Beast Skills - Tutorials for Bodyweight Feats

We all had a great time at Potomac CrossFit, learning various gymnastic skills. Thanks again to everyone who came out! For those who missed the seminars, I'm running those handstand workshops in Washington DC this month. The info again:

Thanks to everyone who picked up a t-shirt over the months of April and May! Again, all proceeds were matched by me and given to ASCONN - The Autism Society of Connecticut . Keep an eye out for charity events in the future, and thanks again for helping!

For those in the Washington DC area, I have several last-minute gymnastic seminars planned. These are all going to take place at Potomac CrossFit in Arlington, Virginia. The gym will have information up very soon on these seminars, but if they don't, feel free to contact them to register. Price should be around $60-$80 a person.

Saturday June 6th: Beginner Seminar - 1:30-3:30 pm
Sunday June 7th: Beginner Seminar - 12:30-2:30 pm
Saturday June 13th: Advanced Seminar - 1:30-3:30 pm

The Beginner seminar is good for those just starting with handstands, and those trying to learn their first muscle-up. The Advanced seminar is good for those who are working on improving their handstands, and can perform multiple muscle-ups.

If you miss the seminars, I've got a couple FREE handstand workshops in Washington DC as well, both located at the Lululemon Clothing stores in Washington DC.

These workshops are more of a guided practice, where one can come and leave as they please. I will be on hand to offer guidance and advice, no matter what your skill level. These workshops get really crowded and busy, so get there early!

"While I've been a tremendous fan of you and the ideals and skills promoted by Beastskills for a little over a year now, I wanted to thank you for providing me with a much more profound inspiration in the recent months.

On Febraury 12 (approximately 3 months ago), I fell about 15 feet off a fence (yes--I know I was being a dumb kid--trust me when I say it won't happen again) and landed on my head. To make matters worse, my fall was broken by a concrete block at the end of a parking space. I ended up needing brain surgery, sinus reconstruction, a small amount of facial reconstruction and during my month long hospital stay I had to lay completely flat for nearly 20 days due to spinal fluid leaks. All of the doctors repeatedly reminded me that I should have died. I recently underwent my final surgery to fix another spinal fluid leak and miraculously I'm doing really well.

Prior to my accident, I had been avidly involved in martial arts and taught karate for about 5 years. Although I may not have been a candidate for Mr. Olympia, I was also extremely dedicated to weightlifting, training bodyweight based strength skills, a little bit of attempted gymnastics and tricking, and generally living a healthy lifestyle. Since February 12th, I have lost almost just about all the muscle I worked so hard to put on, regained only about 60% of my sight, and have been unable to do much of anything.

I'm saying this not because I'm asking for any sympathy or feel that my situation is even particularly horrific. I just want to thank you for posting the things you do on your site. When I stumbled upon Beastskills (and Testosterone Nation as a result of looking through your links), I was really excited to find a new set of skills that matched what I had already enjoyed doing. My workouts, work ethic, and general outlook were impacted greatly by the resources you provided. Now, looking at the skills on the page and remembering how hard I had to work to learn even the simplest skills, I'm presented with a list of goals. I'm not allowed to lift more than 5 pounds at the moment, and I'm not going to be dumb enough to even remotely rush back into training, but I'm excited at the prospect of working to be able to get strong again and relearn the things I loved to do so much before.

I know that may have sounded corny, but I just wanted to say thank you.

-Brian"

I thank Brian again for contacting me, and for granting me permission to post his letter. I put it up there as inspiration for everyone reading the site. I know that sometimes we all get frustrated and discouraged with our training. I just want to remind everyone how grateful we should be to use our bodies and minds in any capacity we can.

Enjoy your training.

-Jim

I received an unfortunate email a couple days ago from Larry Cruz, the organizer of the charity event - Pushing Past Autism. Due to a lack of pre-registered participants, it has been decided that the event will be canceled.

As previously stated though, I will still donate all t-shirt sales (plus match them with my own money) for April and May to ASCONN - The Connecticut Austism Society. So again, please feel free to pick up a shirt this month!

Also, on the news front. I've set up and actually uploaded pictures to my Flickr account. The first sets being the beginner and advanced seminars in Richmond, VA. Check them out!

And next, as if I need something else to update, I've got myself set up on both Twitter (for semi-regular training updates) and Facebook (for a fast-growing fan page).

Finally, I'm in talks for more seminars, as well as FREE handstand workshops around Washington DC. I'll keep you posted. Until then, best of luck with your training!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the seminar today at CrossFit RVA in Richmond, VA. And thanks to Jake and Brandon especially for helping put the whole thing together. If you're in the area, definitely check them out. Awesome workout spot and great group there.

Even in the sweltering heat, absolutely everyone kicked butt!! We had a lot of break-throughs today and it was great seeing people get their first muscle-up, first forward and backward roll on rings, among many other skills!

I'm back in Washington D.C. right now, beat from the weekend, but I'll have pictures of the whole event up very soon.

And a reminder, that all t-shirts are discounted for the next 48 hours! Grab yours today!

Pushing Past Autism (link here) is a one-day event in which participants do as many pushups as they can in four hours. It is being held on Saturday May 16th, at the Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT.

In order to prepare you for the event, I've created a quick video to give you some training tips on pushup endurance.

If you are unable to make it to the event, you can simply head to the website - http://www.Pushingpastautism.org/ - and donate there.

For the months of April and May, 100% of all T-shirt sales will be donated to this event. I will also match the total amount of T-shirt sales with an additional donation myself. So if you were thinking of buying a Beast Skills T-shirt, then head on over to the store and know you're helping this charity too!

Next, just a reminder of a seminar I will be holding on Sunday April, 26th in Richmond, Virginia.

There will be both a beginner and advanced seminar for those looking to learn basic and advanced acrobatic moves yourself. Click on the link above for times and more information.

And thanks to all those who commented on the April Fool's moon seminar. No, I can't offer group discount rates!

Finally, I posted a video several weeks ago showing a "pseudo-maltese" position on the rings.

This is a difficult position, but one which can strengthen up your chest and shoulders and make the backwards roll on the rings easier to master. Try to keep your hips in between the rings. I am using my lats to press off against my arms and stabilize myself. Give it a try and see what you think!

In the grand tradition of John Glenn, Buzz Aldrin, and Lance Bass, I have finally finished my negotiations and will have the next Beast Skills seminar on . . . wait for it . . .

That's right! It's taken a lot of talks with NASA (hence my lack of updates for the site), but I've finally secured a spot for myself and 15 seminar participants (we'll make several trips back and forth) on the Space Shuttle Atlantis, taking off May 12th.

That's right, Tuesday May 12th all seminar participants will be meeting at the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida at 6am. Due to the location of this special seminar, it's required that all seminar participants be physically fit, familiar with the stabilizing gyroscopes of the Hubble Space Telescope, and have the ability to moonwalk (at least on a hardwood floor with socks).

Cost for this seminar is a steal at $200,000 each person. A mere fraction of the $20 million that Bass was asked to cough up.

So I know your first question - "Why the moon?" Well, I know certain strength skills are difficult, so what better place to learn them then a place with lower gravity!?

Many skills would benefit, especially the no-handed planche outlined this time several years ago!

This seminar will be out of this world!!! With such a long time in space, we'll have plenty of time to take rests, let the body recover, and maybe kick back a cold one or two! Register today! Space may be limitless, but space in this seminar is extremely limited!!!

On another, non April 1st note, thanks to everyone who SOLD OUT the seminar at Primal Fitness this past Sunday! Great to meet everyone and see a couple people's first muscle-ups!

A big thank you to everyone who made it through the snow to High Performance Gymnastics Training Center a week ago to attend the Beast Skills seminar! I had a lot of fun, hope you did too. And I hope you went home with plenty of information to improve your bodyweight skills and strength.

And a big thanks to Shon Grosse for first reaching out to me to get this seminar in motion. You made it happen. And to Rachel Rivest of HPGTC for use of their fantastic facility. If you're in the Chalfont, PA area, definitely swing in and check them out. I sincerely hope to be back in the area soon.

Both of these are around the Washington DC / Virginia area, but check the new Beast Skills Seminar Map for future events.

All of these seminars are going to be a lot of fun with a ton of information. Please contact me if you have any questions about either seminar, and I hope to see you there!

So I'm back from vacation and I'm pleased to see all the people who took advantage of the early bird registration. For those of you who did not, spots are still available for the increased price of $80, but they are filling up fast!

And finally, a vacation photo from the British Virgin Islands. It was so relaxing, I almost didn't come back!