Evan Beyer | Games for Teaching Movement →

Published January 30, 2019  ·  All posts on Jan 30

On Castbox.fm — Evan Beyer | Games for Teaching Movement

What methods can be used to foster trust, connection, and personal growth through movement-based games?

Explore how movement-based games can dissolve barriers and build trust.

In movement you have to trust— you have to trust yourself, you have to trust the objects, and to trust the others in your space.

~ Evan Beyer (6:18)

This conversation centers on the idea of using games to teach movement, break down personal barriers, and build trust among participants. The discussion highlights the progression from non-contact games to activities requiring full physical collaboration. These games are designed to ease individuals into deeper connections with others, both emotionally and physically, by fostering comfort and trust in a structured, playful manner.

The dialogue also explores the challenges of creating a universally accessible framework. It emphasizes flexibility, creativity, and adaptability to cater to different individuals’ needs and comfort levels. The overarching goal is to provide tools that help participants feel safe and empowered while interacting within their communities through movement.

Takeaways

Movement-based games — Techniques that ease participants into trusting others through structured play.

Progression framework — A system that gradually increases the complexity and contact level of games.

Emotional and physical trust — The dual focus of teaching individuals to rely on themselves and others.

Adaptability in teaching — The importance of creativity and flexibility in meeting diverse participant needs.

Playful learning — The value of incorporating fun and engagement to facilitate personal growth.

Comfort through gradual exposure — Methods to guide individuals from apprehension to collaboration.

Social connection — How games can help break barriers and build a sense of community.

Resources

Parkour Generations Boston — The coaching organization where Evan teaches movement-based techniques.

Art of Retreat — An annual conference on parkour leadership and education.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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Forgive as well as forget →

Published January 30, 2019  ·  All posts on Jan 30  ·  ,

…if you can forgive as well as forget, if you can keep from growing sour, surly, bitter and cynical… You’ve got it half-licked.

~ Henry Miller

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Parkour floor →

Published January 29, 2019  ·  All posts on Jan 29  ·  ,

We forget that what we have is more than what we need. Obscenely more. I know it may sound perverse, but here in the future people often feel like they need more than they have.

~ David Cain, from A Day in the Future

There’s a sense of accomplishment in being prepared to sleep on the floor when traveling. There’s a sense of freedom in being able to carry a small backpack and live comfortably. I always knew this was at least partly due to knowing that I was prepared enough for important contingencies and free enough to roll with whatever comes up during the day.

But now I see that there’s a second dimension to why I enjoy it: The self-imposed hardship. Sometimes the floor is cold and drafty, sometimes there’s a cat (I’m allergic to cats), sometimes everyone stays up very late (I usually turn in around 9:30), sometimes I miss a meal, sometimes I don’t sleep much if there’s too much light, sometimes it’s noisy, … and so on. Still, I am invariably in a better mood than usual the morning after each of these choose-your-own-adventures-gone-bad. Cold, stiff, sneezy, tired … sure. But in a good mood. Well, that’s very interesting, now isn’t it?

I’m not making a call for you to take up Parkour-flooring. I’m only pointing out that when I occassionally reset my callibration by intentionally taking on some suffering, I’m invariably happier after.

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On civility →

Published January 28, 2019  ·  All posts on Jan 28  ·  , ,

If civility is a kind of claim to regulating, or governing our disagreements on the basis of something shared, then what really matters is, what exactly it is we’re claiming that we need to share in order to have a civil disagreement.

~ Teresa Bejan, from Teresa Bejan on Civility

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I’ve heard discussion about “controlling the conversation.” The idea being that when there’s a power imbalance, one side can control what can be talked about, and what can be blocked or suppressed as “beyond the pale.” This discussion on Philosophy Bites explores what it means “to be civil.” In my interpretation, it may not be possible to be civil in cases where there is insufficient common ground upon which to build civil discourse.

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The devil always gets his due →

Published January 27, 2019  ·  All posts on Jan 27  ·  ,

Anyone can be an idealist. Anyone can be a cynic. The hard part lies somewhere in the middle i.e. being human.

~ Jason Korman, from «https://www.gapingvoid.com/content/uploads/assets/Moveable_Type/archives/001117.html»

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I’ve recently been on a run with posts about “balance” simply because that’s what I’m struggling with most these days. Confirmation bias then ensures I’m seeing things “about” balance everywhere.

realist: n., optimist with experience.

I’m not going to say the best place to be is always in the middle of a given spectrum. Actually, it’s not even perfectly clear to me that “idealist” and “cynic” are opposite ends of a spectrum; but I’ll run with that assumption for today. So given that acting from an entirely idealistic or cynical position is going to end badly… what can I take from that?

I think it’s pretty simple: Strive for the best, and plan for the worst. Running with that idea, I’ve been returning to my old, first step of my current journey: Self-awareness.

“Look, you’re freaking out. Simple fact.”

“Is this really the end of the world?”

“Is this maybe too far toward the cynical end of the spectrum?”

“Could I maybe do with a little less drama?”

“What if I turned around and looked back at what I’ve accomplished?”

“Would that at least bring me a little peace?”

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Deliberate way of living →

Published January 26, 2019  ·  All posts on Jan 26  ·  

Set intentions at the start. When you start your day, or any meaningful activity, check in with yourself and ask what your intentions are for the day or that activity. Do you want to be more present? Do you want to move your mission forward? Do you want to be compassionate with your loved ones? Do you want to practice with discomfort and not run to comfort? Set an intention (or three) and try to hold that intention as you move through the day or that meaningful activity.

~ Leo Babata, from A More Deliberate Way of Living

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Long ago—maybe ten years?—this idea of setting intentions made a huge impact on my life. I’ve talked about first learning the twin skills of self-awareness and self-assessment as the first steps on my journey. Once I began developing those skills, I was able to begin setting intentions and that lead to the long period of growth I’ve recently been experiencing.

But there’s a problem, or at least there’s a problem for me. Once I started down the road of setting intentions I’ve fallen prey to a vicious cycle. Practicing continuous improvement by setting intentions and assessing progress makes me focus forward, treating my intentions at targets before me. I used to think the “focus forward” part of that was a good thing. After all, it clearly has led me on a long journey of improvement.

I set good intentions which force me out into my un-comfort zones and it turns out that I usually don’t quite reach the goals. If I do reach a goal, then I realize I could have set a better goal by stretching for a farther intention. In that way, every assessment ends up reporting that I fell short, didn’t make it, didn’t live up, didn’t achieve, didn’t succeed, didn’t, didn’t, didn’t, didn’t… and that leads to a dark place.

Recently I’ve been more intentional about what intentions I set.

(That’s a red flag right there; I’m still intentions based.)

None the less, I’ve been trying to set easier-to-achieve intentions so that I can check off more wins. I find this very hard to do since it feels like artificially lowering the bar so I can cheer-lead myself away from the dark place. Worse, this is still looking forward and assessing progress made towards goals.

I wonder what would happen if I could manage to turn around, make progress towards the goals, (they now being behind me,) while staring back at the INSANE MOUNTAIN OF AMAZING THINGS I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED?

Maybe I should try that for a while?

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One who acts naturally →

Published January 25, 2019  ·  All posts on Jan 25  ·  , ,

One who tries to stand on tiptoe cannot stand still. One who stretches his legs too far cannot walk. One who advertises himself too much is ignored. One who is too insistent on his own view finds few to agree with him. One who claims too much credit does not get even what he deserves. One who is too proud is soon humiliated. These are condemned as extremes of greediness and self-destructive activity. Therefore, one who acts naturally avoids such extremems.

~ Book of Tao

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Ignore everybody →

Published January 24, 2019  ·  All posts on Jan 24

You don’t know if your idea is any good the moment it’s created. Neither does anyone else. The most you can hope for is a strong gut feeling that it is. And trusting your feelings is not as easy as the optimists say it is. There’s a reason why feelings scare us.

And asking close friends never works quite as well as you hope, either. It’s not that they deliberately want to be unhelpful. It’s just they don’t know your world one millionth as well as you know your world, no matter how hard they try, no matter how hard you try to explain.

~ Jason Korman, from «https://www.gapingvoid.com/content/uploads/assets/Moveable_Type/archives/000888.html»

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There are so many ideas that can be tried. But knowing which ones to try, which ones to stick with, and which ones to stick with beyond the point of sanity is the hard point. It’s important to find a balance between some things which are fulfilling and a sure-thing, and some things which are inspiring and impossible.

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Mark Toorock | Parkour in Schools →

Published January 23, 2019  ·  All posts on Jan 23

On Castbox.fm — Mark Toorock | Parkour in Schools

What are the challenges and opportunities of introducing Parkour into public school physical education programs?

Parkour education promotes self-confidence and creativity in students through physical play.

I think that people have a hard time visualizing what a Parkour program in schools may actually look like. And that’s one of the things I’m helping people to discover is, what does Parkour in schools actually mean? What does it look like?

~ Mark Toorock (0:36)

The conversation explores the challenges and successes of integrating Parkour into public school systems. Mark details experiences working with two different school districts—one in Washington, DC, and the other in Maryland—highlighting the differences in approach and adoption. A key barrier discussed is the structure of physical education, which traditionally favors team sports over movement-based activities like Parkour. Mark emphasizes that while Parkour resonates with hands-on, passionate coaches, the reality of public education limits external instructors’ involvement, necessitating a scalable teacher-training model.

A major theme is the need for systemic change to create sustainable Parkour programs. The conversation stresses the importance of having an internal champion within school systems to advocate for the program, as administrative support often outweighs logistical concerns like equipment or curriculum design. Mark also shares a personal passion for encouraging lifelong play and movement, challenging the societal norm that play must cease in adulthood. The goal is to foster curiosity and movement in public spaces without shame, reinforcing Parkour’s broader philosophical underpinnings.

Takeaways

Parkour in schools — Parkour programs shift physical education from team sports to movement-based activities, fostering creativity and confidence.

Teacher training limitations — Training teachers to deliver Parkour programs is constrained by limited professional development time, requiring focused, simplified curriculum.

Scaling programs — Direct external coaching in schools is impractical for widespread adoption; training existing teachers is necessary for scale.

Administrative buy-in — Having a program champion within the school system is critical to ensure long-term success and overcome bureaucratic resistance.

Cultural barriers — Social norms discourage adults from engaging in playful movement, reinforcing a restrictive perception of acceptable behavior.

Voluntary adoption — Programs thrive when implemented in schools with willing, passionate staff rather than being mandated across districts.

Public play challenge — Encouraging public play challenges preconceived notions about adulthood and promotes rediscovery of movement.

Resources

American Parkour — Organization founded by Mark Toorock dedicated to promoting Parkour education and practice.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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Marcello Palozzo: Strength and conditioning, teaching, and learning →

Published January 23, 2019  ·  All posts on Jan 23  ·  

Marcello Palozzo: Strength and conditioning, teaching, and learning

What are the principles and practices that lead to personal growth, meaningful teaching, and effective learning in physical disciplines?

Marcello Palozzo discusses his studies in the area of strength and conditioning, his relationship with Ido Portal, and how to capture information to optimize your learning. He shares his insights on teaching and learning, discussing the responsibilities of a teacher. Marcello explains how he found his current path, as well as his goals and plans for the future.

True learning should be emotional. Unless there is that element as well in it, something is missing.

~ Marcello Palozzo (5:10)

Marcello discusses his approach to integrating diverse fields of knowledge, including parkour, strength training, and the methodologies learned from his master’s degree studies and training with Ido Portal. He emphasizes the importance of stepping out of comfort zones and creating routines that challenge both physical and emotional boundaries. His philosophy underscores the need for learning to have an emotional component to ensure genuine and impactful growth.

The conversation also explores Marcello’s teaching methods, advocating for learners to actively engage with material by organizing and revisiting it, rather than passively consuming information. Marcello shares his experiences of redefining his career path, abandoning pharmacy studies, and committing fully to movement disciplines. Marcello reflects on the significance of mentorship, community, and continuous exploration in personal and professional development.

Takeaways

Stepping out of comfort zones — Regularly challenging oneself emotionally and physically is key to growth.

Emotional learning — True learning involves an emotional connection for lasting impact.

Active information processing — Categorizing, mapping, and revisiting material enhances learning sustainability.

Role of mentorship — Following dedicated experts provides depth and structure to learning.

The value of community — Collective problem-solving and shared experiences accelerate development.

Sustainable practices — Balancing different training modalities ensures long-term engagement.

Personal transformation — Bold decisions can reshape one’s career and life direction.

Weakness as a strength — Addressing personal weaknesses is essential for holistic improvement.

Fluid planning — Flexibility in goals allows adaptation to unexpected life changes.

Resources

Ido Portal — A key mentor in Marcello’s journey, offering clarity and progression in movement practices.

ParkourWave Association — Co-founded by Marcello, this organization promotes parkour and its principles in Italy.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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