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.
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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!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'?
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...
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!
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'.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.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
BraillePoems
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,
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
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.
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:
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
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)
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.
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!
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.
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..."
