Shaun Wood´s Blog

Rhys and I have just returned home from a night in Brisbane. We flew up for a job for Sony. Originally the job was meant to be a Parkour show for their new TV the Bravia but after we saw the layout of the stage we soon realized that it was going to be a purely acrobatic show due to the fact that there were absolutely no obstacles for us to "overcome". We flew out on Sunday morning and arrived in Brisbane around 10am. On the flight we met the other guys that were going to be involved with the show. There were two breakdances and 4 freestyle soccer jugglers. They were all really nice lads and it didn't take us all long to start talking and sharing some experiences with each other. The thing i love about all the work i have been doing lately is sharing experiences with other people and listening to all the stories that everyone has to share. I am also finding that we all share common interested no matter what movement backgrounds we comes from, be it breakdancera, dancers, gymnasts, stunt men, martial artists or even freestyle jugglers, we are all dedicated to what we do and can share similar ideals about our disciplines. Sometimes i worry about the state of Parkour and Freerun with the online community but i am realizing over time that ever community goes through the same stuff and that the people that end up being key people in the disciplines are the people that stay right away from the politics of each movement and focus more on their journey and benefiting themselves.

The show was good, we all worked together and it came off well. However it was a constant two hour show and it really took a lot out of Rhys and I and unfortuently one of the bboys hurt his knee quite bad. Overall though the show was a lot of fun.

The flight home had to be one of the scariest flights i have been on. The weather was horrible but i made i through to the other-side so thank god for that. It was an amazing weekend and i learnt a lot .The more I am doing the wiser i am becoming and the happier I am becoming.

Expect the best and the best will come...
Arent you sick of always seeing people who just seem to breeze through life, while everything comes to them, everything that they wanted, everything that you wanted, but cant get? We know those people, who seem to just get lucky over and over again. Already rich, but always get the jackpott. Their cups always seem to overflow and we marvel at their accomplishments. Well heres something, it was not a matter of being "connected and know the "right" person, there was one defining pattern to all these people, it was their attitude.

Never did I hear them complain or worry (out loud for that matter). They always expected the best to happen and it did. Even when bad times fell on them, I found them always in good spirits and like clockwork, everything that they seemed to loose was restored back and then some.

Than i began to realise that we as a society always think of the results. We think they are going to replace our depression, our losss and make us happy, but it aint entirly true. That sounds like such an absurd statement, but how many of you believe today that you will be happy after you make a lot of money. Or you will believe you can accomplish something after you do it. Or my personal favorite, "I'll believe it when I see it." The truth is there is no such thing as luck. Things only happen when you believe they can happen.

So many times have i heard people say things along the lines as "i cant do it", "it wont happy to me" and you know what? They are right. Because those statements are the defining factor between the people who cant do it, and the people who have done it. If they expect they cant, then they wont. Im not saying that it will bring you instant success and victory, but its much like riding a bike. You fall on your knees at first, a skin our knees. he difference in believing "you can" will make you try again instead of walking away and accepting defeat. Mistakes and setbacks are just a part of the learning process...learn from them and they will never happen again.

I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as coincidences. We live in a world of constant cause and effect and it is no coincidence that people who think positive have positive things happen to them. Just as well, people who think negative thoughts have negative things happen to them. Problem is many people just do not know that they are doing it to themselves. If they took the time to monitor their thoughts, they would be amazed to see there was no coincidence in the outcomes at all. True happiness is within everyone's grasp.

Skeptical? So was I, till it started to work...Honestly, what do you have to lose?

-Shaun Wood

Thank god. I am now feeling satisfied for the first time in a while. I have been home from Thailand for two weeks and one day and i am starting to feel back in the real world. Thailand has a habbit of making you think you are in a fantasy world, everything is so cheap and easy living over there that it hits you hard when you get back to reality. I have been training my arse off since i got home and i am feeling great.

I have been staying at Wiseno's house quite a lot lately. I was there on Saturday night and suggested that he come and stay and train up at my house for a couple of nights. It is something i have been wanting for a while. I also love a new set of eyes in my local training area and Wiseno was one of the few people that hadn't come and stayed at my house yet.
The first night we didnt get in to late, so we didn't do a whole lot. However the second day way great. We spent most of the day (althought we didn't get up until 12:20) training around The Entrance. One of the highlights had to be when i took him to one of my regular training spots. The area is surrounded by trees, however i had never played around with them at all. I saw Wiseno playing around there and suggest we try and get from one side to the other without touching the ground. Within 10 minutes so much potential had opened up and the whole area has changed for me 100%.

The best part of the day however came when the sun went down. We decided that we were going to continue training. We found a couple of new areas, the best was an area that has a cat to arm jump. It was reletivly large and both Wiseno and I spent some time working up to it. After about 5 minutes we both succeeded. We headed back to my house and i suggested we hope on my roof and explore (i live in a really old pub and the building is really old. We got a very plesent suprise when we got up there) and we found some amazing stuff up there. There were wallruns, armjumps and a rather large precison that we didnt do due to the lack of light. I will take pictures of the area and post them later.
We focused a lot of time on balancing in the dark around the edges of the building. I have been quite troubled lately when it comes to overcoming fears and i feel that i really progressed this night due to the drills we were performing.

All in all, i feel that the last two weeks have been great. I feel i have progressed a lot and that i am going down the path i want.

I think this video is pretty self explanatory.
Peace

It seems like only yesterday that i made the two hour trip down to Sydney for my first training session. I arrived at Chatswood station too meet a guy that i had met over the internet, who i only knew as "JZ". My knowledge of parkour was slim, and my attitude sucked. I really was the worst type of beginner, the type we all cringe at, the type that enjoyed 3 meters drops with no roll. If it wasn't for a certain few people, that led me in the right direction i really don't know where i would be right now, but it wouldn't be a good position.
When i look back to this occasion, i realise why i am in love with Parkour so very much I have come such a distance since that time and it is the most satisfying feeling i can imagine. Parkour has developed me as person not only physically, but has shaped who i am and many of my attitudes on life and for that, i thank Parkour.
The group of friends i now call my friends are amazing and i have met these people through Parkour. It has given me the motivation to do so many things i had never been strong enough to do, it has given me the motivation, the biggest one is travel. When i started training 2 years ago, i had never left my state of NSW. Since i have been to Queensland, Canberra, England, France, Spain, Morocco, with my main motviation being to explore and train. Surely i did the touristy things, but all i found myself wanting to do was explore. Oh how Parkour shapes your life. I met so many amazing people through these travels.
The future for me is to keep training, stay safe and keep progressing, while exploring more of the world. I love life and will embrace it with both hands forward, following the my path that i will look back on one date without a breathe of regret.
Live it.
WOO HOOOOO!!