Rafe Kelley is the Owner of Evolve, Move, Play, a business designed to use movement practice to develop more resilient and embodied humans. While his primary specialization is in parkour, he caters to clients ranging from world-class parkour athletes and MMA fighters to untrained everyday people. He founded his company with the vision to help people build the physical practice that will help make them the strongest, most adaptable, and resilient human possible.
Kelley started in the martial arts at the age of 6 and has studied Tang Soo Do, Aikido, kung fu, kickboxing, Brazilian jiu jitsu, and Muay Thai. An expert in parkour (navigating obstacles by jumping, running, flipping, or swinging over them) Rafe also has experience in modern training disciplines such as sprinting, gymnastics, CrossFit, FRC, and modern dance, among others.
In this episode, Joel taps into Rafe’s knowledge of human movement in terms of his experience with martial arts, fighting, and modern dance. The sports performance industry talks about force a lot, but it is critical to look at the best athletes in the world on a level comparing them with dancers instead of powerlifters to get a fuller understanding of the required timing and rhythm. Rafe gives his insight into his experience in the deeper movement qualities that really make elite athletes and how we can consider those qualities of rhythm and fluidity in our own training designs.
In this podcast, Rafe Kelly and Joel discuss:
- Complexity in training, and how to get more work and effectiveness in a shorter period of time.
- Quantifying fatigue in basketball and parkour, and how risk increases session fatigue.
- Rhythmic qualities of movement in athletics, and how to improve athletic performance from a rhythmic perspective.
- Points on the use and relationship of dance and ethnic dance styles to athletic performance.
Animal forms and flow in training and human movement.
