You have the right to a purpose. If you do not have a purpose, one will be appointed for you.
~ David Cain from, Never Forget Your Rights
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What a delightful riff on the standarized wording commonly known as the “Miranda rights”!
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You have the right to… →
Dan Edwardes | Cultivating Confidence, Fear, and Flow →
On Castbox.fm — Dan Edwardes | Cultivating Confidence, Fear, and Flow
What are the most effective methods for understanding and managing fear in physical and mental practices?
Exploring how fear shapes movement and mindset in Parkour and beyond.
The stories can be changed, but fear as a raw emotion is a good thing.
~ Dan Edwardes (4:26)
This conversation focuses on the role of fear in Parkour training and its broader implications for personal growth. Dan explains that fear itself is a natural and helpful emotion, distinct from the stories or narratives people attach to it over time. He challenges the conventional approach of overcoming fear through adrenaline or suppression, advocating instead for building a positive relationship with fear by understanding and accepting it as an ally.
The discussion highlights practical techniques for coaches, such as familiarizing students with the emotion of fear in controlled settings, separating the raw emotion from its associated narratives, and encouraging a focus on controllable elements of challenges. Dan emphasizes that this approach not only enhances physical performance but also fosters deeper psychological resilience and confidence.
Takeaways
Fear as an ally — Fear is a protective emotion that can be transformed into a helpful guide when understood and accepted.
Narrative distinction — Separating the raw emotion of fear from the stories attached to it is key to managing it effectively.
Coaching strategies — Coaches can help students by familiarizing them with the sensation of fear without immediate action, fostering comfort with the emotion.
Controlling the controllables — Focusing on elements within one’s control, such as technique and preparation, reduces fear associated with specific challenges.
Limitations of suppression — Overcoming fear through suppression or adrenaline may yield short-term results but lacks the depth to build lasting confidence.
Parkour as a fear practice — Parkour uniquely integrates fear management into its core, making it a valuable framework for broader life applications.
Resources
Parkour Generations — Organization co-founded by Dan Edwardes, focusing on Parkour training and education.
ADAPT Qualifications — Certification program for Parkour coaching and training, developed by Dan Edwardes.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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The only way out is through →
But that won’t work. The “sickness” is not that some nasty people have come into power, but that human beings across the board are still working primarily from their stone-age instincts. The detractors of The Establishment are just as consumed by their own needs for personal power, righteousness, security and social dominance as the people they so proudly hate.
~ David Cain from, If Society is Sick, What Should We Do About It?
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To some extent, this article is cynical. Although, it’s not nearly as cynical as this pull-quote I’ve selected makes it sound.
After reading it, what interests me is the idea that the more difficult path of wading into the society—as opposed to trying to remain “untainted” by it—may be the correct course of action. I like the idea that, yes, there is a great deal wrong with humans, but nothing so wrong that can’t be fixed through the continued application of some compassion, reason, and logic (in no particular order.) I used to think it’d be easy to be happy if I was just in an idyllic environment, but that continuing to strive in a lesser environment was to take the higher road. But in more recent years I’ve been thinking that it may not be possible to be truly happy in an idyllic environment; that having something against which to measure oneself may be a necessary component of happiness.
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Clutter and focus →
When your environment is cluttered, the chaos restricts your ability to focus. The clutter also limits your brain’s ability to process information. Clutter makes you distracted and unable to process information as well as you do in an uncluttered, organized, and serene environment.
~ Erin Doland from, «https://unclutterer.com/2011/03/29/scientists-find-physical-clutter-negatively-affects-your-ability-to-focus-process-information/»
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My personal experience agrees. Having spaces set aside for whatever-it-is-you-want-to-do pays off. Sometimes that’s a dedicated space. But sometimes it’s a space which has multiple purposes, which I somehow convert when I’m changing uses.
Having a space which I intend to be uncluttered also gives me the opportunity to clean it up and prepare it for the activity. Sometimes I’m just not feeling the vibe I need to begin whatever-it-is, and taking a few minutes to prepare the space — and maybe prepare some coffee too ;) — puts me into a focused and energized mood.
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If you can’t write clearly →
If you can’t write clearly, you probably don’t think nearly as well as you think you do.
~ Kurt Vonnegut
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Traditions you love →
Make a list of the traditions you love, and that you don’t love.
~ Leo Babauta from, How to Simplify the Holidays
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A couple of less-usual ones that I particularly love: The idea of having Friends-giving dinners, and a randomly-scheduled, rotating hosts, dinner party thing I have with a group of my second-cousins.
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Martin Kallesøe: Coaching, coffee, and Street Movement →
What lessons can we learn from integrating Parkour into structured educational settings and promoting personal growth through physical movement?
In this episode of Movers Mindset, Craig talks with Martin Kallesøe of Street Movement. They discuss Martin’s unique introduction to parkour, his thoughts on coaching, and Danish Parkour’s coffee culture. He also touches on his first experiences with the Yamakasi, as well as the history and culture of Street Movement and the International Gathering at Gerlev.
Don’t lose joy. If you lose joy in Parkour, don’t quit. Tone it down, keep doing it, but do something else a lot for a while.
~ Martin Kallesøe (37:10)
The conversation explores the transformative journey of integrating Parkour into both personal practice and educational frameworks. It begins with the guest’s early exposure to Parkour during his university years in Denmark and traces his path to co-founding Street Movement. The discussion includes the philosophical underpinnings of Parkour, emphasizing self-discovery, collaboration, and adaptability. These principles are highlighted as crucial for teaching others while maintaining the joy of practice.
Further topics include the challenges and rewards of incorporating Parkour into academic settings, such as fostering peer learning and designing flexible curricula. The conversation also touches on the broader implications of creating inclusive learning environments, the role of international connections in evolving the discipline, and the need for mindfulness in both teaching and training.
(more…)Insight →
The greatest revelations are not when you discover something new and profound, but when you actually apply something you already “knew.” That is when information becomes real wisdom. Only then is it finally able to change who you are instead of just what you think.
~ David Cain from, Insight Is Not Enough
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I’ve been referring often to David Cain’s writing recently. Nothing wrong with that per se; it’s great stuff that makes me think. Anyway, you may wonder why that happens. Why do I seem to run in dashes of particular source material. It has to do with how I queue up reading material. I’ve some interesting hacks that I hope one day to share with the world. I hope.
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Your life’s work →
I had a wonderful day, thanks in no small part to hearing George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun” on the radio while I ate breakfast. I walked into town relishing the sunshine, and enjoyed every minute of today. George moved his last block in 2001.
~ David Cain from, This is Your Life’s Work
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This seemed at first a cold way to think of one’s life: The sum total of the changes wrought in reality. On the other hand, there’s a huge amount of strutting and fretting and worrying and machinations and gyrations and chaos in my internal world. I’m sure it will be a good thing if that all evaporated from the world.
On second thought, how great would it be if I could get all that stuff to evaporate before I’m gone.
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No phones allowed →
The no-phones policy illuminated something about smartphone use that’s hard to see when it’s so ubiquitous: our phones drain the life out of a room. They give everyone a push-button way to completely disengage their mind from their surroundings, while their body remains in the room, only minimally aware of itself. Essentially, we all have a risk-free ripcord we can pull at the first pang of boredom or desire for novelty, and of course those pangs occur constantly.
~ David Cain from, The Simple Joy of “No Phones Allowed”
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It has always seemed obvious to me that being focused on a screen, at the expense of the other person, was obviously bad. This used to bother me.
Now, when it happens I check my premises: Am I, right this instant, actually more interesting than the entire world in their hands?
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