Buildering.

A few weeks ago I hooked up with John Bourne for our first session of buildering in far too long. London is a curious place when it comes to buildering for a few reasons: hardly anyone does it, which is strange given the popularity and growth of parkour; there's a large number of climbers who live and train in the capital; and there's a distinct absence of rocks to climb. The nearest option is the "southern sandstone", a series of very porous crags down in Kent that take 3 days to dry after a gentle shower where the routes are getting steadily tougher as the soft rock gradually wears away.


As with Parkour, buildering in London is often more accessible, draws less attention, and often reveals some interesting architecture when you head out of the city centre and into the housing estates. Parts of residential London are incredibly densely packed, and John is proving a dab hand at stumbling upon some real nuggets. He'd discovered an estate in the south of the capital whilst out on one of his nocturnal running missions and suggested that we head there to see what else we could find.




On his jogging reccy visit, John had spotted a disused, elevated playground. These are another curious feature of London's housing estates - random communal play areas scattered amongst post war edifices that have fallen into disrepair. Like many others, this one had become the domain of taggers, smack addicts and glue sniffers, and as a result, it was no longer accessible. A rusty gate and a wall topped with swiveling spikes meant that we had to clamber over a ten foot pronged railing, but it was well worth the effort.

As you will notice, the wonderful red brick of the buildings isn't coped as fully as modern walls, giving plenty of opportunity for some very fingery problems. As we discovered later on, the estate is actually listed, meaning that it is protected due to its status within the architectural and cultural history of the area. We had just started to wander up the road to another housing estate when we spotted two low buildings with an alley running in between. It was begging to be chimneyed - not a tricky ascent but quite satisfying, especially given the height.



As John joined me on the roof, a resident leant over her balcony and asked us what we were doing. Initially we figured we'd upset her - we were climbing right next to her flat and at a glance, it could easily be regarded as suspicious, potentially damaging, and reckless. I immediately apologised and told her that we would be moving on very shortly. She assured us that she didn't mind in the slightest but asked us, half-jokingly, if we would mind removing the rubbish that had collected on the flat roof. We happily obliged and she passed down some carrier bags into which we placed a shoe, some syringe needles, various cans and bottles and a coat hanger. We're such nice young men.

Our final stop of the day was about a mile up the road: a small housing estate with a concrete communal area, dotted with flowerbeds and a low building that offered a nice wall-run to muscle up - a nice combination of parkour and climbing. Not the most visually striking, but I grabbed a quick shot of John as it's a movement that he really enjoys doing.

A great day's climbing, and my thanks to John for showing me the new spot. I'm hoping to return the favour in the next couple of weeks, and I'll be sure to take my camera along again.

The Law of Averages

300 level cat-pass precisions. That'll do! It sounded like a fair challenge for later that day. It had been a while since I'd focused on this technique so I felt I should pay it a little more attention tonight.

Throughout the day, the thought of the upcoming training session often crossed my mind but my attention was more often found wandering to what someone had said to me earlier in the week, as I had landed a precision. "You're going to fall and hurt yourself one of these days!" she had said with a smile, and I couldn't help wondering... was she right? Was I a victim to a law of averages that stated some day, somewhere, I was going to mess up a basic technique and seriously hurt myself? Was this an inevitability that was beyond my control? It wasn't a pleasant thought.

It's often told that the most dangerous moments in your training occur whilst you are executing the simplest of techniques and just not paying enough attention. I've rarely heard of anyone being badly injured or missing a big jump where they were fully focused and concentrating, so what could I do to prove to myself that I was not a victim? That I was in fact in control of this situation? The answer came quickly, tonight I would not miss!

So 300, became 300 in a row. If I missed the landing wall, if I overshot, undershot, missed with my hands or if both feet did not land on the second wall and remain there, I would start again from the beginning. Call it quality control or madness - it was probably a bit of both.

When I arrived at the spot where I planned to begin this experiment, I wasn't too happy to find the walls were soaked. Wet, dark and slippery with moss sprouting from between the cracks, the sharp-edged walls greeted me with a slick shine and were menacing to the touch. Great.

30 minutes later, after loosening off and warming up, an inner pressure I couldn't quite locate began to grow inside of me with each successful repetition. 3 became 20, 20 became 50, and the thought of having to start all over again began to haunt me, making each repetition a little more daunting than the last.
The only way to counter this building distraction was to force myself to treat each jump as if it was the first of the evening.
I would focus my full attention on connecting with the first wall cleanly, push just enough and land on the second, and remain there. For a while I felt things were going well, but as my confidence grew, so did my chances of complacency.

If there was indeed some unwritten law of averages, then how many times should I fall in 300 attempts at this, given wet and dark conditions?

Two hours had passed as I reached the half-way point. It was 9:30pm and I had managed 150 level cat-pass precisions and my forearms felt like lead. I hadn't even considered the physical toll this challenge would take. Shaking them off, I thought about the technique and realised it was like being in the pushup position and rocking on to your fingers with enough force to leave the ground temporarily, over and over again. I was tired, I was sore and I knew that although I might be able to reach the elusive 300, it would be a royal pain in the backside to have to start again any time soon.

Ten minutes later I restarted the process and the 151st repetition loomed. I wasn't sure how much I had recovered during the brief rest and the technique itself seemed suddenly unfamiliar in my head. Stop over thinking, this is just another simple technique.

I. can. not. miss. now.

200 reps. At this rate I should be finished by 11pm... 3 and a half hours after I started. If I miss now then I may well be watching the sunrise over my shoulder later today. I managed a quick smile as I thought that might dry the walls a little, if nothing else.

280 reps. My brain had switched off. There was no longer any pressure. The process was automatic and although my forearms begged for relief from the constant punishment, I had fallen in to a rhythm. I would pass over the first wall, land on the second, turn around, hop back, drop down to the floor and line myself up for another, repeating the phrase, "Stay straight, medium power." in my head each time. That had become my curse, it had started twenty minutes earlier and I couldn't stop now, what if that was my lucky charm, my key to finishing this?

I honestly don't know if I would have started again had I missed then. Physically, I don't think I could have managed another 300. I'd learned my lesson already though...

There is no law that states one day we will miss. With enough concentration, enough focus, due care and attention, we can repeat a simple technique hundreds of times, for hours and not make a mistake. Accidents do happen and some things are beyond our control but we can greatly reduce our chances of messing up if we treat each and every movement as something important, something to be careful with.

I didn't do 300 level cat-pass precisions in the end.





The 301st was for the nice lady who had inspired my evening's activities.

-Blane

A lil Scratch... pt.II

(Continued from http://www.parkourgenerations.com/blog/2008/10/lil-scratch-pti.html)

...this lil scratch!

Now... this had to be one of the strangest moments in my life. As you can see from looking at the scratch, you could say its not exactly a papercut, yet at the time, there was absolutely no unusual sensation on my shin where the scratch was, pain or otherwise. In fact, if anything it was my left thigh that was still aching, so as I stared at my shin in a mixture of disbelief and wonder: the disbelief from the fact that if this was as bad as it looked, then why did it not hurt more?... and the wonder as to how a wound this deep is not bleeding, and in addition just trying to rationalise to myself that I may just be staring at a combination of bone and sinew... MY bone and sinew! Either way, there was a definite alarm bell of concern that was ringing that told me that this... was... not... good!

I immediately dropped my trouser leg to cover it again, put on a nice lil poker face, moved to a quiet corner away from the others, and called Dan over. When he arrived, I knew wanted both a second opinion, as well as wanting to see the look on his face (Dan being man that is always composed in the midst of any situation)... as soon as I showed it to him, he took one look and nodded once (and I think maybe raised an eyebrow) and pointed straight at my leg saying "You need to go to hospital!". I think I remember chuckling.

First of all we called over our resident Mystical Medic, Doctor J (I'll keep his name out of this, but suffice to say he studies Ninjitsu Medicine amongst other things, and always carries some type of kit with him to treat people). Obviously, on seeing the scratch, Doctor J was off and back in a flash with his bag of tricks. I sat down on a wall and elevated my leg, and Doc told me to brace myself as he prepared to sprinkle in some magical substance into the wound that would stem the bleeding (apparently used by the Chinese military for use by field medics on wounds like these)... I braced myself, but oddly enough, no pain!! Now to me, that wasn't as reassuring as you may think, as, with a wound like this one, you are SUPPOSED to feel pain!! Still, i remained calm, and let Doc strap me up, as Andy sorted out a ride for me to the hospital. Now, to me this was all fun, what with being painless and all, but the expressions... no.. the grimaces on the faces of anyone that saw my leg would make you think otherwise!

Still, I got up, limped over to Mr.Blinky and his motorbike, tossed on a helmet and hopped on the back!

I have to say, the ride to the hospital was an interesting experience, as obviously I didn't want to bend my right leg at all! This meant that with my leg hanging straight, for every right turn we took on the road, I'd have to elevate my leg up slightly as the bike leant the ground closer and closer towards my foot! Still, it was a short trip and we arrived at the hospital within around 5 minutes (not because Blinky's a maniac on the road or anything... no... he was much more controlled than I thought), but because thankfully, St.Thomas' was fairly a close distance by road!

Now... I'll skip most of the details of waiting in Casualty to be seen, but lets just say that there were some interesting characters in that waiting room...

...there was the nice lady that had been locked out of her house by closing the door and locking her keys inside, and so had decided to break back in by climbing over her garden fence - the very same garden fence that was covered in end to end in Barbed wire! Lets just say that her bandages that she'd dressed herself with were now soaked a pretty shade of crimson, which matched the shade of her embarrassed face as she told me her tale...

...then there was Old Man Tony... a VERY loud, and very friendly old fella who told me that from time to time would succumb to dizzy spells and faint, often knocking his head, which was a shame... but then, the fact that also admitted that he'd consumed copious amounts of alcohol before some of these spells might have had something to do with the falls? Maybe...?

...and then there was this one very attractive girl that walked in not too long after I did, but unlike everyone else that looked forlorn, dizzy or bloody, she looked fit as a fiddle, and just a little peeved at having to wait around rather than be off living it up. Her story sounded relatively benign: she'd felt some pain in her Achilles while walking around, but being a Sunday, her GP wasn't open, and because she was working the next day wanted to get a sick-note to cover her shift... (turns out she was a student of fashion as well as director of short films... if fact, she later showed me a short Mafia movie she'd directed which makes me think she's out to be the next Martin Scorsese) ...to cut a long story short, after seeing the doctors at the hospital and being examined, it turned out that she'd had a strain on her Achilles over time, and

was advised to rest her feet as much as possible, take some pain-killers, and for the moment to only walk around in high-heels! Thinking logically, I think the position of the feet in heels would cause less pressure on her Achilles Tendon... and from the smile on her face, I don't think she minded one bit! Of course, if in my life I ever have a pain my MY Achilles, I will not be heading to St.Thomas' for treatment ;)

...but I digress...

Paris Film Festival: Action!

This past week five of us (Stephane, Johann, Thomas, Seb and I) have been in Paris working with our good friends and partners-in-crime the Majestic Force team on a large-scale live display show for the prestigious Salon Du Cinema film festival. The festival is a huge expo for all aspects of the movie industry in Europe, bringing together producers, tech-people, directors, actors, stuntment and more, and did not disappoint on any front.

Majestic Force and Parkour Generations were invited by the festical organisers to display our own brand of visual spectacle, which is more and more drawn on by the movie industry to bring a touch of realism to the action scenes that for so long went the way of wire-work and CGI, and fairly tired stunt techniques. With over 20 of the Majestic Force team in attendance, including the Cirque du Soleil branch from Las Vegas, it was quite a gathering and meant the energy throughout the show days was non-stop and incredibly infectious. Constant good tunes from DJ Mao didn't hurt either!


The festival had pulled out all the stops for these shows and built to bespoke design one of the largest scaffoldings ever used for a display of this sort, ranging up to ten metres in height and covering over 100 square metres. My camera had difficulty fitting it all into one shot, so I have posted a few sample shots of the structure. And what a pleasure it was to be able to play on it all day long..!

Majestic Force were also keen to use the structure and the time to bring the art of movement to some new generations, and between each display people from the audience were invitied to take part in open workshops to get a taste for the discipline. This proved to be, as ever, highly popular with the public who were raring to have a go after watching the explosive demonstrations.



It's always a real pleasure and a great experience to work on projects alongside the Majestic Force guys, and this was no exception. Their energy and enthusiasm is unrivalled, and their talent and skill always impressive.





Yann and Chau's experience of choreographing such shows allows everyone else to focus on the movement knowing that the organisation of each display is well in hand, making the whole process smooth and efficient. With 5 shows a day to fit in, it simply has to be this way!



I would like to thank everyone at Majestic Force for making us feel so welcome once again, and especially the Yamakasi founders. Look forward to the next one.. ;)

The Perfect Jump

It's amazing how the cold weather stiffens you up and tries to dissuade your body from jumping. It's around freezing every day here in London at the moment, despite the brilliant sunshine, and is actually great weather for training. Crisp, dry... but very cold. Particularly during the evening classes!

However, today was an afternoon training session: just myself and Stephane and Julien Vigroux, and was nothing particularly complicated. Running jumps and precisions, varying lengths, varying angles and landings, long strides and short, reduced run-ups, double-legs etc. The usual for this type of session. But that cold... how it makes you work; especially when all you want is to get inside and get some steaming hot tea down..! The whole body wanting to shrink in on itself for warmth, wanting to keep the linbs close to the body, not stretched out at full stride for long jumps. Means you have to focus more, force the body to open up and ignore the cold and just do the jumps. Makes all the usually simple drills that much harder, and that much more productive as a result. Love it.

And after all the jump drills, with heavy legs and cooling bodies, we ended with one double-leg jump at almost max range. And it was here that the jumps became hard. And as a result, the jumps had to become better. In a sense, the hunt for that perfect jump - when everything clicks and works exactly as it should, the connective tissues and muscles firing at their most efficient, the push from the ball of the foot, the swing of the body, the reach with the legs and shift of bodyweight as you land - is best carried out when you are this tired. It's at such times that you realise you can't rely on sheer power and strength to make the jump: you simply have to use the technique at its best, or not make it at all. Adding that extra challenge at the end of your session, digging deep to look for the perfect jump.. for me, that's what it is all about.

So the warmth and the hot tea had to wait until we cracked it. But I think it was worth the wait.

Highlights of Rendezvous 3

Day 1. Overcast skys, wet rails, huge puddles, slippery surfaces and never ending rain. These are what the days training would hold. With everyone ready and after all the instructors and group leaders were introduced the warm up could begin, taking place on the roof of the south bank centre over 150 people gathered together with what would kick off Rendezvous 3. The warm up began with some light jogging under cover, which somewhat resembled a rave, lead by Chris and Dan and moved on to quadrupedie out in the open allowing us to enjoy the full effects of the rain and puddles, giving everyone a small glimpse of what the day had in store. After some various upper body exercises the second half of the warm up was taken over by the Yamakasi and moved on to the underground car park where the focus would be the lower body. In true Yamak style the aim was to have simple yet effective exercises but to not stop, just keep going and going. As everyone soldiered on energies rose when we had to begin counting to 10 together. Everyone shouted as loud as they could when we reached 10 a very unique experience indeed but one topped when we formed a large circle and rested our arms on the persons shoulders next to us, bringing a greater sense of unity knowing that everyone else was suffering too.

With the warm up behind us we broke up into 5 groups and each lead our group to the first station where the training could begin. I was lucky enough to lead my group to Jubilee Gardens which after the torrent of rain through the night left the grass waterlogged featuring miniature lakes and all. The route began with a catleap, cat balance along the wall and then hanging in cat position. After a few repetitions we noticed everyone was a bit apprehensive to the movement lacking the lustre displayed in the warm up not but 10 minutes ago, although the route was clearly well within the ability of everyone. Pulled aside by Forrest he asked me if I was feeling 'brave' to which I replied with some uncertainty 'sure' and he then proceeded to explain what he had in store for the group. After explaining his plan to Steph and the other instructors he gathered everyone and gave the slight modification to the route. As everyone wanted to remain as dry as possible he decided everyone would become as wet as possible and what better way is there than sliding on the grass, not on the feet but sitting down. When Forrest said go 3 people would sprint as fast as possible until they reached him, slide and do the normal route as fast as possible. Everyone looking confused and very hesitant we lined up and waited for the signal. 'GO!' sprinting as fast as possible we slid and did the rest of the route. Hobbling back to the queue we realised that once we were as wet as possible it couldn't get any worse allowing us to be much more unconstrained while moving and give our best. Everyone joined in and the atmosphere instantly changed from one of anxious foreboding to an audacious rowdy group well ready to get stuck in to what the day held. After a second route focusing on precisions we moved on to the car park underneath the Southbank Center.

Greeted by Yohan, Tracey and the other instructors we split into two groups and were shown some combinations to get used to the space. As this was a popular spot our movements required a delicate touch due to the wear and tear from the many who have trained there before. One wrong move and the rails we were using could fall over. Soon after we were shown by one of the Yamak students an underbar combination with a slight twist. We had to do the combination with a partner doing each move at the same time with as much fluidity and grace as possible and a successful try would grant the praise of a 'sexy movement'. After many underbars, dive rolls and sexy movements later we took a break for lunch joining up with the other groups to speak of our endeavours so far.

With lunch past us and the skies opening up again we started a second shorter but more intense warm up lead by Dan and the yamakasi in the car park. The groups rejoined and we moved on to the baby 45 and had another mini warm up from Chris to keep the energy going with various vaults and tic tacs. We then split up into 2 groups. The first route featured a kong to precision and later moved on to palm spins. Chau was at hand just in case of any slips or mishaps and would help rotate anyone round if they were unsure with the movement in the rain. With everyone getting back into things and once joined by Danny's half of the group we moved onto some balance drills on a rail near by. Chau and Danny gave some wise words about being focused and in the moment explaining that although you may be consciously trying to keep your balance, with other things in the back of your mind subconsciously they may affect your performance so it's important to try and let go. The next station featured some challenges from traversing a window sill without touching the floor to finding a way under the benches with only about one foot of space and just about anything else Brian and Anne-T could concoct. Followed by plyometric jumps over the benches, precisions on to extremely slippery wooden tables and chairs and cat balance on the edge of building, this forced everyone to be far more careful with their foot placements. This station was more taxing than others requiring maximum effort on many of the jumps and a great deal of attention to spatial awareness but spirits were high. As everyone seemed fatigued in a last ditch effort I decided we should monkey walk to the last station despite the onlookers drinking coffee outside giving us puzzled looks.

Many a stare later we arrived at the last station and began the route set out for us. Yann quickly realised we were feeling deflated from the days events so far and decided to play a few games suggesting it is always important to finish training on a high note and just have fun. The first game we played featured 6 people. In groups of 2 we would run down a set of stairs to chase another group and try and stop them from completing their route by obstructing their way or simply grabbing them. The difference with this was that not only were you chasing someone but you were also being chased, confusing some people to begin with but everyone got the hang of it after a few tries. The great effect this game played on the group was everyone became much more relaxed with their movements and really left go when compared to the first route. The second game had everyone joining hands and passing every obstacle without breaking a link in the chain made a great deal easier with the help of the people either side of you. The true challenge came when 2 by 2 we faced a wallrun although not very high with the walls in the slippery condition they were in it became a momentous task. Attempts were made but with slip after slip we needed help. Moving into chair position Yann implied we could use him as an extra step up if we needed to. Helping each other up we eventually successfully finished the route. With the day coming to an end we headed back to the Southbank Center soaked but not defeated by the weather to stretch and warm down with Dan and reflect on the days events.

Winter Warmers: An Outdoor Class...

Great class tonight. Absolutely freezing, full complement of practitioners suitably attired, and Thomas and myself with the lucky duty of driving everyone on through the London streets... who could ask for more?! And this particular class turned out to be a fine example of why training in adverse weather conditions can be so useful.

The problem, or perhaps one should see it as a bonus, was that ice and frost was covering everything in sight. Benches, walls, railings, the grass... slippery, cold and generally uninviting. After a thorough Thomas Des Bois upper-body warm-up, it was straight onto movement drills and routes to keep everyone warm until croissant-time at the end of the class. Simple movement, nothing fancy, and in good conditions - well lit, dry, rough surfaces - all of it would have been even simpler. However, dim those lights, scatter some frost around, and glaze those surface in patches of ice and you have a whole different story unfolding.

Suddenly every move becomes uncertain; every step a possible slip, every grab a possible miss, and every jump a possible butt-bruising. On a muscular level, you work so much more - everything has to contract that little bit more to keep a grip or land the jump, techniques have to be soft and light and very precise, and focus maintained at all times.

To their credit everyone threw themselves into it and got on with the exercises, and it is here in this kind of training that spirit is shaped the most. This is when you find out how much you can push yourself and just what kind of mental control you have over your body, which really does not want to make that jump onto an ice-covered wall. You learn the most about yourself in adversity - character is only truly formed when under pressure and tested properly. It's easy to be brave when there is no challenge to overcome; a breeze to be calm and at peace when sitting in a mountaintop temple retreat. But how will those traits stand up when faced with a great risk, or hurled into the maelstrom of a bustling metropolis? That is when such virtues really count, and only then that we can discover whether we have them or not.

And so we ended with the simplest of tasks. A fingergrip traverse along some sloped walls, maybe 30 metres in length. Usually this ia good warm-up for the arms, and you can bust out 3 or 4 reps there and back. But tonight, with glacial moss covering the walls and ice along the grip, even completing one full traverse without coming off was a physical feat. A better work-out for the abs you could not find, as we discovered! After Thomas and I went there and back we knew it was a tricky one, so big congratulations to Daryl who managed to get there. The task added a good half hour beyond the official end of the class, but I think those who were there clawing away at the ice with us found something useful in just attempting it, whether they made it or not.

The spirit is alive and well in London, and refusing to be dampened by an English winter in full approach... ;)