Risking life and limb for what?

I have always been enthusiastic about action sports. This I believe has stemmed from my father who kitesurfs and the group of BMXers and skaters that I grew up with. I understand action sports are not for everyone and I am going to try and define the aspect that I derive the most pleasure from and maybe you can find another way of experiencing it.

Some of the universal values an activity like BMXing can give you include a sense of accomplishment and a sense of belonging. What I see as much rarer but equally as gratifying is the sense of feeling alive and the sense of control. I believe both of these feelings come from what Hunter S. Thompson defined in the book, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, as ‘edgework’. Jason Laurendeau in is book “He didn’t go in doing a skydive” describes it as:

Essentially, edgework involves exploring the limits of one’s ability and/or the technology one is using while maintaining enough control to successfully negotiate the edge.

Edgework is, as I see it, quintessential to action sports. The sense of control elicited through edgework, through taking calculated risks, is what gives you that feeling of being alive. It happens when you are acting instinctively when your mind is fully focused in the moment. It is the combination of adrenalin and a confident control over your body and emotions.

It’s important to remember edgework is more than taking unnecessary risks, it is testing what you believe about your own abilities. The better we understand what we are capable of the more confident we can be in the decisions we make. I would encourage everyone to take up an activity where you can push and test your own limits and maybe break a bone or two in the process.

This was written by Dan Beaven for Just Ripe