THANH NGUYEN | No fear during Freestyle | Interview | The Athlete Insider Podcast #24

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then nobody can stop you because they're  always athlete who has like weaknesses   and when you're complete nobody can touch you yo  gorillas welcome to the athlete insider podcast   by gornation my name is phil and today's guest  is again a special one a professional freestyle   athlete from germany the founder of the freeze  uh founder of the flight thenx freestyle movement   and uh yeah an event organizer uh really just an  inspiration for the german calisthenics freestyle   scene i'm really happy to have we'll have you here  and to welcome you thanh nguyen from Frankfurt hey   phil how you doing i'm good thank you um yeah  i'm really looking forward to this interview   and um yeah to to talk to you about the the  development in the the sport that we see right   now but also your story your um yeah your your  history and yeah to kick off for the people who   don't know you or who want to get to know you  better who are you how do you describe yourself   okay that's awesome and thank you for inviting  me to this interview that's really nice what   you guys doing with go nation and that  was a really dope introduction by the way   thank you for that um yeah feeling happy to  be here yeah let's go on nice so who is tom who is tan who i am yeah  that's a very good question   and i would say me so like um  not a human being no just kidding   i'm yeah i'm just an ordinary person  who's doing extraordinary things so yeah i love to influence people i love to  spread positivity and what i'm actually doing   is calisthenics and showing the people what i  love doing what i'm passionate about and try   to bring more joy and more happiness into this  world wow nice that's good to start off with   people always ask these uh hard facts um how old  are you let's let's start with this one how old   are you yeah i'm uh 26 now so uh next year i'm  turning 27 already so that's yeah another people   not a lot of people think that i'm that old but  um it's really hard to guess the age of an asian   guy you know so um yeah so i experienced a  lot in my 26 years nice that's good so you   bring like a lot of experience to this young  sports to this um young calisthenic scene   where mostly like for the freestyle athletes  that are they are often like 17 or 19 or like   it's crazy and so yeah it's nice to have some  some experience in this um where are you born actually i was born and raised in germany so   i was born in weinheim it's like  somewhere in the south in germany so yeah and then i look like okay that's nice and how  tall are you i'm 177 centimeters yeah and how   heavy are you right now right now i guess i'm 64  65 kg depends on how much i eat but i try to bulk   again but for freestyle i like it more to be  light so you're going to have a better flow yeah   and also your explosive uh like muscle ups and  uh one-hour pull-ups etc it's it's crazy because   we're nearly the same height um i'm just 178 but  i am okay 80 kilos right now because i'm bored   and uh yeah i think it's it's a huge difference  like weighing i don't know 65 kilos and 80.   exactly but i think you see it you know like  everybody who saw you doing muscle ups or   stuff like that it's it's crazy like when also  on the rings i think you did some stuff a few   days weeks ago it's just uh nice to watch yeah  it's just like when you like 80 kilos it's like   for me adding up 15 kilos on my shoulders and  pulling that much up so it makes a difference but   you also it's it's not like an excuse as well  it's like you have to build up more strength and   with strength coming like muscles and yeah that's  true it always depends on the goals that's true   exactly um and uh yeah where does your  family come from where where are your roots   yeah my roots are from vietnam so my  parents are born and raised in vietnam and   they moved to germany when the vietnam war just  started so they're actually refugees so yeah   they're coming to germany to have a better  life and that's what i'm really thankful for   that they give me the opportunity to live in  such a stable and secure country like germany   because in vietnam it's a very beautiful country  i really love it but the politics are like yeah   it's another story okay wow but uh yeah good for  them good for you that uh they made this step and   they that they uh yeah managed to to make a living  here and stuff like that because that's something   that i always like really respect when uh like  refugees or like people from foreign countries   come to germany and they have this mentality this  mindset to work hard and to work for a better life   and they have like much more gratitude often for  the stuff that we have here um than people who   who just know this and who are born here and yeah  that's that's great yeah you should appreciate it   because like you see every like kind of asian  guy or asian family who's in germany they work   as of like they're literally just working more  than they're living and um yeah it should be more   balanced of course but it's a good opportunity to  to make a living and i think in germany it's like   one of the best countries to do that  yeah that's true okay so how did you   get in touch with calisthenics tell us your your  calisthenics journey oh it's a long journey so   um i started calisthenics in 2015 yeah  before i started calisthenics it was like   a quite hard time i did like dance professional  i was a professional hip-hop dance in the past i   won like international german championships and  stuff like that but then i had like three years   five years off doing nothing just yeah doing the  regular teenage stuff with smoking and drinking   and going to parties on the weekends and i felt  like there's something missing in my life you know   so that's why i just started looking for  something what fulfilled me i was like um in   the beginning skating so i went to the skate park  meeting with my friends having nice sessions and   one day there was like a calisthenics park built  right next behind the skate park and just because   i started skating was like a sports wow you need  to put the risk into it and it makes a lot of fun   and then one day there's just this calisthenics  park and there was this guy who's doing like   muscle ups and then muscle up to handstand and  crazy spins and i was like what the [ __ ] is   he doing that was really amazing i  couldn't imagine myself to do this   because i was really skinny and i feel very weak  and i was ashamed with my body i suffered with   acne problems in the past so that's why i was  like it's nothing for me but then all my skating   friends they move from skating to calisthenics  because the sport was more attractive you know and   it was something new in 2015 you should know  that and yeah it's it was very hard for me   in the beginning because i couldn't manage to  do one pull-up or something like that but then   once i start i get like totally addicted  to it and i remember in the year also 2015   this one guy who's doing the crazy must his name  is tim beholic uh maholika on instagram the guy   who's doing the muscle up hands straight by  handstand and stuff like that he um invited   us to the world cup stage in stuttgart it was 2015  world cup stage from by wrestling workout i think   and we went to this uh event and i was just  looking because and i didn't know about   any athlete i just know oh korres is like a very  popular athlete from germany and at this event i   tried to uh connect with him so i was like looking  for him but then he found me and he walked to   me before i could even talk to him he was like  oh you you asian guy you look like you're very   skillful and you're very powerful and i was like  i just started calisthenics i don't know anything   and then we get into touch and it was a very good  time very nice event he taught me like the 360 in   like one session and that was like my beginning  of calisthenics wow it's crazy because we i also   have been on the world cup stage uh and  should get it was on this um on this uh   i don't know like on this festival you know  like there was a festival in stuttgart on this   um this big place in front of the i don't know  what it was the church or the yeah it was just   in the middle of the city yeah and it was  like uh wow and so korres was uh the one   uh yeah going towards you and seeing the potential  in you and then teaching you like the first move   that's something that i didn't know i thought  you know each other since 10 years because when   you feel like that it feels like that but in  the fur like um we just understand each other   the first time and he saw that potential in me  and put his time and investment in me and that's   motivated me a lot because there was some like  professional guys who supporting me right in the   beginning of my journey and that helped me a lot  okay so your calisthenics journey was beginning   in at this uh next to the skating park um and  you tried to do some pull-ups and you didn't   you didn't uh yeah succeed how did you how did you  work out like um did you just try stuff or um i   was happy that i was like this calisthenics group  from bahalika he um had like weekly training or   almost daily training since the park was  just built and i just joined the guys and the   yeah it's just a regular like monday was push day  tuesday was a full day and going like that and   i just tried like pull-ups it was didn't work  and then i used resistance band doing pull-ups   with resistance bands and just because i think  because i was very like lightweight i used to wait   i think 50 kgs of 55 kgs or something like that  so i was very very skinny so because of that   if it was easy to do in calisthenics  so that's what i also want to   recommend everybody's maybe watching this and  feeling bad in their um in their uh their skin   and not very happy about their body  shape and if they're really skinny   calisthenics the best sport you can do because  you're just using your body weight and the less   you have to carry the easy is going to do skills  and perform a front lever or maybe a freestyle   that's true like all the stuff that like not all  but a lot of stuff that is a disadvantage in the   real world let's say is yes in the calisthenics  world to be small to be skinny that's like really   really big advantages and um yeah the people who  are like small and have problems uh due to their   height in bodybuilding or stuff yes the just um  the the interview before was with jay chris who   also uh talked about history uh to be small to  be um like to to have problems and being bullied   because of it yes then through calisthenics it was  an advantage from one day to another and that's   really nice to see that with calisthenics you can  turn disadvantages into advantages exactly exactly   um something that i asked myself where does  the name la twist come from because like when   i go to an event it's always all a twistler  twist and i say tongue and you know the twist yeah i know what you mean uh first of all uh  ton is a very hard name to write yeah so like   all my teachers and everybody is just mispronounce  it because it's like with two h's between the t   and edge and stuff like that so um it started  with i think it was in the year 2016 when i   get like some basic freestyle moves and i listen  to travis scott a lot yeah to that time and he's   like la flame you know and or his nickname  is la flame and uh one one day a friend of me   he comment under my post yeah la flame and i was  like okay that's cool but i don't like flames   i like twists you know like 360s gingers  and all the crazy moves so i combined   the two names and it turned to uh la twist nice  that also happened um when i first landed my my   ginger because in germany we say twist lip to it  and you say yes yes we say we say twist flip to it   and also the german community and um the funny  thing about it i unlocked this move on my birthday   so it was just a nice time so i remy  named in la twist and instagram and   since that i'm the twist okay okay i think like  i think i made a survey on this because it's it's   something that i think is really funny um because  you always say twist flip and i was like ah   i don't know this word i don't like it for  me it's a ginger um and yeah survey like and   asked people what do they say and it was  like eighty-five or ninety percent yeah   but uh yeah i still like it so um some people say  ice ball for the front of the regret that's also a   weird thing for me but uh yeah that's calisthenics  like i don't know is this is twist flip from   parkour or something or is it just no not actually  because we have a very known uh parkour athlete   jason paul in frankfurt and he also said why are  you guys saying twisted to it it's ginger and and   i was like no we call it twist lip and he's like  there's no twist at all in it and i'm like uh yeah   i don't know i think the first guy who's telling  that was courage and he has a from um i think   roger but was back in the day so it was like 2016  or something and you know things change and um   also i think ginga is the guy in gymnastic who's  doing the first ever ginga and his name was ginga   so you know in i think gymnastics is like when  you're doing the move the first time ever you can   name it by your uh yeah by yourself and that's  why i think this move is coming from gymnastics   so and um in calisthenics we try to separate a  little bit from gymnastics even like a lot of   freestyle moves are the same but i think twist lip  is just like a new name for for this move because   it's a little bit different to the gymnastic  race and that's why i just call it like that   okay so with the gymnastics uh un move to call  your name you have a battle with a professional   german uh gymnast there is a he's a there is  also a professional gymnast called nguyen in in   germany you know him yes yes uh i think his name  is marcel yeah no i actually don't know him but   i just know he's a like olympian gymnastics  guy he's really strong but nguyen is like   in germany muller or schmidt or something like  it's a very very known name there was like this uh this king who just renamed all the  people in vietnam and i know back in 2000   1 000 years or something so everybody named  nguyen so it's a very popular name in vietnam   nice didn't know that um yeah i was thinking  for me when i think of freestyle in germany um   i have to think of you like  uh for me you're one of the   founding people like the inspirations the  uh in germany we say alzheimer's shield if you think of freestyle they have to think  of you and like how did it go like how was the   development of the free circular cylinder scene  uh in in germany because you built a hotspot in   frankfurt with it yeah that's true that's true  um yeah it's it's actually really interesting to   talk about that because i i never think like i'm  conscious about that because it's just developed   like this you know so it was there and like  we haven't done anything but um i can say that   i think it started with courage because  he was like internationally the most um   well-known and strongest freestyle athlete back  in the days and he reinvented the 360s and afro   tornadoes and all the stuff and just because we  train at the park at the um european central bank   it it gets kind of to an hot spot and um because  this was the only park we just met there and all   the summer long you see it's like skating you know  we're living lifestyle it's just not like we're   having like one hour our workouts and then we  leave now we spent like almost a whole day there   and enjoying the sun and because of that there was  like always a person at the park who's like doing   three cycle standings and so more and more people  seeing okay there's a crazy movement or they're   like guys they're doing like superhuman crazy  stuff and that's how it's like kind of grows and   because we trained there and getting ready for  the german german championships and international   championships this was like it's getting more into  the health spot and after like i think one or two   years we also started to train people there and  we're getting a bigger community because there was   already people who doing random calisthenics but  not like only freestyle calisthenics but the more   people uh like were interested to the sport the  more we just helped and we taught them how to do   360 we taught them how to do proper muscle ups how  to gaining strength and i think because of that yeah that investment into the people it's just  start like growing and i think we're also very   good inspiration to these guys and helping  them grow and in the end we just uh creating   our most powerful athletes in germany and yeah  i think that was like kind of story behind that   okay you said you didn't do anything to do that  but i think it was like more subconsciously   because exactly because you put in the passion  and you spent like hours and hours every day at   the park and there was always always somebody  training there um plus the social media work   i think yeah like it also spreads because  frankfurt is quite a big city so um even if stuff   is going internationally there are people from  frankfort seeing it and the next thing is uh your   events yeah like uh how uh it's two weeks ago now  or three no two uh the the frankfurt city cup took   place yes it was in the end of uh september yeah  so like two weeks ago two and a half weeks ago   um so it's like you're you're putting in a lot  of work with fly sena flight thenx uh with you   as a as a coach as well um there too to to  push this sport and that's uh what i think   is really important um because if you don't have  the passion yourself uh if you just want to make   a living or like i don't know something else you  you won't put that much work in it and um yeah   yeah true i have to say that um it may also like  because we grow that much also on social media   it was just like we working as a team yeah  we were like beyonce me in the beginning   and we just hyped each other so hard like uh when  we did something we just did it uh we all did it   as three so we just uh trained together filming  all the trainings together and then releasing all   the posts at the same time and then it gets like  a triple hype we just call it triple height so   um and that's i think the main thing is not just  about social media but also in the trainings or   in everything when you have like a team or guys  who like got you back and supporting you it's way   easier than do it all alone so like i'm very  thankful that i had it and i know that a lot   of athletes in the world don't have this kind of  support or mental support or professional support   they can get it through coaches and everything  but sometimes they're like really expensive so i'm   very thankful that i had like a kind of team who  like pushed me especially in the beginning of my   journey and that helped me grow a lot so that's  why it's like my kind of mission with fly thenx to   build this freestyle community to give it back to  the guys who want to start freestyle calisthenics   they want to to build up more um more skills  and build build a nice following on instagram   or something we helped them a lot by just giving  them the chance to present their skills on an   event or on shows we also had like i think in  2018 that was the beginning of flight thenx   and we had like i think more than 20 shows like  through the year and a ton of workshops and just   yeah it was a it was a nice time and we just try  to give the people back especially i try to give   back what i get from this sport and to inspire  the people that's nice um do you remember how   much you grew in the last year on social media  like right now how many followers do you have   um i'm almost to 38 000 followers so um actually  to be honest i'm not um i'm not very like focusing   on how much i grow on instagram because in the  beginning i was like yeah i need to get that 10k   i need to get more followers i need to get more  views and stuff like that but then i realized at   some time it was not about just growing on social  media yeah of course you can make a living out   there and having nice corporations and influence  people and stuff like that but it was like more   just showing the world what i really passionate  about what i love doing and just be like authentic   and just because of that and of course i put like  a lot of qual some quality stuff on instagram   getting a new uh equipment i spent thousands  of euros just to get like a new laptop a new   camera and stuff like that to get to stack  up the quality but in the end i realized   you don't need that so all you need is just  like a phone and putting out the content   what you really love and that helps me like  growing and it was like a more subconscious   thing with instagram like everything i i've done  on instagram was like it's just happened because   i did what i just wanted to do yeah and sometimes  it's changed from week to week but all in all i'm   just putting out the content what i really love  doing i love to show the world my skills my   my flows and yeah what i'm doing with calisthenics  and also sharing the guys my trips and what you   also can like experience from calisthenics okay  and that's something that i hear a lot that people   um like everybody who is not uh an  influencer or like wants to become one   says oh like uh it's all about the followers etc  and the people who have the followers they say   um first of all like often they say first  of all i just started to recognize to   to document everything for me myself yes for  me as a diary or something um and then it grew   and people liked it and um that's true i don't  care about the followers it's nice because of   the collaborations yes yes but but you're true  that's absolutely what i can underline because   in the beginning especially i just i use it as a  video diary and that's what i also can recommend   everybody because the people they love to see  how you grow and especially the guys who like   know uh you're getting touched personally  like your your co-workers or your your guys   where you're in school with or university they  all know you but they don't know what you're   actually doing with your sport and just showing  how you're growing helps me a lot because like   i just use it as a diary as well when you scroll  down you can see me doing like sloppy muscle ups   and uh i don't know [ __ ] up 360's where  i busted my shoulders and stuff like that   so i think that's helped to to see how you're  growing and it makes a lot of fun to to look   into the progression especially to the history  and to the stories of what the people can tell   that's true and in calisthenics it's a big  secret especially if you train alone to   just film yourself and watch yourself watch the  technique etc and if you can just then post it   on instagram it's it's like a win-win situation um  it's really really nice and um everybody who wants   to reach 10000k to do to be able to do a swipe up  link after that it becomes uh like at least it was   for us um like 10k was important because we wanted  to do swipe ups but from there it was like okay   uh 11k 12k etc um it's like not important yes  yes i mean if you have like specific goals like   yeah i want to be that tom influencer like  daniel's or something with a huge following   and putting out crazy content and stuff like  that then you should have to put in the work and   yeah try to uh try to grow and use it like  and have a focus go but in the end like   like you said uh my goal was to reach that 10k and  it was like so hard to get it yeah but once i get   it it was like everything just yeah it was easier  to i think from 10k to almost 40k now it was like   not that a lot of work you know like the beginning  but you should appreciate what you have and the   more work you put into instagram and social media  the more you will get because you see nowadays   algorithm has changed it's almost impossible  to grow nowadays and i always hearing from   like also from local athletes here how can i get a  bigger falling uh i want to cooperate with i want   cooperation with go nation i also want to get a  sponsored athlete i want to travel the world and   i need i want to get money from calisthenics and  how can i grow on instagram it's always the same   questions but actually you don't grow from from  today to tomorrow it just has it's like a long   journey and you have to put a lot of work into it  and the more you're like active on instagram it's   like you can um it's impossible to want like 10ks  when you just post one once in a month you know so   you have to be active and consistent  and that's i think the key   yeah and something that you  use as well maybe a short   hint for the people to try reels um because  it's like right now really pushed yeah instagram   so yeah whenever you have like some story clips  or reformat clips on like 15 seconds stuff that   is entertaining you can just put it on reels and  it works really well because you're exactly real   right yeah it's crazy it's crazy it's i think i  was one of the first guys starting the wheels um   and i get on my first real like 80k no it  was 800k almost a million views and it was   like me doing a simple 360 but it's just like  more for the um regular people to watch it not   just like calisthenics athletes so i just  do like very simple things and it's not a   lot of work for me and the people like it so  i just keep doing it that and once i get like   a wheel with 3 million views and that boosts  my instagram a lot and instagram featured like   all these crazy uh videos and i was like  okay normally you have to pay instagram   that they're going to feature or something  like that but now they do it like because   it was good content and back in days i remember  instagram was like 50 seconds videos only   so you if you have a crazy combo you have to  keep it short so only big moves just you saw you   already know that and um i think in reals you have  the good potential to inspire the people with like   small videos because our in a time of attention  what we give into social media is like so short   nowadays so i think it's a really good thing with  the 15 seconds i think they expanded already to 30   seconds so you can change it also to 30 seconds  but the shorter it is and the more entertaining   it is the the more follows and the more people are  going to come and i think that's the key to grow   nowadays and the good thing is if you have love to  have a clean feed or something you just can delete   it like after one or two days out of your feet and  it's still in the reels you're still getting the   impressions so i really recommend it to everybody  doing calisthenics and really want to grow just   entertain the people showing what you can do and  then it's very simple that's true like for me my   social media advice to somebody who wants to grow  just maybe to round it up or you have something   that you don't agree on um to post really nice  photos in the feed uh because instagram works   really well for photos uh your best videos you  make small clips for reels because instagram   pushes these as well and if you have really nice  uh content like long content video content you   do youtube because youtube is an evergreen it's  always there you will still get views in three   years and um yeah that's a good strategy but you  need patience it won't go from today to tomorrow   yeah i would say that actually instagram does  what i want to because for some guys like only   pictures are working for some guys like videos  are like crazy it's like for me when i post a   picture like my last picture get like not even  a thousand likes i mean i don't care about it's   crazy how it depends on like three million views  and i don't know how many thousand likes and   with one picture two thousand so for me it's just  like videos when i'm posting videos especially   real estate like going crazy so it depending on  how you get like into the algorithm on instagram   yeah but you also had a really nice  video like uh the the ones doing   wanna pull ups with uh 95k views that's  also like uh it went really well in as   a normal video so you can never say uh videos  don't work at all yes that's true that's true   what i'm very curious about and what  i really realized because it's not um it's it's like every time i'm doing this vid a  kind of combo because i i think i've done this   combo like already two years ago i did it like  one time in la when i first went to california   with my friends and we did it at venice beach i  did this combo and it get also like back in days   i had like 15 000 followers or something and  i also get like almost 50k views or something   that was quite a lot and then i did it again  in switzerland when i was at the bardocks um   battles and it also went like all almost 100k  and now again so i think the people really like   that kind of one-on-pull-up elsitol stuff so  maybe is that so when when you realize that the   people like something you're doing then you just  might have to do it more often yeah that's true   for us for example it's just uh  the esid like everybody doing yes   it always works crazy like mana and eset these are  two moves that work extremely well and if you find   out something like this you can do more of it and  um yeah that's that's a good uh good thing yeah   because what i also realized is um it's very like  unthankful instagram is so unthankful you know   so they're like athletes who are doing um 720s i  think this guy kubilos he's doing like 720 to 900   and everything and he is like a couple of thousand  followers or even 1 000 followers and it's like   very yeah it's very unthankful so these guys  deserve a lot of more followers but in the end   normal people they don't understand what seven  they don't even know what a 360 is so when they   see like something like a one-on-pull-up  or some guy's doing uh manas or the girls   eye sits it's like okay maybe i can see myself in  this kind of movement so it's it's getting more   impressions because it's easier to understand  what's actually happened there yeah that's true   yeah and also like working with slow motions  etc uh also makes it easier for normal people to   understand but yeah that's a totally different  topic let's see yes yes away from the social   media topic yeah it's so interesting we could  talk yeah that's true um yeah so um you always   already talked about your inspiration to start  with a street workout um but people are always   interested in the planche and i know that you're  it's also a move that you work on a lot um that   you're currently working on the full planche  which is looking already quite solid um but talk   about your planche journey how did it go did it go  really linear or like were there some challenges   how did it go um yeah it's a very good question my  plan journey was yeah challenging very challenging   i think i'm already like training three years or  something for the planche and in the first year   i had like zero progressions because i haven't  done like i get a lot of tips from youtube and   from other athletes but in the end in my workouts  i just did my old workout so i haven't converted   the tips into like real workouts and so the first  year i just like haven't progressed anything i   had like uh in germany we say duckducker so like  a roof rooftool top up flange because like your   ass is like very up and your legs are very low and  i think since i get more into in touch into like   professional athlete like victor kaminov and like  very crazy strong planche athlete and i get the   advice from them it was a little bit different  for me to to reinvent my uh my my workouts so i   gained a lot of more strength and i just realized  it's just basic you don't have to do like crazy   ecstatic planche secret skills and movement just  do liens and do proper basics and that helped me   a lot so since i get like more consistent my  plans i feel like way more easy to progress so   it's like it's good to getting a coach or getting  some helps and tips from professional athletes   or watching youtube videos but in the end you just  have to be consistent with basic exercise even   when you can do like the full planche and stuff  like you still have to do your basic strength   exercise to improve your fundament because  yeah you're holding everybody on your arm so   you should have to build up that fundamental  strength first and then going to advance movements   and it takes discipline and consistency that's  why my journey was like and now it's getting like   constantly better nice do you say that you are  able to do the full planche like is it something   that you say that you unlocked it or like when is  it that you are 100 sure that you can do it always it's very very interesting because  i've already unlocked it last year   and then i injured myself because i was like stop  doing the basic and just going for full planche   and every training and had didn't have a proper  warm-up so but for now i would say that i'm almost   unlocked i can't say that unlock it because  for me is like when you can hold it for like   i don't know 10 seconds with ease and still like  able to talk like i can have an interview with you   while i'm holding the full planche and i would say  unlock it you know i could do that in front even   very easy but in planche it's like still uh some  struggles i can perform it for three four seconds   but it still takes like too much energy to say  that i'm fully unlock it okay so you have a really   high standard to say that you unlocked something  yeah yes i'm kind of like uh yeah i would really   love to do the move perfectly until i say that  um able to do it because like when you're like   able to improve like planche progressions uh  like planche um uh variations like press or hands   yeah press negatives or different planche  variations then you can say you fully master   the planche or unlock it because you're able to  combine it or use different variations with that   okay get it let's switch to dynamics um a  question that we get in like we can get quite   quite often from the community if we interview  a freestyle athlete is how do i fight the fear   freestyling or like doing dynamics um and i  give this question to you how do you fight   the fear when doing uh like let's start with  the 360 but also like the front flip regret um   you're you're currently also um unlocking um and  yeah fear is i think the most important question   so um it's actually very simple um when  you're able to turn off your thoughts   then the fear might disappear but before every  like competition or something i get also nervous   and the fear is always there but you have to  categorize and maybe like visualize that when   it's like for example you know that you can do  this move yeah you train it so often and you know   there's a possibility that you can fail and maybe  you have like some very hard fails like for me i   broke my ribs and uh get like  serious injuries from freestyle but   i know that this can happen again but it's like  no sense no there's no point to think about that   kind of scenario what happened in the past you're  just focusing on that you're able to do this skill   of course with that big respect that something  can happen but when you truly trust in your   skills and just focusing on being in the moment  then actually nothing can happen because that's   why i'm always saying just go with the flow don't  force yourself to do like 360 when when there's   some days where you like don't feel your freestyle  skills then just don't freeze your train statics   but there are some days you need some like kind  of um yeah warm-up combos i call them and then   just doing like easy freestyle skills and then  you your body getting comfortable for that and   once you're like learning the way how  your body reacts you can or just like   when you want to beat your fear and try to learn  new moves just try it on mats for example or using   a place where you have like a good setup where you  can train proper so the risk is like very low and   the more you can lower the risk the better you get  into freestyle and the thing by avoiding fear is   just to yeah visualize that you can  do this move and to have the courage   and just do it i know it sounds like very simple  to say just do it but when you're able to turn off   your thoughts then you can do it and you can do  it with yeah breath exercise you can do it with   affirmations and that's how  i beat my fear for example   okay affirmations for the people who don't know  what it is self affirmations can you explain it   self-affirmations it's like just manipulate your  body or your mind it's like you're not tricking   your mind but you're telling yourself something  beautiful or you're telling yourself like   uh you're confident and you can do this  you're going to grab this move now yeah   and then because you're forcing your mind into  this it's like when i'm telling you um don't think   uh don't uh imagine eyes uh uh don't  imagine a pink elephant in your head   and then you automatically see this pink elephant  because i uh i give this thought in your your head   and when you say like um i'm going to grab this  move then you're going to grab this move yeah   because you give your body the the right  direction and when you're telling yourself   before you run run to the boss and you have like  already the comma in your head you just try to   have the first string for example when i do the  front flip and i'm like oh [ __ ] uh when i'm not   going to grab like this i'm going to found then  i'm going to fail because i had like this little   thought this little negative thought and it just  can kill your combos and that's why it's important   to to be like 100 focus on that you're going to  grab it of course you have to train for that to   to be able to do it like fluently but in the  end with this kind of self-affirmations you can   manipulate your mind so hard that you're able to  do like crazy things you never thought you can do   okay that's a really good tool and it's simple  um and everybody can just try it um to just   tell themselves stuff that makes them feel  comfortable that makes them feel uh self-conscious   yes yeah that's good um but you don't only do um  self-confirmations uh self-affirmation sorry um   but also like your surrounding uh when i watch  your your videos uh from from the gym where you   all train together or even outdoors you are a  group of really like supportive energetic people   who scream etc uh what what what role does your  surrounding your friends around you play in your   your workouts um actually it's depending when i  also have like workouts where i just train alone   and try to hide myself up but it's i think every f  professional athlete can agree with that it's like   when you're surrounded with like very good  freeza athletes and they're putting the   energy into the rooms like when you're screaming  you put up energy and you're like i feel it in my   skin when somebody's screaming like you can't do  it and just go for a full scent and it's a little   bit different than just to train by yourself  that's why i it's like my kind of mission to   to grow the sport so that every kind of people or  every kind of place have like a little community   who support this uh themselves and it's the same  like in football or in other sports the more you   cheer the better the guy is playing you know  and that's an important role because in um in   frankfurt we're always having like hype sessions  you know we have this one guy uh mr candyman   he's like he's known for his hype trains we call  it type trains because like everybody who wants to   jump on the hype train you can go it now because  now the hype is like very high in you when you're   at the place you feel the energy level like before  you're touching the bus and everybody's screaming   you're going to perform on your highest level and  that's why i really appreciate a lot and that's   why it's important to all ethics even they're like  very weak or something we just hype them up that   they can get that first muscle up or that they  can get this new dynamics what they just learned   and it's also i think a kind of um a creation  appreciation thing when you just achieve something   what's very extraordinary that you deserve that  kind of hype and you see it on calisthenics event   when i remember um in new york it was in this year  at the call-up competition when tony did the 720   it was like oh my god the whole gym was just  exploding and there was so much energy there and   yeah the more energy you generate especially with  your crew the more the athlete's going to perform   yeah very clean and maybe he's doing like some  very high level advanced power moves and this   kind of hype energy helps a lot it's like kind  of draining what's that energy transferring   [ __ ] but it's really working yeah that's true  and i think even as a viewer of the video you   feel like hyped and uh that's really nice um  yeah you realize that also in my videos i also   like uh sometimes i just when you hear the people  screaming and they hype it up i don't want to   play music or because there are like so many  emotions and this kind of sounds and audience that   the people need to feel that as well and yeah it's  good when people when they're seeing that also get   like excited and when you're creating feelings and  in the viewer and everybody who's there no that's   true what was the hardest move you've learned so  far that's something that i would be interested in   that i'm just learning right now just that you  already that you already unlocked the hardest move   in statics or dynamics if you can  compare the both i would say like overall   but it's hard to say but overall what  is the hardest move the hardest move i would say front to regret but actually it's not  that hard it's just more beating the wrist because   when when you have balls and you're not afraid  you're going to do it but i remember that i land   like i think 100 times uh on my belly and that was  like kind of hard progress but the hardest move i think it's like the giant to front feb  league wrap because you have to um to   check how much energy you have to put into the  swing that you're going to transfer the the flip   in to the right uh direction because if you have  too much energy you're going to land on the body   to have too less energy or you're too afraid  you're going to be way far away from the bar   so i think it's a giant front for regret but for  me like the hardest move to unlock was actually   the full planche and static so it took like more  time discipline dedication and consistency to   get this move because my body is not made for  planche i realized that i have my body composition   is like not made for planche but i still able  to do it that's why i think there was that move   what i like put the most time and work into it  okay so it also the genetics play a role you say   okay i think they play a bigger  role than a lot of people think um   we discussed it in the beginning of the interview  with that um yeah when you have more weight or not   you you have like it's very it's more easy to pull  and stuff like that um it should not be an excuse   because they're like very crazy heavyweight  athletes like literally uh professional   i think uh he's also doing like planches and  everything with ease it's a very heavy weight but   what i've what we're talking about right now is  like the body composition and the body composition   is like in other spots a very big deal especially  in plants and um you can see like short people   they planche like i don't know like it's nothing  and they're like some people it's like almost   impossible to learn it and i was questioning  myself all the time and also we had like after   er especially frankfurt city cup and other  events where like um short athletes are   doing like crazy aesthetic strength and there  were all this discussion oh yeah it's kind of   unfair because i'm waiting more or much higher  and how you can judge us and stuff like that and   i think wco already did a good job with their  weight category because like in mma or in other uh   in boxing for example there's also like weight  categories but i just heard from dion because   he's like also he has a black belt in taekwondo  and he said that um there's also like a kind of   measuring of how long your arm is for example so  when you even you're like heavy weight you can um   have like very short arms  then you get into like the   the weight class below because you have a kind of  disadvantage because you can't hit your opponent   with the full range and i think that's the kind  of similar things into calisthenics depending   especially what kind of moves do you want to learn  so i think people with like long backs like me or   short arms or something have quite a hard time  to like lean into the planche because you need a   totally different angle to have like a very  clean high planche and but it's still not an   excuse you can do it it just might be harder  and takes more discipline and more time okay   yeah that's um true because i remember the the  conversations and the discussions after the event   um but yeah it's it's hard to to execute on it  right now um i didn't know that wco already does   it that's a good sign that uh this develops into  the right direction um but um how do you see the   the sports development right now like uh where do  you see the the sport developing in the last years to be honest in um i think in since i  started 2015 to i think 2016 there were like   a huge um growth in freestyle calisthenics  in germany also because of barista workout   with dennis montana he did like an amazing  job in the past with his king of the bars   they're like getting they're like so many  crazy athletes coming together and you see the   youtube views there like millions of clicks and  the sport was just like on a very nice peak and   after that it just like stopped for a little bit  and maybe it just went down here in general i just   can't tell it in germany because in the world  the sports just grow it's just slowly but steady   but especially from the year 2017 to like  90 maybe or even until now the spots just   yeah stops growing a bit in my opinion especially  freestyle sports like in general we have so many   weighted and strength power athletes but  freestyle is a little bit like yeah still small   and um i was wondering why i was like that and i  realized it's like because there are no community   and meet ups there like no no calisthenics battles  especially like just normal tournaments where   freestyle athletes can battle each other  there was just one german championship event   for i think german athletes a year and it's like  very yeah poor for like a country like germany to   just have one freestyle event like one big free  set event for local athletes and it was like in um   in a place where it's like not very good connected  so it was like in dessa i mean you've been to the   german ships the last years and i mean the guys  from ghetto work out the chef on the organize   he's a very nice person so that's why we talked to  them at fibo 2019 last year that we want to bring   german championship to frankfurt because it's  like a big city and it's very well connected to   to whole germany and uh yeah it works really  good with our flight thenx event we we yeah   had like new battle system with the world values  format where we like give the people the chance to   compete and i think the more events are like going  to happen the modern sports is also going to grow   because it's just in the end all by the community  everybody can train by themselves but it's not   that much fun when you're coming together and can  have that feeling how it is to train with the best   athlete or to battle with them so i see like  since 2019 a little growth especially with your   meet ups what you have with your events and there  are some local guys having like small meetups but   not all meetups are like just freestyle focus  you know and with freestyle i don't mean like um   only uh dynamics freestyle is also like statics  and strength elements but they're the way less   way too less people here in germany who do this  and that's our job especially for yeah brands   like donation or big names and calisthenics like  course or me or alex or somebody in germany to   like use this kind of influence power to yeah  to bring the people together and bring more   athletes and i think we did it pretty good  with flight fantasy and frankfurt so you   see they're like a lot a lot of german  athletes who like in this kind of area   doing freestyle calisthenics maybe more than in  other parts of germany and i think also with the   deutschen calisthenics verbum we have this kind  of organization where we can make something like   this official and have more events so we're  planning some nice things for the future   especially for next year when covert is  all over and then we're going to have like   yeah a new revolution of calisthenics and  i'm very happy to be part of that and yes   and i think you like do an amazing job and you  are the person of the group of people to do that   um because you have the experience in the  sport you have the connections you know the   the freestyle athletes um because it's not uh  it's not the same like for us it's really easy   to do like a sets and reps competition a weighted  competition etc because like in germany weighted   and sets and reps is much bigger and we do  it ourselves we have the experience we um   but like for the freestyle it's hard for somebody  who's not freestyling to organize it so it's   really good to for you to get in connection with  the um with the uh german uh association with the   uh yes calisthenics for band with uh stefan from  ghetto work or etc so yeah good luck for that and   you know that you have our support um definitely  really important i really thank you also   to uh be part of that flight thenx event and  always supporting us and that means us a lot and   i think together we can yeah do something great  because it's easier when a lot of people like   influence people can do together things then  everybody's just working on their own having   their own goals because in the end we all want to  make the sports grow and so we all have to connect   together community communicate together and  that's the main thing that's true and the scene   and the people are so hungry they are so hungry  thirsty whatever they want events they are like   the people from frankfurt from calix they like  drive around germany they go to every event etc   so the people are really hyped for it it's just  that we need somebody who takes charge of if   it's who is responsible for it who goes  all in and that's um yeah what i really   yeah it's very hard because uh not not especially  in germany i know that a lot of countries   also suffer from this problem that they are like  they very passionate about freestyle calisthenics   but they don't know how to build a community  or get the people together and it's just like   it's very simple to have like you said your  trainings but in the end it's more important   what you're doing after your training like also  caring about unitress and stuff like that but how   to build up like a community and how to to make  a step into the right direction with building up   team or doing more like events how you uh spread  the word of freestyle calisthenics explaining to   the people what freestyle calisthenics is because  for us it's like normal everybody knows sports   in this kind of small family because we're all  connected with instagram and stuff like that but   for the outsiders for people who don't know what  freestyle calisthenics is they just see what we   doing with this kind of crazy moves but  they don't know how to start with that   how to uh what this actually is and we need  to do more uh i don't have the english word   it's just off clearance are right in german maybe  you have that word yeah just spreading the word   like um spreading the word calisthenics yes  yes that's true okay nice i think uh yeah we   covered a lot of uh topics we're like over  an hour already um okay well we still have   some uh some quick questions quick answers uh  to end the episode um so yeah pizza or burger pizza burger it's always such a random bro um  burger okay uh are you a dog or a cat person   dog person my um yeah my sign astro sign  is also dark in the chinese calendar   nice that's good that's a good sign  i was born in the year of the dark what is your favorite location for holidays   favorite location um i think my best  room i have ever had was in california what would change for you if social  media just disappeared overnight that's a good question i think not a  lot it will be way harder to connect   with the athletes worldwide but then i  need to stick to the local athletes and   maybe you're writing letters or something  to connect with the people but i would still   working out in my gym or outside and still making  the sports grow grow and having more local events   maybe it's better for the environment as well when  people uh stop flying around the country because   we're so global those guys yeah but it would be  definitely hard that it would be definitely hard   and challenging and if you transfer the the number  of dms sent on instagram to handwritten letters i   think that won't be good for the environment  so i think maybe we can stick like this   yeah that's true and stay with social media  um do you have a favorite calisthenics athlete   or like a top three or something yeah i had  a like a top three maybe um i haven't thought   about that but so spontaneously i would say  in freestyle californic it's definitely anuri   from morocco he's like a very young talented guy   and we also tried to bring him here to germany  but it's very hard to get these moroccan athletes   to our events but he's like very complete in  dynamics you get like almost all power moves   and um as like very complete athlete i would um  say it's thomas kuganov i know him for a long   time and he progressed so good and i think he's  like maybe the new daniels because dennis was in   the past like my big inspiration now he's like  uh getting better again and getting more active   so i think these are the three athletes who like  inspiring me the most and in the past it was like   courage he's not that much active anymore but  he was like also a huge huge inspiration to me   yeah nice um do you have a favorite  book that you would recommend yes i have many books and i've read a lot of books  but when i have one book what i can give to you   is like how you um going to upgrade your  performance it's the uh high performance habits   from brandon bouchard the hp6 it's like um yeah  seeking clarity for example generate energy raise   necessity increase productivity develop influence  and demonstrate courage i think it's like the most   six powerful yeah hacks what you can learn for  yourself because we humans we act with habits   yeah and the more you can change your  bad habits and turn it into good habits   the better you can perform it's like it doesn't  matter if you go into the meeting or if you're   going to your workouts if you have like business  ideas or if you just want to get a better person   they're like some habits you can change and these  kind of habits what you get learned in the book   help you a lot or help me a lot and i always  recommend everybody to master these skills and   yeah that helped me a lot okay good we'll  put the link and stuff like that in the   description for people who are interested the  best calisthenics event you've ever been at best calisthenics event um there were so  many crazy events but i would say it was   world of bar heroes 2019 at fibo especially  the final where ikvan battled against daniels   yes that stage was huge and it was an honor  for me to judge that event and i think   that was like the most crazy event so far true  that was i will never forget i i think the   moment that equine landed the front flip regret  and everybody just escalated um yeah yeah in   the last seconds like in their last round after  battling like six other athletes and he's still   like performing on his highest level so iquan  was like really amazing that's true okay um   and then the last question dynamics or aesthetics  what would you choose if you have to decide   dynamics dynamics okay good already guessed that  but uh yeah i wanted to make sure if you want to   lose the full planche or the front flip rig right  if you have yes it's like i think it's a cool fun   question but in the end i'm the guy who's like  agreeing with a lot of professional athletes it's   completeness over everything you need to come  be complete to yeah to get a strong athlete and   to win competition i mean there's some like only  statics competitions and reset competitions and   stuff like that but in the end if you're complete  if you're able to do like crazy dynamics combining   with very strength power strength moves like  pestos and maltese presses and have like   crazy holes then nobody can stop you because  they're always athlete who has like weaknesses   and when you complete nobody can touch you and  maybe that's one of the um one of the benefits i   had in the beginning of my workouts always tried  to be complete and i never i'm not like really   good in dynamics i'm not really good in aesthetics  but i'm like an overall beast like i i can do everything yeah and that's what it  should be like the most focus on   okay cool nice then let's uh finish off how  can people get in touch with you if you want   they want to uh yeah talk to you i don't  know learn from you how do they reach you actually they just can text me a dm  on instagram so simple i try to use   every second day the message even it's hard but i  really like help everybody so um and also offering   coaches coaching so when somebody is like really  into calisthenics and really want to learn the   skills and know that i'm able to teach them so  they can get into my coaching as well and um yeah   they just contact me on instagram okay perfect we  will put everything in the description you also   have a website oh you can link the website i like  the website um that's good uh so we will put yeah   you mean the ukiyo talents website or which kind  of website you you once posted a website that   about yourself and i looked at it and i liked it  so uh but it yeah with the iced coffee yeah it's a   um article what my girlfriend writes about me  so also really big support it's a shout out to   my girlfriend he's doing like all the crazy work  behind of that so um yeah you can link that that's   really fun to read and to watch nice perfect so  we're coming to an end and before you can end   the episode um i will want to say thank you to  everyone listening to this till the end because   it's a long episode it's i appreciate everyone  listening to this like for an hour and 20 minutes   um and yeah i hope you would we were able to  take some some stuff with you and that you   profited from it and enjoyed it and yeah don't  forget to rate the episode if so if you liked it   give us a thumbs up give us a subscription  whatever you want to do to support this channel   and also if you want to have an athlete who has  to be interviewed put him in the description   and apart from that ton thanks for taking the time  on this tuesday morning to do the interview thanks   a lot for that and uh you can end the episode yes  oh yeah and i have to thank you as well phil and   donation for letting me having this nice interview  um yes i hope the people can learn from that   and uh i have one question for everybody  who's still watching this kind of 90 minutes   interview respect for that but the question is are  you living the dream or is the dream living you