Meet Omari Jinaki

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Omari Jinaki. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Omari below.

Omari , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

When I first heard this question, I immediately thought of resilience as being strong, commanding, overpowering, and tough. Then I slowed down and walked my mind backwards, to dig into the core definition of the word “resilience”. Science defines resilient objects as: supple, pliable, elastic, and soft.

This made me think of two categories of resilience:

1. Withstanding difficulties
2. Bouncing back from difficulties

Withstanding Difficulties
When I withstand a difficulty, I don’t falter, I don’t fall apart.
I stand firm.
In experiences like this I sometimes have to separate myself from people and activities that can
destabilize me and my foundation. People may interpret my actions as detached, or distant –
some may feel it as as attack. While I am receptive to their perspective, I stay focused on my
perspective. My stance is not to resist or act against others – instead I aim to stay within the
flow of uplifting momentum. Others are either in that flow or not – I do not have control over
where they are in relation to the energy that uplifts me. With no animosity toward anyone, I
appreciate that others can be fulfilled in their own vibrant flow – that may not run alongside
mine.
Bouncing Back from Difficulties
When I bounce back from a difficulty, I have already hit rock bottom. I’ve been emotionally
crushed.
I’ve fallen apart.
In experiences like this it’s almost easier to let go, to admit that I’m falling, to let the weight pull
me down. Once I’m down, I can focus on how to rebuild and get back up.
Both Firm and Soft Resilience Draw on Similar Sources of Fuel
These are two very different experiences, that lead to two different mentalities to make the
choice to seek a higher level existence.
In all, I’d group the sources of my resilience into these 5 categories. This isn’t the full gamut,

though it covers the forms of resilience I experience most often. Resilience can be infused into
me from many different sources. Just like food, we get sources of fuel from different sources,
not only one:
1. Supernatural
2. Natural
3. Myself
4. God
5. Other People
The thread that runs through all of these is art – for me the preeminent art form is music.
1. Supernatural
It’s hard to connect to the supernatural, because there are so many more overbearing, sensory-
overloading activities attacking us constantly. It’s akin to attempting to enjoy the scenery of a
drive when you’re locked in a traffic jam.
You have to get away from the traffic jam of life, then still your soul.
Only then can supernatural entities become noticeable. When you’re in the traffic jam, you
cannot access this plane of existence. You have to proactively clear it away.
When this happens, people that have tragically passed away take life again in my soul. People
that aren’t born yet, speak their future aspirations into me. I am renewed by souls that are
gone, and souls that have not yet come to life. It is a mind-bending state to balance within.
It does not make logical sense – it transcends logic.

2. Natural
Doing activities within nature, I realize how awe-inducing nature is. I process the awe of nature,
then apply what I observe in nature to situations I am living.
As an example, I can be at a park doing burpees, then I see a butterfly flying through the air. I
think about how overpowering the gusts of wind are to this tiny creature. Nonetheless, the
butterfly is compelled to fly to its destination.
Why? How? Why doesn’t it quit and stay in one place?
When it flies forward 30 feet, then the wind blows it back 300 feet, as if this creature is
meaningless dust — why does the butterfly continue on?

I DON’T KNOW WHY.
I don’t know the answer, but its actions compel me to do the same.
I don’t always have the answer for my WHY. I just I keep flapping my wings –
even when I’m flapping and moving backwards – because if that nameless, meaningless, non-
famous butterfly can – I can.
Why? Why not?

3. Myself
I am glad that I document moments of my life in video, photos, public journals, and so on. At
times, I randomly come across a past a moment of my life from years ago, that inspires me in
my current life.
Seeing how full of life I have been or how formidable I have been through past challenges, re-
inspires the current and future me, when times become tough again. This can be music I made,
statements I said, projects I’ve completed and so on.

4. God
This is straight forward.
I talk to God everyday.
It’s not always easy, but I make an effort every single day. Sometimes, I am very focused on
why and how I connect with God. At other times, I am lost.
Regardless, I reach out and know that connecting with God is better than not trying at all to find
God. Lately, God has been urging me to forgive others that have damaged me. Through this
process I have gained resilience. Forgiving a person in my heart does not mean allowing that
person in my life to damage me. The authentic process of forgiveness in my soul takes the
weight off my soul and puts the weight on God to take care of.

5. Other People
I most often find resilience from people that are overlooked, dismissed, not very noticeable.
When I am in coalition with other people unified in a difficult situation, my resilience to withstand
difficulties comes from a purpose. A lot of times you hear people say phrases like:

“a higher purpose” or “a greater purpose”
and other statements to that effect.
However, my most tangible sense of purpose is often very small, personal, subtle, sacred, self-
contained. It’s not grandiose, not billboard-worthy, not shouted from a mountain top.
As an example, during the overwhelming weight of the COVID pandemic, I had the opportunity
to mentor, coach, and tutor a group of 5 year-old kiddos, who had never been in an educational
setting.
In this situation, I became encapsulated by a swamp of abuse:
the commoditization, commercialization, and corruption of “education” within the American
capitalist structure created a cycle of abuse aimed at educators, families, and students. During
this period of my life, I saw millions of dollars’ worth of tax-payer funded educational materials
that were never used thrown into the garbage. I saw teachers forced into abusive scenarios with
no other options given to them — being told to work 2 or more jobs in the school during the
limited hours, which was objectively impossible. I saw children with special needs being illegally
miseducated and undereducated in a manner that would forever derail their lives.
I heard stories of young children locked into closets in school
because their behavior was deemed unacceptable. I saw a 5 year-old
student held down and restrained by multiple grown security officers,
as if this young child was already deemed an adult criminal.
When I spoke to those around me to remedy these abusive actions, I was threatened,
intimidated, pushed aside, overlooked, and coerced to be silent. The organizations and paid
staff that were created to protect educational rights did the opposite – they perpetuated the
abuse.
I found resilience in this period of my life in the kids in front of me. While they didn’t know it,
they were the only semblance of light I could find each day. When I was with them, I would tell
them that the world outside of this door is harsh to me, but my favorite people in the world are in
this room with me now – each of you.
In this moment in this time, right now, we thrive. I thrive for you, and
right now we create the beauty in the moment that’s in front of us.
That’s what we did. Though my soul was hurting and battered from all of the words
and actions from the adults around me, I continued to see the gifts in each kid — to create
activities with them that uplifted us during our encapsulated time together.

This exemplifies that “my” resilience isn’t mine at all.
It is transfused into me from others. Sometimes in a small fleeting moment. At times, a small
phrase that someone says to me, or a look in their eyes will stay with me and spark momentum
for me in challenging times. At times, this could be a person I’ve never met and may never see
again.
During this time, I also started playing the guitar a lot. I don’t know why. It seemed counter-
productive. Instead of being productive on projects and logistics in my life, I would spend hours
fumbling through songs with no goal at all. It somehow reset my soul and found me to a better
place each day.
This underscores the overarching source of resilience that lives across all five dimensions is
MUSIC.
Music is supernatural.
Music is natural.
Music is God.
Music is me.
Music is people.
Lyrics in songs. Sounds in songs. Tension in harmonies. Musical dissonance. Rhythms. All of
it. Music is the hurt in my soul that needs a mirror, so that I can observe that hurt without living
in it. Music is ambition and optimism and momentum that speaks my thoughts into actions.
Music is resilience.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I hosted the longest running calisthenics competition in the USA the Pull Up Park Jam.
www.thepulluparkjam.org
It continues to motivate me to elevate and expand calisthenics. It is VERY hard to host this
annual event, but every year, I’m invigorated by what a rare, unique, stand-alone opportunity
this is.
Every year, the competition innovates – we add new aways to recognize athletes and motivate
athletes, that aren’t seen in other competition. We have been the first to pioneers judging
standards multiples times over the past 10 years.
We continue to draw new competitors from more states and more countries.
WHAT IS CALISTHENICS?

THE WORD CALISTHENICS DERIVES FROM THE GREEK TERMS KALOS, MEANING
BEAUTY, AND STENOS, MEANING STRENGTH. CALISTHENICS IS A FORM OF EXERCISE
IN WHICH PEOPLE USE ONLY THE WEIGHT OF THEIR BODY AS RESISTANCE.
BECAUSE OF ITS SIMPLICITY CALISTHENICS IS ACCESSIBLE TO A WIDER RANGE OF
PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A GYM. ADDITIONALLY, WITH NO ADDED
WEIGHTS, CALISTHENICS IS A SAFER LIFE-LONG ACTIVITY FOR PEOPLE FROM AGE 1
TO AGE 100.

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NEW YORK CITY

THERE IS NO ORGANIZATION THAT HAS CULTIVATED THE CALISTHENICS COMMUNITY
LONGER THAN THE PULL UP PARK JAM. FOUNDED IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY IN
1998 BY RAY FUNN AND KEITH FIELDS, THE EVENT OPERATED AS A NON-PROFIT
UNDER THE DIRECTION OF RODNEY “REDD” HARRISON. THE PULL UP PARK JAM
GREW TO BE THE LARGEST CALISTHENICS COMPETITION IN THE WORLD,
ATTRACTING 100 COMPETITORS PER YEAR FROM COUNTRIES AS FAR AWAY AS JAPAN
AND UKRAINE. EVENTS AROUND THE GLOBE LAUNCHED TO EMULATE THE
CAPTIVATING EVERGY OF THE PULL UP PARK JAM, WITH NOTABLE GLOBAL ICONS
GETTING THEIR START IN CALISTHENICS THROUGH THE PULL UP PARK JAM.

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CHICAGO

THE PULL UP PARK JAM EXPANDED TO CHICAGO IN 2015 UNDER THE MY DIRECTION.
THE CHICAGO EVENT ALONE IS THE LONGEST-RUNNING CALISTHENICS COMPETITION
IN THE WORLD – RUNNING FOR 8 CONSECUTIVE YEARS FROM 2015 TO 2022. THANKS
TO COMPETITORS FROM NEW STATES AND NEW COUNTRIES, CHICAGO BECAME THE
SECOND-LARGEST CALISTHENICS COMPETITION IN THE COUNTRY. IN THE LATER
YEARS OF THE COMPETITION IN CHICAGO, THE FOCUS WAS NOT ON MAKING THE
EVENT LARGER EACH YEAR, BUT ON CONTROLLED, PURPOSEFUL GROWTH — WITH
JUDGING OBJECTIVITY AS THE PRIORITY IN CHICAGO. YEARLY ENHANCEMENTS
MAKE THIS THE MOST STRICT CALISTHENICS COMPETITION IN THE UNITED STATES,
WHILE STAYING TRUE TO OUR ROOTS OF REACHING UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.
WE DO NOT SEEK PROFIT, WE SEEK TO TRANSFORM SOULS THROUGH THE
DISCIPLINE OF CALISTHENICS. CALISTHENICS HAS SAVED ME AND BEEN A SOURCE
OF MY RESILIANCE MULTIPLETIMES IN MY LIFE. WHEN I FACED TRAGEDY IT WAS AN
OUTLET FOR MY EMOTIONS. WHEN I HELD ANGER IN MY SOUL, CALSITHENICS GAVE
ME A SAFE PLACE TO DIRECT ANGER THAT WAS PRODUCTIVE AND HURT NO ONE
ELSE. CALISTHENICS FOR ME IS LIKE MUSIC OR DANCE, IT’S A FORM OF EXPRESSION
THAT I CAN CREATE TO GIVE LIFE TO IDEAS THAT I CANNOT OTHERWISE EXPRESS AS
WELL WITH WORDS. I KEEP PRESSING FORWARD BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT WILL DO
THE SAME FOR OTHERS. THE CHICAGO EVENT TRANSCENDED DEMOGRAPHICS TO
MAKE ELITE CALISTHENICS ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE IN THE FREEDOM OF A
PUBLIC PARK.

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LOS ANGELES

ON SATURDAY JULY 15, 2023, THE PULL UP PARK JAM LANDED ON THE WEST COAST
FOR THE FIRST TIME. IN 2024, THE PULL UP PARK JAM LOS ANGELES IS SET TO TAKE
PART DURING THE VENICE BEACH GAMES ON JULY 27-28 WEEKEND.

NO STOPPING US NOW. THIS IS WHERE IT BEGINS.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Find your people. It may just be one person.

At one crossroads in my life, I was both an incapable disaster and a formidable beacon
of light. How could I be both polar opposite people at once? The people around me. It
was only the people around me that either made be feel as if I was failing or soaring,
based on how they interpreted my actions, how they supported me, how they
encouraged me, how they involved me.

People’s actions, words, presence, reactions will either make you sink or soar. You
choose who gets to be on your ship. It’s either a sinking ship or a rocket ship – you
choose.

2. If it doesn’t exist, create it.

Rather than spending time complaining about what lacks, fill in the gaps and make it
whole. Complaining and creating both take energy. Complaining only further drains you
and does nothing to replenish you. Creating drains is renewable energy. It creates
energy as it’s expending energy. It never runs out.

3. Drastic changes. If something not working, don’t phase it out, don’t phase in new better
way. Do it immediately. Flip the switch. Rip the band-aid.

There have been times I took years to finally make a drastic switch, and I’ve looked back
wishing I had made that change sooner.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

“Siddhartha”

“When someone seeks,” said Siddhartha, “then it easily happens that his eyes see only the
thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing because he always thinks
only about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with his
goal. Seeking means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no
goal.”
― Herman Hesse, Siddhartha

“I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our
way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.”
― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

“And all the voices, all the goals, all the yearnings, all the sorrows, all the pleasures, all the good
and evil, all of them together was the world. All of them together was the stream of events, the
music of life.”
― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thepullupparkjam.org/
• Instagram: @toro_calisthenics

Image Credits

No photo credits needed. They are all personal life moment photos, not professional photos.