The language of nature. Or, what happens if you slow down and listen.

My friend Tristan forwarded this to me - it's from one of Radiolab's recent podcasts. The subject is language in nature:

The whole thing is extremely fascinating, but I love the part at the end - where Klaus understands the language of the Diana monkeys. Despite the immanent danger there was the sudden realization that, in that moment, he was simply another primate in the jungle.

Check it out.

The linguists: A prairie dog and a Diana monkey

DC barefoot run, korima, and cancer

A few weeks ago I had the great pleasure of meeting Bob Ewing at the New York City barefoot run. Bob is gearing up to run the Marine Corps Marathon completely barefoot. That's pretty impressive. More impressive is why he's doing it - to raise money for Leukemia/Lymphoma research and to encourage people to join the bone marrow registry. In doing so, he's bringing the Tarahumara concept of korima to the USA. Watch this video to learn more:

I strongly encourage all of you to check out his website, to donate, and most importantly to join the bone marrow registry. I will be doing so on Monday.

Bob, best of luck to you on the run and thank you for everything you're doing. Fifth Ape salutes you.

Less than awesome and totally awesome

Two quick vids for all of you. The first is me completely screwing up on a few snatch attempts at 85lbs. I'm putting this up so we can all remind ourselves that athletic improvement is a process, and that we must fail often before we succeed. I eventually got my act together and stuck a few at 105lbs. My goal is to hit 135 in the next 6 weeks, then march on towards a bodyweight snatch (160 for me).

I would appreciate comments/critiques on my form. I know it needs a lot of work. The video was taken at Crossfit Durham and the soothing voice you hear behind the camera belongs to Richard Yaxley. It's Rich's birthday today - happy birthday Rich!

So, all that stuff I just said about process, failure, etc. does not apply if your name is Eric DiMarzio and you're a boss. Check out Eric destroying "the wall" in Forest Theater - a 12 ft. monstrosity. We made him do it about 8 times because it was so incredibly awesome to watch.

In truth, Eric worked extremely hard to get this, so the process comment stands. The thing that put him over the top? (hah! I haz a pun) Barefoot training. The extra calf and ankle strength added at least a few inches.

Pretty amazing.

Finally, a quick word of thanks to everyone who has given me such positive feedback on the launch of Fifth Ape training. I'm pretty nervous about the whole thing, so your words of encouragement are greatly appreciated!