What drives personal growth and resilience in the face of immense physical, emotional, and cultural challenges?

Ševo Saša is best-known as an amazing and creative mover, and the founder of the Skochypstiks clothing line. In this interview he shares the story of his Parkour beginnings after the collapse of Yugoslavia, and his motivation for overcoming a devastating injury in his youth. Sasa’s love of people and profound discipline have enabled him to thrive amidst the cycles of life, and have lead him to tremendous personal growth.

“It doesn’t happen with everyone. Everybody can motivate us in different ways, this is true, but this special moment is something that I will remember forever. Because I did something that I really didn’t want to do, I kind of refused it with all my body, with everything, and when we ended I think I hugged him so hard, I was so happy doing this.” ~ Ševo Saša (14:00)

The conversation explores the transformative journey from a war-torn Balkan region, navigating through cultural and personal challenges to find purpose and resilience in parkour. The discussion begins with the historical context of Yugoslavia’s dissolution and the challenges of displacement, providing a backdrop to his initial experiences with movement and the foundational influence of his father. Overcoming severe physical injuries, Saša develops discipline through self-directed training and a deep love for movement.

The narrative progresses into his parkour evolution, shaped by diverse environments and communities. From training in Serbia to pioneering connections between neighboring Balkan countries through parkour, the conversation emphasizes the significance of shared experiences. Saša reflects on the broader cultural impact of these connections, uniting people across former divisions, and concludes by highlighting the importance of love, discipline, and people in his practice.

Takeaways

Love for movement — A central theme that inspired dedication and growth in parkour.

Impact of displacement — How personal and cultural history shaped his outlook and resilience.

Discipline as a foundation — Rigorous self-training and perseverance despite physical and mental barriers.

Role of community — The importance of shared experiences in parkour to build connections and unity.

Parkour as a bridge — Its role in uniting people across post-war Balkan countries.

Adapting to environments — Embracing change and new challenges to drive personal growth.

Transformative experiences — How struggles, such as the 101 training, pushed personal limits and created lasting memories.

The power of connection — Focusing on people and relationships over obstacles or achievements.

Resources

Laurent Piemontesi — Insight into the “101” quadrupedal training exercises.

Colin McRae Rally Video Game — A part of Sasa’s recovery story and early life context.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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— 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.

Thanks for listening!

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