Archive |
News from December 2008
On Boxing Day this new television commercial starring Team Member Agota for Rightmove - the UK's largest estate agency - began airing on national television. Though only a little parkour was required, and not as much as we would have liked to see, the edit is snappily put together and well edited. It will be airing for a year, and you can see it now on our YouTube Channel by clicking the link above. Wednesday 31st of December 2008 
As 2008 rolls to an end the new year is already looking to be very busy indeed, with January packed with some fascinating projects both in the UK and abroad, and good training throughout for those who want to burn off the Winter excess..! Academy Indoor Classes start again on Monday, Jan 5th, while Outdoor Classes recommence on the 7th and you can book online for those now. The first open Women's Jam in London will be on Sunday 11th, more details on that to follow, and of course the last Sunday of the month - the 24th - will be our free London jam known as Off The Wall. So get up and get moving! Wednesday 31st of December 2008 
A brief report of this year's international gathering in London, the third Rendezvous event, can now be seen in our Articles section here. The event was a great success and we are looking forward to topping it with RDV4, which will likely be held in the summer of 2009. As always, keep an eye right here for news as it comes. Sunday 28th of December 2008 
The first major ADAPT (Art du Deplacement And Parkour Teaching) Certification Courses will commence in 2009, both in France and the UK, and the demand for the new qualification is already huge. With unprecedented developments for the recognition of the discipline of parkour about to take hold in both countries and beyond, 2009 will be a momentous year for practitioners everywhere. The programme dates will be confirmed on this site in due course, and more information on the ADAPT Programme can be found here. Sunday 28th of December 2008 
For those of you who have been one the scene for a while, the Parkour Santa video that comes out of Finland every year for Christmas will be a cherished tradition. This year the snow-bound practitioners have done it again, with Santa having his toughest year yet - always a great laugh, this year's offering can be seen on YouTube in two parts:Part One and Part Two. Enjoy! Wednesday 24th of December 2008 
Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule, Dong Zhi, Modranect, Yalda, or however you celebrate the Winter Solstice.. From everyone at Parkour Generations have a great one, and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in 2009! Walk on! Wednesday 24th of December 2008 
From the 26th of December you will be able to see Team Member Agota in action in a TV commercial that will run for the year of 2009. The commercial is for the estate agency Rightmove - keep an eye out for it as your recover from the turkey.. ;) Tuesday 23rd of December 2008 
Prince of Persia: Parkour Coordinator The upcoming blockbuster movie of the incredibly successful game, Prince Of Persia, which utilises parkour heavily in the action, will have a dedicated parkour coordinator in David Belle. Having worked on hit movies Banlieue 13 and Babylon AD, David is likely to create some amazing action sequences for a film which is already highly anticipated. We worked with Disney earlier in the year training one of the young stars of the movie, which is to be released in 2010. Great game too. Tuesday 23rd of December 2008 
Continuing with the fallout, for those who missed the recent internationl Rendezvous gathering in London last weekend, here are some great write-ups of the event from a couple of the visiting practitioners from the United States. The first from Nick Maurer can be found here, and perhaps the most evocative of the event is an almost poetic offering from Tyson Cecka, found here. Both well worth a read, and capture the spirit and energy of the two days very well. Our own review of the event will be online on this site very soon, and you can also read about the event from the perspective of Parkour Generations Team Member James on our own training blog here. Sunday 21st of December 2008 
With unofficial video edits and pictures of last weekend's amazing Rendezvous 3 gathering surfacing everywhere, we thought we would shine a light on this particular edit which takes a light-hearted look at some of the fun on the 2nd day of the event, indoors at the Westminster Academy Sports Centre. Put together by Naji Basma, one of the school students we teach, it captures the fun side of the day very well. A gallery of photos will go up on the site very soon, with Julie Angel's official film of the event to follow in the new year. Thanks again everyone that made it such a special two days! Saturday 20th of December 2008 
Christmas Academy Strikes Back.. As is tradition, the last Monday Academy class of the year will be the Christmas Class Extravaganza... This year it falls on Monday December 22nd December, next week, and should be a great laugh as always. Prizes will be awarded to the best dressed guy and girl, with the only stipulation being that you MUST train in your costume for the entire class! We have had some corkers over the years, and our advice is only that you avoid dressing up as a Christmas present... made it very hard to vault for that one particular woman! Thursday 18th of December 2008 
The last open Women's Jam in London will take place this Sunday, 21st December , starting at 12pm. Free to attend, these gatherings are always great events for women of all levels of ability to get together and share knowledge and training time together. A couple of our team are always present to help out if necessary, but the order of the day is always good fun and spirited practice. For full details email Tracey on Tracey(at)parkourgenerations.com. Wednesday 17th of December 2008 
Rendezvous 3 - "The Rain-dezvous!" The end of year gathering in London, Rendezvous 3, went off with a very loud, and very wet, bang this past weekend.. and we were very happy with how the two days panned out, despite the pouring rain for the day at the Southbank Centre. In many ways the adverse weather actually made the event better, and it was amazing to see so many practitioners from all over the world smiling throughout a cold, wet day of training in overcast London. Training for the spirit this was, and it shone through in large quantities from all involved. A proper write-up and galleries of images will follow, but today we would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who made it possible, to Southbank Centre and the Westminster Academy for hosting us, to Eugene Minogue for logistical aid, and all the guys and girls from both Parkour Generations and Majestic Force for puting in so much effort to come all this way and make it run so smoothly. And most of all to everyone who participated and gave their all for two cold December days. Amazing stuff! If you missed it, well.. you missed it! Monday 15th of December 2008 
Now that the Winter holidays are just around the corner, the majority of our weekly school classes are winding down and have their last session this or next week. All recommence in early January though, along with a couple more jumping into our Parkour For Schools Programme for the Easter Term. The programme is always growing, and now with the Youth Sports Trust on board things are set to explode in 2009. For more information on how to join this programme and provide the benefits of parkour training for your students, hit the link above and contact us at any time. Thursday 11th of December 2008 
This Friday is one of those rare occasions where we have to cancel the Academy Classes - this time due to preperations for the long-awaited and now primed to go off Rendezvous international gathering in London! Please note that there will be no Youth Academy or Outdoor Class this Friday. All classes resume as normal as of Monday next week, and you can already reserve places on the January 09 Outdoor Classes. Wednesday 10th of December 2008 
January will see the international publication of an informational book on parkour for young readers by Dan and the Parkour Generations collective, entitled simply 'Parkour'. The book is designed to engage children and explain a little about the discipline of parkour and where it is today. Filled with some cracking images from Andy Day, the book has a release date of January 15th and will also be distributed to schools and libraries around the world. It can already be pre-ordered on Amazon.co.uk. Two other works for adults are in process and one of these will hit the shelves in Spring 2009. The word spreads... Tuesday 09th of December 2008 
Off the Charts! London's Free Jams... A big thanks again to everyone that made it down to our free monthly jam, Off The Wall, yesterday. With all those in attendance that joined us at Waterloo and Vauxhall, including people of all ages (the youngest being 6, and the oldest being... yes, we'll keep your secret!) and practitioners from all over the place, as was evidenced by the accents from London, America, Essex, France, Cambridge, Germany and more, it was one of the best yet. Its great to see parkour spreading in this way, and that there's more and more people out and about all over the city training together. Next up on the calender is Rendezvous III. For those that are coming, shine up your Kalenjis and Darts nice and bright, sleep well the night before, and we'll see you bright and early on Saturday morning! Monday 08th of December 2008 
Rendezvous 3, the annual international gathering, kicks off in one week and it now seems that not only the Yamakasi founders themselves will be coming but they will also be bringing some of their long-standing professional team members with them to spice things up a little. Also Cisco will be arriving from Lisses with Seb, bringing the French contingent to... well, a lot. However we are fairly confident the UK native won't let the side down..! It's gearing up to be the best Rendezvous yet, with the Southbank Centre already offering to host it again next year. Should be an interesting view with so many people warming up on the roof! Monday 08th of December 2008 
Sport England, the government agency responsible for developing sports and their place in community, has just released a paper endorsing our ongoing programme with the Ciy of Westminster and Positive Futures delivering parkour across the country. The paper is aimed at policymakers who use the power of sport and physical activity to shape local communities, reduce crime and antisocial behaviour in young people, and help partners and National Governing Bodies deliver on their objectives. Sport England is set to initiate a quantum leap in accessibility and recognition for the discipline in the UK, enabling parkour to bring its incredible benefits to young people all over the country. Exciting times ahead. Friday 05th of December 2008 
Hangtime! Vertical Jump Training Just a heads-up to a very good website and new article on vertical jump training and it's relation to parkour. All practitioners know that jumping far and high is of great benefit to their movement, and there are many ways to train this and then improve it when you begin to plateau. The links above are well worth a look if you are serious about getting some serious hangtime... Friday 05th of December 2008 
With the annual international gathering, Rendezvous 3, just around the corner there is considerable attention being focussed on it - and no wonder considering the line-up of participants and the unprecedented hosting by London's Southbank Centre. As part of this build-up, Tuesday next week we will be talking about the event on the BBC Asian Network's Nikki Bedi Show so have a listen if you can. The training for both days will be rigorous and demanding, but everyone there stands to learn enormous amounts from the wealth of experience on offer. We can't wait... Thursday 04th of December 2008 
Comfort Zone Project Commences This week, after a considerable planning phase, the 'Comfort Zone' project we are doing in conjunction with All Change and funded by the world's largestmedical research charity Wellcome Trust - looking at the science of fear through parkour - commences properly with two days of multi-activity sessions with the young people at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. The project uses art and physicality to engage young people with science, and this particular year-long project involves not only us but neuroscientists, geneticists, sports research scientists, artists, musicians, and film-makers among others. A truly eclectic team, the project is shaping up to provide some very unique and special results. More info after the two initial sessions this week. Wednesday 03rd of December 2008 
The parkour community continues to spread across the world, with the discipline being well represented in a whole host of countries by dedicated and earnest practitioners. To do our bit to help knit these commuities together and raise their visibility so that they might form good links with each other, we have initiated a new feature on the website in the form of the Global Community Page. To have your community featured on the page, click the link above and follow the instructions at the bottom of the page. We look forward to seeing you on there! Tuesday 02nd of December 2008 
A new and unique Julie Angel film has just been released online and can be seen on her YouTube channel here. With movement and words provided by Team Member Thomas, this film is shot entirely POV (Point Of View) so that one can see exactly what the practitioner sees when moving over terrain. We think it's something pretty special, so click the link above to have a watch. Tuesday 02nd of December 2008 |
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
Flickr