Ryan Ford: Coaching methods, talent hotbeds, and cryptocurrency
What are the strategies and philosophies that guide building inclusive, innovative communities and leveraging multidisciplinary skills for growth?
Ryan Ford shares his thoughts on his Parkour EDU program, various coaching methods, and his experience of building a community. He discusses the idea of a talent hotbed, how and why it occurs, and how to apply those ideas, before delving into the world of crypto-currency. Ryan explains what crypto currency is, why he’s so interested in it, its potential for growth, and the similarities he sees between crypto and parkour.
“The art of reinventing yourself and learning new skills is essential for the future.” ~ Ryan Ford (23:16)
The conversation begins with an exploration of Ryan Ford’s work in developing a Parkour Strength for Adults program, which focuses on physical training as a gateway for adults into parkour. He explains his approach to making training scalable and welcoming, emphasizing community building through inclusive practices and partner interactions. The discussion touches on his inspiration from various movement disciplines and coaching methodologies, such as those by Ido Portal and Christopher Sommer.
Later, the conversation shifts to Ford’s interest in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. He highlights the parallels between parkour and crypto, such as decentralization, freedom, and global accessibility. Ford shares his experiments with using blockchain for parkour community projects, like decentralized bounties, and reflects on the potential of blockchain to democratize finance. The discussion concludes with reflections on balancing entrepreneurship, training, and innovation.
Takeaways
Parkour Strength for Adults — A program designed to make parkour accessible to a broader demographic by focusing on physical preparation.
Inclusive community-building — Encouraging partner interactions and mixing diverse skill levels in classes to foster engagement.
Parallels with blockchain — Exploring how parkour and crypto share principles of decentralization and freedom.
Scalable training methods — Techniques for adapting parkour training to different age groups and abilities.
Multidisciplinary inspiration — Drawing from varied fields like gymnastics, mobility training, and movement culture for parkour innovation.
Freedom and agency — Using parkour and crypto as tools for personal and financial autonomy.
Creative combinations — Leveraging diverse skill sets to create unique, impactful contributions.
Resources
Apex School of Movement — A parkour gym co-founded by Ryan Ford.
Parkour Strength — Ryan Ford’s book provides insights into parkour training.
The Talent Code — Daniel Coyle’s book exploring how talent hotbeds are cultivated, referenced in the conversation.
Yuval Noah Harari’s Books — Sapiens, Homo Deus, and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, discussed for their historical and futuristic perspectives.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
— Hello👋 I’m Craig Constantine.
In the Movers Mindset podcast, I talk with movement enthusiasts to learn who they are, what they do, and why they do it. I’m interested in the nature and philosophy of movement and in exploring themes like independence, self-direction, and human excellence. My interests color each conversation and provide some structure to Movers Mindset. But since I like to take the scenic route, every conversation ends up going somewhere unique.
The purpose of Movers Mindset is to create and share great conversations with movement enthusiasts. Each conversation feeds my insatiable curiosity, but I share them to turn on a light for someone else, to inspire them, or to give them their next question.
I appreciate your time and attention, and I don’t take it for granted.
— Thank you!
My personal mission is creating better conversations to spread understanding and compassion. And Movers Mindset is one of the things I do in service of my mission. Drop by https://craigconstantine.com/ for my weekly email, my other podcasts, writing and more.
The Movers Mindset project grew from conversations I started having as part of my personal journey rediscovering movement. The project started late in 2015, and it was initially simply a web site that shared others’ writing. The project grew, and in 2017 I started the podcast. I’ve worked extremely hard, but none of this would have been possible without so much help from so many people.
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