Thanh Nguyen mag das Wort Influencer nicht. Er findet Creator besser. Der Dreißigjährige produziert und veröffentlicht Videos von seinen Reisen um die Welt und seinem Sport Calisthenics. „Es ist wie Turnen, aber mit mehr kreativen Elementen“, beschreibt es Nguyen. Er schwingt sich über Stangen, macht tollkühne Drehungen und hält sich in waagerechten und senkrechten Positionen an dem Eisen fest. Auf Instagram folgen „Latwist“ 146.000 Menschen. Er ist vierfacher deutscher Meister, hat fünf internationale Titel gewonnen und wurde vergangenes Jahr Vizeweltmeister im sogenannten Battle-Modus.
Im „richtigen“ Leben arbeitet er für den Sportkreis Frankfurt – natürlich als Verantwortlicher für die sozialen Medien. Als Assistent für das Projekt „BeActive“ treibt er in dieser Schnittstelle seinen Sport voran. Anfang September hat er nicht nur die internationale Calisthenics Convention in der Fabriksporthalle organisiert, sondern in deren Rahmen auch die deutschen Meisterschaften.
Eigentlich hätten diese in Berlin oder Hamburg stattfinden sollen, aber die Communities dort haben es nicht auf die Reihe bekommen. „Bevor gar keine Meisterschaften stattfinden, habe ich es selbst in die Hand genommen“, sagt Nguyen. So hat er als amtierender Champion „in den sauren Apfel gebissen“ und anderen Athleten den Vortritt gelassen.
Kein Calisthenics-Verein in Frankfurt
Nguyen bezeichnet sich als „Spinne“ im Calisthenics-Netzwerk. Er war in 40 Ländern, hat an zahlreichen internationalen Events als Athlet oder Wertungsrichter teilgenommen. „Ich will den Sport national und international nach vorn bringen“, sagt er. Er organisiert ehrenamtliche viele Events und schaut dabei immer in fröhliche Gesichter beim Training. Jetzt auch wieder bei der Europäischen Woche des Sports, die am Montag endet. Auf die Frage nach weiteren Übungseinheiten muss er die Teilnehmer allerdings enttäuschen. Denn in Frankfurt gibt es über 30 Calisthenics-Anlagen, aber keinen Verein. „Langfristig kommen wir da nicht drumherum“, sagt Nguyen.
Nguyen came to calisthenics, which comes from Greek and means beautiful body, at the age of 21. In his hometown of Viernheim, he went to the skate park and observed muscle-bound men doing exercises with their body weight on the poles. During a group training session, the then slender boy managed to do push-ups, but failed at pull-ups. “After just a week of training, I saw the muscle attachments,” says Nguyen. After three months he was able to increase his weight from 55 to 60 kilograms.
Nguyen always puts his foot down when he commits himself to something. As a teenager he became an “International Dance Master” in hip-hop. He then moved into e-sports and made it into the elite in the first-person shooter game “Call of Duty”. He then fell into a small hole, he says. Only skating and calisthenics got him out of there.
At the first German Calisthenics Championships in Stuttgart he met Korash Kabir from Frankfurt. “Flying Korash” is a legend in the scene and one of the first to go viral with calisthenics videos. From now on, Nguyen travels from Viernheim to Frankfurt two or three times a week to train for two hours in the Hafenpark. Together with Kabir and Dion Jamison they founded the competition team Flythenics.
“We were often not included in the past”
In 2016, Nguyen enrolled at the FH Frankfurt to study computer science. He will not complete his studies, but will train as a fitness clerk. He earns money from jobs as a judge for international calisthenics events, as a personal trainer and from sponsors.
In the city, the sports community became aware of the independent calisthenics scene. A gymnastics bar will be purchased in the factory sports hall where athletes can train on cold and rainy days. In 2019, athletes founded the German Calisthenics and Streetlifting Association (DCSV). Nguyen is elected to the Active Board. “As the sport grows, I also grow as a person,” he says.
Nguyen wants responsibility. A lot is also changing for him in his private life with his new partner, who brings a small daughter into the relationship. Instead of in parks, he trains most of the time at home or in the factory gym. He recently cut back on training to focus on background tasks. He organizes events and maintains contact with the city of Frankfurt when it comes to designing calisthenics facilities together with the athletes. “We were often not included in the past,” criticizes Nguyen. That has recently improved.
But the biggest challenge will be creating a home for the calisthenics community. Nguyen has had initial discussions with a gymnastics club in order to be able to join there. “We need an indoor facility. The sport always dies out in winter,” says Nguyen. Maybe in the end he will be in demand as a “creator” and will have to create something completely new.
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