My time as a youth wasn’t spent playing team sports, but rather I filled my days (and nights) vaulting fences, climbing trees, running from neighborhood dogs, jumping off rooftops, and getting into that which would, on the surface, be considered “mischief.” In truth, this period served as a fundamental time of discovery and exploration of my mental and physical limitations and abilities, the world around me and my place in it. As I inched closer towards adulthood, where the dim cultural expectation is to assimilate to a sedentary work-life, I stumbled across Parkour, which served as a pivotal turning point that shaped my journey forward.

Parkour provided me with a legitimate framework to pursue and foster my natural human abilities to walk, run, jump, crawl, roll, climb, and balance outside of conventional sports. Movement helped me build a sense of self-confidence and a unique and tangible relationship with my capabilities based on truth rather than frivolous and arbitrary metrics so commonly applied today. As I furthered this natural movement practice, no matter where I traveled or what company I found myself in, I naturally connected with people on this common ground of having a body in motion. I discovered a profound passion for sharing, teaching, and learning about the human body. I also began to recognize the lack of a well-rounded bodily education in the majority of those I met, be they athletes or people that didn’t actively look after their bodies; very few could truly move with confidence and grace, nor did they have an honest understanding of how to care for and prevent injury.

I began searching for the most universal tools from various disciplines that might help people rediscover their wild potential as humans; to help reverse the effects of living a modern, zoo-like human life and to return their bodies to a state of resilience and bring back physical self-efficacy. In this search, I have spent over a decade traveling, attending seminars and gaining noteworthy certifications, learning from leading coaches and teachers, seeking out mentors, earning collegiate degrees in kinesiology and nutrition, and exploring countless disciplines from gymnastics to swimming, all the while putting what I’ve learned to the test in my own practice. In 2016, I founded Pacific Northwest Gymnastic Strength Training (PNWGST), a small, independent gym in Corvallis, OR.