I am yet to get. Next month Jason, my dad, my brother and I are all heading to the Niger Delta for New Foundations, planning to build training equipment for the kids out there to play on and have something to do in the area. As well as this will be all the seeing of patients and treating as well as checking how things are going and just seeing what needs to be done basically. No thanks to Gordon Brown screwing up the ceasefire out there, now the Niger militants are hating on England, so we are Scottish from now on *wink wink*.

Been training a bit since I have been back, and its incredible to see the progression of everyone after 10 months of leave. Loads of new faces in Cambridge and just loving hearing about all the new things that have been accomplished, certainly a heck of a lot to get my teeth into once the ankle is cleared up. Fallen straight back in love with the Cambridge scene and the town itself, loving it. At the moment just settling back into some good practice and play, trying to get stronger and just get out and train.

Film of the Month: "Into The Wild " (thanks Bobby)

Small Video

2008-06-11T01:53:00.002+01:00

Just a small video of my local area using footage gathered in 2 hours that was originally meant to be part of a larger video.

Earthquake Fundraising Event

2008-06-02T16:32:00.006+01:00

1/06/2008 held a sponsored event in Xin Jie Kou, Nanjing, for the fundraising for last months earthquake in SiChuan province.

It turned out to be a really successful event, with a crazy amount of stuff getting organised last minute, from permission to do it in the busiest area of nanjing, to fashioning a pullup bar out of cupboards at midnight the previous night, to transporting everything by push tricycle.

Huge thanks to everyone who came, who donated, who supported, and who contributed at all. The event started at about 11am, and ended around 6:30pm. We had a live band, singing, and multiple people hosting, as well as a random appearance from a couple of guys from the british olympic diving team to do a somersault and handstand. Was a good day all in all, with over 10,000 yuan raised in total, around £700. I completed 1000 pullups in about 7 hours or so. My body is far too weak, didnt imagine it to be that hard to be honest, especially since i planned to do 2000 originally!

A very full day with people on the grind all day smiling non-stop, some real positivity throughout. Much love,

Some pics below, Peace!

2 Years and counting

2008-05-22T15:35:00.004+01:00

Just realised that more than 2 years has gone by since I started the blog, and since it was here for me to look back on and see the changes, I thought I would write a small list of certain changes that stick out in my head, although there are so many more.

- Become a Christian, regardless of the constant struggles I have with it.

- Not letting what I practice define me, but rather using it as a tool in life for positivity.

- Opening myself up to all people and experiences, not just through parkour/movement.

- Discovering that I love China, learning Chinese, and can imagine spending much time here.

- Beginning to realise that health, like money, comes and goes, so is not the ultimate goal.

- Trying to think outside of my own selfish self more instead of being self-absorbed.

- My belief to not follow the norm because everyone else does or says you should has become stronger as time goes.

- Although time by yourself is important, time with others is usually what produces the best memories.

- Learning more and more that I know less and less, and that I am much lamer than I once thought.

- Learning that love and sharing positivity with people is extremely important, and trying to learn how to better do so.

- Trying to not get caught up in the small things such as worrying about my training, but doing it for enjoyment and positive benefit and keeping that in perspective.

- Trying to learn how to not keep thinking just around the corner, but about the current day and time so I don't miss out on life.

- Not striving for a particular image of myself, but just walking in the right direction and trying to accept if things go wrong or take a bad turn.

- Don't take myself or others too seriously.

- Realizing how much I love my family and friends.

- Trying to live more simply and enjoy the things that aren't made people.

- Keeping in perspective that no matter how strong or skilled I get, I am still going to lose it all eventually.

- Sheer perseverance can achieve almost anything.

- Learning that I still have a bazillion things to learn and still loads in my head I can't put down right now.

在长沙旅游！

2008-05-08T05:45:00.006+01:00

Had a rather fun week in Changsha just last week, with the premise being a parkour gathering which actually turned out to be a performance at a theme park. Me and 3 guys who weren't willing to take part thought to heck with it and left for some travelling around Changsha and the nearby areas with the brilliant fun in the city at night and also climbing Heng Shan (衡山).
Check the pictures and the video, because as per usual, i am too lazy for a detailed write up!

Peace!

"Tibet was, is, and always will be a part of China..."

Mercedes Performance

2008-04-21T11:55:00.005+01:00

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!

2008-04-03T08:09:00.006+01:00

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......).

Libya Challenge Smashed

2008-03-14T11:45:00.004Z

My dad just a few days ago returned from Libya after completing the Ultramathon there. Just want to say what a huge inspiration this is for me and how proud I am to have a dad who challenges himself and others in such a way. I am very priviliged to have a dad who I can look up to so much for direction and inspiration and who has done and continues to do so much for others. I don't think you know how much of an influence you are on my life.

Write up from New Foundations :

The Libya Challenge is held in the UNESCO heritage Akakus mountain range in the south east corner of Libya right on the Algerian border. The route covers 194km trailing some millenia old salt caravan trails of Touareg traders and traversing a variety of terrain, Cambrian sandstone mountains thrust up and crumbling to reveal metres thick fossilised seabeds, the ancient coastline dramatically and forcefully realigned by volcanic activity, the plugs majestically fracturing and littering the swirling igneous rocks over the sandy plains like a sea of broken crockery. In other areas vast dunes with airbrushed shadows reach to the horizon against plateaued basalt hills that shift from grey to purple as the sun traverses the sky. There is precious little wild-life, the odd scarab and snake, bleached goat skeleton and haze of flies. Small tenacious tamarisk trees stand to give some perspective to the horizon, and dotted around are occasional windformed overhangs that protect ochre paintings of distant hunting scenes when the area was more verdant some 12,000 years ago.

The camp lies at the edge of the dunes and the day preceding the race medical forms were checked , the mandatory kit signed off (bag, sleeping bag, flare, mirror, compass , whistle, knife, space blanket, antiseptic, and venom pump.) The calories carried in the single stage event must exceed 8000 , and are duly checked, the remainder of the day given over to some serious obsessive compulsive behaviour as kit , sand gaiters and clothing is checked and rechecked.

The next morning all 109 runners are ferried to a road junction where bedouin 4x4's take us to the inflatable arch set , quite bizarrely in the empty void of a plain as it funnels in between two ranges, and untimately into a central wadi (riverbed) that drains the sparce rainfall of the region.

Within an hour of so the field of runners is widely spread and it is clear that for maybe 80% of the race will be run alone unless you are part of a team or find a similar paced athelete.

Checkpoints are place 25kms apart, navigable to only by GPS. the waypoints provided in advance. 4.5litres of water are given to each competitor at each station.

Undertaking this sort of ultramarathon requires training on several levels. Hydration is fundamental yet must be balanced with electrolyte intake, enough to conserve water yet enough to ensure filtration via the kidneys. Passing urine every few hours is a good benchmark of reasonable control, and even at night the occasional headtorch beam reveals an anxious runner at a checkpoint studying the colour of his urine as he pees.

Food is equally important. The stomach shuts down when running and food can stay slushing about for some time resulting in vomiting and acid reflux. Exerting 1000 calories hourly cannot be sustained by carbohydrate intake alone and protein becomes converted to supply fuel, this deriving from muscle breakdown. This is a disaster and protein must be taken in with carbs to maintain stasis. I use a protein/carb mix in drink form to sip throughout the race, with electrolyte supplements hourly.

Heat is another factor the temperature fluctuating between 2-3 degrees and 30+ midday. Heat increases fluid loss, which must be factored in.

More than 50% I think is mental. The repeated voices of dissent rise and resurface complaining of jointpain, the distance, the dry throat, blister pain and even questioning the whole point of the exercise. Dealing with this inner dialogue and debate is something that persists throughout the race. My room-mate Mark, a veteran of ultramarathon running argues that it is best to thrash the body to the baseline state of constant pain as soon as possible, maybe 5-10km knowing that this is the state from which it can't get much worse. From this point therefore you can get to grips with establishing mental acceptance and move on. As one of the 20 people who have completed the double Blackwater ultra, he should know...

I decided to leave my ipod at home to release my mind to think. I chose a challenging book 'Hard to Believe;' - by John Macarthur. I have been reflecting on the sermon on the mount and the narrow door that Jesus talks about, and how many will one day be turned away by Jesus with the chilling words,'I never knew you'. Macarthur expands on this , and quite unfashionably in this present day of inclusivity and the lifestyle church brings us back to the core of the gospel, the cry of the convicted sinner for salvation through the blood of Christ and the new life that is built on the certainty and conviction that comes by acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I read the first half before the race on which to reflect, the second on my return. I am not interested in the religiosity of mans view of God, but seek the reality of a relationship with God that Jesus promises.The claims of Jesus are so powerful, extreme and carry such consequences you have to conclude He is indeed the Son of God, or lunatic. There is no middle ground of the beneficial prophet or the winsome stained glass benefactor man has reduced Him to. He is radical and challenging, anarchic and alluring, and each of us have to deal with his claims, to reject to accept. Even to those who professed allegiance His claims were hard to accept, and affirm exclusivity of salvation and heaven through His death; ('No-one comes to the Father except through me')

43"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. ... 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit[e] and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."

66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. John 7

His words offended then , and they offend now. They are not open to interpretation or dilution, they are a stone wall of divinely revealed statute. Mans intellect recoils, but this does not justify manipulation to suit our tastes.

Unsurprisingly Jesus retired to the desert, John wandered the Dead Sea basin and the early desert fathers sought refuge in the western egyptian desert to make sense of these claims. It is an environment ideally suited to pray and meditate, to experience the vulnerability of oneself, and the fragility of life amidst the grandeur and permanence of Gods creation.

Why the fossils, why the brevity of life and the geological timeline all around as you run...I don't know, and never will. Certainly the bible repeatedly illustrates the eternity of God, that we are but a breath, a grass, a flower of the field, gone in a season, and the permanence of God is infinite and eternal. Without the frenzy of daily life this truth is reinforced in the solitude of the race.

The nights are velvety black, the stars too numerous to begin to count, and the silence deafening, broken only by footfall on sand. The GPS is a disaster, telling only direction and not elevation or topography (having bought the cheapest). At 3am I almost step into a black ravine some 200ft to the desert floor, having inadvertently climbed a slow incline whilst concentrating too hard on direction. It takes 2 hours to find a safe way down, the narrow headtorch beam swallowed up by the void on each side until it illuminates a sand tongue from which to descend. The night disorientates and for many, lost in similar circumstances retiring to sleep is the only safe option until first light.

The third day traversed a long plain, hot, dry and without shelter. Diarrhoea, shivering, slight confusion, and hallucinations heralded early heatstroke, and water had to be sacrificed for cooling my now throbbing head. The GPS located the bivvy set just behind a line of gorse, a location not visible until within 300metres. I had hallucinated bushes into huts and chicken farms for the past 2 km so I had little hope of finding the tent with rational thought.

A rare offer of Coke was magical, it settles the stomach, replaces electrolytes,provides a caffeine boost and the taste almost universally accepatable, amazing stuff. With a packet of crushed crisps for salt this combo had staggering restorative powers and the next stage was hammered. Checkpoint nine was the final check before the finish , the last stage being 15km across high dunes. Deciding caffeine was the key I brewed a pint of coffee, ditched the rest of my food , filled my camelback and setoff. Thankfully I completed just as night fell. The prospect of another night in the desert was not a good one , and the relief of arriving enormous. No fanfares, no crowds, just an official to take the flare off me, check my time and a handshake. This is not a race for a sprint finish and the glory of the podium. Even the prize money is only a few hundred euros. The greatest crowd gathers for the final competitors, who demonstrate more guts and effort that the winners, as they have fought for longer, with often crippling blisters and problems with hydration and heat. Kirsi, a finnish girl finished with a third of the skin on her feet gone, ulcerated blisters and raw flesh requiring morphine infusions and transfers by wheelchair.

These races are against yourself, your limits, fears, and thresholds of pain, and endurance.

Would I do this again?.......don't know.......I gave it everything I had, it took me into areas of myself I had never been, and distances I had never covered.(until feb this year only 44km/marathon distance, then Thames Meander mid feb, 90km, then Libya within the month to 194km). It is staggering what the body and the mind can do. The sport is very selfish, it takes time and money and I am concious how much Shirley has had to put up with. For this alone its hard to justify a re-run. I am so very grateful for the experience, and to have had such great support in raising funds to establish the clinic for New Foundations.

In this age we are always trying to improve ourselves and develop our potential...nothing wrong with that , but if theres one lesson that comes out strong its that this should never be the priority, but that we should use every opportunity to find out what God reveals about Himself, and to find the narrow door that leads to a eternal relationship with our Father through his Son Jesus Christ, for in doing so His word states that God the Father , His Son and Holy Spirit will come to dwell in us, what could be more amazing and relevant a purpose for our short little lives.

David Donovan

Travels wrap up

2008-02-27T13:16:00.005Z

All in all I got 5 weeks of traveling in around the south of China, 3 weeks around the province of Yunnan by myself, 1 week around Guilin and Yanghuo with friends, and a further week on the southernmost point of of China, the tropical island of Hainan.

Was such a great time and there is too much that happened for me to write about, mainly because I am feeling too lazy to and there are other things I want to do right now.

I feel very lucky to have had the time to just travel around for 5 weeks with no responsibility, and am now ready for getting back to studies, better eating, and training.

Some highlights:

- Getting destroyed by a 60 year old chinese Stallone in an arm wrestle.
- Catching the sunrise at the Yuanyan rice terraces at 7am.
- Eating phat banana pancakes and peanut butter ice cream.
- Overnight sleeper bus sandwiched between two chinese.
- Freezing to death in bed fully clothed watching Jurassic Park on VCD with a German travelling companion.
- Eating insane amounts of fruit I have never heard of or seen before.
- Having Yan introduce me to Naiwan baozi (yummmmmmmmm).
- Taking a stroll with friends along the most surreal and depressing beach just before Hainan.
- Playing with fireworks :).
- Just chilling on the beach with friends.
- Jumping from rocks into a waterfall in the rain forest.
- Owning at 'the flip flop game' with Tom.
- Getting smashed by waves at the beach.
- Trekking the Tiger leaping Gorge with safe people I just met.
- Being looked after by Mama and Papa and 'Mama's Naxi Guesthouse'.

Dali

2008-01-21T12:47:00.001Z

I arrived in Dali two days ago after taking the 5 hour bus from Kunming. Its basically a small walled town which if in the centre, just looks like a tourist resort, but after walking around, is actually a place where people live, work and go to school. Its by a HUGE lake called Erhai lake, and at the foot of the CanShan mountains, which today I hiked up. The hike turned out to be a bit of a mission, getting much higher than I thought I would, and then having a minor freak out in my head about being to high and it being too late and so having to decide to turn back instead of loop around. Was a really great 8 hour climb up and down though, and the views were so good, felt like the highest I have ever been on ground, dunno if it was my imagination but thought the atittude was quite apparent, prob just my mind though haha. Feeling pretty rinsed now though i tells ya'.

Anyway, travelling by myslf has its up and downs. I spend most of my time just exploring around, and when not, just think about near everything and questioning everything going on in my life, like parkour, God, chinese, direction....etc. Just feel a bit directionless and want to have some concrete goals to aim toward in the long term, because I think without goals life is pretty meaningless to be honest. Thanks to an email from my dad, he has reminded me just to chill and that I am doing something productive with the studying, being here, parkour, pursuing God, and all that. So although it feels pretty lonely at times just being by myself, its also got me to clear my head and question things rather than being distracted by other things. So its all good, again, can't imagine Thomas' adventure right now, full support. Check his blog and give him a hand with some comments, inspiring guy. www.thomadventures.blogspot.com
The centre of Dali old town

Finish of a school day

Rub buddha's belly!

Zhonghe Temple half way up mountain

Typical street in Dali

Cool looking cloud and some fields at the foot of the mountain

Halfway up the mountain on 'cloudy pass'

Some horseys

Halfway up an electricity tower thing

Nice view from about halfway up

View from the highest point I climbed to

Some insence at the temple

Realising maybe I climbed too high

Solo travels

2008-01-17T12:11:00.000Z

At the moment I am in Yunnan province, a south wester province of China, currently in Kunming, a massive and extremely beautiful city.
Just thought I would post what I am up to at the moment. Basically because we have 2 months holiday starting January, I decided I wanted to go to Yunnan and just explore some areas, so I have got about 20 days of travelling by myself and just getting to know the place.
Im planning to take a bus to Dali, which is a small walled town surrounded by mountains and natural scenery as well as many small villages. While I am there I just plan on exploring around by bike and foot, checking out the villages, running, studying, reading the word, and eating tasty food haha. From there its off to Lijiang which is similar but surrounded by grander mountains, and also the step before the Tiger leaping gorge, a trek that lasts about 3 days in a really deep gorge that I want to do. Basically its just a time for me to explore, train a bit, read, and go on some missions.
Nothing like the sounds of Thomas' current adventures, full respect to the man in the conditions that he is facing, not sure I would be up for it all!

Well, plan on going to Dali in a couple of days, still just spending almost all day here walking around the vast and beatiful city of Kunming, its got palm trees and greenery everywhere and a gorgeous lake which is wicked to chill at. Want to start sketching again as well, and need to get a camera too tomoro, which is looking to be a bit of an expense now!

Anyway, peace out!

Thank you

2008-01-13T05:49:00.000Z

I had a real lapse in faith a few weeks back with serious doubts and questions arising, and even beginning to struggle to believe much anything that Christianity had to say to me. Been up and down since I first wanted to be a Christian, but this was certainly the lowest down point. So after talking to my dad when my family came to see me, I felt much more encouraged and I decided to start really trying to read the bible regularly and pray. I have been doing this for the past week, for about 1 or 2 hours a day and taking notes of things that are applicable to life working my way through the New Testament. It has been helping massively actually trying to study the word and not just aimlessly reading it through and I have come to love reading it with time passing very quickly while I do.
Today I was reading Hebrews for the first time which was basically addressed to Jewish Christians who were thinking of reverting to the old Mosaic laws of the Old Testament or thinking of combining Jewish teachings with Christianity.
I got to chapter 2 and jotted down verse 10, and then carried on reading down the page until I came to one line that hit me extremely hard. The chapter is about how Jesus calls those who believe in him brothers and family, and this particular verse read:

"Here am I, and the children who God has given me".

As soon as I read this, for the first time in YEARS, I literally started crying! I couldn't help it at all, and as I read further down the page I barely dared to look at the words because new tears would stream down my face! Bear in mind I was in one of the classrooms and there was a girl behind me studying so there I am blowing my nose and wiping tears from my eyes. I couldn't stop crying for about 20 minutes, and I could barely read two lines at a time without blurred vision returning. I have never felt like that before and I am usually very sceptical of people who say they cried or had a seizure or something like that, but this was very real to me indeed.
It literally was just me realising how much of a MASSIVE sacrifice Jesus made, and I dont think people can appreciate that at all until they have tried to understand it with some effort, because this was like a curtain being lifted from me. I can't understand where the love comes from and why he would do something like that, i literally couldnt comprehend it and kept thinking 'why would he do all this for me!?' Anyway, never felt anything like that before and I just want to encourage people to look into it all and dont be passive because nothing comes of it. I realised how hardened I am to it all and today just gave me a glimpse into his love and sacrifice which I have never seen before. Take this from someone who was ready to give up on it all about 2 weeks ago.
The full passage which just encapsulates it all for me is Hebrews chapter 2 from verse 10 to 18.

So seek and you will find, it just takes time!

Nanjing Parkour Sampler

2008-01-08T14:57:00.000Z

A taste of parkour again

2007-12-16T14:00:00.000Z

Yesterday I organized a training session for some of the guys here in Nanjing to come to, just to all train together as well as just try and talk to them about parkour and show them basic things that they can keep drilling.
About 10 people turned up and although some were starting off with 10+ft drops, it wasnt too long until they began to understand basics a bit more. Also had a guy there who was 30 with 20 yrs of wushu under his belt, so when he started doing drops etc, i just said i didnt think it was best to start off with, but left him to it because he has 5 times more experience than me at his chosen discipline, so fair play!

Well, there is this cat pass to a tree that has been taunting me for a few months here, and I have put it off through a lot of excuses, and just not wanting to give it a go.
But that day I really felt was the day i needed to finally do it. Its about a 8/9 ft drop from the cat pass to the floor, and about 7ft or so across, so it was daunting for me because cat passing from speed to a tree is much more unpredictable than walls etc, plus the grip was kinda hugging two big branches.
The past few months of my training here has almost exclusively been drills and strength training, which has really paid off, especially with my touch, so I hadn't pushed myself to do something daunting for a while. As such, training was on occasion enjoyable, and often quite a chore, especially partly because I train solo 9/10 times and the weather here is much colder now. Not really something too off putting usually, but I didn't realise how good it is to train with other people which I have been used to having access to back in the UK of people similar to myself.
Either way, after deciding to commit to doing the catpass, it took me about 2 or so minutes to go for it, which really suprised me! I just had so much clarity while looking at it, and just ran without hesiatation to try it, something which usually doesnt happen as people who train often with me know that I can over-analyse things too much somethimes. The first attempt I crashed into the tree because off coming down into the landing it was extremely hard to stick due to the angle of force. I went on to try it another 4/5 times, picking up some tasty grazes and bruises until i finally nailed it by sticking my foot into a v-shaped divet which i thought was too high for me to get.

Anyway, the whole point of this is the feeling I got from it, it was a bonus that I stuck it, but the whole process of having to push myself and failing over and over but to keep trying is something i have really missed from parkour, a really familiar but long-ago feeling of raw parkour, having to really use what I have been training to accomplish it. I was just reminded of why I love parkour so much and how it has helped me grow and how something so intrinsic as moving has so much value. It also made me think that people should forget about materialistic things, and really invest in things that are intrinsic in your mind and body, like writing, art, singing, language, etc.....things that are with you 24/7 and you can unlock whenever you want, this is why I love parkour and moving. Sometimes I just need a reminder.

So if you are going through a slow patch or are discourgaed, just stay on the grind and dont give up, nothing worth having comes easily!

PS: Check out this link:
http://www.simpleliving.net/content/custom_garden_of_simplicity.asp

Peace

I wanna be rye bread!

2007-11-14T12:43:00.000Z

Haven't given a proper update for a while now, especially concerning training and just what is cracking in general, and I feel now is an ok time to just write what is going on at the moment.

Well with regards to parkour, its all going well and I am keeping things ticking over as the weeks go on. When I first got out to China, I had lost strength from about 1.5 months without a structured routine due to a whole bunch of things going on, all of them good and worthwhile for sure. So, I had about another 2 weeks till i started training again in China, and the regression felt quite obvious to me so I have had to work back up to the standard that I was feeling back home, and now really feel like I am getting back on things.

Chinese is taking up a fair old chunk of the day with about 6 hrs being spent studying, as well as working at a kindergarten twice a week and volunteering at a home on mondays, so I have managed to get in a good set up where I have 2.5 hrs every week day of training, as well as free movement on the weekends. So the current schedule is every weekday 1 hour of drills, 1 hr of strength training, and about 20-30 mins of stretching. I do pulling movements twice a week, pushing once a week, and rotate every week so it becomes 2 days of pushing, and 1 day pulling. Also leg strength on tuesday and thursday, with deadlifts and weighted squats having been intergrated into the legs session, with drills working the legs a lot as well.
The drills usually consist of drilling touch and precisions, for example, today I did 75 drops, 75 height jumps, 50 precisions (alternating left/right/both legs), 50 arm jumps (with climbups obviously), then an hour split into dips training and one arm pushup training. I am just following a structured routine in this way to make gains with the strength goals that I currently have, and also to keep progressing with the fundamentals through drills such as touch, balance, combinations, single movement repetitions.....etc. But I am certainly training at a satisfactory standard again, making sure that I am working hard each evening, making the most of the time I allocate. I am blessed with really nice training areas around my campus as well, and the exercise parks are great places to train strength.

Also got a fair bit of interest from Chinese students here since a few people approach me every time i train (so i have found a few quieter spots). I have only done one conditioning session with a bunch of them so far, and it had to be knocked down quite a few notches from the nights we were doing in Sheffield (really miss those). But I really feel there is a fair bit of potential for parkour here, I just need to organise and set aside time to train and teach people as well as try and set up a little infrastructure to help it grow. Planning on chipping up to Beijing in January to see the heart of the Chinese parkour scene and a friend from a couple of years back, so that should be interesting.

In a couple of weeks I am also doing the Shanghai half Marathon as a build up to the ever impending marathon des sable's. With this in mind I plan to do a few runs out of the city for a couple/few days at a time sleeping wherever and with everything on my back, a bible, and God for company. Its fairly daunting since the Chinese countryside is really not the most cheerful I have been in after the cycle trip, so it should be a good challenge mentally as much as anything else.

I really feel as well that I have a much better balance to my life with regards to the ratio of training to other things. During my first year at uni I was pretty much using the majority of my spare time to train, or thinking about training, with a lot of time sacrificed to this end. Now I realise that training is certainly not the be all of things and that it is unhealthy (for me) to be so obsessed by it, BUT, it is still a huge part of my life and helps me live better in so many ways. It is really important to me and I feel it is a vital part for everyone's life, that movement can enhance a person's quality of life so much that i feel everyone can benefit from it, but should not be ruled by it. I feel that parkour and training is part of the whole, rather than the actual whole.
I also used to get fairly stressed when thinking of where I should be, and also used to compare myself to people too much, which made me beat myself up a bit when I thought I was not at the standard where I was. My mind and goals would often flit when I saw where certain people were, thinking "ah i need to get back on learning more acro", or "damn get back on the movement/conditioning more!". Being out in China and being really the only person who trains parkour that I know of, I am more focused on myself and find myself enjoying the process for what it is. This is another important thing I have learnt a few months ago, to really take pleasure in the means, the process of training and to to not get caught up in the goals or ends, but rather keep ticking over and taking enjoyment in the training and letting the goals take care of themselves, which they will if the training is sound. So I have definately learnt to just take more enjoyment in the training itself and to be happy in the grind, the familiar strained and sweat-soaked focus that accompanies a hard going session where you truly grow in mental and physical ability.

I feel like a really focused, tight and uncompromising session of training is similar to eating really heavy, wholesome, thick, stone-ground bread, as opposed to the light, refined, fluffy, processed white bread of a half-hearted, confused, undirected session.
I am trying to apply this kind of mindset to everything that I do, with my Chinese, God, people......trying to do the best I can in each area of my life, applying myself to the things I choose to do, to try and be wholesome, nutritious Rye bread! (This is going to read very strangely to me later I reckon...). I am lacking in so many of these areas and have a lot of work to put in, but its a whole life process, and ultimately its up to God to decide where I go, but I want to go wherever that may be. I feel like my priorities in life can be simplified to three things:

-God
-People
-Training

I am thankful to God that I do not care to much for other things like money or material things, and that I have been shown that the best things in life are what is right in front of our eyes.
Ultimately God is the only thing that I need and am learning to cling to, there is literally nothing better or more important in the world than that.
I am also appreciating just how lame I am in all areas of life and how much I have to learn, and how much of a complete noob I am in everything! So many shortcomings that I have and still so much to learn, but ultimately everything that I do is so temporal in this life and has so little meaning attached to it. I just feel like a child in the world and the more I grow up the more I see how little I have achieved, and how little I can do by myself. I used to think that I wasn't doing to badly, but although I know I am on the path, I now see that I have so many areas to change and grow in, mainly as a person. I say all of this with no sadness at all though, but feel like I am starting to see more and more how much I really on God and how much about me I feel is wrong or lacking. I just love knowing that I have SO much to learn, to be humbled by, and that there will never be a point where I have 'arrived' in this life. It feels good to know this because I have to trust God with it all and can know that he has my back and just go for it, like a kid trying over and over while failing and getting picked up, but being a kid, not getting to caught up in the failures and trusting his dad.

Anyway, properly rambled there but my fingers just kept typing so there you go!

If anyone wants to chat about anything then hit me up on my email, would love to hear from people about....anything!

Peace, and hope life and training is fruitful for everyone.

j,

Halloweeeeeen!!!

2007-10-31T10:01:00.000Z

So while I have been in China, I have been teaching at a kindergarten twice a week just mainly to get myself out of my comfort zone to be honest. Each and every time I go I get absolutely destroyed by the kids, just because I run out of things to teach very quickly when surrounded by 30 three year old kids who would rather just go mental and run around than learn what 'brown bear' can see....
I was asked by the teachers to bring a few friends to help out at Halloween, and AFTER getting them to say yes, I told them we had to do a dance in front of the school.....haha they werent best pleased.
So we got there and then were asked 'what dance have you prepared'....clearly none since its me they are asking. So we were lead to a room, some music slapped on, and then told 'ok you have half an hour to prepare'. What ensued was the most retarded and unco-ordinated dance that has graced that kindergarten, complete with me and Tom doing a backward roll into each other.

Anyway, just thought i'd post it up because it was a funny day and we got some funny pics out of it.

This is how happy they were to do a dance...LOL

"How to scare the shite out of kids for dummies"

Preparations going swimmingly,

Freestyle!!!

Yippppeeeeeee!!!!!!

Huang Shan - Yellow Mountains Trip

2007-10-07T00:59:00.000+01:00

The past week has been National week here in China, which basically translates to an opportunity for travel to many people, including myself. So, using the recently purchased touring bikes bought specifically for this kind of time, Tom and I decided to undertake a trip to Huang Shan, the Yellow Mountains.
It turned out to be one of the most intense and tiring but ultimately rewarding weeks ever for me and Tom, with it consisting of virtually nil planning and things somehow coming together in our favor when all was uncertain. We originally planned to travel by bike all the way to the Yellow Mountains, but discovered while cycling that it was actually double the distance and time that we had anticipated and we didn't have the time to add another week onto our current one since we had classes the following week and a degree to be working for!
So we cycled about 100 miles south to the nice city of Tong Ling to catch a bus from there on to the Yellow Mountains.
This trip gave us a much bigger insight into the more average living situations for the chinese people and we saw a lot of smaller towns and villages which just made us appreciate where we live in Nanjing just so much more.
Here is a brief summary of each day:
Monday: Cycle about 100 miles 10am till 1am, sleep next to road (and mosquito lake...)
Tuesday: Cycle about 50 miles from 7am till about 2pm, sleep in hotel (very soundly)
Wednesday: Catch 7am bus to HuangShan for 2.5 hrs, hike 8 km to top, sleep in hotel lobby
Thursday: 5am for sunrise, hike back down, 8hrs of waiting and bus riding to back, sleep in hotel
Friday: Cycle back about 200km to Nanjing from 10am till 3am

Here is an unedited bit of footage of the trip, i didn't film any of the yellow mountains because the camera was hassle to take around.

Looking nice and fresh from Nanjing, the bikes "Mergatroid" and "Mutti"

The first nights sleep, the tent collapsed at about 3am so we slept on it,

Even just buying fruit brought a fairly big crowd in the smaller towns, who were amazed that we could speak (very bad) chinese

A village church literally out in the middle of nowhere, odd sight

Some kids we met who were on their way home

The only guy out of about 20 willing to get a picture with me, probably cos i smelt bad

The first 3km of the trek up the mountain, food and drink for the days on back

Lookin' fly on the mountain

What can i say....except 'you have legs!'

A view we found very much off the beaten track, absolutely stunning views from the rock side

Compulsory pose on a rock no' 1

Compulsory pose on a rock no2

This was a small jump i did to the thin rock, with a pretty gnarly drop either side, needless to say i was pretty psyched after that!

Sunset or the second coming?

This was very funny, since our plan to sleep on the mountain was foiled by the fact we didnt actually bring a sleeping bag and it was very cold, we asked to have half price for sleeping on a mattress that was stacked at the side, assuming they would drag them into a room, but the guard just dragged them onto the floor of the lobby and left us to it!

One of the hyped kids who didn't let us sleep much haha

simply.

Sunrise at the mountains at about 5am, really the best natural thing i have seen

I love the colours of this, just looks like a painting or stencil, was just before the sun started to appear, and when it did, people went absolutely crazy, there were more on the mountain at 5am then during the day! Well it looked like it...

A new path....

2007-09-05T15:21:00.000+01:00

To cut a long story short, as of the last few weeks I have put my faith in the bible and Christ. I say the last few weeks because unlike what I expected, when I made a commitment to Christianity, I felt nothing revolutionary, in fact it was a huge disappointment. But I have come to realise that like in anything with life, practice and time is needed to understand things, so although I have many questions that I am struggling with, I have made a commitment to this and to search within it.
Its been a thing that I have been questioning for two years now and I feel that I need to choose whether it is the truth or not, and through many different influences and looking at different forms of evidence and views I have chosen to try and give myself to God. Like I said I still have many issues with it that i struggle with, but to keep it short, I have chosen this as my path.
I think all of us who practice parkour are looking for something in life that has meaning and is something above and beyond what the world and society offer. Parkour has brought together many of these types of people looking for something true, so I just want to say, don't let your search stop at parkour, but think about why you are here and what life is actually about and what your purpose is. Don't let yourself drift through life without considering what is above and beyond what is on offer here, because as we all know, the best things in life are free (eg parkour) and not a product that man can offer.
I wanted to just shout it out on here since it has become more than just a blog for training to me, but somewhere to say whats happening in my life in general also.

Aside from that, China is going well, start lessons next week. Will keep updates on here about what is in the works and what is going on for those interested. If anyone wants to talk at all of anything just email me,

Much love everyone, hope training is good,

Until next year...

2007-08-21T15:23:00.000+01:00

Well, today is my last full day in England for almost a year. I am actually off to China tomorrow as a sandwich year for my chinese studies degree course.
I must say, it has come round so fast. I only just got my visa yesterday, and i am completely not in the mindset that i am leaving, its just dawning on me. However i am really looking forward to it and have lots of plans for while i am out there, so i will definately be kept busy enough.
Just want to say to everyone, i am really going to miss you all, and its been a really great summer for me and just another massive thanks to all those who supported the crawl, big plans for the future with New Foundations that you will be kept posted on.
Be sure to keep checking back here for updates from China, i'll let you know whats cracking with the parkour scene and how training is out there, as well as all the travelling.

Take care everyone, see you next year,

God bless

Crawl Review - 11/08/07

2007-08-18T10:51:00.000+01:00

Right,
Sorry for the lateness of this post, I havent had much time or access recently so it had to wait.
Well, on the saturday of the 11th, it was the day of the crawl. I moved it forward because more people were available to help get money out of the public, and there was more public to get money out of also.
First of all, it was probably the physically hardest thing I have done, which just shows I need to be pushing myself more everywhere else. I started at around 11:20am and finished at about 4:30pm.
I didnt manage to finish the entire 4 miles unfortunately because I was feeling extremely worn down and during the last 20 minutes began to throw up a fair amount and started to find it extremely hard to stay down and crawl from nausea and my head throbbing. I am fairly happy with the distance I did do however which was about 3.6 miles, and I did go as far as I have ever gone physically and mentally, I almost felt like crying toward the end. We managed to raise a really suprising amount of money on the day, amounting to £475.46. Overall more than £2,500 has been donated to New Foundations.
Here is a map of the route, the red line is what I crawled, and the blue line shows the last part which I didn't do:
Also, here is a short video of the day. Unfortunately my last 30 mins of agony were not captured so you cant see me in my personal hell haha.

Thanks so much to everyone who supported me and donated money. I appreciate everyone's generosity so much and am glad with the positivity which has come out of all this, thanks so much everyone.

Crawl Moved.....

2007-08-10T23:26:00.000+01:00

....to the 11th. Very late notice but have had little computer access recently. Will post how it goes and whether i finish alive.
Wish me luck for tomorrow everyone!

Trace 2007

2007-08-04T23:22:00.000+01:00

Not going to say a great deal about this except thanks very much from myself and my Dad to everyone who donated money. All in all it came to £581.76, all raised in just one evening. I'm really happy about this and extremely appreciative to you all, and there were some particularly generous donations from some people so i really want to thank all those who gave once again.
I hope the New Foundations presentation/video shed some more light on what the money is going toward, and there are some great plans for the future out there.

Regarding the actual event, it was extremely successful and i think pretty much all the credit needs to go firstly to Jason for being the one to begin all this, and also to Dave for just organizing so much and knowing the area we all enjoyed so much.

It was a really great week and I am just sad it is over so fast, it was great to spend more time with those who i feel i want to see more. I definately feel like i have a better friendship with all the Trace reps and just the people who came in general. Overall it was a really great time for meeting my friends and making new ones and I think everyone benefited in many ways from the entire experience. Definately a go-er for next year I believe. Thanks to everyone who came, who donated, and who made it what it was.

Nettle Warrior 2007

2007-07-30T08:06:00.001+01:00

Me and my dad just got back from completing the Nettle Warrior 2007 Tough Guy challenge (www.toughguy.co.uk). I have to say that it was pretty tough! The whole course was about 8 miles, and the obstacles were pretty crazy. It started off with the 'country miles' which we thought would be a nice trot through the country, but as we headed into the woods area there was mud everywhere. I stepped to something that i thought would be a puddle and ended up waist deep on my face caked in mud, followed by 'wahhhaayyy!' by many around, and it was all downhill from there!
It was a really good event, very well organized and there were around 2500 other competitors so obstacles were literally jam packed. There were electric fence wires that you had to run through, barb wire to crawl under, logs to swim under, rope obstacles to traverse, 30 foot long pipes to crawl through in pitch black, crazy mud ditches to jump in and scramble out of.....it was a really crazy event. The entire course would have not too bad but the other 2500 competitors and mud covered obstacles made it harder. I have to admit as well that at the top of the bigger structures it was pretty dodgy at times because it would have been pretty easy to misplace a foot. My dad said that the lake we had to swim through had a huge dead fish floating next to him....god knows what is in that water!
Like anything else i did come with my preconceptions of this event, and it was similar to what i thought, although actually more challenging than i anticipated. After plunging into the lake and swimming under logs and platforms, i was affected by the cold more than anything for the rest of it, especially since it was 2 laps. At the end i couldnt hold the camera still and i was shaking all over the shop!
Really great event though, was exhausting and felt rinsed the rest of the day. Was nice to randomly see fellow northern traceur luke there too!
All in all took 3 hrs to complete, including getting all the stones and grit out of my sandals! (My dad overheard someone say i looked like Jesus lol).

Pre-event recce of the course: Just some of the many obstacles:

These tunnels were pretty nuts and it was hard to find the best technique to get through.
Pretty strange sight, sums up the day really!
My dad and his spartan sandal-esque shoes (eveyone else had trainers and trail shoes)

Looking nice and clean before the event,
Check out the new brown apparel!
My trusty Jesus running sandals, blister-tastic!

Life Is Movement

2007-07-26T15:54:00.000+01:00

"The fundamental phenomenon of all organic life is change of form (or movement), sometimes so slight as even to evade the microscope." - Eugene Sandow

Stagnation of any kind inhibits progress and growth. Stagnation of mind, and of movement. Thinking back many years ago, it seems that we are all naturally lazy, as a species. Over time, especially the past 50 years or so, technology has adopted many of the chores that we were so used to doing.....food, travel, entertainment; all provided by money and technology. We are often hearing of the growing crisis of obesity and illnesses, especially in western countries. While many in the west are dying from eating too much, others elsewhere are dying from not eating enough....pretty crazy i think.

China is a good example of how modernisation is changing people. With a change in power from chairman Mao and Communism, there has been a rise in expendable incomes. Rates of obesity and coronary disease in China are growing because people now have more money to spend on luxuries such as cigarettes and more food.

Back to the point though, movement is the producer of change and progress. Modern, western society is encouraging less and less of our own efforts for movement because it offers alternatives which are initially more attractive. We don't actually have a need to say a active anymore because we have everything provided for. Money and technology have replaced movement.

Physical movement is expendable for everyone now, as is the need for religion. I am not religious, but I think that a lot of people really need to think about what is going to happen after they die. For a lot of us it is TOO comfortable, compared to what life WAS like or IS like as the case is for many in the world. No one really has to think about what will happen after they die because everything is catered for here, we are distracted. I think its pretty crazy to think that there are still people alive today who were involved in a global war just over 60 years ago.....60 years is nothing! If we were thrown into that situation now, I know that I would be thinking outside of this life a bit more. I am saying this because I think its too easy to get on with this life and forget about after. I am trying to find definite ground for my beliefs on what is and what isn't going to happen after I die so that I don't have to be terrified of death when it comes. Basically I think that people should take time to think seriously about things outside of this life, because its too easy to forget about it and get on with what is currently happening, even if it is all short lived in the grand scheme.

As for physical movement, like a stagnant pool of water infested with mosquitoes and bacteria, this is what our bodies can become if we mistreat them. They need to be active! They need to be fed well! The human body is incredible and can take a lot of punishment, but inflicting this punishment on the self by misuse (or no use) is ruining something which has so much potential for giving happiness. Anyone who looks after themselves and exercises knows how much of a pleasure it is to feel the benefit of their efforts and to use their body. As Sandow says, 'the spirit or soul that occupies a bodily dwelling filled with the divine music of health makes a little heaven on earth within its own body'.

As Williams Belle from the Yamakasi Generation documentary comments, the true and best things are so close, too close for many to even see! We have concepts of happiness pushed onto us by advertisements and consumerism, but the simplest and most free things are always the most rewarding in my opinion. Using your body to move and making it something which is enjoyable to use and reside in (depending on your metaphysical beliefs...) is so simple and something which we always have. The body has so much potential and is such an obvious vehicle for happiness that many are blind to this! External things such as products and lifestyles etc are more visible because they are pushed in our faces.

"Man was ordained to wrest his food from the earth by his own muscular power, and his muscular system was given him for that purpose, and also partly to convert his food into motive power by digestion and assimilation...It is as if the Creator wound up the clock of Life and handed us the key in the shape of a muscular system, which has been given us for re-winding it again from time to time, so as to keep the 'works' of life going smoothly, and enable the 'clock' to show correct time throughout life".
- 'Life is movement or the physical reconstruction and regeneration of the people' by Eugene Sandow.

Videos

2007-07-25T16:20:00.002+01:00

Just a page archiving my videos so far, will keep as a link for the future,

May 2008 Small Nanjing Video

January 2008 Nanjing Sampler

Summer 2007 Egypt

Summer 2006 Tricking

2005 Owen and me

Boxing day 2004

L'art Du Deplacement

TCT Summer 2004

A lot to chew....

2007-07-21T23:06:00.000+01:00

Just a few days ago, i did another longish crawl for my training for the 10th of august crawl (need more donations!!). This crawl really put into perspective just how much of a damn mission this is gonna be, it destroyed me.
It worked out at 2.23 miles, just over half of the 4 mile crawl. By the end i was such a wreck that a woman on my road asked if i was ok and said she thought i was dying haha. It took me about 10 minutes to get down the last road which takes about 30 secs to walk because my palms were so damn sore so i had to change between palms and fingertips. All in all took just around 2.5 hours. Anyway, have a look at the map below to get an idea of the distance, I could have sworn a mile was shorter than this!
This is honestly going to be a real challenge for me and this crawl woke me up to that fact.
More donations please!!!!!!

Family trip to egypt

2007-07-02T11:42:00.000+01:00

Ｐawa Netherlands

2007-06-13T11:37:00.000+01:00

On the 7th of June Owen and myself flew to Holland to teach at a Pawa workshop on the invitation of Philip (Chaos), a PAWA representative of Netherlands recognizable by his latest video, 'seamless transitions'. We stayed at his house enjoying the immense hospitality of him and his parents till the monday when we flew back.
The PAWA workshop was held on Saturday with around 160 people in attendance out of the 220 that had signed for it, but the weather forecast scared many away. Along with Owen, me and the Dutch instructors were 7 of the French including Karim, Ramon, Kazuma and Bruno. Seb Goudot had a family birthday to attend :).

We were given around 20 people each to lead in groups with the French staying at certain spots to teach as well, while we walked (or ran) our group from spot to spot. The language barrier for some of the French made it hard for them to teach, but it wasn't so bad. Kazuma lead the warm up outside and there were 8 spots, all outside except one in the gym. Philip managed to get permission from police and shop keepers to let this happen.
I think a lot of people were a bit surprised when they discovered that there would not be as much playing as they thought and most would be drills and strength work. At the beginning with my group there was some reluctance ut people got more involved later on, a few much more than others. I liked at the end when Karim, one of the original traceurs with David and Sebastien commented that if it was real training, they would not be walking out like they were, ie) without pain.
I think my group were pushed and I hope they enjoyed the training and took something from it, I really enjoyed teaching them.
Thanks a lot to Philip and his parents, and I hope to see you, Brian and Marvin in the UK soon.

Chilling in the sitting room watching 'Urban Style' lol

Hitting Amsterdam after the workshop at 1am

Some of the people who attended (a bunch had left before the shot)

Some of the French guys after the workshop

Karim working the powerball

BBQ after the workshop at Philip's house.....SO much food was amazing :-)

Holland instructors

Just gathering for Kazuma's warmup

On the way to Lunch

Instructor's lunch yummy

Naked crew....:/

Playing on the park the day before the workshop

FATTY....nah me and owen didnt have chips....no way :S

Towel whippage

Final logistics

People pouring in and owen looking very 'with it'

Me and Owen's love nest

First night inspecting and trying out the spots for the workshop

The port of much air

Quite funny,

2007-05-27T10:39:00.001+01:00

Forgot to post this a couple of weeks back, better late than never.
Its a tiny bbc interview when me and dave accidently crawled past the station then got later contacted to do a small interview, gets cut short of about 5 minutes though:

Building Blocks

2007-05-24T21:29:00.000+01:00

Been having some killer revision for exams as I'm sure a lot of people have, makes summer all the more delicious!
I have just been able to keep on top of my basic training with this months workload, and have been thinking about parkour a lot (as we all do) and about what constitutes training. Just come up with something for myself, that, at first glance looks extremely commonsense, but for me it is finally a way of seeing my components of how i want to/do train.
....................................................................................................................................................................
If I were to build a kind of pyramid to my training it would be:
-Movement
-Drills
-Conditioning
-Strength

So, starting from the basics:

Strength Training:
This is the part which is where my focus is if I want a new skill concerning strength. Eg) could be more a one arm chin, planche, a certain amount of handstand pushups, whatever. It could be a group of targets concerning strength, but either way this is the component which is the focus of how to achieve that. Around this, I plan the exercises and routine in order to achive that skill, maybe some periodization or whatever. So for example, my strength training at the moment is by each day: legs/pulling movements/legs/pushing movements/repeat. So for legs for example, I'll do weighted pistols, isometrics, calf raises, weighted precisions etc. So its about getting a goal, then devising a solid plan to achieve it, and once its achieved, finding a new goal (of which there are plenty :) ).
Conditioning:
This compliments my strength training by just tiring out the muscle group I am training that day. For example, if I am training for a one arm chin (which im not), ill do weighted pullups, negatives, assisted chins, etc. At the end of this session of strength training, I will do a bunch of other movements which involve pulling such as loads of climbups, traversing, hanging, pullup max rep sets, muscle ups, etc.....all movements which emphasise the muscle group I am training that day for strength, just to wipe out the muscles at the end for (hopefully) better gains.
Drills:
This is where parkour specific movements are drilled over and over for embedding into the muscle memory. Movements like small drops concentrating on landing silent, rail precisions, passes etc. So for example, I would go to a particular rail precision and do it X amount of times, or do X amount of speed passes on both sides, over and over. Also circuits of combined movements, practicing transitions between movements. I must say that UF vol 3 stuck with me from when i watched it for the first time and this is one inspiration from it.
Movement:
This is where the benefits of the other 3 components are hopefully evident. This is the block of training which used to be almost solely how i practiced. Its like exploring, playing, experimenting, trying new things, and really progressing in terms of confidence and learning and performing newer and bigger movements. So unlike the old days when I used to just go out to 'train' in this way, this is only one quater of the equation for my training now. Its the part where I can do what I want and just move and experiment.

Throughout time the emphasis on each block can change. At the moment with exams it is something like 80% strength and conditioning with about 15% drills and 5% movement. The summer this may switch up with more emphasis on drills and movement, but I think it is a safe bet that about 40/50% should be on strength/conditioning at all times. If I had to have one, I would probably have the strength training because that is a matter of setting certain goals and the strength training is my means to achieve them, but then I also think that conditioning is just as essential so they are almost inseperable to me. Strength/conditioning are the bread and butter of my training, and I think it should be also for a lot of people.
Its the staple carbohydrate food which I compliment with some drills (protein) and some movement (essential fats) lol.
Ultimately I want to eat a lot of fat though because it tastes the best :P

Crawl Update: 4 mile

2007-05-03T20:49:00.000+01:00

Me and Dave just finished doing a two hour crawl through sheffield which was about 2 miles today.
Our hands were fairly trashed by grit and glass at the end with a few blisters swelling up and skin missing, but it was done and we were happy we did it.
In light of this, and the promise of more donations, I am going to crawl 4 miles instead of 2 on the 10th of august. Main things i need to concentrate on is getting leather hands and just keeping on training for the next 3 months,
cheers for the donations those who have donated already, everyone has shown huge generosity and compassion by the amount raised in just FOUR days. So thanks everyone,
take care,

PARKOUR IS NON COMPETITIVE

2007-05-02T10:04:00.000+01:00

This community supports PARKOUR, not COMPETITION -
Run Without Rivals!
The members of this community stand firmly against the idea of organized parkour competition.

Our reasons:

ONE:
We don't believe in elites.
We don't believe in any form of selection among practitioners.
We don't believe in the necessity of any form of hierarchy of performance among practitioners.
We believe to be "the best" doesn't mean anything in parkour, because winning or losing don't mean anything in parkour philosophy.We do not accept such a drive as part of the parkour philosophy.

Instead, we believe the drive to train should always and only come from within.We strive to be stronger for ourselves and others, not against people, but with and for others.Therefore, we reject and disregard any form of rivalry between practitioners.Instead, we value mutual respect and solidarity in making progress as individuals and as a community.

TWO:
We believe it stands against the philosophy of parkour to compete to win or earn anything that is not part of parkour values, such as medals, prizes, trophies, money, fame, recognition, or glory.
Same goes about showing off for a crowd.

Instead, we look for priceless and beneficial outcomes to our actions.We also look for benefits we all can share.
We are givers, not takers.

THREE:
Competition encourages the unready to sacrifice their health for early victories, or to reach a ranking that has no true meaning.
It forces elite competitors to constantly and repeatedly endanger their most precious good, health, because of obsession and obligation of victory, and whatever is at stake as a direct consequence of it, including money, rank or status, pride, and also professional or sponsoring contracts and profitable commercial deals.
It leads competitive practitioners to unbalance their training and focus only on the specific skills needed to win, leading to chronic injuries.D
espite official denials, doping is most of the time involved in every level of competition, that money is involved or not.
We believe the physical consequences of competing at high level goes against the philosophy of parkour which emphasizes on moderation and the necessity of enduring.

Instead, parkour is a humble, patient and lifelong discipline, and the human body requires incremental conditioning to ensure its resistance and longevity.Moderation is a truly important value of parkour and an indispensable quality in order to preserve oneself and for the body to endure.Therefore, we reject whatever goes against moderation and that impairs the body.

FOUR:
Parkour doesn't belong to corporations, sponsors, medias, and people sitting at home to watch.
We believe we must not accept activities and plans that are abusively called parkour, that misuse its name and hijack its image to draw public and medias attention to something that is NOT parkour, despite the resistance of the majority of the community against such intentions.
Instead, we affirm parkour is a non-competitive discipline that belong to all practitioners, to the local communities, to the teams and friends, and to the human race as a whole.

We believe we must stand together against ambitions that do not reflect the original philosophy of parkour and that are disrespectful to the parkour philosophy and the parkour community.

Competition is not inevitable - it is just another obstacle! Support original parkour, keep our discipline free!

(written by TK17/Erwan)

Crawl Update

2007-04-24T21:18:00.000+01:00

Today I did a continuous crawl circuit which lasted 1 hr. Feel fine after as well, had no pains in the legs while crawling or anywhere for that matter. So I think if I can do 2 hrs then the 2 mile should be well within my ability. I think I am pretty close to being able to do it, its just shutting off the mind from boredom while doing it,but physically I think I am almost ready.
Finally have a date:
10th August
So if anyone is still interested in doing this with me, im going to be doing it in Cambridge. Come for it and then we can train the rest of the day around town. Maybe will do another one before also if anyone cannot make this, post if interested.
Also please sponsor me, it would be great and I love you all :)

http://www.justgiving.com/crawl

Thanks a lot everyone, counting on the parkour community's generosity again!

Elevation from today

2007-04-19T22:31:00.000+01:00

This is just something which I have been thinking about recently, and I have tried to articulate some of those thoughts here. There is more which I want to say but I simply don't want to write any more right now.

There has been a big boom in the emphasis on conditioning reasonably recently in the parkour community. This is really a great thing in itself, but I don't think anyone can improve through just this and technique practice without understanding concepts that lie behind these things.
Something which is as, if not more important than physical condition, something very elusive, hard to measure progress in, is the mental ability of people. Its something that I think will be a constantly evasive thing for my whole life. I know how a lot of people, me included, can be introspective about their ability in Parkour, questioning how to progress and looking to others, in Parkour and other activities. A lot of the time its thinking about things like why I took so long to try a certain movement, and when I finally did, it was so much easier than I thought. Or why I didn't feel good in myself on a particular day. I’m sure others get it too, when you feel a bit disembodied and don't quite feel as light, powerful, balanced or whatever as you’re used to or at least as you think you ought to be. Maybe sometimes when for instance I go to another place to train with people and I won’t try certain movements and will be very reserved, like something is holding me back. Even in everyday life, like when you think 'argh why did I say that', or 'I really should've gone to X place to do X activity', or 'what is wrong with me today?' or blah blah.

With Parkour, I think there are 4 big types of fear which can hold us back from reaching closer to our potential.

Fear of pain: This is the most basic and fundamental aspect of fear, that we are sometimes afraid that we may hurt ourselves. Oftentimes this fear is very irrational, especially if it is about something which you know you are fully capable of. When I am afraid of hurting myself, I try and objectively look at the reality of there being a chance that it could happen. Also I think about similar things in the past I have done, and things which I have messed up. You can sit there and theorise about what could potentially go wrong, but even if you tried to fall badly, a lot of the time you can save yourself from any real damage. I’m sure most of us have had that experience, when we go for something and mess it up but come out of it fine, and when we look back it at we think...wow I really would have thought I would have hurt myself more than this! There are falls which can be seriously damaging though, and the risk of this is increased by height, distance, inexperience, environment etc. All this means is that it is all the more important to drill the small things time and time again, developing you ability at a safe level before testing it. The mindset for drilling movements and doing the small things can save you from injury in the future.

Fear of anticipation: This is for those times when you have maybe been looking at a particular thing and putting it off for weeks or months, but you have reached the level where you know you are fully capable but still don't want to try it. The fear of anticipation is the knowledge that you can do something but don't want to commit to trying it because of the nervousness or anxiety which comes before even attempting it. It’s being nervous about being nervous. It can happen for example you are walking to an area, but on the way see something that catches your eye. If you go over and really look at it sometimes it turns out to be something rediculous, but on thinking about it more a switch goes in your head that says 'this is possible'. At that point you have made a subconscious commitment to coming back and looking at it and in the future trying to do it, because if you walk away and try and forget about it, you will feel like a coward. So from then you have anticipation building up about it. It can equally be the anticipation of a hard conditioning session, or even going to the dentist. Some people find this anticipation uncomfortable. It has to be looked at positively and you need to learn to enjoy the anticipation, knowing that you have a battle ahead of you and that you will be the victor, making it all the more satisfying when you accomplish it. Treat it as a challenge and something to be defeated, to see it as a mark of progression.

Fear of Failure: The fear of letting yourself down, not succeeding. This can hold us all back from exploring outside of our current limitations, which are more often than not, self imposed limitations. Doubt plays on our minds when we are uncertain about something. Scenarios of what could happen flash through the head, scenarios of failing. Its nice to do things which you are comfortable with, things which you know you can do, to just repeat your most familiar movements, be it strength training or more technical movements. Why not? They make you feel good, you can do them without giving it a thought, they are familiar and you have worked hard to be able to do them. It’s satisfying. Fine if you don't want to progress, but to advance in any activity new things have to be tried, and when trying new things there is the risk of failure. If you have this idea that everything has to be done comfortably, slowly, bit by bit building up, then there will be progress. But if you really want to learn, to push beyond your current ability, then you need to acknowledge that mistakes will be made, be willing take lessons from these mistakes and analyse them, then you can really try new things without being afraid of failure. Don't let it hold you back, new things have to be tried and failed in order to learn and advance.

Fear of embarrassment: Sometimes people don't try things because they are aware of the people around them. We all have to some degree a self-imposed image of ourselves, created partially consciously and also unintentionally. We have limitations imposed on ourselves which abide by this image of ourselves, setting ourselves unconsciously limits on what we should do, how we should behave, how to react to people, what to wear......These can lock us in tram lines which are in themselves a limit on our potential, it caps the limits on what we can all achieve. When training, people want to appear in a certain way, perhaps not consciously. No one really wants to look incompetent or inexperienced, but if we can set aside this self-imposed image of ourselves, to look at ourselves objectively as human beings here to learn, then new things can be tried without thought of embarrassment. The beginner who has no preconceptions of themselves or what they are learning progresses ten times faster than the experienced person who is reserved and unwilling to compromise their self-image. A lot more can be done with a blank canvas than one which already has marks on it.

Parkour is a demanding activity, but not so much physically as mentally. Once you are in the right mindset no matter how difficult the exercises are, you do them and feel good for doing them. Repeating exercises and movements is simple enough, but what about the things behind that? The motivation, planning, allocating time, judging what to do, sacrificing, pain, pushing your weak areas, going out of your comfort zone, researching, etc. This is one of the reasons that Parkour is a demanding discipline, there is no one there to prescribe you with what to do, what to learn, how much to do, when to rest, how to recover, who to talk to.....it’s all down to you and so behind all this has to be a drive, a reason. To rise above your current self and become exceptional, Parkour demands a huge part of yourself. No one can continually develop, practice consistently and make sacrifices in the rest of their life without a reason. A good way to explore this reason is to really ask yourself why you practice. Someone might say 'because I want to be useful and strong' why 'because it’s rewarding to me' why 'because I find the progression rewarding' why 'because I want to progress' why.......etc. It is a process of elimination which really makes you think why you practice.

Reasons can change from time to time, but at the core is something which only a certain amount of people can appreciate and share an affinity with, something which revolves around hard work and the desire to elevate oneself higher than yesterday. In order to elevate yourself, the mental mechanics behind how to go about physically doing it need to be understood.

Cat crawl update

2007-03-22T20:46:00.000Z

Got to a benchmark in the very little crawl-specific training I have done today. Managed to do 30 minutes of solid circuits on flat concrete without any stops. My upperbody was feeling good from the shoulder conditioning i have been doing in the past and i had no problem with my abs or anything, although they were tight the whole time. The legs I think are the hardest part because they started to cramp a bit at around 25 mins, especially in the adductors and quads if fully extended. This meant i had to change technique from straight legs, to bent legs, to legs turning sideways and just alternating to stave off some nasty crampage. Felt good overall though and managed to crawl out of the car park down a flight of stairs when i had done the 30 mins without too much trouble. But when i stood up, damn did i feel dizzy, was really weird like i was floating haha, but it felt like a great relief. I didnt realise the amount of stress it puts through the knees though, as after about5 minutes walking back the patellar tendons in both knees really started to ache. Its because there is tension and force going through them the whole time and the legs dont get much range of movement so there is a lot of strain through the quads and consequently the tendon at the knee. Also pretty killer on the hamstrings and when i flexed my heel up to my ass i could really feel it was weaker.
Overall though quite happy with my progress on it. I think i could do 45 mins or maybe even an hour but it would be really hellish haha. Need to try and do this at least once a week and keep up the shoulder and core conditioning.

Targets and Goals

2007-03-16T10:41:00.000Z

Ok, bit late but as of the 15th, here are my stats.
Very happy with the pullups as i managed to get 20 using no momentum and all from strength so that is a big achievement since i have been stuck at about 14 as my absolute limit for as long as i can remember. Also I have managed to get 12 pullups with 18kg weight vest.
One arm pushups, I have got 8 on each arm, with the form starting to slip a bit on the last few in so far as i tilt my shoulder and stray from being parallel to the floor. So i need to work on those more.
The planche work has been completely unfruitful, but i know why and its because i was far to lax with it, my mind being mainly on the pullups. So i need to either get focused on it as much as i was on the pullups, or change the training and concentrate on it later.
Same with front lever really, although i was fairly regular with training them, it just wasnt enough and it should have been done more i think, so back onto that, or again, leaving it for a future date.
Achieved:
Pullups: 20
One arm pushups (each arm): 8
Planche: 15 secs
Front Lever: didn't time it, around 4 secs fully straight.

But really I have much better developments than all these, and thats my knee. I trained a LOT of impact in Cambridge on saturday for the whole day and my knee feels great with no pain. Did a lot of new things including a 9 foot cat pass to arm jump which me and phil did which i really overshot and could possibly crane, although bit risky with the splits bail i did on one smaller.

But yeah, i have basically been stretching my quad a lot trying to loosen up the tendon and it really seems to have done so much good, best its felt for more than a year, so fingers crossed.
Thinking about new and fresh ways to train as i feel a bit stale with the routine i have been following. Periodization training is sounding good at the moment, maybe with one week focusing on muscle ups with weight, then next week endurance, then next plyometric pullups....something like this i think to keep my body on its toes and have a bit more of a complete training 'system'. Stretching also needs to be upped, but im getting closer to box splits with after a 30 min session getting within about 3 inches of the floor, my calfs were touching the floor. Thursday conditioning nights have also been going for about 17 weeks now and i have felt the benefits with being able to do 50 climbups with 12kg vest and no breaks without any trouble. So,
GOALS:
- New training 'system' to achieve a more complete result and gain in strength
- Achieve the goals that havent been completed already, then advance
- Train front lever and planche in a way that will see results
- More stretching
- Keep an eye on the knee and keep stretching and easing back into more parkour
- Start with some proper training for this cat crawl i have been saying i will do!

Crunch time.

2007-03-05T08:24:00.000Z

Ok, just last night i had to make one of the biggest decisions of my life i think. My mum and dad are in Jordan for their anniversary at the moment (yes its next to iraq lol). Me and my dad got onto the list for applicants of the 2009 Marathon Des Sables a little while ago. So 3 days ago, I recieved a call from my dad who was using a payphone at a hotel, saying that 'we have to pay for the marathon on monday (today) at 10am in order to get a place'. He left the decision with me and for the past 3 days i have had a big dilema of whether i really feel capable of doing this or not, both mentally and physiologically with diabets etc. So last night i spent most of it looking through previous blogs and diaries at the experience of people who had achieved this feat, and half of me was filled with dread, but gradually i thought that i was capable of this and that i wanted to do it. That was the main reason, trying to justify WHY did i really want to do this? I guess to see IF i can, to see me own limits, and to push myself to such a degree of pain and hopefully by finishing it, i would have a new perspective on things and i would really gain something for the rest of my life from it. These are all selfish reasons, but also i would do it in aid of new foundations.
So yeah, at 10am, i have about 10 minutes until all the places for the uk are sold out (about 200) so ill be sitting there refreshing it till i have some luck (hopefully). Ill post whether my dad and I gain a place or not when i find out in a week!
UPDATE: Ok, me mat and my dad have now put the 500 pound deposit each for the waiting list for 2009. About 50 people drop out each year so hopefully we should get a place!

Goals and Progression

2007-02-16T09:47:00.001Z

Goals for March 15th

Pullups: 20
Tuck Planche: 30 secs
Front Lever: 10 secs
One Arm Pushups: 10
OAP: Both arms

I have been following a certain routine for the past month and instead of maxing out on 14 pullups, I hit 17 the other day, so hopefully the 20 mark isnt too far off. Basically i'll post what i have achieved by the date above, hopefully all of it.
Also the cat crawling hasnt really been happening since i had a wrist problem and then it went a little while ago but im going to get back into training for it now. If anyone else is interested in doing it post a comment, going to make it a 2 mile one so that it wont take forever to train for, then maybe after that have subsequent ones who knows. But I am thinking that Early April would be best, before the 10th so if anyone wants to do it with me then start training for it. I still dont know where to do it....erm, i dont even know how its going to be measured yet but anyway we can cross tht bridge later, just start training if you want to join in, proceeds of sponsor money to

New Foundations Charity

.
New plan for knee as well, gonna try to get on NHS waiting list for an op and if it heals with physio and rest ill cancel, if not ill get it.
Started with the whey and soy protein a while ago as well, really helps i think as i feel i recover much fast from training, taking about 25gm's of each after training. Also began vegetariansim two weeks ago with some friends just for the sake of it not permanently after seeing some nasty KFC and animal cruelty videos, still havent eaten meat and im just gonna keep it up as a kind of experiment.
Diet is still good, feeling happy with it. All up till the evening its fruit/porridge/weetabix almost exclusively, then in the evening its hella vegetables and some carbs of some sort with protein shake after training in the day. Havent eaten anything like a muffin/chocolate/tasty pastry or whathaveyou since new year now, an achievement for me!
Also thursdy conditioning nights are going well, regulars as well as myself seeing some definite gains so that is pretty sweet.
Anyway, how is everyone else doing, hope training/life is good and fruitful yo.
Ps: Search 'Terry Tate Linebacker' in youtube, funniest thing ive seen for aaaaages.
pps: Take extra care and stay strong livewire bro,
peace (of cake)

Gym, knee, diet

2007-01-22T17:19:00.001Z

Whattup, just a short post.
Basically had a consultation today abou the knee, turns out there is NOTHING wrong with my cruciate despite being told otherwise by 2 physiotherapists and its just my patellar that is bad, which has tendonitis. This confused me because being told about the cruciate so much i had it ingrained into my head that it was bad but apparently its fine so thats good. All i need to do is what im still doing, apparently patellar tendonitis can take up to 2 yrs to recover! But mine will recover much sooner im sure of it, going to rehab the hell out of it to avoid surgery on it so its a good result overall!

Diet is good atm, just wanted to say ive had no chocolate for 20 days! haha, yep thats good for me since i was having to many too often, and my carb intake has shot right down. All in all now i eat about 1500-2000 calories a day, and a bulk of it is fruit and veg, and lots of muesli and porridge lol. Ordered some soy and whey protein as well as a smoothie maker to make some fruity protein drinks, yum yum.

And below is a really lame video haha, dont know why im posting it. Basically me and mat went to a gym 'session' and NO ONE was there, so we had the WHOLE place to ourselves for about 2 hrs before being found and politely asked to leave. Nothing crazy or new, not much filmed, we were just having fun! oh and mats aerials are pwning mine like feck!

At least its an answer,

2007-01-05T20:13:00.000Z

Just been out training in the rain at a pitch black playground with my bro for 2 hours, was great. My brother is 16 and got interested in parkour a while ago and properly started in october, going from not being able to do ONE pullup, to getting out 100 pullups tonight over the course of the session.
Well, yestarday I had an MRI scan, my dad and I drove to Cheltenham to get one done much much cheaper than here, and the result came through today. The reason I wanted one done is because there has been no significant improvement on my knee over the past 7 months or so, even tho I have been doing a lot of rehabilitation for it. So, I came back after training and my dad told me to have a look at the fax of results, turns out I have definately got a partial cruciate tear, which my dad reckons is most probably the road to surgery, which means waiting on the NHS for months to get it done, and then some more recovey to do for it. In a way, I am glad for this though, because I was doing all this work on my leg and trying to get it really great with little/no result, and if the scan had said things are fine, I wouldnt know what to do. So basically I have a consultation later this month to see what to do about it, but most likely is surgery. At this point I am willing to do anything to get it back to how it was and so I am able to fully train, and although I have been training as hard as ever these past months, I really miss being able to just do real and raw parkour, instead of some very light moves here and there, with a lot of conditioning and rehab replacing most of the technical side. So, finally I have an answer to why this process has been so agonisingly slow, and to think I originally did the injury over a year ago while doing a gainer in China.
So now I know what I have, I am gonna concentrate my training on strength, gymnastic basics, a LOT of bouldering, stretching, and very light parkour movements, but no impact. So I hope to be fairly strong by the end of all this, I just hope its ok by the summer!
Take care everyone and keep training,

Old passion

2007-01-01T14:31:00.000Z

I used to be obsessed with art and its pretty much all i did when i was 16. Originally I was going to go to glasgow uni to do visual communication which is like graphic design and illustration, and in a way part of me wishes i did. Anyway, i was digging through some old photos of when i used to paint back in the day and it just reminded me of how much i loved drawing and painting, so i thought I would upload some of my old stuff, and maybe even add some new things, i would like to get back into it but its hard to get that mindset back, although i really think its a great skill to work on since its so expressive and you can do so much with it. Anyway, here is a link to some of my stuff which i have done over a year ago and some 2 years ago.

Clicky

Focus

2006-11-01T15:46:00.000Z

First post for a fair while, just thought I would update so that people thought i wasn't dead/not training.
The knee is improving a lot and I have been able to move onto more impact related movements recently, but still keeping up with rehab 3 times a week at the gym.
When I got here it was pretty exciting, and i wanted to start learning so much, so i took up Breaking and bouldering. Only last week did i stop breaking to concentrate on parkour as my main discipline, a decision made after much thinking since i enjoyed it so much, but in the long term, its no good. I dont want to be average at a few things, so I am back on focus with parkour.
The course is going well, very intensive with a lot of work set every week and doing about 20-30 hrs a week of it, but luckily i enjoy it a lot and there are some cool people on the course.
Went with Blane, Rip, timmylee and yakob to perform and teach at 'White Air Extreme Sports Festival' last weekend. I wasn't such a fan of performing as I was for teaching and thoroughly enjoyed helping people to learn. The weekend was really enjoyable though, and DC held it down by himself for 3 days before we all arrived so much kudos to him. Hopefully get some photographs soon and more info up at www.teamtraceur.com
Finally got a fairly rigid schedule down for the week in terms of training which is as follows (not including lectures and study). The gym includes about 40 mins of rehab, strength exercises(pullups,dips etc to failure on all), running(fartlek/interval OR longer steady sessions) Gymnastic Basics are handstands, presses, planche, front/back levers:

Monday: Climbing, Gymnastic Conditioning, Leg Rehab
Tuesday: Stretching, Core, Climbing, Leg conditioning,
Wednesday: Climbing, Gymnastic Conditioning, Leg Rehab
Thursday: Intensive stretching 1/2hrs, Leg conditioning, parkour conditioning(Hell night) 3hrs
Friday: Climbing, Gymnastic Conditioning, Leg Rehab
Saturday: Parkour conditioning, Non impact training
Sunday: Leg conditioning, Gym session in Leeds(acro/conditioning)

Also purchased a 20kg weight vest from reebok wich I wear everytime i go to the gym to train, but currently just on about 10kg and will slowly work up to avoid injury.
Also, my dad and I are now on the waiting list for the Marathon Des Sables for 2009, so running is essential at the moment.
The parkour conditioning nights are inspired by Blane's 'Hell nights' which is 3-4 hrs of solid conditioning with many of his fellow comrades throwing up in the process!
Anyway, enjoy the below picture!
Ninja backflip in club ;)

Uni etc,

2006-09-21T20:52:00.000+01:00

Well its my 6th day at uni, and its cool so far. Been climbing at the local bouldering wall and going to the local gym which may i add is awesome. Also met some wicked guys, just taking a bit longer to meet people who are into as much training as i like. But yeah, starting breaking again as there is a local crew here and regular practice sessions that they do so im well looking forward to that. But man does my chinese course sound hard as helL!! they expect about 40 hours of study a week!! Damn its rediculous.... But anyway, main reason i am posting is cos two days ago i did my first proper one arm chin! Just my right arm but i got right up to full flexion from dead hang so im well happy. I warmed up first by doing loads of negatives and lockouts with alternate chins before resting then trying one arms, i got to 90 degrees flexion on my left, so i gotta get that to catch up, but anyway yeah. Knee is still really really shit, not really improved, but i am writing a proper training schedule for it to get it on top form, otherwise its just random rehab here and there with nothing concrete.
Happy training everyone,

Presses and pullups

2006-09-14T13:34:00.000+01:00

Just a quick video showing what i am up to in the last 2 days before uni....dear me.
Well for about a year i have had a really inconsistent 1 arm pullup on my right side only, usually not getting past 90 degrees. So i thought i should work them properly on both sides so i started using the towel technique to build up and negatives. Also my handstand presses are much better, i have tuck planche press all the time, straddle lift and occassionally pike lift so i need to get to work on that more as well. The tuck planche position before the press is really quite shabby on here but i am tired from gym sesh yestarday and reps before i filmed.......excuses eh.
PS: i am spitting out a pen on the pullups lol

Mat and Jin Cycle trip

2006-09-11T16:46:00.000+01:00

Statistics:
Days: 5
Days Cycling: 2.5
Punctures: 4
Brake tampering: 2 hours
New wheel
Buckled wheel repair
Brake repair
Broken light

Just got back in after a 5 day trip away from home. Basically, Jason and liv are now living in Canterbury (south east) so I wanted to go and see them. So I rang them up and said i wanted to come and see them this weekend and said i'd just get the train down on friday or something, and they said ok sounds cool. Then later that day, I thought why not cycle there instead? So on tuesday I phoned up my mate, Mat, who knows jason and liv also and asked if he was up for it and the first thing he said was...."sounds like hassle". But it took little pursuasion to convince him to come, so on wednesday i went to town with him to sort out stuff to bring, the first thing i needed to buy was a bike! So i got a cheap second hand one, which i can aslo take to uni.
After buying inner tubes, a pump, lights etc we went back to mats house where we planned the route on the A-Z map we bought and multimap on the net, then went to bed. The next morning we spent about an hour and a half fixing up mats bike then set off on our 140 mile trip with about 10-15kg each on our backs and minimal knowledge of bike maintenance. It took us about an hour to get to our first stop, Royston, at which point we realised how much harder this was going to be after getting there fairly aching. My wheel had busted so we had to find a local bike shop, and he managed to get the wheel fixed, meanwhile we waited an hour practicing handstands and consuming chocolate and lucozade and stocking up. After paying 25quid for my new wheel, we set off again to bishop stortford.
We arrived after about 2.5 hours of cycling, reaslising that Mat had been cycling with a flat tire for about 6 miles up hills. So needless to say we went to sit down and eat something, by which point it was about 2/3pm. After getting some bananas for cramps on the BASTARD hills, we went back to the bikes to fix mats puncture by changing the innertube. After 20 mins we set off, but mats brakes didnt work for some reason! So we then spent about 1 hour fiddling about trying to figure out what the hell to do cos we didnt have a clue. We finally got them to work to an extent and thought we should carry on to Chipping Ongar. So with the amount of weight, hills and heat i think we were burning about 800-1000 calories an hour, and basically topping these up with boosts, mars bars, flap jacks, kit kats and lucozades. We couldnt really find any decent long acting carbohydrates in the local corner stores and i needed the fast acting sugar to keeping my blood glucose levels from dropping dangerously low. We stopped at Chipping Ongar at about 5/6ish to eat and drink something, at which point i was starting to get cramps in my quads when going up the hills. Then we set off for Brentwood to find somehwere to sleep. I forgot to mention, we brought a two man tent with the intent of sleeping in some random field or woods along the way, with no planning for sleeping anywhere excepte somehwere random and isolated.
It began to get dark at about 8:00 and Mat got another puncture! So we had to find a small path in the country lanes and do an innertube change in the dark, with a torch to see with, which took about 30 mins. At this point it was getting fairly cold and we were getting quite tired after a collective of about 7 hours cycling for 40 miles. It was really the wieght of the bags and the rediculous inclines that were taxing. So we decided to cycle on till we found somewhere to sleep, and we saw a campsite sign after 10 mins of cycling. So we followed it and found a really great campsite at 8:30 in Kalvedon Hatch and pitched up after paying the really nice owners a fiver each. They gave us the number for a chinese take away and we ordered some chow mein, and were eating it by about 9:45! That was seriously sweet, and there were shower blocks and toilets! Amazing we though, what awesome luck, we can shower and we dont have to take a crap in some bush! We then went to bed feeling very content and tired.
In the morning, mats brakes were playing up again, so we took about 30 mins sorting it out with the help of a fellow camper. So after using our previous days tops as towels, we showered and packed up and were out at about 9. We cycled to Brentwood after 10 miles and then mats brakes locked the back wheel completely, so we had to find a bike shop and wait an hour and a half for them to fix the brakes, practicing handstands again hehe.
Our next target was Dartford crossing, to cross over the border and into Kent. It took about 4 hours to get close and then we came to some very scary dual carriage ways, and unfortunately i got a puncture so we were walking along the side with huge lorries and trucks screaming past. It took about 40 mins of walking to get to a petrol station where we got a flap jack, double decker and lucozade to replenish our energy. I spent about an hour changing the innertube and messing around with the brakes until we finally got on our way to reach the crossing about 20 mins later. We were driven across by the "crossing Control" and went on to cycle further south. Our aim for the day was to get to Sittingbourne, about 20 miles from Canterbury where we would find somewhere to sleep for the 2nd night. So we went on for another 5 hours or so cycling when it started to get dark, about 20 miles from Sittingbourne, so we went to a tesco and bought some food for the evening.
We thought at this point we should find somewhere to camp since it was about 7 getting dark. Switching on our lights and with food in our bags for the evening we set off to find a place to sleep for the evening. We were travelling on A-roads almost the whole way and this one was cutting through every village and town so we were not finding anywhere to sleep at all, but we kept shouting "just keep going we need to find somewhere!". We had already decided we were not going to make it to Sittingbourne since it was dark so we were really trying to just find somehwere to sleep. We were really going as fast as we could at this point, cutting through villages and towns desperately trying to find a wood or field. It was dark at this point and despite the fact we couldnt find anywhere we were feeling amazing, we had pushed through the fatigue to a new kind of energy and were going really really fast, powering up hills and just slicing through traffic, we were both shouting to each other how amazing we felt and just going "yyeeeeeeeeehaaaaa!!!!" down the hills and through traffic, it was amazing and we were both really amped.
Suddenly, we came to a town and saw a sign at about 9pm that said Sittingbourne, we were like "no WAY! how the hell did we get here! we must have been cycling for at least 2 hours, we have covered 20 miles!!". We then saw a public footpath which we took for about 600 metres in PITCH black, pointing our lights at the ground to watch out for pot holes. We came out into a village road which was really dark with no lights, and we both mentioned how creepy this was with our meager bike lights, and we were now really trying to find somehwere to sleep. It was about 9:45 and we were thinking what the hell can we do, so we came across a big house and mat said we should ask where the owner of all the land lives so we can ask if we can sleep somewhere, as we couldnt find anyway to get past the bushes and fences with our bikes. So we knocked on this huge houses door in the middle of nowhere to be answered by a rather aprehensive woman, who called her husband. We explained the situation and he said we could sleep in their back garden, trying to convince his wife who just looked shocked and walked away, at which point we were insisting it was fine and we didnt want to impose. But he lead us round into his garden where we set up the tent about 20 metres from the house. It felt very wierd but we were very thankfull for his generosity and got into our tent to eat our sardines and bread, thn getting into our sleeping bags and falling asleep at about 11pm. We woke up about 10 times because it was rediculously cold, i had ALL my clothes on from my bag, shorts, trousers, beanie, tees jumper socks, and i was FREEZING.
We set off at about 7:30am after having a kit kat and left a thankyou note for the family, his son saw us emerging from the garden and put his face to the window in awe, thinking "what the heck?".
So then we set off cycling, but my tire was flat and i had to change the inner tube after about 20 mins of cycling, at which point we had some peanut butter and honey sandwhiches, and also came up with the ingenious idea of mixing honey and peanut butter to make a super energy paste to dunk or kit kats in.
We cycled for another 2.5 hours to finally reach canterbury after the most intense inclines we had experienced on the whole trip. We were elated when we found the sign for canterbury and thought it appropriate to get a photo standing next to it. We then found the train station where we used the toilets to relieve ourselves and then met up with jason and liv!
The next two days we trained hung out together, which was really great seeing them before i went off to uni. Mat had a motorbike test on tuesday so we decided to gett the train back, and on monday at about 4pm, we arrived home, tired but very satisfied and happy with ourselves.

Planning the trip route

Handtsand at royston while waiting for wheel replacement

Supplies for the trip (and tent)

First of many bike problems

Handstand at Bishop Stortford

the tramp eats his food haha

Puncture+nightime+unfamiliar place-Knowlegde-energy = FUN

Handstands at the campsite

Handstands while waiting at Brentwood for mats bike repair

Scary ass dual carriage way near the Dartford crossing

The fun continues! The pertol station at dartford crossing.

The knife we used for eating, fixing, and living. Cleaned with an old sock and saliva. you think im joking...

Beautiful view at the top of a BASTARD hill

Peanut butter kit kat dipped in honey and peanut butter mix, the king of health food.

Mat morphs into some kind of Humanimal when reaching for the spanner

Mission accomplished.

hello.

Training on the goal post with techniques Jason brought back from the guys in lisses.

Cat crawl down posts

Muscle up combo

pals

pals v.2

on the way home.

Change of Direction

2006-08-21T16:54:00.000+01:00

Ok so its 5pm and i have just finshed training for the day. Meanwhile a bunch of my friends are in Lisses, which should be really cool with the people who are there, im looking forward to see the pics and video footage when they get back. Bit gutted i'm not with them, but I had the privilige of training there last year, and I am keeping myself busy anyway.
With the knee, definately getting much better, doing rehab everyday and going to the gym to strengthen the legs. BUT, I have developed what i think to be Osgood Schlatters in the course of half a day, which has really put me out of any impact what so ever, it twinges going up and down 2 feet, so i am really resting that, pretty pissed about it because thats two knee injurys, fractured tibia and strained ligaments all on the same leg, whilst the left is so damn good. Well what can you do but work with what you have, so I am trying to get much stronger legs and body, but now, also really trying to get my cardiovascular fitness a lot higher.
Marathon Des Sables.

Something which has really caught my imagination (before i saw jack osbourne try it) to do is an extreme endurance foot race called the "Marathon des Sables". This is a marathon in the Sahara desert in the summer which lasts 6 days, totalling 240 km, or 5.5 marathons. Its meant to be "the toughest foot race on earth" with temperatures reaching 60 degrees c. Thats rediculous. Most people who do it have toe nails drop off, wrecked feet with bad blisters and some people have even died doing it.

A lot of people have to be put on drips from dehydration. Throughout the whole race you must carry your own food, water, sleeping bag and supplies. So thats about 10kg on top of the sand dunes, heat and sand storms. Anyway, I thought it would be amazing for me if i did it, and i would really love to, and being diabetic would make it all a better achievement for me, but also much harder. 2007/2008 are all full, so i will either try and enter 2009 or 2010. Would also like to try an Iron man trialthlon at some point, probably before im guessing but yeah, thats what im thinking about at the moment.

>>Marathon Info<<

But thats a good while off, so i am concentrating on getting strong legs and a decent level of fitness.
Training at the moment is such:

Monday, Friday: Leg rehab, lower body, cardio
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday: Stretching, Leg rehab, Upper body, core
Wednesday: Leg rehab, lower body, cardio, basic gymnastic
Sunday: Leg rehab, Basic gymnastic

Eg) Today I Rowed 3km, cycled 20km, swam 2k and did leg press, leg extension/curl/adduction/abduction, glutes on resistance machines, and leg rehabilitation exercises.
So thats my direction at the moment, I have had to put parkour on the side for a while, but the strengthening exercises i used to do im still practicing regularly each week such as muscle ups, balance, dips etc.

Knee problem

2006-08-06T10:54:00.000+01:00

I have for a while had a very slight niggling of my right knee which i have always suspected to be mild jumpers knee. However, after the 10k it worsened somewhat and for the past month i have been doing very very little impact training and more conditioning and balance, but after thinking it felt better, decided to do more technique practice and go to the gym to train flips. The next day it hurt a bit, and I decided enough is enough, even if its not THAT painful its obviously not good for me, so I went to a physiotherapist the next day to get it checked out, and BOY do i have more crap than i thought wrong with my leg. So after the fracture in china, I have apparently weakened all the ligaments, and something which is new to me, is that even the freakin ACL is damaged slightly! So she said there is more 'joint play' (the knee can move around more than it should) because the ligaments are not keeping it fixed in place, unlike my other knee which i love so much, i wanna clone it and get rid of the right one! But yeah, so those will never heal being ligaments and that they have little or no blood supply, so im stuck with slightly dodgy ligaments. Okay, and on top of that, I overpronate (which i already new), and that turns the knee in slightly, my right glute is weaker than the other and my right ankle is slightly more inflexible which also turns the knee in! I was pretty suprised to hear all this, you think your in ok shape then you get told this, but she says its only because of the nature of what we do, if i was an average person it wouldnt matter at all. So, she a bunch of glute exercises to do, some ankle stretching and said basically i gotta just get strong legs to compensate for the ligament damage. So now i am at the gym every two days, and doing the exercises every day, along with balance and a lot of general conditioning. Im training just as hard, but i have just shifted the angle of how i train, so there is a lot of low impact and a lot of strengthening over the next few months. So yeah, in about 3/4 weeks im gonna go back and we will see what she has to say then.
At the moment i am at risk of osteo-arthritis if i dont get on top of the problem, so please this just shows how fragile our bodies really are in this activity and everyone must keep themselves very strong and do a LOT of basic work! Look after your bodies everyone!

New arm jump etc

2006-07-24T21:57:00.000+01:00

Here is a little video which is just a collection of video phone clips over the past 4 months that Owen edited impromptu style. Its me and owen with a clip of jason doing a running crane precision. The first armjump we just did for the first time today, its pretty cool 8:

Peak District trip

2006-07-16T22:18:00.000+01:00

Was away in the peaks from last thursday till today with mike, jason, liv and my bro. Ok, so we arrived after a 5 hour coach journey to be greeted by will and ben of SPK. Burdened by camping gear, we made our way to the first spot where we were introduced to the others such as danny. The rest of the day we were taken around some of the spots by the guys, and im happy to say that i made a good choice by picking sheffield for my university :)
The spots are reallllly sick, we all trained from about 1ish till 7 or so before heading off to the campsite. We caught the train to a village in the peaks and walked a half hour to the site where we pitched up for the night. The leeds guys scott and MART arrived and it was cool to meet them. The next day we all walked to one of my favourite places i have ever seen, a spot with rock formations EVERWHERE. we found natural cat pass precisions, arm jumps etc, but the BEST thing was just running through the rocks like an obastcle course with speed. We then hiked a bit further to a really sublime place, a stream with rocks everywhere, dripping with oriental atmosphere and excellent weather to further the blessing, it really was an amazing place.
Anywa, check the photos im too lazy to write, big thanks to everyone, and it was great to meet new and old friends again, and im very happy with the sheffield scene so i cant wait to start training regularly there!
Natural cat pass to precision

arm jump

arm jump again

Handstand on a rock peak

much peoples do many trainings

Traceurs dominating the path

The stream with rocks.....absolutely amazing, especially when jason lit up some insence 8)

soooo NICE!

blam

doesnt get much more ideal than this....

I am owned.

2006-07-12T19:40:00.000+01:00

Last night after watching UF3 (freaking good by the way), me and jason (sinclan) felt very inspired by it. The main thing was the repetition aspect, and since jason is round mine for a couple of months, we are both working on getting hench. So today we set ourselves some goals, which took the day to complete amongst other trainings, all in all about 8 hrs. Here are the days accomplishments:

Jason: 510 pullups
Jin: 250 muscle ups/planche, 100 pullups

It was as such where we first spent about 1 hour doing sets of 5 or so reps with about 1 min rest, the occasional 5 min break, i got the muscle ups to 150, jason got the pullups to 250. We then trained balance and precisions for about 5 hours or so, then came back to complete the task in the next sitting, which was about 1.5 hours.
So now we are fairly owned....

10km London Run 2006

2006-07-02T17:28:00.002+01:00

Check out the link

for before and after photos

Owen, liv, my dad, some friends and I did the London 10k today. First of neither owen liv or i have trained for this at all in any way, so we are happy we did it without much problem.
There were about 30,000 participants today, which made the run really packed. Throughout the whole day people were at least a metre within each other, which was suprisingly ok, it was enough to keep your own pace. There were some serious mentalists, like guys running in full army gear with backpack etc, and people running in massive costumes like disney ones etc, caught a guy with the head of his costume out leaning under a bridge sweating SO much. It was about 30 degrees which did make it a bit harder, sweating a LOT.
Overall it was a really good day, and the atmosphere was amazing, with everyone cheering each other on etc, so it was a cool day. The money was raised for my parent's charity (www.newfoundationsuk.com)
We JUST managed to pull off a back somi within about 10 mins of finishing the run.

Bodyfat % : 5.1 (measured by the lucozade people there)

The kool kolour kids after at home

Ghosts in the streets...

2006-06-15T13:55:00.000+01:00

Me and owen went out at 2am to train in the centre of town this morning. We ended up finishing at about 4:30, just as the sun was coming up. Most of the training was balance, small jumps, climbing and tree work. In the tree, it was pitch black, so we had to move by feeling our way around. When we first got into town, there were still a few drunks lurking about, but by 3am they had almost cleared up, leaving the town deserted.
We took photos, and filmed on owen's video phone, we didnt want the hassle of taking a proper videocamera in. We did a few new things, which was nice. You see more things when the place is deserted, probably because there is no one to distract you from training such as public/security. Very nice and surreal time to be out at, especially at this time of year when there is actuall daylight coming through, but no one around.
Got home at about 5am and went to bed at 7, getting up at 12 to upload this. Didn't feel too bad at all which is good.
Me and owen decided to make this a weekly/bi-weekly thing, and about 3 times a week of training from 6am. Training just during the day isn't really sufficient i dont think, you need to be able to adapt and training at various different times helps this.
I must add to anyone who wants to do this, that I phoned the local police station to notify them of us before we went out so i obtained a reference number and recorded the call, had we been burglary suspects or something. We did have a couple of town cameras actually follow us about, just keeping an eye, as i had told them the clothes we would be wearing, so it kept us in the clear should something have happened.
ps> song is Futureghost by Braintrax

Tricking session

2006-06-06T16:02:00.000+01:00

Just a small casual video of when me, jason and owen went tricking on our local park.

I.LOOK.COOL

2006-05-31T16:50:00.000+01:00

hahahaha, my mum found this top in the house, god knows who it belongs to, someone must have left it. But its so funny! You put it on and look like some stupid jock straight away, its the kind that those guys who go to the gym wear who are really big up top and they just smash away at the free weights, well i thought it looked funny as hell. Yes this DOES deserve a post.
(please excuse the state of the room, things are being moved and changed)

Adventures at Dale's

2006-05-25T19:50:00.000+01:00

So the past 3 days I have been at Dale's flat in Lincoln training and catching up after a good while of not seeing him! We trained everyday which was really good, Dale is getting back into real training after a while of being out the loop. The spots in lincoln are pretty nice, they are not exactly full of obstacles, but the sheer volume of places to go makes up for that. So we pretty much trained all day, then chilled in the evenings maybe watching some family guy/southpark/parkour videos. On the second evening, Cecil (c-man lol) came down, and it was really good to see him after an equally long time! All in all, really good 3 days, and thanks a lot to Dale for putting me up in his room and being cool, and was really good to see you again man, you are always welcome round mine remember. :-)
Dale looking super fly:

Me looking awesome in Dale's room:

Arm jump to the rail, about 10.5 feet:

Cat precision to the higher wall, 6 feet, level:

Precision, 9ft:

Arm jump, 11ft

Precision, 9 foot (scary height):

Climbups:

Flexibility No.1

2006-05-21T13:12:00.000+01:00

So this is the first benchmark in my flexibility updates. The pictures below are some of the key stretches that need work. (the pillows are to stop friction between my feet and the floor)
Below is a front split, with the left leg leading and right behind. This is my current max.

This is another front split except this time my right leg is leading and left behind. The lack of flexibility caused by my tibial fracture and ripped tendon/hamstring muscle in China is evident in the right leg. After the first month of the injury I was starting to get full extension back, and it has needed a lot of stretching to get this far. It lost about 80% mobility (extension and flexion) for about 1-2 weeks after the injury.

This is a box/chines/side split. I am about 8 inches or so from the floor.

This is just showing hamstring flexibility, ultimate aim is to get head to toes, but im not sure if my body is long enough, otherwise, this is about as far as i can get in this stretch. Just need to progress it through front splits training and other more demanding stretches.

My bridge is diabolical. Its really terrible. My back extension and shoulder flexibility are by far my weakest areas. They need a lot of work. So hopefully with this picture and can look back sometime when i can actually do decent bridges and be happy. Main thing with this is my shoulder flexibility, it really prevents me from pushing out and up.

Ok, so the aim is to post up new flexibility every 1/2 months to track progress. I aim to move beyond this current state of flexibility. At the moment its acceptable for maintenance and for general health, but I would like to achieve full range of motions with my muscular system, so need more training. My main methods of stretching are gentle ballistic (lol contradiction), a little dynamic, PNF, static and passive. I would say I need to practice mostly dynamic and PNF stretching to start making better gains.

Very comprehensive stretching info.

Windmills innit!

2006-05-20T22:33:00.000+01:00

Yay, after practicing these every now and then in the gym, I tried them in an empty mall and nailed some rotations. First decent mills on a hard floor. Things that i need to correct are wider legs, lower legs, and less stabbing. But I am happy with them at the moment and will work on them. Just trying to build a little repetoire of power moves, but honestly i dont practice them enough to make any real progress so this is a bit of motivation for me.

Also achieved a slow, no momentum muscle up today on some scaffolding after being inspired to train it from seeing blane in the new TT video. So thats another skill i will be pushing to achieve, hopefully I will have it more consistent in the near future.

3 Staples.

2006-05-19T14:49:00.000+01:00

Ok, to start things off I have a few of pictures, namely a tuck planche, front lever and a v-sit. So I have been working on the tuck planche quite casually for about 2 months or so and have got a max hold down of about 25 seconds, but the legs start to drop near the end.

My maximum hold for this is 15 secs, give or take a few seconds either side, which means I have a lot of work to do on both holds. Good progressions for this exercise is to work from l-sit upwards, slow and controlled raising and lowering, which is also a good exercise in itself. Leg raises from a bar are good also, but you also need strong triceps to stop you from falling backwards, you can see mine are really trying to hold out in the picture below.

Right, the front lever is another gymnastic technique which requires a lot of strength. At the moment I can hold this position for a modest 3 seconds at best, but with straddle legs, a while longer, 5-10 seconds maybe. So to work this up, you can start like a tuck planche, legs into chest, then straight back, then straddle, until finally straight legs. Even more extreme are one arm front levers, or with a kettle bell in one hand etc. So I didn't have enough room here for straddle FL, so here is my full but short FL.

Toward the end of this clip I begin to dip my hips involuntarily. This is because my muscles start to tire, but the beginning is good form and is what I am aiming to achieve for a longer time.

These techniques provide a good staple of strength training, the full body tension tires the muscles fast, but progress is relatively fast with diligent practice (something i need to take up with these exercises). So I'll be tracking my progress on these exercises over the next months on here, hopefully making gains in the not so distant future.
Give or take a few seconds either side:
TUCK PLANCHE: 25 secs
V-SIT: 15 secs
FRONT LEVER: (straight leg) 3 secs (straddle) 6

More info and help on these exercises.