“The philosophy behind Calisthenics, which has become quite popular between fitness circles around the world in the last few years, is the art of using one’s body weight and qualities of inertia as a means to develop one’s physique, anywhere, without many expenses or means. The word Calisthenics comes from the Greek words kallos (beauty) and sthenos (strength). We can say that it is essentially the physical education of the ancient Greeks, through which they prepared their body and spirit before going to battle or athletic games. It combines strength, balance and technique, and everyone can try it, regardless of age, gender and physical condition.”
“People in Cyprus became familiar with Calisthenics around 2013 by CYBarz, the first organized and most active group on the island. Its aim is to promote and grow the community of Calisthenics through various events, competitions, mass trainings and other actions. CYBarz collaborated with photographer Andreas Constantinou, who has captured with his unique style some perfect “acrobatic” poses performed by five main members of the group who have gained great flexibility in various difficult workout moves after constant and frequent trainings.”
“In order to achieve these moves, we had to meet sometimes with the guys in advance. First, for me to see how they workout and to get to understand the general philosophy of Calisthenics and then to decide together which of the exercises could be best captured by the camera” the photographer explains. “The shoot had essentially two goals: one was to portray the spirit and philosophy of Calisthenics and the second was to showcase the guys themselves and with them of course the CYBarz team. At the same time, we demonstrate the natural beauty of our island”.
The shoot took place in the southernmost part of Cyprus, in the Akrotiri Peninsula, a very important natural habitat of the island.
The boys that took part in the project is Paris Tofarides, Demos Christou, Nikolas Shiambi, Loukas Mantarzides and Michalis Mantarzides aka CyBarz (Cyprus Calisthenics team).
