What Took You So Long Foundation

Photoshoot with Peter Gallina
On June the 21st some parts of the WTYSL team conducted a photo shoot with photographer Peter Gallina in Richmond, west London. He was focusing on bringing out the excitement and energy in each WTYSL traveler; Check out some of the Photos at http://www.fotomoda.com/blog.htm – For inspiration please take a look at Peter’s website at www.photofashion.com.

Sandbox Dinner
A 15+ strong mix of Sandbox and WTYSL related talents joined forces on the 21st of June during a night long dinner event with everything from grass root brainstorming to heat problems in Rome. There is no end of the possibilities and through Sandbox platform WTYSL will scout out you promising talents that we will meet on our journey down the face of Africa. Sandbox will use its internal resources and external contacts to take WTYSL to take WTYSL to the next level Christian Busch, Sandbox Co-Founder says “We use our various communication channels to spread the word about the WTYSL project”. This is just the beginning. Extensive cooperation is the only way forward to create a sustainable world (read more).

Deep Listening Training
We had a “deep listening” session yesterday with Lesley, an executive coach who volunteered to give us a free two hour session. I don’t want to speak too much for our other members but I think we all can agree that we came a long way in coming together as a team. I learned how hard it really is to get what you really want to say out there, how hard it is to tell a team member what I really feel. Emotions and feelings are very important. And its hard for me as a guy to express them without dancing around issues and saying things that make myself seem important that really don’t do anything good for the group or say anything honest about who I am and what I want. “Trust” was a big theme in the session. Lesley did not hold back “attacking” things we said and delving into motives behind words we used in our conversations. Sometimes pride and feelings were hurt, but it was a good hurt. I feel like I know other team members better and know my role within the group. Despite tough situations I feel more confident in the trust we have developed between each other.

Krav Manga Training
Furthermore the What Took You So Long crew headed over to 5 hours of intensive Krav Maga training. We learned simple self defense tactics with an Israeli twist. Simple and powerful moves like being able to knock a knife out of an attackers hands from any angle. The inspiration behind Krav Maga is so that “one might walk in peace” Our instruct Golan was a gracious and fierce instructor. We spent about 5 hrs with him with some time in the neighboring park practicing with fake knives attempting to make the scenario as real as possible. I’d say we certainly walked away from the training with some beneficial information and practice on how to protect ourselves in a new way. Thank you so much Golan Levy Head Instructor &Director for your time and contributing this training to our African adventure! Ease check out their website at http://www.kravmagauk.co.uk/

Kickbox training
Our team had a very exciting and intense kickboxing session with the instructors Andy and Dan at The Mission, a key supporter of our movement. Andy is an experienced traveler of remote and hazardous areas and equipped us with skills and confidence to travel in Africa. For 2 hours we learned kicking and punching techniques for different scenarios. The training was intense and our muscles will be sore tonight but we will be much stronger because of it.