Next month sees the UK release of the new Handbook of Parkour/Freerunning. Just for you blog-followers, here's an excerpt as sneak preview...

Je viens juste de finir de prendre ma douche. Ce soir, je me suis entrainé seul. Cela n’a jamais été un problѐme mais il est vrai que j’avais pris l’habitude, le mardi soir, de coacher ma femme et par la même occasion de m’entrainer avec. Elle est en Allemagne pour son boulot pour toute la semaine, elle me manque...

For far too long I have wanted to achieve this strength skill. The one arm chin. My nemisis. Experiencing the feeling of pulling your entire body weight from complete extension to complete flexion only using a single arm is some thing I've longed for.

The following are my thoughts on the nature, and usefulness of fear in parkour. My thanks to Nick Kelly for originally probing my mind for this!

How do you work through fears you encounter when practicing parkour?
What purpose do you think fear serves, and do you think fear has any positive qualities?

The sun cowers behind an ominous cloud, the wind carries an icy chill, and the sky starts to weep cold rain, but I am on fire! My muscles are tight, they are awaiting further demands. I’m breathing consistently, inhaling through my nose and exhaling from my mouth. I can feel my heart start to accelerate; it fuels an adrenaline that courses through every part of my body. I wipe the fear from my face, look down and realise it was just sweat.

Its Results time! As you may or may not remember from last month I set a challenge open to any and all practitioners out there. Simply put I wanted you to find something that scares you and I wanted you to do it. I was very pleased with the initial response and support I got messaged and hoped that there were even more people attempting it as well, whether it be to report back to everyone here or just for their own improvement.

The poets...

Perhaps they would have understood today's beauty?

The warmth of the sun on my skin

The swish of fabric as I vaulted railings, the metal passing under me from right to left, my body flowing over them

The energy simmering in my muscles

The wild flowers in the graveyard

The ease and lightness of my movements

Clothes cool and flowing

Sitting, satisfied with what is and what has passed

Instead of bashing these keys before me about present times or my plans for the near future, I'm going to use them to take a step in to the past and talk about an old friend of mine...

The muscle up.

Today it's as common and well known to Parkour practitioners as a pushup or a squat, but there was a time not too long ago when nobody in this country had even heard of the muscle up in Parkour circles.

One of the more popular requests we receive through emails and the forum are from people who have never had the opportunity to attend any of our classes regarding our training techniques and methods.

Every day I train, every day I discover more and more about my body and capacities… I am in a really pleasant period of my life about parkour, I get to know myself more, get some confidence in my movements, and get a lot of surprises from what I can do.

Take a deep breath,

Back in September last year I was invited to join the team on a trip to France to meet with the Majestic Force guys. Julie was filming, I was photographing, and after a magical day spent in the forest in Sarcelles, we headed in to central Paris to train.

I’ve suspected it for a while now but now I’m absolutely sure of it… We ladies-of-the-Parkour are definitely blessed!