This week, I’m talking to Reka and Dorina, the founders of Budapest Racquet Society—or BRS—in, you guessed it, Budapest.

We’re in the early days of this new tennis club movement, but something exciting is definitely happening at the intersection of social community and sports. Running and training have paved the way, and now tennis is stepping into the spotlight—and it’s emerging fast.

For a certain generation, the concept of social community is second nature. People are craving connection and movement, whether it’s reconnecting with something they loved as kids or finally trying something they’ve always wanted to but found intimidating. Tennis has traditionally carried that air of exclusivity, but these new clubs are flipping the script. They’re all about connection, community, and a genuine passion for the sport. BRS is a perfect example, making serious waves in Budapest’s tennis scene.

In this episode, we dive into Reka and Dorina’s tennis backgrounds, the tennis culture in Hungary, and why Budapest seems especially welcoming to this new style of club. What I love about BRS and others like it is their focus on individuality and inclusivity. On court, with a racquet in hand, you’re simply a tennis player—no clichés required. 

At its core, the draw of these clubs goes beyond the sport. It’s about fun—the joy of being on court, moving, learning, and improving alongside others. Honestly, life doesn’t get much better than that.

A huge thanks to Dorina and Reka for sharing their time and for what they’re doing for tennis in Budapest. I’m a big fan of the sport and all these new clubs popping up around the world.

As always, share this pod with like-minded people or anyone who’s thought about getting into tennis or racquet sports but didn’t know where to start. Chances are, there’s a club like BRS in a city near you—find them, get on court, and get involved.
From Chris and me, peace.

Hey there and welcome to the wemove podcast

It was the end of the tennis grand slam of the Australian Open at the weekend. Pretty pumped for the level of play in both men's and women’s. Congrats to Madison Keys and Jannik Sinner for their displays of Slam winning play. 
Continuing the theme of tennis with today's episode but focussed on the community level. A couple of episodes back we spoke to Amsterdam Tennis Society about the growth of their social tennis club, and closer to home, we have just spoken to the founding trio of Bisque Tennis club in London.

Run club formats are established and continue to grow, which continues to amaze me at the evolution of the running and running community space. It’s a model that's inspiring people to get up and run, move and ultimately change their physical and mental states, which is fantastic. Now this has been happening for a while, plus other sporting communities have been growing, in the training space for example with CrossFit, Hyrox and also climbing and bouldering. Racquet sports are now bubbling up, boosted by Padel and Pickle. These new sports are bringing their own innovations as they develop. 

The more traditional ones, in this case tennis, with it’s heritage, traditions and sometimes stifling rules and norms has not seen much innovation and evolution. That is until now, with the likes of Bisque and Amsterdam Tennis Society emerging and connecting with other like minded tennis players through social platforms.

Bisque founders, Alejandro, Seb and Alex sat down with me this weekend to chat Bisque, it’s ideas, formats and plans for bringing players together of all levels to enjoy getting on court and hitting some balls without being bound by the sometimes stifling club traditions.

Thanks to the guys for their time. If you are in London and want to get onto a tennis court, but feel reluctant to give it a go for whatever reason, check Bisque out and sign up for one of their sessions.

Thanks for listening. from Chris and me. Peace.

Hey there and welcome to the weMove podcast.

Tennis and racquet sports are getting a fair bit of attention at the moment. Tennis is picking up as it often does with a dip into fashion, and more so recently with the film Challengers and the Netflix series Break Point getting some attention (although that could have made more of an attempt to cover the behind the scenes tennis world of adulation, isolation, struggle and success). With the Padel and Pickle scene booming it is not just tennis, though while the others are fun, it is tennis that has caught my eye from it cropping up in conversations on mental fitness and longevity, the reliance of self, childhood memories, skill development, the rise of competition and the idea of winning and human connection and community.

Over the course of these episodes I’ll be speaking to a variety of players from raw beginners, to seasoned athletes, coaches and community builders. And today it is the community building. We are social beings at heart, we want to be around like minded people and also be active. Just look at the running boom that keeps returning and growing, the same for Crossfit and the training space. Well that appears to be happening in the Tennis space and the emergence of a new type of community club. Like minds coming together to share time, space and movement/sport with each other brought together through social media. 

I’m talking with Maria and Joost the founders of one such club, Amsterdam Tennis Society, a females only club in Amsterdam. Mirroring their aesthetic and personality, ATS was born mid this year 2024 and is already meeting a need for connection, community around a shared passion for Tennis. 

There are other groups around the world forming, sharing a similar desire to come together and do. For me it feels important to have ATS as an example that there are like minds out there, wanting to express themselves connect with other like minds. Sport is a great way of doing that, in fact any interest/activity is the same, it just takes a moment of inspiration to have a look what’s out there and get involved. 

As always share the episode with someone you think might need a nudge of encouragement.

From Chris and me, Peace.

Website - https://westerndaughters.square.site/
Instagram - @Kate_kavanaugh

Western Daughers Instagram - @westerndaughters

Mind, Body and Soil podcast

Hey there and welcome to the weMove podcast .
 
The next episode in our exploration of the nervous system, this week Chris talks Dom Koch, one of the practitioners we have worked with for many years, about how the nervous system is the governing body for our movements, but when it feels unsafe or from past experiences, it might reduce the number of options available to the body.
 
The body is always giving you the truth, telling you where you are at. How we respond to that truth is crucial in moving forward.
 
Do you force yourself to move or do you let your body move into place? Allowing our bodies to move, the body will more likely move in the way you want it to. Forcing anything, never really works.
 
There is no right or wrong in movement but there are options, many of which might be forgotten, ignored, shut off from due to pain, memory, past experience
 
 Your body will use what it has and deems safe, but it might not be the most efficient. If there is then pain then it creates limitations on how the body can move and in turn how we feel in space, in the environment around us.
 
 Dom’s work is a mirror to remind the users body of movement options and in turn show the body that it has nothing to fear in how it moves and if it feels safe to do so.
 
 Your body will move better when the nervous system feels safe, efficient and energy conserving to do that. He tries to get what is missing, much like the map in the brain that has been smudged and we can’t quite see the path forwards. His work reminds our brains of the paths the body can travel, opening us up to greater ranges of movement and awareness.
 
 He’s a bit of a wizard in our opinion, whether you have long standing pain in movement, or just feel like life is not quite flowing, his skills might just be what is required to get movement and life on a forward path again.
 
 Enjoy the pod, have a listen and remember to share it with someone you feel might get something from it.

Web - https://www.decrypt-bodywork.com/
Insta  - @decryptbodywork

The weMove podcast is getting in to the Nervous System, what it is, what it does for us and how we can relearn how we communicate with it to take us from a place of fight, flight, freeze, fawn to a more regulated alert and healthy state giving us back the power to experience life and movement.
 
We have heard the phrase Nervous System many times and trauma equally as much. The last few years the word trauma has become increasingly used and focussed on. However we have felt being stuck in this place of trauma contemplation was not the place to be, nor was covering our past with experiences that took us away from what we were feeling, be that ice baths, breathing practices, daily training, ointments and potions. None of which are wrong but our bodies tell us what the problem is through these sensations that if we numb them, we cannot feel. And if we cannot feel, then we cannot heal.
 
 Our guest @irenelyon Irene Lyon, MSC. and nervous system expert, teaches people around the world how to work with the nervous system to transform trauma, heal body and mind, and live full, creative lives. To date, her online programs and classes have reached over 9,500 people in over 90 countries. Irene has a Master’s Degree in Biomedical and Health Science and also has a knack for making complex info easy for all of us to understand and apply to our lives. She has extensively studied and practices the works of Dr. Moshé Feldenkrais, Peter Levine (founder of Somatic Experiencing) and Kathy Kain (founder of Somatic Practice). Irene spends her free time eating delicious food, hiking in the mountains or walking along the Pacific Ocean in her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Enjoy the show and share the episode with one person who you feel will benefit. Peace from Chris and me (James!)

Website - https://irenelyon.com/
Instagram - @irenelyon
21 Day Nervous System Tune Up / Smart Body, Smart Mind - https://irenelyon.com/programs/

Moshé Feldenkrais - https://feldenkrais.com/
Peter Levine - https://www.somaticexperiencing.com
Kathy Kain - https://somaticpractice.net/

Hi there and welcome to the weMove podcast. 

This episode revisits our farming series ran a few months ago as since then Chris has been documenting in film the farmers and the relationships the farmers have with the land and most importantly the animals on the land. 

This podcast directly accompanies Chris’s film The Dairy Farmer, hearing how Sophie Gregory became a dairy farmer, her relationship with farming as a business and it’s direct connection to the health of humans. 

There are many levels to the phrase “we are what we eat”, but we literally are because what we eat, becomes our flesh and blood. It nourishes us with it’s nutrition for good and bad (in direct correlation with the lifestyle the animal/crop has led, think pasture raised cattle who live on the land versus antibiotic filled, synthetic food eating cattle, kept in conditions less than optimal for their health, let alone ours) 

Eating well is the same process for the food that feeds us, and eating for our health and vitality becomes a simple process when we understand that minimally processed natural food sources that have been raised and grown in conditions which support the land and them, provides the most nutrient dense positive nourishment for mind and body. 

As Sophie says in the film, “healthy soil, healthy animal, healthy milk/food, healthy human”. It is a simple connected wheel, one that does require us to be aware and mindful of what, where and how our food is raised/grown/produced. 

You can watch the film on weMove.world, or click the link in our instagram bio. 

Thanks to Chris as always for making these films, up and out whatever the weather to capture the moments and share the stories of the people and animals who provide our food. 

Peace.