Good coaches →

Published August 5, 2015  ·  All posts on Aug 5  ·  

In contrast, a transformational coach realizes the power of the coaching platform to inspire, motivate, and produce positive change in his or her followers. He or she is acutely mindful of the moral, social, emotional, and psychological needs of young people. Transformational coaches offer individual support and encouragement to each player and have a clear vision for the desired impact on their players’ lives. And not surprisingly, a transformational coach, even in organized athletics, allows and encourages young people to simply play.

~ Joe Ehrmann from, InSideOut Coaching

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Broad shoulders →

Published August 4, 2015  ·  All posts on Aug 4  ·  

Ask not for a lighter burden; Ask instead for broader shoulders.

~ unknown

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Shut up and train: Self-directed advice →

Published August 3, 2015  ·  All posts on Aug 3  ·  , ,

This entry is part 29 of 72 in the series My Journey

Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue – to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak.

~ Socrates

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I think that “shutting up” has been the most difficult aspect of my Parkour journey.

In my youngling days — let’s define that as sub-30-years-old — I was always the clown: obnoxious; rude, crude and ill-mannered; smart ass. When you have a big ego and low self-esteem, you seek attention to try to make those ends meet. That’s probably a good benchmark definition of dysfunctional. Worse, I had no idea such was the case. Over the next ten years, (or so,) I started to realize that such behavior was dysfunctional and pathetic. That decade was finally followed by my beginning to try to change about 40 years of ingrained behavior.

It was at this point — just as I was trying to change the course of a very large ship with a very small rudder — that I started Parkour. At the time, I simply jumped into Parkour being my usual self. But two pushups into my first class I was stripped of my delusions of grandeur. Two minutes in, and I figured out that I was an out-of-shape pile of bacon. After two hours of trying to do something, anything, and failing and sweating and flailing and sweating more… Well, shit got real.

That first class was followed by a solid year of me having an argument with myself, in real-time, at every class. Every time I’d exhibit some variation of my dysfunctional behavior I’d mentally berate myself; Shut up. Train. After each class, I’d think back on all the cringe-worthy moments and think: Next time, shut up more. Train more.

Somewhere around two years in, my ship’s course had shifted far enough that the dysfunctional behavior was noticeably tailing off. Certainly, the behaviors I disliked were still frequent enough to bother me, but they WERE tailing off.

Now, three years in and going stronger than ever, I’ve made a lot of progress in terms of fixing myself mentally and physically. I can now say, with an air of experience: Everything has changed. And nothing has changed.

Shut up more. Train more.

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Remember snow →

Published August 2, 2015  ·  All posts on Aug 2

One of the things I love most about Pennsylvania: Four real seasons.

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Ground rails →

Published July 29, 2015  ·  All posts on Jul 29  ·  

Klamps plus left over pipes.

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Want the right thing →

Published July 29, 2015  ·  All posts on Jul 29  ·  

A perfect man would never act from a sense of duty; He’d always want the right thing more than the wrong one.

~ C.S. Lewis

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Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! →

Published July 26, 2015  ·  All posts on Jul 26  ·  , ,

This entry is part 28 of 72 in the series My Journey

In. The. Bag! …aaaand back to training.

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Quèbec →

Published July 24, 2015  ·  All posts on Jul 24  ·  

Recalling a certain chilly trip today. I’m already thinking of September… not certain how I’m getting there, or who else I will get to join me. But get there I shall.

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Recipe for disaster →

Published July 23, 2015  ·  All posts on Jul 23  ·  

We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology, and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That’s a clear recipe for disaster.

~ Carl Sagan

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Metabolic advantage →

Published July 21, 2015  ·  All posts on Jul 21  ·  

This entry is part 6 of 14 in the series John Briffa's "A Good Look at Good Health"

The idea that a particular diet might have weight loss benefits that cannot be predicted utterly by the calories contained in that diet is often referred to as ‘metabolic advantage’. I’ve found it to be a vexed topic, with commentators on it belonging to one of two camps. On the one hand we have those that believe ‘a calorie is a calorie’, and that the form that calories come in have not bearing on their impact on weight. On the other hand, we have those who maintain that the form calories come in can influence body weight in a way that is independent of the number of those calories, or who are least open to the idea that his can be true. Just to be clear, I am in the latter camp.

~ John Briffa from, «http://www.drbriffa.com/2009/10/19/is-there-such-as-thing-as-a-metabolic-advantage/»

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