As I get more excited about the possibilities of bodyweight training, I find myself re-evaluating the role of lifting weights. It seems that bodyweight training can take you a long way, not only making you stronger but also increasing your athleticism. I'm starting to develop the opinion that the best place for weights is for things that can't be done with bodyweight alone. Here are some things I'd like to work towards that can keep me busy for a long time. I may never reach some of these goals but I figure that, as long as I'm working toward them, I should be improving and getting stronger.

Pressing strength: One arm handstand pushups, one arm one leg pushups, planche pushups, that cool pushup where you start in a planche and push up into a handstand.

Upper body pulling: One arm pull-ups, pullovers, muscle ups, front levers.

Lower body: Pistols, jumping pistols, a variety of higher rep leg exercises that can be used for conditioning or plyometrics.

I would still use weights of course. As much as I like the idea of being able to move my own body, I also believe that you should be able to move an external resistance. It's hard to get a good lower body pull without some kind of weight. The effects of swinging kettlebells and clubs are also hard to reproduce with bodyweight only and some things, like sandbags and the barbell clean and press, are a great workout and a lot of fun.

Overall though, as party tricks go, I think planche pushups would be way cooler than adding another wheel on the bench press and would probably do more for your athletic development so I think bodyweight exercises will probably play a more important role in my upcoming physical development.