August 17th, 2010 by 
When I was a kid, I wasn’t very keen on going to sports class (who was, seriously?) and I remember my family gently (but endlessly) picking on me because I was more of the “intellectual type”. I always found this a bit unfair as I was horse riding for 10 years, and this to a decent level, and also spent 4 years practicing Tae Kwon Do and self-defence (enough to beat the crap out bullies at school!). Anyway, it’s probably my little personal vendetta on my family but, for the past few years I haven’t stopped jogging around London parks and spent a substantial part of my budget and free time to going to the gym… which, to be honest, is becoming fairly boring!
So, now that my love for the cross-trainer is fading, I am looking for a new, unusual and fun hobby to eat up my spare time… I have been doing a little bit of research and here are my favourites so far:
Not that special but still pretty cool, I really enjoyed going to The Castle in Finsbury Park for a couple of indoor climbing sessions. The first thing is that it takes a bit of getting used to, even though I do not really suffer from vertigo, I am not used to spending so much time off the ground! Climbing is about reaching one’s limits and going even past them!
The adrenaline rush adds a great buzz to the exercise and the whole experience is actually quite euphoric: what better satisfaction than actually reaching the top of the wall?! I found that it’s the best sport to give your flexibility, core strength, body-mental coordination and balance a good workout.
Climbing fellows are pretty cool and relaxed, always happy to give advice to newbies or spot out mistakes with the harness and slack knots that may endanger you… the whole thing is pretty relaxed but you have to remember that its still a potentially lethal hobby!
Likewise, in my quest for the right mix between complete workout, mental challenge and human interaction, I went to Roller Derby training.
Roller derby has been recently introduced to the mainstream with the Drew Barrymore flick Whip It. To cut a long story short, a typical roller derby match involves 2 teams, in each team there’s a pack and a jammer. The jammer has to sprint through the other team’s pack, faster than the other jammer. It’s more or less all about hips and elbows blocks, skating on quad rollers at full speed on an oval track. Oh, and that’s an exclusively female sport! Blokes are usually referees and coaches.
If you like rock’n roll, Riot Girl, DIY spirit and coming home happy with loads of bruises, then this is the best activity for you!
Team spirit is really important and all levels skaters are welcome. It’s all about the attitude, without the hassle of who has the latest brand of skates or even clothes. No pretending, just laughs and rock’n roll.
Finally, my next plan is to jump head first into the Parkour phenomena. Parkour is a discipline born in the early 20th Century, probably around WW1, in French military spheres, popularised in the past few years by a few French movies and world wide collectives. In its contemporary form, the principle of Parkour is to go for a fast free run, if possible in a busy landscape (i.e. a city centre) and use the environment to create an unusual path through the volumes and obstacles. This video will explain this much better than words:
Although it may not seem like it on the surface, living in a city still gives you the opportunity to get a bit of wild thrill and an outdoor workout.
If there are any other adrenaline addicts on Mindbubble I would love to hear your best experiences and suggestions!
