In September we will be running an international training camp from the 16th to the 21st in Morzine, Switzerland. This is an opportunity to train with several top instructors from the Parkour Generations Team in the natural and stunning environment of the French Alps. The camp is fully residential, with board and all meals provided, plus a host of other activities to go along with the intensive daily training.
For the second time this year we are heading to Switzerland to run an international seminar. Team Members Stephane and Blane will be teaching the event, which runs from July 31st to August 2nd, and the guys fly out today. This seminar is being held in the Italian region of Switzerland, and anyone wanting more details can contact us directly here. We will also be returning to Switzerland later in September for a quite unprecedented event we are launching in Morzine, in the Alps. More on this very soon...
The next open women's jam is taking place on Sunday 3rd August. We will meet at Kilburn Park station at 12pm and head over to the spot from there... If you plan to come down, please let Tracey know so she can get an idea of numbers! For those of you that haven't been before, they are free sessions, open to all abilities, but are not classes. There are however, always people on hand for advice and training tips, and there are often a few male guest instructors kicking around! We start with a group warm-up and the session runs from 12-3pm.
On Tuesday 29th July, we will be running open parkour workshops for North Wiltshire District Council. The sessions will run between 12.30 - 2.30 at Cricklade Leisure Centre, and 3.30 - 5.30 at Lime Kiln Leisure Centre in Wooton Basset. On the same day we will also be running teaching events for Positive Futures' Edutain Programme at the Westminster Academy Sports and Brent Council's Parkour Camp in Kingsbury High School.
Over the next three days, from July 29-31, we will be running daily workshops events for Norwich City Council at the City of Norwich School. The sessions will run from 9.30am every day.
Monday 28th July sees us running two separate workshop events, one for the City of Westminster and one for Brent Council. For Westminster the Edutain programme continues at Avenues Sports Centre in Kilburn from 1-3pm for young people from the borough, and for Brent we begin their Parkour Summer Camp classes with a session from 12-3pm at Kingsbury High School. Of course, the evening Academy Class at Moberly Sports Centre will also be running as usual tomorrow so drop in and being the week with a solid workout.. ;)
This past week we have been lucky to have Drake in London with us, a young man from America with Synovial Sarcoma whose wish was to train with Parkour Generations. Made possible by the inspirational Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK (Charity Registration No.(England & Wales) 295672 Charity Registration No.(Scotland) SC037479), the week saw Drake participating in all the Academy Classes as well as having private sessions with Forrest.
This year Parkour Generations is embarking on an unprecedented exploration into the psychology of fear in the practise of parkour, entitled 'Comfort Zone', and yesterday saw Forrest and Dan meeting with several experts from fields as diverse as neuropsychology and professional dance to initiate the programme.
The first short film by Julie Angel resulting from the Ohio Seminar event we ran a couple of months ago has just gone online and can be seen on her YouTube channel here. This first edit shows the day prior to the seminar days themselves, where the early arrivals joined us in Hocking Hills, and incredibly beautiful natural spot outside of Columbus. The day was just to have fun, explore, get to know each other, and warm up for the more intense practise and teaching days to come.
Team Member Seb Goudot is in London with us for a few days, and will be teaching at tonight's Outdoor Class. To book a place on any of the Wednesday or Friday Outdoor Classes, email us here on dan(at)parkourgenerations.com.
The Tuesday evening Advanced Class will now be run by Thomas and Johann, and places can be reserved by emailing us on thomas(at)parkourgenerations.com. We limit these classes to a maximum of 6 per evening, and they do require you to be already competent in parkour and physically capable.
We are happy to announce the opening of the Parkour Generations Forum, reachable via the link in our website menu above. The aim with the Forum is to offer a place where the global community can come and exchange knowledge, ideas, videos, photos, gathering news, anything and everything and to keep it as simple as possible to allow it to grow organically as the needs of the users dictate.
This week sees bespoke workshops happening for the John Bentley School in Wiltshire on Wednesday, Roehampton University on Wednesday evening, and the first in this summer's Edutain workshops for the City of Westminster on Thursday at Churchill Gardens Youth Centre. For more information about any of these sessions, please email Dan on Dan(at)parkourgenerations.com
This month's Off The Wall open gathering will happen on Sunday 27th July, and will be held at London's Southbank near Waterloo Station and the London Eye. The Off The Wall sessions are free for all to attend, with many of the Parkour Generations Team being present to share training tips and help out where needed. Always great fun, these gatherings are a great way to exchange knowledge and ideas while meeting more of the parkour community from all over the UK. For more information, email Brian on Brian(at)parkourgenerations.com.
Today Thomas and Dan spent the day at the SPARC labs at Roehampton University, working out some parameters for a series of physiological tests to be carried out on traceurs. The little data accrued today has already revealed some fairly amazing statistics regarding the balance and impact absorption ability of an experienced traceur. A great project to be involved in, we are very much looking forward to the further developments of the test series.
We are very happy to have Team Member Thomas based with us in London for the next couple of months. Thomas has jumped right in by teaching at the Academy Classes and will be helping out on several upcoming events over the summer period. We highly recommend everyone to take advantage of his knowledge and skill as much as possible while he is with us in the UK..!
We would like to publicly welcome Blane on board as part of the Parkour Generations Team. One of the most respected traceurs in the UK, Blane has always provided a tireless example of discipline and dedication and we are very happy to add his considerable strengths into the Parkour Generations collective. First up, Blane will be joining Stephane to run an international seminar in Switzerland at the end of this month.
We are very happy to announce the launch of our new Team Blog, which will provide an insight into some of the activities and training of the whole Parkour Generations collective. Kicking it off with the first post is the foremost parkour photographer Kiell, and over the coming weeks everyone in the Team will be throwing in their two-cents worth..! Have a look, comment, and let us know what you think.
We recently shot a television commercial for Canon's new HF-10 handheld high-definition camera, and the final cut can now be viewed online on our YouTube Channel here. The advert was directed, shot and edited by our very own Julie Angel, and aims to give a little insight into the discipline for the mainstream audience while also showcasing some great action from Stephane and Seb at the famous District 13 spot. Click away!
Tomorrow sees the next in the ongoing series of Roehampton University Workshops, held on campus at Froebel College in Roehampton from 6-7.30pm. Thursday the 17th July sees us running workshops at Westminster Academy Sports in the evening, 5-9pm, and at the Westway Sports Centre for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea from 6.30-9.30pm. We will also be holding an open outdoor workshop at Covent Garden from 2.30-3.30pm on Thursday for the City of Westminster.
We are now taking bookings for August's Outdoor Classes, and have a few spaces left for each of the Wednesday and Friday sessions. To book a space on one of the classes, either see us directly in an Academy Class or email us here on Dan(at)parkourgenerations.com, and be quick..!
At the end of this month, from July 31st to August 3rd, Parkour Generations Team Members Stephane and Blane will be running an international seminar in Switzerland. Earlier this year saw Dan and Forrest teaching in Geneva, an event which was a huge success and great fun for all involved, so we are very happy to be returning to a different part of the country to help spread the word. More details to follow soon.
Even the weekends are full for us at the moment, with two separate teaching events going on today - one for Westminster's Positive Futures programme and another for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's Harrow Club. Both programmes help provide access to sport for children from disadvantaged areas and are parts of ongoing projects we are engaged in with those authorities.
The Making of Traceurs: to trace, to draw, to go fast, a film by Julie Angel featuring the Parkour Generations Team, which follows the making of a series of artist's films by Layla Curtis will be screened at Skate City tonight. Curated by the British Film Institute, a selection of other parkour and skater flims will also be screened including Channel Four's Jump London. This is part of the London Festival of Architecture Screenings and Performances programme, and will be screened between 9 and 11.30pm.
The now-classic Julie Angel documentary Jump Westminster has just been put online on YouTube, and can be watched in full here. Keep watching this space as this project looks set to develop still further this year...
A few weeks ago Channel 4's Bite TV came to film, and participate in, one of the Women's Classes. The resulting edit can now be seen on their online channel here, with Yao putting presenter Ami through her first few paces.
Back in May, our team joined the Yamakasi for an international seminar hosted by the town of Evry. Kiell was photographing proceedings and, having been busy traveling around Italy for several weeks, has just published a gallery of images from the event which can be seen here.
This month's open Girls' Jam will be held on Sunday 13th July in south London, and will start at midday. These training days are open to women of all levels of ability and experience, and provide a great place either to start one's training in parkour or to share experience and practice methods and learn from some of the UK's most skilled traceuses. For more information, email Tracey on Tracey(at)parkourgenerations.com.
Monday July 7th sees us running the next in the series of workshops for Westminster's Positive Futures programme at Moberly Sports Centre in London. We have now been running these workshops for Positive Futures for two years and the investment of time and effort from the City of Westminster to bring the discipline to so many young people has been great to see. We hope the programme continues for many more years!
Today saw Forrest running a day of workshops at the new Swindon Academy in Wiltshire, which went down incredibly well and challenged all of the students who participated in the way only parkour can! Next week we will be running workshops for Westminter Council, Eastbury School in Barking, Roehampton University, the Wiltshire Games in Chippenham, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and East Barnet, all on top of our regular Academy classes.
Throughout the summer Forrest will be teaching a series of weekly workshops at Roehampton University. Classes are every Wednesday from 6pm til 7.30pm, held on campus grounds at Froebel College on Roehampton Lane. This is only the start of a larger body of work with Roehampton University which we are very much looking forward to.
On Wednesday July 2nd, coaches Dom, Peter and James will be providing a full day of workshops at Bacon's College in London for all students, followed by an evening session for the teaching staff there.
