CW: weight loss and dieting mentions In the early days of the 20th century, sports teams tended to select people with an "average" or a "typical" build, for all sports. It was presumed that the most typical human shape would produce the greatest performance. When selection for normativity was scrapped, and entry opened to people with previously unwelcome body types, not only did sports teams see an immediate divergence in body shapes between sports, they also saw an increase

Why are you barefoot? I was asked this question while balancing barefoot along an abandoned tram track in a park in Leipzig, by an adorable five-year-old, asking the way children do; with a genuine curiosity rather than the i-already-think-you’re-an-idiot tone that adults can take. But speaking German, I scrambled for translations I didn’t know for words I needed, and in the end managed nothing but a kein-Deutsch apology and a smile. It got me thinking though- it’s the same q

I’ve never seen the need for parkour brands. You want something cool on your t-shirt? Get a sharpie and draw it on there. And then get back to training. One of the attractions of parkour for me has always been that we don’t need kit; we don’t need to spend money. Right off the bat, parkour is more accessible to those in financially precarious situations, and less likely to be rampantly repackaged [1], like skateboarding and surfing have been (look into the calculated erasure

Some advice from a fellow traveller… If you are experiencing depression yourself, some of the points below may be helpful. This is not an exhaustive list, and it’s not medical advice. These things are what I aim for in periods of depression; I certainly don’t manage it all the time. Remember, relapse is part of recovery- this is not a checklist to judge yourself against. – The first thing to do is stand up straight. Keep your head high, roll your shoulders out and back, fill

The view from where I’m standing… I have depression. Looking back, it has been a part of my life for a long time...