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Yet another of UF’s Free London mega jams passes. The aptly titled ‘Re-$ession’ jam saw an overall turnout of 280 people turn up at London’s Southbank on the 31st of May to session hard and have some serious fun in the process. As always, the meet was packed with a healthy mix of beginners and pro’s who all came together under one big banner with a simple brief……to celebrate movement in a fun manner. The fact that a massive dose of freebies were dished out (Glyph tees, sweatbands and a load of adidas gear) simply helped to set the tone of ‘Free’.
The session started with an 11am hook up at the familiar setting of Imax. The majority of practitioners stayed at the Imax walls for a while and then Claudiu and myself were left with the task of rounding up the sheepish few who had wandered off to other spots so we could include them in the moneyshot group photo. From a headcount, there were at least 280+ who attended and as usual we all moved round to the popular locations including the Baby 45, Jubilee Gardens, Vauxhall and the Festival Pier. As usual we got hassled at the Baby 45/Hayward Gallery area by the security who to be blunt, were absolutely useless at their job. They tried the strong arm tactic of ordering people off of the Baby 45 and if anything, their tone had the opposite effect. Most people stayed on the walls and carried on doing cats and precisions simply down to how rude they were. I was also told that I wasn’t allowed to take photos in the area (They said this last time) and ended up being heckled by one of the security wardens asking me to “delete the photos” (I didn’t). It was only when a passing police woman came up and asked us in a courteous manner that we happily obliged and moved on. *Note to security……being polite in your approach and talking intelligently pays dividends.
Apart from that confrontation, it was a fun and enjoyable day throughout and I the photos below I’m sure will show a taste of that.
Photos and written article courtesy of UF team photographer, David Fox:
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- Sponsored athlete Toby takes a slightly different route by diving through the railings and konging the marble platform.
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- Elegance demonstrated from a powerhouse of a practitioner.
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- Claudiu with his 5D monster. Never has point n click looked so good.
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- Livewire being filmed doing a callout that was weaker than Marwan’s baby camel legs. In the end it was decided that it was too tame to do anything with. a shame.
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- A one-handed handspring tumble at the meeting point, Imax.
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- Claudiu thrusts his tripod in Kerbie’s face and for a minute, Kerbnix thinks its a mic and prepares to burst into song.
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- Livewire shows how it’s done with the classic cat leap at the Baby 45
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- Ebony and ivory……come together in perfect harmony.
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- Lorna, the teams very own ‘Joanna’ got a tad too excited over all the cameras being pointed at her and she ended up spilling her McFlurry.
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- Friends are reacquainted once again.
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- After frantically running around trying to round up the wanderers, the group photo was taken. Approx 120 people in this early photo out of the overall 280.
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- The guys line up and decide what to do next…
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- A 180 cat leap movement captured at the Baby 45 just the right time for an interesting image.
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- Recently crowned champion at the Redbull Art of Motion event, Blue takes some time out and chooses to use his camera. Here he snipes me. Boom headshot!!
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- Tim aka Livewire is confronted by a disgruntled and annoyed security warden during the training session at the Baby 45.
Toby’s kongs through the rails were awesome, i was sitting right next to him doing it. The day was awesome and i was just annoyed i was injured and couldn’t do an thing, can’t wait for the next one though
even the police dont have the power to make you delete your photos once theyre recorded or confiscate your equipment, regardless of if its taken in a public place or on private property… with the exception being if it risks military-related national security information.
Awesome set of pictures, some good moments captured here, good to see some social pics too :p I wonder why the security guard picked him to confront, and he must have some serious balls to confront a mob of 280 practitioners! What did he have to say was anyone here there?
brill pics
Kong through the rails is awesome
The Backflip of the day……… was so crazy
London ♥