Podcaster. Writer. 👋 Hello, I want us to go from simply having conversations, to actively creating better conversations — https://craigconstantine.com/ has more about me, and my ongoing projects.
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From the archives: Travis Tetting
“I think, at the heart, at the core of a ‘heart of thankfulness’, is that ability to see what’s shaping you and what’s improving you.” ~ Travis Tetting
Three Hundred Kids
In 2019, Colin MacDonald repeated a complaint from parkour athletes: Penzer, a park he designed, would be cool without 300 kids on it all the time. He did not share it. To him the kids showed the park worked, because a public park was never going to belong to one group. If you train in…
What Made Me
In 2019, Andy Pearson measured a coach by how many students surpassed the coach, and wondered whether he was failing. He spared his students the punishing training he came up through, and asked whether they were losing what made him. Part of it may be the line, set far beyond what a student thinks possible.…
From the archives: Amy Slevin
“I started doing yoga— never connected with it, but I wanted it to help me. I wanted it to help me with my anxiety, with my grieving, and all that kind of stuff, and it just never did. But the physical side of yoga I really connected with, and I found it quite interesting exploring…
Playing Down
In his first summer of capoeira, Paul Graves learned from the beginner’s side that you can play with anyone if they are not playing down to you. Playing down and taking care can look alike from outside, since both change the stronger player’s movements. The difference is what that player believes: playing down treats a…
From the archives: Sebastien Foucan
“The purpose of it is liberation and self-development.” ~ Sebastien Foucan
Greens in Hand
André Miller was training clients in a windowless gym and telling them to go to the farmers market. A client would often come back with guilt where the greens should have been. So he realized he had to be the farmers market, able to put the greens in someone’s hand right then. What he changed…
From the archives: George McGowan
“I think that carried over into my style, and then as I progressed it just got more… I was more critical of myself. But it’s my style of training, and I want the line to be—in my eyes—perfect and if I’m happy with it, then that’s all that matters. And having the clip at the…
Nothing Forced
The familiar story says a demanding condition makes you listen to your body. Josh Wit, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at eighteen, corrects it. The condition forced management, done to the doctor’s instructions. Nothing forced the finer listening he learned slowly: asking, before a precise jump to a low wall, whether he feels off. Forced…
From the archives: Lauren Messeck
“I can engage with the world in this way that I hadn’t done in a while. And it was awesome.” ~ Lauren Messeck
A Hundred Students at a Temple
Adam McClellan coaches parkour, trains coaches, and runs a business with employees and a handbook. He left a martial arts school for something more genuine. One instructor can know a handful of students; a hundred in a temple need a chain of command, and the distance, he thinks, is inherent. Part of parkour’s appeal is…
From the archives: Nika Jankovic
“You want to be friends with the floor. You wanna caress the floor, you wanna melt into the floor. There’s always you in relation to this thing.” ~ Nika Jankovic