What is it, ‘to be strong’? Why do we push ourselves every day to be fitter, faster, stronger, more fearless, more capable, more efficient?

How do you truly get better at something? Through human history we have developed a multitude of methods to educate ourselves in whichever disciplines we desire. Obviously there are techniques that work better than others, depending on the personality traits of the individual doing the learning, but personally I have always found that "hands on" training allows me to understand and comprehend concepts much faster than any other method I've tried.

The housing estates at Elephant and Castle have been a favourite training location for London’s traceurs for several years. During its early stages, Parkour in the UK was often focused in city centres, both in training and in media representation. In my experience, it’s not that Parkour ever left the housing estates but perhaps got temporarily distracted by the shiny city, before realising that the best terrain is residential, not commercial.

What was I letting myself in for? There I was, committing to teaching on a Sunday morning, indefinitely.. with a British winter on the way. Who would seriously turn up to these classes? Surely it will just be me and Andy standing there on a rainy Sunday morning waiting for.. oh wait. Lots of people!

I originally had a different post for this month and may end up putting that one up in a few days also but for now I just wanted to make a big shout out for a friend of mine who was recently injured, Naoki Ishiyama.