Inside the Biggest Rivalry in...Men’s Competitive Yoga

Jared McCann and Joseph Encinia had faced off before. But nothing compared to what took place at the 2014 world championship.

The True Story Behind the Greatest Rivalry in the History of Men's Competitive Yoga  Hundreds of fit, cheerful women, men, and children poured into the lobby of a blocky, socialist-style conference center in Central London, where vendors hawked stretchy tights, jewelry, and coconut water. A sign welcomed attendees to the International Yoga Sports Federation's eleventh annual world championship. Thirty-two countries were represented. As the crowds awaited the start of the women's division across the hall, the opening act was under way. Inside the darkened auditorium, the small audience clapped politely as bare-chested men in Speedos took their turn on the stage. The judges, a mix of renowned yoga teachers and former champions, gazed on at groin level. As the competitors moved through their poses, they called out each one's name—"Standing Head to Knee!" "Standing Bow!" "Rabbit!" Competitive yoga, like yoga itself, is for everyone. But in a sport dominated by women, the men can sometimes overdo it in an effort to be seen. While attempting a painful-looking pretzel-like formation, one contestant wobbled and fell over. Read the Full Story Meet the Military Vets Providing the Big Muscle for Big Tech You're not sure how life took you here. A few years back, you walked point on combat patrols through the gnarliest, darkest shadows of the war, always with a sleek, black rifle pressed tight against your shoulder. Thirty golden rounds of ammunition just a trigger squeeze away. Platoon mates at your back ready to carry out foreign policy through sheer force. Seventy-five or so pounds of equipment packed on your body, holding water and extra ammo and that medical kit you never wanted to use but did, because the moment came for you and you did what you'd been trained for. Read the Full Story The Enduring, Intergalactic Cool of Billy Dee Williams Billy Dee Williams's guide to being cool involves one simple step: "Be yourself." He tells me this while sipping a Tito's vodka neat with a little bit of Emergen-C sprinkled into it (a perhaps healthier choice than the Colt 45 with which he will be eternally associated after a string of ads for the drink in the '80s). "I never tried to be anything except myself. I think of myself as a relatively colorful character who doesn't take himself or herself too seriously." Read the Full Story Somewhere in The Great Beyond, Joseph Heller Is Having a Bitter Laugh at 'The Afghanistan Papers' When the Washington Post broke "The Afghanistan Papers" last week, unease pinched the upper reaches of my chest as social media lit up with veterans, national security professionals, journalists, and strategy wonks issuing 240-character displays of ire. For one thing, the title didn't sit right with me. It's a presumptive correlative of the Vietnam War's "Pentagon Papers" that, as much as I want it to, seems to lack the gravitas of its forbear. I don't mean it's not important. I just don't get the feeling it's as important to the voting public as it should be. I was also made uneasy by the way the story was interpreted by those of us who consumed it: as a revelatory illumination of nearly two decades worth of deception that implicated both the US military leaders who led the war effort and their civilian leaders back home. Read the Full Story Don't Wear This Suit Because You Have to. Wear It Because You Want to. Every so often, the men's style world at large gets a full head of steam and decides that it is time to declare the death of the suit. This is bullshit. The suit is not dead. But a lot of the old rules about suits—when and where to wear them, how they should fit, what versions of them you might need in your own closet—are so completely done that the rigor mortis has already started to set in. Read the Full Story Every Star Wars Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best To be a Star Wars fan is to be in eternal conflict. That is to say, Star Wars fans are always mad for some reason or another—whether it's about independent contractors used to build the second Death Star, about the mass marketable cuteness of aliens, about Disney's attempts to make up for decades of lackluster representation in movies, a lush tapestry of plot holes, or simply about which film is the best one. Star Wars is a culture of debate, a culture of constant arguments—sometimes healthy and fun or sometimes toxic—about the subtle nuances of A Galaxy Far Far Away and the art of moviemaking and their place in our hearts. Read the Full Story   Follow Us     Unsubscribe  Privacy Notice   esquire.com ©2019 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019