Cutting edge: turning street knives into urban gyms

The metal equipment in this outdoor gym at a south London park is all made from melted knives taken off the streets. Now it’s become a focus for people to sharpen their skills and strength

It looks like Jay Chris is waving to the crowd with his legs. The bare-chested, two-time world calisthenics champion is performing a “flag handstand” atop parallel bars, a tricky manoeuvre in which he keeps his upper body straight while bending his lower limbs to one side. “I think that image gives a sense of the performative aspect of calisthenics,” says Bertie Oakes, the photographer behind the shot. “It’s a bit like skateboarding or breakdancing where you have a crowd circled around a person, who does what they can for a minute or two, and then someone else jumps in.” Muscles pulse, music pulsates and, he says, “everyone shouts encouragement.”

The picture was taken on a sunny afternoon in April and, like others in a new series by Oakes, it provides a snapshot of a community that has flourished over the past year at an unassuming outdoor gym in south London. In this corner of Ruskin Park, Lambeth, friendships have been forged over planches, muscle-ups, back levers and other moves from calisthenics, a type of strength training that’s sometimes called “street workout” or even “street gymnastics” owing to the way participants contort their bodies. (It uses bars and bodyweight and includes reps-based exercises, “static” holds and “dynamic” moves such as swinging and spinning.)

When London’s lockdowns shuttered indoor gyms, locals turned to Ruskin Park’s constellation of metal frames. Oakes was among them. Although the 23-year-old photographer lives opposite the park and had often walked past its equipment. He’d always felt self-conscious about joining the shirtless, chiselled guys. When he finally decided to hop on to the bars in early 2021, he found his concerns had been misplaced. “If you’re brave enough to say hello, it doesn’t matter if you can’t do a pull up, the guys will take an interest and give you advice,” says Oakes. He also realised that the scene’s magnetic personalities and flamboyant displays of athleticism needed to be captured on film.

The gym’s story predates its brawny inhabitants. A gleaming sign in front of the bars, which are arranged in varying heights and configurations, reads: “It stands to show that lives should be built from steel, not destroyed by it.” The facility was built in 2019 by Steel Warriors, a London charity that collects knives that have been confiscated from the streets by police, melts them down and turns them into equipment. “London has had a knife-crime epidemic for years now, so the initiative seems quite logical,” says Christian d’Ippolito, a Ruskin Park regular who until recently was Steel Warriors’s head of marketing and partnerships. “The whole thing has been nothing short of virtuous,” he adds.

Like the charity’s two other sites in Finsbury Park and Tower Hamlets, the Ruskin Park gym has provided a lifeline for disaffected youths. “It stops kids getting into the gang life and creates a much safer environment for them,” says Alex Thomas Kingham, 20, who trains here nearly every day. “It takes their minds off all that rubbish and gives them something to do.”

With perseverance, some youngsters find they excel at the moves. The gym has become a breeding ground for the UK’s nascent calisthenics movement, which is similar to where breakdancing was several years ago, says d’Ippolito. Team Instinct, a group of elite athletes who compete in calisthenic events in the UK and abroad, was formed here in the past year. The team has received sponsorship from brands including JD Sports and some of its members, including its blue-haired captain Goku Nsudoh, are racking up hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok.

Most significantly, though, the gym has enabled locals of all skill levels and socio-economic backgrounds to share exercise tips and life hacks while dusting calloused palms with grip-enhancing chalk and waiting for their turn on the bar. “Every single person in this area has trained here at least once,” says Shakadé Khan, a 22-year-old member of Instinct with a silver tongue. He only got to know his neighbours when they started working out side by side. Now, “We say hello to each other and they say hello to my mother,” he says. “Steel Warriors has opened doors to a new community.”

Unfortunately, the charity might not be able to do this for other neighbourhoods. It had planned to open 20 gyms but, a few months ago, Co-Op, its main sponsor, pulled funding. Now it looks unlikely that any more facilities will be built.

Beyond merely presenting “nice pictures of a cool couple of months I spent with these guys,” Oakes hopes his photos can be a call to arms for donations. “I’ve experienced first-hand how positive this community has been,” he says, “and I’m sure more gyms across the UK could be positive for others.”

Contributor

Jamie Waters

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Power to the people: the neighbours turning their London street into a solar power station
Lynmouth Road, Walthamstow is about to become its own power station, with solar energy for 30 homes. Now the artists responsible want us all to change how we heat our homes. By Anna Fielding

Anna Fielding

18, Dec, 2022 @8:00 AM

Article image
The real-life mermaids turning fantasy into reality on Britain’s shores
For centuries, tales of mermaids have bewitched both sailors and girls. Now fish-tailed women are making those stories come true. By Anna Fielding

Anna Fielding

16, Oct, 2022 @9:00 AM

Article image
Shape of the future: how Barry’s Bootcamp changed the way we work out
It offers five-star facilities, nightclub sound systems and celebrities sweating it out next to you… Laura Craik meets the brothers behind Barry’s Bootcamp

Laura Craik

01, Apr, 2018 @8:00 AM

Article image
The Gourmand magazine: at the cutting edge
Mixing cuisine, art and snails, this magazine for gourmets has taken food writing to some astonishing new places. Killian Fox meets the duo behind it

Killian Fox

05, Nov, 2017 @6:00 AM

Article image
In at the deep end: the activists plunging into the wild swimming campaign
Despite the huge boom in wild swimming, most of England’s rivers and reservoirs are still out of bounds. Now lobbyists are diving into the debate…

Will Coldwell

19, Sep, 2021 @11:00 AM

Article image
Raw deal: discontent is rising as water companies pump sewage into UK waters
More untreated sewage is being pumped into our seas and rivers than ever before. And anger at fat cat bosses and toothless regulators is running deep. Frankie Adkins meets the people determined to make waves

Frankie Adkins

13, Nov, 2022 @1:00 PM

Article image
Designer couple turn dark Victorian terrace into a light filled family home
An 1860s North London house gets a creative makeover

Becky Sunshine

18, Sep, 2022 @12:00 PM

Article image
Modern romance: turning a grey box into a colourful retro home
Retro patterns and splashes of colour bring the 1960s back to life in a perky live-work space in south London. By Serena Fokschaner

Serena Fokschaner

29, Jun, 2019 @3:00 PM

Article image
Heart of stone: turning a remote Scottish barn into a stylish home
Architect Lily Jencks inherited a 19th-century shell in the wilds of Dumfriesshire and has transformed it with empathy and flair

Dominic Bradbury

01, Oct, 2023 @10:30 AM

Article image
Well cool: yoga on ice in Swedish Lapland
Northern Sweden and the frozen Baltic provide a stunning setting for a yoga retreat that delivers as many thrills as it does chills

Emma Cook

19, Feb, 2017 @7:00 AM