Parkour Generations

#70
Watch Out Below

By Chris 'Blane' Rowat | posted on 8 January 2010 | 16 comments

It's not easy keeping a solar-powered watch fully charged during a British Winter. Come to think of it, it's not exactly simple in the 'Summer' here either.

Anyway, when at home my watch sits on the handle of my window, hoping to soak up any stray sunray that might be floating around on an island like this, and when I opened my window this morning, I carefully balanced the watch on top of the handle, taking extra care to make sure it wouldn't fall. It didn't. Not for a while anyway.

It was about two hours or so later that I heard my window blowing wider and a quiet clunk, followed by a few seconds of silence and finally another clunk further away.

Ah. My watch had gone for a walk.

Now I live on the first floor of a tall house and on the ground floor lives a grumpy old man who enjoys nothing better than to drink himself in to oblivion and come home in the early hours of the morning to blast Magic radio out to the street. That man, despite having a good (but untimely) taste in music would not hesitate to steal my watch, believe me.

So I did what seemed the right thing to do. I went downstairs, knocked on his door and planned to ask him for the watch from his back garden. If he refused then I'd think of something. But the old man wasn't home, of course he wasn't.. he was in the pub deciding whether to set his radio to Magic or Heart later that evening.

So there was only one thing left to do.

There's no access to the gardens from the front of these houses. There are no alleyways to get down the side and there's a big factory behind the houses that doesn't allow easy access from the rear so my only option was to climb out of my bedroom window and descend in to the garden below.

Now with the snow and ice outside thick enough to completely conceal my watch somewhere below, the first task I was faced with wasn't an easy one. The only way down was to jump from the icy window ledge, to my left, on to a shed... thing. Standing nine foot or so high, two feet below me and five foot away, it was a menacing sight and with all of the ice covering both surfaces, I did NOT want to jump on to it.

But I had to. I had to get my watch before the grumpy man came home and claimed it.

Sigh.

COME ON! Jump. This is what you've been doing for the past six years.. jumping from stuff, to stuff.

I jumped and landed, slipped a bit but stayed on the roof, and had done what I knew was actually one of the easier bits of this mission. I still had to get back up there.

Hanging from the shed, I dropped to a lower wall and then on to the ground. Reaching in to the watch shaped snow hole, I grabbed the watch and didn't even check to see if it was still working. Of course it was. When the bombs fall, all that will be left standing are the cockroaches.. G-Shock watches and... Yann Hnautra.

Right, so I need to get back in that window.

I climbed back up on to the shed which now I was aware was covered with three inches of snow. Turning around and looking at the jump back to the window ledge, I was suddenly aware of what was below the window ledge. Two large sliding glass doors.

Glass. Doors.

Nice.

Knowing damn well that jumping from the shed and grabbing my window ledge would probably result in two Nike Darts ploughing through a plate of glass.. I was going to have to find another way. My only other option was to jump from a lower position, the lower wall I had used to climb down from earlier.

It was quite a jump to grab the window ledge and the take off was loose, icy brick. Add to that the fact I had to grab a snow-covered window ledge and somehow avoid the two glass doors.. things couldn't get much worse. Until the light came on behind the glass.

Ok, don't panic. I've seen enough movies and been on enough night missions to know that anyone inside a bright room looking out at darkness can see nada.

But he was home!

I had to get my ass out of his garden and the only way was to forget about how slippy the take off was, how icy the window ledge was, how far the jump was and how likely I was to smash his doors and shower his drunken self with shards of glass.

Taking a deep breath and counting down from five, I looked up and jumped.

It was further than I thought. I grabbed with only my left arm and turned my legs sideways, keeping them together and trying to slow them down as I aimed for the wooden panel between the glass doors. The contact was surprisingly light and I wasn't actually expecting my hand to hold the ledge, but it did.

Scrambling up on to the ledge I climbed back in my window, heart racing, and with a massive smile on my face I looked at the time on my watch and as expected, it hadn't missed a beat.

Two minutes later, Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen filled the air and I knew he was none the wiser.

-Blane

Labels: Challenges, Experiences

#69
New Year, New Commitments

By James | posted on 2 January 2010 | 6 comments

It's 2010 now. A whole year ahead of us to fill great parkour experiences and training progression so I thought I'd share one of my many training commitments for the new year. I wouldn't consider these to be resolutions because resolutions tend to be very general and don't state step by step how to achieve the changes we want, where as these commitments are specific and will be easier to achieve.

"Work out what my greatest weakness is and focus on improving it"

All too often I become comfortable with a movement or standard of strength, for example cat pass precisions, and neglect it to focus on something new and exciting to only realise that suddenly what I considered to be a decent level to be falling behind in comparison to my other attributes. Of course it's more important to have a solid foundation and skill set rather than being amazing at something specific and only be able to do that one thing well. This can depend on the person and be highly subjective but this is my approach to my training.

To actually make changes I've written down what areas I feel I'm weakest in, physically and technically speaking, and decided to dedicate more time to improving these and the best approach in doing so. I also decided that every three months to reassess my weakness.

There is a second side to this and I could write a seperate blog about this but keeping it brief and cut it down to one sentence:

Sometimes the things you hate doing the most are the things you need to work on.

I noticed when I first started training my fear of heights was tremendous and being on a 2 foot raised wall would conjure the most frightening images of injuring myself however irrational they were. Looking back I realised because I was so scared of heights I never practised training at heights. Thankfully my good friends, especially Alli, eased me out of my comfort zone on many occasion and I noticed because I was so uncomfortable I didn't have the same skill level at ground level as I did at height.

So train outside of your comfort zone more often. It could be something as simple as being able to speed vault on both your left and right with the same proficiency.

So my suggestion to you is to have one new training commitment and stick with it for as long as possible. Trying as best to your ability to keep doing it for the whole year, provided it's productive and will progress your training in a manner you wish, the process is sometimes more important than the goal itself. It's okay to fall off the path you wish to walk provided you can get back on track and walk the path once more.

James

Labels: Experiences, Training

#67
Hi, have you met Parkour ?

By Johann Vigroux | posted on 29 November 2009 | 11 comments

July 1998, I come back from holidays and my brother Stephane was really into a new sport, I didn't know what it was, he didn't talk much about it... I had the opportunity to watch a video called SpeedAirMan, it was about a crazy guy who was flying around, and this guy actually lived 5 minutes driving from where I used to live ! I looked at the video, I was amazed but nothing more really.

One day, Stephane and a friend of mine, Ken, went to train with this man, David Belle. They asked me if I wanted to join them, and without knowing at all what to expect, I said yes. So here we are, in Lisses and I meet this strange man, who I don't know anything about... I stayed very quiet, and listened to everybody.
Then the session starts, we had to follow David's lead. At this time I didn't know anything about this discipline, if it had a name or anything, I was just following a man... We ended up in facing the famous cat leap at the gym staircase. David and some other people jumped. I didn't even think that it was possible for me to get there, so I wasn't scared !! For me it didn't even look like something I could reach one day...
So David helped me getting on the roof by carrying me and then we continued our journey...We finally arrived at a big grass square, after the bridge, next to the swimming pool, for those who know Lisses. It was a grass square, surrounded with rocks and trees. The idea of the game was simple : start on one rock, and finish the lap, keeping our feet off the floor...

I couldn't manage to finish the lap, even if everything looked like I could do it, I felt it was something possible. Then the session finished and I told to myself that I would come back every single day to this spot, until I could finish the lap...

It took me about 3 months to be able to finish ! During this time, I didn't think about what parkour could or couldn't be ! My only goal was to finish this single route because I knew I could do it !

When I started being more confident, I gave a try at the Dame du Lac, where I found my brother, David, and other people who would become my friends... I was the most beginner from all of them that I had my eyes wide opened and tried to learn from all these guys. In this group, there was Sebastien Goudot, Michael Ramdani, Jerome Lebret and others that had my age. So I started practising more and more with Seb and Mike, and we became very close together.

In Lisses, there was the group of the elders (David, Romain, Stephane, Cisco, etc..) and the group of the younger (Yo, Seb, Mike, Jeje). We were training apart and sometimes we heard about what one of the other group did, and we had to check it out ! Sometimes the 2 groups met and it was like : hum, let's play !

This is how I started practising parkour, this how I met it and this how I used to live it during 5 years. Every day was a different journey, which only goal was to have an encounter with my environment and share it with my friends, my parkour family.
At this time, there was only this feeling of going out, explore the environment and find ways, paths, obstacles, solutions, joy, tears, pains, falls, friends, love....

I really feel grateful for having met parkour at this period. Parkour awoke all these things I had, sleeping in my heart. Today I want to give it back to parkour, by sharing my experience and art, with any and all who would like to.

Love,

Johann

Labels: discovery, Experiences, Training

#66
Red pill or the Blue pill?

By Dominic | posted on 19 November 2009 | 12 comments

Why do you do parkour? Why do you train the way you do? What do you hope to achieve? These are all very important questions that I think about not just relating to myself as a traceur but also to those I teach as a coach. In a documentary Stephane once did he spoke a little about this:

�You have to ask yourself what do you want with parkour? It�s a leisure or you want to be a real and professional athlete in it, and its totally different you really have to make the difference, to see the difference between them. It�s a leisure ok stay ground and have fun, you can have fun no problem like every sport some people practice football or tennis for just fun but if not if you really want to be professional, a real athlete like performance and everything you have to consider all the investment you have to do, and to give up yourself to reach this goal. It�s really not nothing because parkour is a very, very hard sport and physical sport so you have to think what do you want for you?�

Sometimes I feel I can see this in people, I can see those who are just there to enjoy themselves which is fine but then sometimes I can see those who want more. The signs aren�t as obvious as you may think and it has nothing to do with ability or skill level. The people that have that fire are those that are constantly pushing themselves past what is required and I�m not talking about during the easy stuff or the fun stuff but the opposite, the times when its hardest, the times when its boring, the times when every urge they have is telling them to stop and rest or just simply give up. It�s these people that have my respect and in which I see such potential to be good.

The best combination would undoubtedly be someone with natural talent who also had that drive and desire to work hard and improve but sadly this is a rare occurrence. More often than not and something which I have witnessed countless times is that people with natural talent never really push themselves to their limits instead being content with simply being level with or better than the rest of their group. And it's sad, it�s sad that they put a cap on themselves like that, that they define their own progress not on what they themselves are capable of but based on the progress of others. Sometimes I will look to push these people more, not because they did something wrong but because they have the potential to do more. But as they say �the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down� and its here where I can see the difference also. Those who want to improve and learn everything they can accept advice, criticism or critique as they understand that in the long run it�s only in their best interests but then there are those who don�t take this kind of stuff well preferring instead only to hear when they are being praised or excelling in something. I see no point in this, why repeat something 10, 30, 50 times if every time you are doing it wrong or could be doing it better? All you do is reinforce your bad habits or techniques never really improving.

The devil is in the details and at the end of the day that is where the difference in people's goals is clear. It doesn't take too much skill to imitate something or copy a route/movement but to do it well, really well that is something else. It may involve changing a foot placement here or jumping off a different leg there but it adds up. However like i said for some people it's irrelevant and of little consequence to them they just want to be able to do it roughly, to appear to do it well for the most part. So again it comes down to they question, are you doing in for the moment? For now? To show off? Or are you doing it to improve?

But to each their own, live your life but just think about it and be honest with yourself �what do you want for you?�

Labels: Psychology

#65
The Spaces Between

By Dan | posted on 2 November 2009 | 2 comments

Parkour, stripped down, is the use of space. It�s how we fill space, how we move through it. It�s a process. And it has often struck me when training and moving that the vast majority of that space is filled with what most would consider to be �unspectacular� movement: that is, the gaps and distances that exist before, between and after the obstacles we fly over and through, around and under. The approach to a jump, the steps between vaults in combination, the landing and rolling and running again after a drop � these are where we spend most of our time, not actually engaged in the saut de bras or cat-pass that occurs so quickly and is over in a flash.

Long ago I began to think that the essence of parkour actually happens between the application of the �techniques� themselves; in the spaces between. It�s the use of those spaces that makes the difference between good parkour and simply good stunts or tricks. A balanced and well paced run-up, for example, makes a good jump happen; efficient and dynamic steps after a landing maintain momentum going into the next movement; coming out of a roll with balance and stability provides the ability to flow seamlessly on towards the next set of challenges. For me the parkour happens in those spaces, in that larger movement that contains the individual techniques. And it�s often neglected.

I look at those techniques � the difficult jumps, the tricky landings, the dynamic vaults � as equivalent to peak experiences in life: they are what we train for and strive for, but in truth they come and go quite quickly and, in isolation, mean very little. Only in context do they have a point. That context is constituted by everything that precedes and succeeds those peak moments: the movements are given meaning by everything that comes before and after them. The spaces between.

The real quality of our movement, as of our lives, is held in the way we deport ourselves in those larger and less obviously glorious spaces. Who are we when not overcoming a great physical challenge or achieving some stupendous athletic feat? Who are we when not enduring a rigorous test of the mind or pushing ourselves to our limits? Who are we in those spaces between, in our daily living, our simple movement between jumps? Who are we in every moment, not just the ones that require our focus and presence in its entirety?

It seems to me that that is the true test of our character, just as it is the true test of our movement. To rise to an immediate and threatening challenge is something most of us will naturally do, it�s probably part of our nature as those who seek to uncover our potential and squeeze every drop out of it. But how well do we maintain those virtues, that inner strength, throughout the days when we are not engaged in such life-and-death moments? Do we still act with the same immediacy of thought? Do we still remember to use our fear and not be used by it? Do we carry that self-discipline and self-awareness we have in training on into the rest of our lives? If not, why not?

Parkour, like all great practices, is an art of living. It is not something you do for an hour or two and then forget or put aside. The point of these arts is that they reveal aspects of ourselves that we strive to hold onto, they uncover and polish something quite pure and bright within us: what a loss to then leave that shining thing on the training ground and live out the rest of one�s day in relative darkness.

Surely the point is, when we discover just what we can be, to then let that knowledge and that practise infuse all parts of our life, so that we can begin to take on more permanently that concentrated �us� we find in our peak experiences. And that can only be done in the quiet stretches of our days, when nothing very special seems to be going on and our character is tested in more routine, but no less significant, ways. It can only be done in the spaces between.

Labels: Training

#64
Don't Forget To Breathe...

By Dan | posted on 16 October 2009 | 6 comments

In the quiet of the shadows, early morning in the city as the streets sleep, the world barely notices one's passing. Quick, light footfalls and the private whisper of measured breathing are the only sounds as I run, tasting the cold, crisp air and feeling the body's warmth rise up against the chill.

I love this. It's a time of immeasurable solitude; just you and the new day, and the frosted, naked city. There is an inner silence to match the outer, nothing but the movement, the breathing, the focus on each step. It's timeless. Endless. No matter what is going on in one's life, whatever challenges and trials exist to be met and overcome, there is always this discipline of the body to return to. An anchor. An old friend. A path with no conclusion, just there - waiting for you to step out and head a little further along it.

It's a path often shared, and such times are a real pleasure and bring their own reward. But in the end it's a personal journey and there is nothing quite like the vast aloneness of such quiet passing through the world, leaving no trace and wanting for none. You expand to fill that space, awareness stretches and merges with your world, the sights, sounds, smells and feel of it. Gradually you fade into it too. And what is left is the body, the breath, the blood, the movement.

Without fail the greatest pleasures in life are the simplest. They are primordial, pure, made of what is and what you brought with you into the world, no more than that. And it's enough. Always enough. These things just are. Just life, just seeing such mornings and being able to flow through them and on into the awakening day. There's a stillness and a calmness in it, a sense of ground. The world and daily life can rage, swirl and shout as much as it wants - this silence endures, lives. Waits. For us to find it again. And when we do it passes no judgement if we have neglected it for a while.

So on I run, moving free and unnoticed, and the world is mine alone for an endless moment. This path, with its distance, its time, its terrain, feeds out behind me and disappears as soon as I have passed. Until only I am left. And then I too am gone. Lungs draw air, a heart pumps blood, muscles pulse and movement happens.

And it's enough.

Labels: Psychology, Training

#63
2008: Ma plus grande lecon 2008: The biggest lesson

By Forrest | posted on 6 October 2009 | 6 comments

Nous sommes le 4 Avril 2008, j�entraine Annty et ma femme Agota au Ch�teau de la pr�cision( Wandsworth ), je passe par dessus une barri�re, mon pied reste coinc� sur le haut de celle-ci, je tombe au ralentit en arri�re. Au moment o� je touche le sol, j�entends clack clack. Le r�sultat sera: rupture du ligament crois� ant�rieur du genou gauche. L�op�ration a eu lieu le 11 novembre 2008...Tout c�est bien pass�

Le dimanche 13 Avril 2008, je suis gentiment allong� sur mon sofa quand le t�l�phone sonne, apr�s quelques minutes de conversations, je me l�ve pour chercher une info sur mon ordi lorsque que je sens comme un �tourdissement. Je n�arrive plus � fixer l�image d�Agota et ma fa�on de parler est un peu trouble. Inqui�te, ma femme appelle les urgences. 10 minutes plus tard les infirmiers sont l� et me font diff�rents tests. Ils m�emm�nent alors � l�hospital o� je fait des examens medicaux plus approfondis IRM, CT scan... Le r�sultat sera: un petit AVC dans la partie arri�re de mon cerveau. Le docteur me dit en souriant� Vous avez eu de la chance, vous n��tes pas mort et rien n�a �t� endommag� que ce soit sur le plan physique et moteur ou sur le plan psychologique, vous n�aurez aucune paralisie mais nous devons vous garder ici pour faire tous les tests n�cessaires. Ils m�ont d�couvert un souffle au Coeur, c�est peut �tre une des causes de ce qui est arriv� mais rien n�a �t� prouv�.Apr�s 10 jours pass� � l�hospital, le 23 avril 2008, je me suis fait op�rer du Coeur pour fixer ce souffle.

Durant tout ce temps pass� � l�hospital pour mon cerveau, mon Coeur et mon genou, j�ai du faire face �:

DES PEURS, pourrais-je �tre capable d��tre � nouveau physiquement actif, refaire du sport...?

DES DOUTES, pourrais-je continuer � vivre normalement, �tre un bon mari, un bon p�re, un fr�re, un fils, un ami...?

DES DECEPTIONS et DES SURPRISES, pourrais je pardonner � ces gens qui se disaient proche de moi et qui m�ont laiss� tomber? Et pourrais je suffisamment remercier ceux dont je ne m�attendais pas forc�ment qui m�ont tendu la main avec plaisir...

DES DOULEURS, pourrais-je oublier? La douleur physique s�estompe avec le temps, elle n�est rien compar�e � la douleur morale. Cela fait beaucoup plus mal de se rendre compte des vraix intentions de certaines personnes � ton �guard ET decouvrir qu�ils seront l� pour toi seulement lorsque tu as 100% � donner mais lorsque tu es un peu en dedans et que tu aurais le plus besoin de support , ils ne serons jamais l� pour toi...

DES RENCONTRES pourrais-je etre plus courageux? J�ai fait la rencontre de Drake, cet ado qui se bat contre le cancer et qui a �t� pour moi une source d�inspiration et de courage.

DES PENSEES POSITIVES, pourrais-je �tre plus heureux? Le Samedi 9 aout 2008, la c�l�bration religieuse en Roumanie de notre marriage avec 250 personnes venant de 15 pays diff�rents, quel Bonheur!

DES ENERGIES RETROUVEES, pourrais-je �tre plus conscient de mes forces et de leurs origines maintenant? C�est un r�confort de savoir vraiment d�o� l�on vient, qui l�on est et o� l�on veut aller. Je ne laisserai plus jamais personne d�cider pour moi ce qui est bon pour, ma famille, mon sport, ma carri�re, ma vie future...

L a vie n�est pas toujours �un long fleuve tranquille� MAIS c�est la vie. Il n�y a pas de bonnes ou mauvaises exp�riences, il n�y a que des exp�riences et nous apprenons tous les jours � y faire face. Ce qui ne tue pas rend plus fort...
Ma le�on: �Tu ne pourras jamais r�ellemment t��panouir dans la vie et �tre vrai avec les autres si tu n�est pas capable d��tre honn�te avec toi m�me? Ne jamais abandonner, ne jamais perdre espoir et ne jamais laisser les autres ou le contexte te voler ton sourir mais apprendre � relativiser sont pour moi des r�gles d�or.
Mes parents m�ont toujours dit:�Apr�s la pluie vient toujours le beau temps, m�me si cela peut prendre du temps �:-)

2008 THE BIGGEST LESSON

(English Translation)

It is the 4th April 2008, I�m coaching Annty and my wife Agota at the precision�s castle (Wandsworth), I go above a railing, my foot stays stuck on the top of the railing, I fall backwards in slow motion. As soon as I touch the floor I hear clack clack. The result is my anterior crucial ligament in my left knee is torn. The operation is scheduled for 11th of November 2008... Everything went well.

It is Sunday 13th April 2008, I�m gently laying on my sofa when the phone rings, after a few minutes of conversation, I stand up to check some information on my computer when I start feeling dizzy, I can�t fix anymore Agota�s image and my way of talking is a bit slurred . My wife is worried, she calls 999. Ten minutes later the ambulance arrives, they do tests to identify what is wrong. They drive me to the hospital where I go through loads of further medical tests such as MRI scan, CT scan etc... The result is: a tiny stroke in the back part of my brain. The surgeon says with a smile:�You were lucky, you�re not dead and nothing has been damaged in your body and your brain. You won�t be paralysed nor have any other damage but we have to keep you here to do all the necessary tests. They find a hole in my heart, it could be one of the reasons for the stroke but nothing has been proved. After staying 10 days at the hospital, I had a heart surgery to fix the hole.

The entire time I spent at the hospital regarding my brain, my heart and my knee, I had to face:

SOME FEARS, will I be able to be physically active again, to do sport again...?

SOME DOUBTS, will I be able to carry on living normally, be a good husband, a good dad, a brother, a son, a friend...?

SOME DISAPPOINTMENTS AND SURPRISES, will I be able to forgive all those people who pretended being my close friends but they let me down? And will I be able to thank enough the ones that I did not expect to support me but they did with pleasure?

SOME PAIN, will I be able to forget? The physical pain fades with time but it�s nothing compared to the emotional pain. It is more painful to see the real intention of some people AND realise that they are only there for you when you give 100% but not when you are down and you need them the most.

SOME ACQUAINTANCES will I be able to be brave? I met this teenager, Drake, who is fighting against cancer. For me he is a real source of inspiration and courage.

SOME POSITIVES THOUGHTS, will I be able to be happier? On Saturday 9thAugust 2008, the blessing ceremony of our wedding in Romania with 250 people from 15 different countries, oh happy days... !

SOME REFOUND ENERGIES will I be able to be more conscious of my force and where it comes from now? It�s such a comfort to know where we come from, who we are and where we want to go. I will never again let anybody decide what is good for my family, my sport, my career, my future life etc...
Life is not always �a quiet long river� BUT it�s life. There are no good or bad experiences, there are only experiences and we learn every day how to face them. What does not kill you make you stronger...

My lesson
� You will never really be able to blossom in life and be real with the others if you�re not capable to be honest with yourself. Never give up, never lose hope and never let somebody else or a context steal your smile but learn to put things into perspective.� All these are some golden rules for me.
My parents said:� after the rain comes always sunshine� even though sometimes it can take a while�:-)

Labels: Experiences, Psychology

#62
Gambatte Naoki!!!!!

By Dominic | posted on 28 September 2009 | 2 comments

I originally had a different post for this month and may end up putting that one up in a few days also but for now I just wanted to make a big shout out for a friend of mine who was recently injured, Naoki Ishiyama.

For those of you who are not aware Naoki is a Japanese practioner who has spent a great deal of time training both here in London with pk gen and also in France with majestic force as well as everywhere and anywhere else he finds himself. As I�m sure most of you reading this will already be aware of the situation he faces himself in I won�t go into too much detail here suffice to say he faces some challenging times ahead but I am completely confident that he will more than rise to surpass them as that is the kind of person he is. Without a doubt one of the friendliest and nicest guys I have had the pleasure of meeting as well as a great tracuer.

But for anyone who does not know I ask that you check out (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=125726156594) and lend you support. It means so much to him and is a great comfort to know that he is in the thoughts of so many people who wish him a speedy recovery. Even if you don�t know him personally or have never met him before I ask that you show him your support during this time! Already the response from the community has been brilliant and it�s a real comfort to know and be a part of such a good and strong spirit, which is not just here for him but here for us all!

Labels: Experiences, Injuries

#61
The Weekend Wake Up Class

By Chris 'Blane' Rowat | posted on 21 September 2009 | 5 comments

What was I letting myself in for? There I was, committing to teaching on a Sunday morning, indefinitely.. with a British winter on the way. Who would seriously turn up to these classes? Surely it will just be me and Andy standing there on a rainy Sunday morning waiting for.. oh wait. Lots of people!

So it seems the weekend class on a Sunday has been a great success so far with the class numbers growing by the week and with a slightly longer class of two hours, it gives us plenty of time to train and kick start our Sundays with a healthy dose of Parkour. Already we've completed the cycle of locations and this coming Sunday we're heading back to Earlsfield for more of the same!

With an emphasis on improving fitness and basic techniques but aimed at all levels, the weekend class is a great opportunity to train if you find yourself too busy in the week with work or educational commitments. Veterans and beginners, boys and girls alike are welcome and will be challenged respectively.

Last Sunday saw us training at a park near Bethnal Green tube station and as usual we started the morning with a warm up and a 15-20 minute run.

Next up we worked on a route consisting first of a tricky little jump, landing with either one foot or two, followed by some balance and a precision down to a lower wall. After Andy and I were sure everyone had improved and had helped those who needed some guidance, we decided to move on to some off-ground traversing challenges and climbing drills.

With forearms burning we moved immediately on to training some wall runs, where those who were new to Parkour had a chance to work on the technique and the others were encouraged to improve their speed and control throughout the motions. Training techniques like this is always more interesting after the same muscles have been worked beforehand and this instance was no different.

With arms growing tired we switched to some plyometric leg training in the form of dynamic jumps over a series of hurdles. With 6-7 hurdles in a row, those who had good timing could jump over one and immediately bounce straight over the next, continuing until the end. Drills like this are a great way to build leg power and develop timing.

Finally we moved on to some lumbar exercises with two rails before stretching and cooling off in the Sunday afternoon sunshine.

Thanks to all who came along and continue to make Sunday mornings worth waking up for!

See you all at the next class.

Labels: Challenges, Event Coverage, Jam Reviews, Training

#60
Empty Elephant

By Kiell | posted on 15 September 2009 | 6 comments

The housing estates at Elephant and Castle have been a favourite training location for London�s traceurs for several years. During its early stages, Parkour in the UK was often focused in city centres, both in training and in media representation. In my experience, it�s not that Parkour ever left the housing estates but perhaps got temporarily distracted by the shiny city, before realising that the best terrain is residential, not commercial. Better obstacles, less private property, fewer police, no security guards, and many more playgrounds.

Residential housing has often been experimental, and mistakes were made during the 60s and 70s as cities expanded rapidly and populations grew, becoming increasingly dense. What was once regarded as visionary is, a few decades later, regarded as an unpractical eyesore that compounds society�s ills. Many were hastily constructed � some even collapsed � and it�s ith hindsight that the disadvantages of these Le Corbusier-inspired housing projects are fully understood.

A bit of Googling will teach you that the Aylesbury and Heygate estates at Elephant and Castle are due for demolition, and have been since 2004. A huge regeneration project has been dogged by seemingly endless delays and has created something quite surreal: near emptiness.

There are a handful of enormous blocks, each up to eleven storeys in height, each with a mere handful of occupants. For the most part, residents have been relocated (more than a thousand), but this is inevitably a problematic process; some have no desire to move, some refuse the suitability of their new homes, some claim to have been harassed and intimidated by the team attempting to rehouse them

Being virtually empty, there is no self-policing through the vigilance of its own residents. As a result, patrols are sent around in an attempt to keep gangs, drug addicts, alcoholics and the homeless at bay. A team of litter pickers visit daily, collecting the rubbish left behind by the random collection of visitors and the occasional resident dumping unwanted, bulky belongings as they move elsewhere.

Metal panels cover every empty flat, and the floors that are completely empty are sealed off with more metal fencing, keeping squatters out. (London is a haven for squatters due to some strange quirks in English law.) Each piece of metal is welded into place to prevent it from being unbolted and stolen. The expense must be phenomenal.

For Parkour practitioners wishing to train there, it�s quite peaceful, if a little strange. A few remaining residents can be found passing by and for them, Parkour is a familiar sight, to the point that local children create miniature versions of the movements amongst the walkways.

This gallery of images is selected from what I took during a morning spent wandering around the estate. There are a couple of captions giving a little more information. If you�re interested in finding out more, I suggest visiting:

http://livefromtheheygate.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantandcastle.org.uk/

When the demolition will finally take place is anyone�s guess, but if you want to visit one of London�s best training locations, it might be an idea to do it sooner rather than later.

Labels: Photography

#59
Learning to teach. Teaching to learn.

By Andy | posted on 12 September 2009 | 8 comments

How do you truly get better at something? Through human history we have developed a multitude of methods to educate ourselves in whichever disciplines we desire. Obviously there are techniques that work better than others, depending on the personality traits of the individual doing the learning, but personally I have always found that "hands on" training allows me to understand and comprehend concepts much faster than any other method I've tried. That said, I also feel that given enough time I am also able to learn just as well through simple observation and understanding. Clearly this was a mistake.

In 2008 I had been training with Parkour Generations for a few years at the academy and had naively felt comfortable enough in my abilities to believe that I was at a point in my parkour career to be able to pass my experience and knowledge on to others through teaching and coaching. Obviously I had been taught by Forrest and Dan as well as many of the others in the team and seen how they conduct the classes, so I'm sure I have the ability to do it, right? Hmmm....

I remember my first few classes quite vividly. One word. Disasters. I had suddenly entered a whole new realm of parkour and teaching. All of the training that I had done for myself was a fraction of the experience and understanding I needed to be able to teach it. So many questions had instantaneously entered my brain... The most simplest of things had now become the most complex! For instance... A step vault. Can I accurately explain every aspect of the mechanics behind the step vault? Do I know why we do it that way? Why not with the other foot? Other hand? Which foot do we lead with? Which foot do we land with? Where do the hips have to be? How do I teach a ten year old this? How do I capture the attention of a ten year old to be motivated to do this? How do I break this down for someone with little strength and experience? How do I progress, streamline and offer tips on the same technique to veteran traceurs to help them improve? What's the most likely place people will fall? Where do I stand to spot them? How do I get an entire group, of different abilities, to do this? How do I organise this? How do I make sure they all understand the correct way to do this? What must they watch out for? What are common mistakes? How do I deal with someone who just doesn't understand? What the hell is going on!?!?

Oh dear... I know nothing. My respect for the entire team had suddenly been multiplied by a thousand in a matter of about twenty seconds. I now understood the skill and experience it takes to teach an Academy class of fifty people while answering any questions and queries, reacting to different situations, ensuring everyone is safe, gaining maximum potential out of everyone, allowing everyone to have fun and keeping the classes upbeat and enjoyable!

Through the following year, along with the rest of the team, I have, on a daily basis, been put into many different and varied teaching scenarios which have tested all aspects of my parkour and teaching abilities. Some have gone better than others, but all of these situations have taught me more than I had ever hoped about myself, the discipline and my colleagues. Now I am beginning to feel more comfortable with teaching, but know I still have an eternity of learning to do.

The initial fears and frustrations have now faded away but the simple fact is that the more I teach, the more I learn and the more I learn, the more there is to be learnt. Being someone who thrives on knowledge, I guess this is a pretty good situation to be in. I'm just glad that I am in an environment that allows me to learn in the correct way.

There are a million aspects to comprehend and I think it is imperative to have the physical fundamentals, spirit and ethos firmly cemented into your subconscious by spending time with those with the experience to make sure you are on the right path... otherwise, there is just too much that can be skewed, misinterpreted and misunderstood. For these reasons I'm glad that the new A.D.A.P.T qualification is on its way. It's something that will give developing traceurs/traceuses and athletes around the world the option to learn how to TEACH properly and ensure that parkour, as a discipline, is advanced further in the best way possible for all of us as a community. This, I completely believe, is a great thing.

As for me, I'm just excited to find out what we're all going to learn at class tomorrow. :)

Labels: Experiences, Psychology, Training

#58
The Meaning of Strength

By Dan | posted on 3 September 2009 | 11 comments

What is it, �to be strong�? Why do we push ourselves every day to be fitter, faster, stronger, more fearless, more capable, more efficient?

Who can jump the furthest? Who can run the fastest or climb the highest? Who can face the most danger? Who can do the most twists in a somersault? How could we get to a place in our minds where any of these things matter to us? Arbitrary things, all of them: quick to come and quicker to go; easily gained or lost, easily learned or forgotten; affected by the most random and trivial of things, such as lever length, genetics, training, tendon and ligament position, anatomy, injury, predisposition, substances, drugs, nurture, nature, anything! Meaningless. So where is the meaning? What gives our movement meaning?

In a few score years you will be gone. A few more decades after that the walls and gaps you jump will be gone too. Fast forward a few millennia and the very rock and stone it all rested upon will be altered, changed, and � eventually � gone too. Enough time and the planet itself will be stardust again, swallowed by a red giant. No records will stand then, no medals or points, not even the memory of those things. Transient, to be sure. Heraclitus said it best, �Everything flows; nothing remains�. So what does it matter that you can jump 11 feet rather than 10? Is it just �to be better�, is it our nature to want to improve for improvement�s sake? Is it that we must constantly prove ourselves to ourselves? Does it all come down to our conditioning, the need to compare and compete both within and without ourselves?

I hope not.

I think not.

What matters, surely, is us. What gives it all meaning, is us.
The temporal nature of things does not render them meaningless, not at all � quite the opposite. It is the very fact that all things are transient that bestows upon those things the potential for ultimate meaning � because that thing, that jump, that moment is unique and unrepeatable: much like us. So it really does matter, quite a lot, what you do with that moment! It is us who give meaning to the moments and the actions, both our intentions for and our actual experience of them, and each moment will be nothing more nor less than what we make of it. So if you do this jump simply in order to impress others, for example, or to beat your rival in a contest, and that is your motivation, that is your goal, your desire, then that moment�s or action�s meaning is no more than that: a flash of primal ego, driven by a no-doubt genetically-fuelled will to power. And where is the meaning in that? Is that really the best we can do?

But infuse that same moment with a will to understand who you are, through challenge, through adversity, through movement, and instantly that same arbitrary jump becomes filled with meaning, with power and substance. It will resonate in you, and throughout your life, and no doubt long after your body is dust. It means something.

In the end, the movements don�t matter. Truthfully, the art doesn�t matter � you could experience this in any action, in gardening, or fighting, or the study of quantum physics: what matters is you who practice the art, for you are what gives it meaning in any and every moment. So what does it mean, �to be strong�? Why is being strong better than being weak? Is it at all? Or is the process of becoming strong just a vehicle, a path for us to focus our own understanding of ourselves, our world, our lives, and our place in the order of things? And if so, does it then follow that the only real �success� can be found through edging closer to that understanding, that indeed all knowledge is only self-knowledge?

In this case, a traceur�s true test is not in how far he can jump, or how quickly he can move, or how many muscle-ups he can complete, or even in his level of ability: but rather it is in what he finds in the art � what he finds in himself.

Labels: Psychology

#57
RETOUR VERS LE FUTUR 3: �DE L�ATHLETISME AU PARKOUR�

By Forrest | posted on 22 August 2009 | 3 comments

Nous sommes f�vrier mars 2002. Cela fait un peu plus de 1 an et demi que je fais de l�athl�, ma sp�cialit�; le 400 m�tres haies.

S�bastien Foucan et moi �tions dans le m�me club (SCA EVRY) et dans le m�me groupe d�entrainement avec pour Coach Cristian Kapfer. Seb �tait sp�cialis� dans le saut en longueur. Nos programmes d�entrainement �taient diff�rents mais souvent, il est arriv� que nous partagions des th�mes du programme ensemble par exemple les exercices pour d�velopper la vitesse. Jusqu�� 200 m�tres, il �tait toujours devant, plus puissant, plus rapide, par contre, au dela de cette barri�re , les r�les s�inversaient, j��tais plus r�sistant et capable de maintenir une cadence de vitesse �lev�e plus longtemps.

Ce samedi matin, Seb et moi nous sommes retrouv�s � 10h � la salle de musculation de l�AGORA(Evry) pour faire notre programme d�entrainement ensemble. Durant cet entrainement, nous avons parl� de nombreuses choses, des pompiers de Paris, de sa blessure au bras etc... Si je me rappel bien, j�ai commenc� � discuter du film �YAMAKASI�, je lui ai demand� s�il l�avait vu. Il m�a expliqu� pour la premi�re fois, qu�il les connaissaient tr�s bien et m�me qu�il avait �t� l�un d�entre eux. Jusqu�ici, il avait toujours �t� tr�s discret sur le sujet, il ne m�en avait jamais parl� avant. C�est marrant, je ne sais pas pourquoi mais j�avais du mal � l�imaginer faire cette activit�e, peut �tre parce que nous nous �tions rencontr�s � l�Athl�tisme: un sport tr�s conventionnel et � cette �poque je pensais que le Parkour, l� Art du deplacement( les termes que Seb a utilis� pour introduire l�activit�) n��tait pas du tout conventionnel. Je me disais que les YAMAKASI bougeaient comme des animaux et pour �tre h�nn�te j�avais du mal � me representer Seb avec ce c�t� animal. Tout le monde peu se tromper :-)

Bref! Apres avoir parl� de parkour pendant plus de 2 heures et lui avoir exprim� le fait que j�etais s�r , vu ma personnalit� et mes aptitudes physiques, que cette activit� me conviendrait parfaitement, il m�expliqua qu�il �tait en train de faire le n�cessaire pour cr�er une association Parkour. Il m�a gentiment propos� de venir essayer quand tout serait en place.

En janvier 2003, je participais a ma premi�re s�ance de Parkour accompagn� de l�un de mes meilleurs amis Chritophe Guilhem. C �tait dans une salle de gym pr�s de Lisses. J�ai rencontr� pour la premi�re fois, Stephane Vigroux, Yohann Vigroux, S�bastien Goudot, Mickael, Kazuma et bien entendu S�bastien Foucan �tait pr�sent.

Le format n��tait pas vraiment celui d�une classe avec une structure, un �chauffement, des exercices sp�cifiques etc... De nombreux �quipements de gymnastique ( cordes,poutre, barres asym�triques etc...) �taient �parpill�s sur ce terrain de Hand-ball et chacun faisait un peu ce qu�il voulait.

Tous �taient capable de faire la planche aux barres asym�triques, j�ai essay� ce mouvement pour la premi�re fois en pensant que cela devrait �tre facile parce que j�avais l�habitude de faire tous les jours des tractions et des pompes. Mais non! Avec tous les efforts du monde, je n�ai pas r�ussi � amener mon corps au dessus de la barre. Tous, sans exception se sont gentiments moqu�s de moi. Je n�ai rien dit mais Je me suis dit alors:� Je vous montrerai la semaine prochaine que je peux y arriver�. J��tais d�termin� comme jamais?. Tous les jours, pendant une semaine, au Parc de Seaux, je r�p�tais des exercices sp�cifiques que j�avais �labor� pour �tre capable de faire cette planche. Et Oui! Apr�s une semaine d�entrainement intense, j�ai r�ussi ma premi�re planche, pas la plus gracieuse il est vrai mais cela a �t� le d�but de mon vrai entrainement Parkour. A partir de la, j�etais mon propre mentor, je m�entrainais seul, utilisant toute l� experience que j�avais acquise dans le milieu sportif et � l�universit�e pour d�velopper mes aptitudes � bouger proprement. 2 � 3 heures par jours, je r�p�tais des exercices de bases pour le Parkour (travail d�equilibre, touch�, renforcement musculaire etc ...) dans un endroit situ� � 10 minutes en courant de chez mes parents et que j�appelle �LE TEMPLE DE LA PRECISION�.

Voil� comment mon Parkour � vraiment commenc�. Ce qui est s�r:�Il ne faut pas juger quelqu�un sur ses apparences, elles sont parfois trompeuses�

BACK TO THE FUTURE 3 �FROM ATHLETICS TO PARKOUR�

It�s February or March 2002, I have been doing athletics for over 1,5 years. My expertise is 400 meters with hurdles.

Sebastien Foucan and I were in the same club (SCA EVRY) and in the same training group with Christian Kapfer our coach. Seb was an expert in long jump. Our training program was quite different, however sometimes we shared some exercises such as the ones to improve the speed. Until 200 meters, he was always at the front, more powerful, faster but beyond this distance, I�ve always taken over. I was more resistant and capable to maintain a higher pace for a longer period.

On this Saturday morning, Seb and I met at 10 am at the AGORA�s gym in Evry to train together. We talked about several things, the fire brigade from Paris, his arm injury etc... If I remember, I started talking about �YAMAKASI the movie� and asked him if he watched it. He explained to me that he knew them very well and that he used to be part of their team. It was the first time that he talked about it, he was always very discrete on this topic.

The funny thing: I don�t know why, but I couldn�t really imagine him doing this activity, maybe because we met in the athletics which is a very common and traditional sport. At that time, I thought Parkour Art du d�placement (the exact term Seb used to introduce this activity to me) was very unusual and not traditional at all. My opinion about the YAMAKASI was: they could move like animals and to be honest, I had some difficulties to imagine Seb with this animal side. Everybody can make mistakes :-).

Anyway, after spending more than 2 hours talking about parkour and me explaining to him that I was sure I would enjoy doing it because of my personality and my physical skills, he told me that he was in process of setting up a Parkour Association. He kindly invited me to try to join in when everything is up and running.

In January 2003, I went with my best mate Christophe Guilhem to my first Parkour session. It was in the gym hall close to Lisses. I met for the first time Stephane and Yohann Vigroux, Sebastien Goudot, Michael, Kazuma, and obviously Sebastien Foucan was there too.

It wasn�t really a structured class with warm up, warm down, specific exercises etc... There were a lot of gym equipments (ropes, beam, asymmetric barres etc...) all around the hand ball field. Everyone was just using the space and the equipment the way they wanted.

All of them could do the muscle up. I tried this move for the first time thinking it should be easy because I used to do pull-ups and push- ups every day. But No! Even I put all the efforts into it, I couldn�t lift my body above the bar. They all nicely teased me. I didn�t say anything but I was thinking: "I will show you next week that I can do a muscle up" I was very determined. For one entire week, I was repeating some of my specific exercises at Parc de Seaux, to make sure I will manage the muscle up. Yes after 1 intense week, I managed my first muscle up. It�s true, it wasn�t the most graceful but it was the beginning of my real Parkour training. From this moment on, I was my own mentor. I trained alone using my sport background and what I learned at the University to improve my skills and to be able to move properly. 2-3 hours a day, I repeated some Parkour basic exercises (balance, touch, conditioning etc ...) in a place which is only 10 minutes away from my parent�s house. I call it �TEMPLE OF PRECISION�.

Voila! This is the way my Parkour journey started.
�Do not judge on somebody�s first appearance, they are sometimes wrong�

#82
Encountering Fear

By Kiell | posted on 18 August 2009 | 3 comments

My preoccupation these days is climbing, a passion that I seem to have drifted towards, stepping away slightly from Parkour. There's a ton of similarities: training hard, pushing your body, challenging yourself, engaging in something incredibly physical, teaching others. And encountering fear, regularly.

A good friend of mine described us climbing instructors as a group who, though disparate in many ways, tend to see encountering risk as a beneficial and healthy experience. And who could argue.

With climbing, I'm just starting my journey. I will never be the strongest, the most talented, nor the bravest, and that's not why I do it. And I'm far from alone in testing myself, and regularly scaring myself. And nor do I do it as often as I should.

Most of you reading this will know what it's like to force yourself to do something despite the knowledge that if anything goes wrong, at best, you're going to seriously hurt yourself. Something that I notice is that after each time I do it, there's a tremendous sense of achievement but also the knowledge that what I've done was physically straight-forward and, in many respects, actually quite easy; it was simply the fear that made it challenging. Hopefully each experience is a step towards pushing myself harder next time, knowing how to suppress the fear when it's there and feeling confident in my physical strength and ability.

It's a strange conversation that takes place when fear kicks in, bringing our motives and values into focus. Something we should probably all do more often.

Labels: Psychology

#81
The War

By Dan | posted on 15 August 2009 | 8 comments

It isn�t fashionable these days to talk about training or self-improvement in terms of conflict � we often hear how we are meant to train smart, not hard; to pace ourselves; to work within our limits; to adhere to the principles of sports science throughout. And, from a physiological point of view, this is often very sound advice and we would be wise to follow it.

Yet in the practice of parkour there is also a war being fought: a psychological battle that we are presented with every time we step up to a jump or a movement we have not yet mastered, every time the fear of failure or falling rests its dark gaze upon us and tells us to give up, to go home, to try it another day, to excuse ourselves into accepting defeat. This opponent is, of course, our own self, manifesting through the challenge of the terrain we encounter in our training. And it is an opponent that simply can�t be beaten by playing smart, or working within our limits. It has to be faced head-on, confronted in a very primal sense and wrestled with until either it, or you, submits.

This is where we need some old-fashioned �grunt�. This is also the part of our training that is not so easily managed. Becoming strong, or fit, or fast, or to learn to move well, is not that complicated a procedure: apply the right training regularly enough and you will see results. Simple.

Dealing with the mind, however, is anything but.

It is impossible to tell how someone is going to react to the challenge of the self in this situation � will they be cowed by the fear, or will they rise to overcome it? Will they demonstrate the inner strength required to carry themselves through these struggles, or will they look for an easier road? The harsh truth is that until we are faced with the battle we have no idea as to how we will react. Nor will anyone else be able to gauge infallibly how a given individual will fare when in this type of situation: many times we have seen practitioners excel during �safe� aspects of training, perhaps at an indoor class, only to baulk when faced with the same movements in an environment they perceive as more �high-risk�.

The mind is the most slippery of opponents, and the most cunning, and the most persistent. And it will use very trick in the book to encourage you to give up the fight. �You�re tired today�, it will whisper. Or perhaps, �it�s a bit wet still from the rain, best to leave it for another day.� �Don�t push yourself too much, you may get injured�, it will warn. And finally it may reassure you, �you can always come back and do it tomorrow. Let�s finish for the day.� But listen to this sibilant voice every time, and soon it will extinguish the fire within you completely: and one day when you really do want to make the jump, you find you just can�t summon up the strength.

How do we prevent this? By not listening to the voice � or at least not very often. You have to fight these inner battle and win more often than you lose. So listen to what the voice has to say (who knows, once or twice it may actually be talking sense!), take heed of its warnings and its advice � then file them away under �noted�, tell it to shut the hell up and get back to overcoming whatever particular obstacle you find in your path.

There are myriad different methods to fighting this war � I won�t say �winning� because it�s not one that can ever be won absolutely � and I have seen individuals successfully employing very different strategies: visualisation techniques, distraction techniques, anger, mantras, music� but somewhere along the line, all these individuals step forward with a look of sheer determination, resolute, committed: and do the jump. That�s the �grunt�; that�s the moment of willpower � and it is a moment of self-mastery in a very real sense. For everything inside them is likely screaming at them to step down, to be sensible, to play it safe, and yet they are able to master these thought processes, put them to one side and choose to complete the action. They are in control of their body at this point, and not their fear or any other part of the �mad monkey� that is the mind. It�s great to see someone achieve this state, and it�s even better to feel it for yourself.

When it happens, it�s a battle won. The war will continue, however. This is a war that never ends, after all. The opponent is tireless, relentless, and remorseless. It will be waiting on the battlefield every single time we decide to set foot thereon, arms folded and with a knowing smile. It has seen us before, it knows us intimately � perhaps better than anyone else knows us in life � and it knows precisely how to break us. Conversely, though, we know it just as well, and understand perfectly the challenge it will present us with each time we respond to the call to arms.

It�s a level playing-field: we just have to play out of our skins.

Labels: Challenges, Psychology, Training