Parkour Helper: "So I'm a traceur, now what?"

Welcome to Parkour Helper

2011-02-10T11:01:00.000-05:00

People can get frustrated pretty easily when they are trying something new for the first time. Somehow, we expect ourselves to be absolutely perfect at the things that we are just starting out at. Certainly, it doesn't feel great when you can't get something on the first try, but it shouldn't be something to discourage you. Instead, you should learn from your mistakes and make yourself stronger.

Of course this sort of advice could be pulled from any sort of self-help book checked out of a library, so why am I mentioning it? It's simple: people want to try parkour. And, many of them will find that it is not as easy as they had hoped. Having been there, I want to ensure that these sorts of people don't lose hope in their attempts. Parkour is something that absolutely anyone can benefit from.

That's why this site exists.

I'm no professional. You won't see videos of me floating around youtube with a million hits and I haven't been featured on any late night talk shows. What I have been though, is in your position. Wanting to try something new and wanting to get good at it.

Parkour Helper is here to help you with that as best as I can. Here you will find plenty of articles to help you get off your butt and on your way. My content is user-catered. What that means is that I reply to the questions you ask. I do my research, I look through real experiences, and I select the best answers for you.

If you want to see an article specific to your interests, you can always email me at parkourhelper@live.com.

Good luck in your training!

It's Winter Time

2011-02-10T10:52:00.001-05:00

That's the way the seasons go: we're back to winter again.

Winter is a tough time for training; for most people, training outside is not much of an option if you live in an area prone to ice or snow. There are persistent few who wish to continue their training outside during winter, and I applaud them. To train in winter shows some great determination and requires more mental effort and alertness than regular summer or spring training.

If you're training outside, be careful!

If you choose to train outside, there are a couple things to keep in mind. Mental alertness and determination as previously stated is essential. With more difficult terrain and more dangerous circumstances, a traceur must be constantly on the lookout; area checks (which you always do anyhow, right?) and precaution are required to keep from careless injury from ice and other obstacles that come with the wrath of winter. Determination is required because of the increased strain, both physically and mentally.

The way you dress will affect your movement (look HERE for some more information) and the rate of exhaustion during your training; burdensome boots and restricting jackets make it difficult to maneuver and cause easy exhaustion. This increased rate of tiring makes it hard for you to want to continue, but you must do so in order to progress; that is why winter is hard on you, but it is worth it. Just be safe.

Or, you can go to a gym!

For those of you who are more careful or unsure of their ability and choose not to train outside for any number of valid reasons, also need to keep a few things in the forefront of their mind. It is easy to forget about training, and it is easy to slowly seep away from regular activity in winter, and it is hard to keep a regular training and conditioning schedule; I know it just as well as you. While you will not be able to work on your technique as much due to the restrictions of winter, you will work more on conditioning and toning your body.

Try going to a gym: be it some nationwide fitness chain or an independent parkour gym, you'll want to stay in shape.

Physical fitness is one of the three keys to aid progression in parkour; without it you will not advance beyond smoothing out a technique. During these dreary months, work on some calisthenics and plyometrics but don’t just do them for the sake of doing them, do them until you know you have accomplished something. You may stay in shape and that is fine and well, but in order to move forwards you have to push yourself. It will hurt and be hard, I will not butter it up for you but if what you want is to progress and have better ability come parkour season that is what I suggest.

Regardless of your choice, remember to train safely. Do not train until it hurts, I meant merely that it may hurt (mentally and physically); training should not cause injury if done right. Be wary of your surroundings and what you are doing, train safe, and try to have fun.

Training Green

2009-06-21T13:27:00.004-04:00

I'm not here to talk about how you should get environmentally friendly clothing to train in or how to lessen your carbon emissions while training (of course, everyone is already doing their part... right?). I'm here to talk about escaping from the concrete jungle and training in our natural habitat: the greens.

Woods and forests might sound a little pansy to many traceurs - people thinking along the lines of: "where are the nice gaps? What about all the railings? Show me some walls and levels!" - but I have a few things from my own experience for you to consider.

It feels so much better. There is something about escaping from the monotonous grays of the typical cities. Training parkour, in a philosophical sense, hosts a fundamental interest involving your interaction with the surrounding environment. Ask yourself right now, which is going to feel better: concrete corners or wooden branches; pavement or soil; scraped knees or muddy shoes.

Okay, so maybe you aren't entirely for the aesthetics of training. Maybe this whole 'it feels so good' talk isn't what turns you on. Well let's look at the physical and mental aspects of training then. Consider adaptation.

Everyone has to admit that there is a fair degree of repetition in a cityscape. Eventually it seems as if most of the 'new' structures you come across in your travels are far from new, the seem like they are just replicas of other training environments. What degree of adaptation is available to you in these circumstances? I'm not saying that you cannot find new things to adapt to, but rather that they become limited in scope. It is all so familiar.

Now consider a new forest or wooded area. Each one is almost entirely unique in structure. Each arrangement of trees and rocks and creeks and brush opens up a new opportunity. It could be argued that the variation in the placing of these things in a forest equals that of a city or other populated area and therefore there is just as much possibility for adaptation in each location. I note this. But I disagree. Having trained in both areas I find that there is more ability to train your mind to cope with adaptation in a forest than in a city block. Really though it is up to you to decide which is your stance.

I speak of adaptability training in a forest or green area, but how do you go about doing it? I have one favourite drill/exercise for this, and it is very easy. You run, and you run fast. Pick out a starting spot and just run as straight and as fast as you can. You'll find yourself thinking quickly to overcome those upcoming obstacles: watching your footing, deciding in a split second whether to vault or roll under a fallen tree, how to most efficiently get through a tight knit section of trees and branches. This kind of training works both the mental and technical aspect of your training as well as testing your physical ability and endurance. This training is difficult to replicate in a city because of the way that cities are partitioned and segregated in blocks and areas. It's hard to find a location where you can just run for awhile with obstacles that constantly pop up without having to seach or aim for them.

So we've looked really quickly at two of the three main areas of parkour (technical, and the mental or 'spiritual' if you will) and we are left to consider physical training, that is to say simply the brutalic weight lifting and such exercises.

If you have never heard of the MovNat training program, I suggest you give it a look. At the bottom of this post is a teaser video of the training program. MovNat is based on Georges Hebert's La Methode Naturelle training concepts and emphasizes training the seven main calisthenic (body weight) movements in natural settings. This type of training can be easily done in a forest or wooded area. For weights you have rocks and fallen trees whose forms are irregular and help train stabilizing muscles. If you want to train more along the lines of simple calisthenics such as push-ups and pull-ups, it is just as easy to vary difficulty. Consider pull-ups on a wider branch to work the forearms more, elevated push-ups on soft soil, or sprinting up a steep slope.

I think that green training is absolutely great. It is way more enjoyable and at the same time demanding in my eyes. However I recognize that this article will not cause traceurs to immediately jump up and down in anticipation to train out in the wilderness (and that some may not have access to such resources). All I ask is that if you have the opportunity, give it a try. Don't take my word on it: never take my word on anything as the absolute truth. Just get out there and try it for yourself - see how it feels.

(Recognize any of those movements?)

Confrontation: Audiences

2009-06-02T15:33:00.010-04:00

Having spoken to the issue of confrontation with security guards and curious passerbys and how to explain what you are doing, I thought I would speak to the other confrontation: the silent one; the audience. This iss about those people simply watching you practice, or perhaps they are commenting on what you are doing, but not in a constructive or curious mannerism so much as one that instills a sense of nervousness and/or fear.

So what do you do when you are being watched?

Well first we have to understand the possible outcomes of having an audience. These are the main five I have come to think of:

The first thing I would identify is paying too much attention to what you are doing. You are made nervous by the presence of an audience and you doubt yourself, you fear making a mistake and - because you are second guessing yourself - you do make a mistake.
The second thing is paying too little attention to what you are doing. You think about the audience more than your technique: where to place your feet, where you should take off, how you should grip the railing et cetera. You make a mistake or a miscalculation and you get injured.
Thirdly, I would say again paying too much attention to what you are doing but also paying to little attention to what you can do. You get pumped up a little about having an audience and work to tailor to what they want: a really sweet show. So you go to try some bigger gaps, a harder vault, a longer wall run, and you don't think about your limitations. Sure you might make some of them, but you can also easily hinder your performance in the short or long term.
The next posssibility is that in which you are able to ignore the audience on your own and go about training as if they weren't there. You might make a few minor mistakes and you hurt your pride a little, but you end up okay in the end.
You step up and confront them on your own accord.

Let us rule out the first three scenarios immediately. It is not to say that they don't happen and that they will not happen to some traceurs at some point, but rather that we want to strive to do better than that. They can be hard habits to break I know - I'm not some robot spewing out articles: I've been there too (some where between scenario one and two for myself) - but I'll suggest an alternative solution shortly that I find helps me a lot in avoiding victimization of those first few cases.

Obviously I could simply say "ignore them" as in the fourth scenario, but that wouldn't help most traceurs. Ignoring an audience isn't easy to do for most people, especially when you are training alone. Trying to ignore them can bring yourself inadvertently to becoming victimized by one of the first three cases. So I say don't ignore them, toss out that option completely unless you are confident that you can continue at the level at which you are training without interruption. If you can on your own ignore them, then by all means do if you want, but I prefer scenario five.

My favourite is scenario five hands down. You confront the audience. You're polite: say "hi" and introduce yourself, ask them if they know what you are doing, what they think of it - consider explaining it to them if they don't know. A few things can come of this: you can spark an interest in parkour; you could satisfy their interest and they may leave you be; you may find that they are an authority whom will ask you to leave that site (be nice and comply); you might get a new training partner; they can walk away before you get close enough to talk; they might make requests and demands.

Which leads us to another aspect of this confrontation. If the audience through one means or another comes to demand you do things for their pleasure, how do you deal with it? I have said that ignoring is out of the option for most scenarios – and I do feel the same toward this – but how do you confront them in a way that will have them let you be? We know that you can only say “no” so many times, but I suggest that you say it anyhow until the point comes where it is evidentally futile. If they demand you do something cool like jump that huge gap or do a backflip off of that window ledge, say no. If you can’t do it, don’t try it.

If you are continually pestered though, I offer another solution, one that I didn’t present in the above list of possibilities: you walk away. Come on, if you are getting haggled like that why should you stick around? Certainly there must be more than one place to train in your area (there always are more place to train), why not move to another one for the time being? You can return any time later.

I know this has sounded like a parental talk about stranger danger or something similar, I just want to stress that safety is key and that audiences tend to take away from the safety in an area: as lame as it sounds. Certainly with maturity and capability you can come to ignore or find means of getting around audiences on your own – these are only suggestions – just remember to play it safe out there. You can’t train nearly as effectively with a broken leg.

Confrontation

2009-05-22T10:43:00.000-04:00

So it's nearly inevitable: you're training someplace with some other people - or maybe by yourself - when you are confronted. Perhaps it is a security guard letting you know that you cannot train on that property (to which you politely consent naturally as it is his job) casually inquiring as to what you are doing; maybe a concerned parent wondering if you should be doing these things in front of a child; perhaps it's just a pedestrian wondering what you are doing. What are you going to say?

"Yes, I'm doing parkour. Basically we jump off stuff.
Have you seen Casino Royale? Yeah it's like that."

No, you don't say that, because that would be entirely wrong and give a false impression. In other articles I try to stress the maturity required in practicing parkour - you need to recognize that your actions affect all traceurs; traceurs that make fools of themselves give a bad image to the face of parkour, and the same can go for a person who accidentally mis-describes the art.

So what do you say then? You say what you feel. It is almost steriotypically corney to suggest such a thing but I mean it in all seriousness. If you are practicing parkour to the extent that you are here on my pages reading my advice, then you care about parkour. If you show your point of view to those asking, they might come to understand it properly as it is. Here's how Mike aka Skittles defends himself:

"Personally I've been using this: PARKOUR: A form of Movement with a strong Mental Discipline attached, that teaches that no obstacle is insurmountable, either mentally or physically."

Does it work? Certainly. It reduces parkour to a few lines without taking away some of its depth. Certainly it is not a flawless explanation, but it works and it is short: easier to swallow than a five minute long explanation. I suggest a few things when trying to describe parkour.

Take your time: don't rush into an explanation without thinking it over. You shouldn't be standing there drooling but neither should you bark out a definition unless you have it thought out and/or have used it before.
Keep it short: keep their attention. Don't turn it into a lecture. When I ask someone what they are making for dinner, I don't want the recipe. Keep it short enough that they can pay attention to it but still learn from it.
Emphasize safety: try to squeeze it in there somewhere. One of the larger misconceptions about parkour is that it is deathly dangerous. Certainly it is dangerous, but many things are. It's important that they know that we are approaching parkour safely. We don't want to be labelled as reckless.
Be polite: even if they are about to kick you out of one of your favourite training places. If you aren't polite to them then they have no reason to want to let you stay or train. In a world as legally oriented as our own we can't afford to lose training places (well we can, but it isn't fun). Don't spit an answer in their face or ignore them.

Once again prior to closing off, I want to emphasize manners. When getting kicked out of a location, be nice; in the very least it might unsettle them that you are being so pleasant while they are trying to be mean and gross and kick you out. We have to respect that almost all the training areas used in the world are privately owned and that we have no permission to be there. If they let us be, so be it but recognize that when you are told to get out you should oblige. Apologize to them and maybe even let them know what you were doing, try to get them on your side. That way, even if you lose training grounds you can earn street cred.

The best thing for a traceur is positive media. With all the "skateboarder" stereotyped traceurs hitting up YouTube and similar places, it is essential that a true traceur distinguish themselves in a positive manner in order to gain respect for all trainers.

We are crazy but we aren't stupid.

Tracking your training

2009-05-19T16:24:00.003-04:00

From: *************@hotmail.com
To: parkourhelper@live.com
Subject: Kudo's
Date: Sat, 2 May 2009 17:32:47 +0800

Hey PicPac.
I stumbled onto your site and found it really useful.Your articles on gear and media are rather inspiring and i decided to take your suggestion of starting a blog to keep motivated to train. Its a work in progress but i reckon i'll be able to run with it (no pun intended). So keep up the good work mate.
-Mike
http://flying-skittles.blogspot.com/

A while ago in an article focusing on how to keep motivation in training I suggested people start a training blog. Unfortunately my own personal training blog is long gone to the depths of the internet, so I cannot set much of an example that way. But apparently some people have taken the advice and have taken to trying it for themselves.

Mike is one of those people as seen above. He contacted me by e-mail with this beautiful message linking to what will become his own tracking of training as well as other things. Currently he is just starting out but has already posted a review on a new pair of shoes he got as a pre-birthday gift, his opinion on the "parkour park" controversy (which I fully agree with) and some more tidbits. I ask you to take a look at his blog if only to inspire him to keep in his own training and to say hi to a fellow traceur. Though hopefully you might take a leaf out of his book and track your own training.

TRACKING YOUR TRAINING

Tracking your training can be mundane at first: writing down everything you've done - how many reps of what, what gaps you made, what you need to improve on. However it is a very useful tool if you plan on doing parkour and indeed any form of athletic training for a length of time.

Why should you track your training? Motivation and comparison.

1 - Motivation: I tracked my workouts over the course of the summer and found myself feeling more obligated to train because of it. Even if you don't take the extra stretch and show off your training to other people, it still feels like you have some form of audience you have to appease - even if it is yourself. This causes you to push on and continue your training. I'm sure we have all hit one of those snags where you tell yourself "I won't train today, but I'll train hard tomorrow to make up for it," only to have tomorrow keep stretching into the future. I admit to it fully! When I kept a little journal of my activities though, I could see that gap in time and it made me feel kind of bad - so I would get back on track easier. If you are finding yourself hitting a motivational block - I fully suggest you try it.

2 - Comparison: Relating again to my own personal experiences, I have had times where I wonder why I've been doing the training I have been - it just didn't seem to be taking me anywhere. During my tracking, I was able to look back on previous days and fitness levels and see the difference in my physical ability - strength, endurance, flexability, stamina, etc. Furthermore, I was able to look back on the individual activities and see which ones seemed to do the most for me and which I needed to work on: if I could do 80 push-ups at the start of my training and only 90 a month later, yet had doubled the reps in my abdominal count - I know that my abdominal training has been worth it but maybe I need to focus more on being able to do more push-ups or find alternatives to that exercise. If you find yourself not needing motivation, then maybe the ability to compare is a reason for you to try tracking.

Of course, all this techinical tracking stuff isn't to deter from the fun of training and practicing. By all means it can add to it (though I respect that many of you can't see how). It adds another dimension as you try to outdo yourself, as you get better and better and try new things. If hyperactive children and confused/angsty teenagers can find writing in a journal attractive, why can't we do the same?

As always, feedback is appreciated. Happy training, PicPac

Spot Checks

2008-11-13T17:48:00.002-05:00

I have been picking apart forums and communities to attempt to find what subjects I have yet to cover (aside from basic tutorials which I mean to work on once I can afford a quality camera), and found nothing worth note. Thus I turned and looked instead to my own training and community to find what readers and aspiring traceurs should note; and I was surprised.

Very few traceurs in my area perform spot checks, insisting instead to go right ahead and begin training. While no injury has resulted of yet, I know there are dangers and possibility of injury lurking at each area we visit to train at that we should be checking for.

Spot checks are very simple: you check the area that you are training in to ensure such things as safe foundations and sturdy supports, broken glass or other sharp objects that could cause injury, nature of the grip and texture of the ground and obstacles, all simple little things that take sparse moments to check but that traceurs are ignoring.

In real life situations where you are using parkour to escape or stay safe, obviously you will not have the oppertunity to check the areas you will plunder through; however, we are simply training and there is no need to avoid making ourselves and our surroundings as safe as possible.

Some things I like to check for are:

Broken glass and other objects that may injure you if you fall wrong or grab the top of a wall (even pebbles can leave a traceur injured in some circumstances). Simply sweep these objects away with care, out of the way of your training.
Foundations: are the walls cracked or the ledges showing signs of disitegration (ie has debree obviously fallen off?)? Check also any railings you may try to vault: are they firmly rooted in the ground?
Structures: are they slippery or are the ledge's edges sharp enough to cut a hand? Has there been any rainfall or dew on the objects that could make them slippery or elsewise unsafe?

This simple check takes virtually no time and can save you a great deal of time and health down the road. Once you identify any dangers in the area you can clear them out or remember to ignore them later, rather than have a ledge crumble, glass cut your hand open during a climb or cat grab, or slip off of a rail on a precision.

Safety is always key.

Simple Motivation Tips

2008-10-23T19:35:00.003-04:00

Winter is approaching and at least here, it is getting pretty messy outside. The dreary atmosphere and unforgiving conditions may make it difficult to maintain motivation and continue training. Winter is not the hardest time for traceurs, it is Spring: when everyone realizes how out of shape and form they are due to a lack of activity in the Winter. Here are a few things that I have found helpful to do when you begin to run low on motivation:

Relate where you are now to where you want to be. When you can "see" how accomplishing one task will bring you closer to that goal, it becomes easier to get motivated. Break big goals into smaller ones so that they don’t seem so overwhelming. Visualize this and know that with a little motivation and effort, you can accomplish it.
Create "to do" lists to give yourself a place to start (and a place to end). Cross items that you have completed off your "to do" list. Doing so will give you a sense of accomplishment, which should motivate you to tackle the next thing on your list. Reward yourself when you have accomplished what you set out to do. A simple piece of paper on the wall will suffice. The satisfaction that comes from reaching a goal and crossing off one more thing is well worth it and will continue to push you forward.
Start a journal or blog online. Open your training up to the world and you feel a little obligated to post. When you get people commenting on your workouts etc it helps you keep your level of motivation up. This is also a good way to track your progress. I suggest you use Blogger for this; it's easy to use and has a great network (I'm using it right now!). If you start a blog, send me a link and I'll promote it or visit it and comment frequently.
Train every day. One missed day may not seem like a lot but it can cause you to completely lose your motivation. One day turns to two and you think "I can do it later". I know this through experience, and chances are you do too. So train daily and make it part of your routine.

Wall Runs and your Rear End

2008-10-17T21:35:00.002-04:00

Being both a traceur and a rock climber, I know a fair bit about butts; when you stand under someone belaying or watch someone try a wall run: you get a good eyeful. One thing that I’ve noticed in both instances is that people like to show off their bums, sticking them way out there; this is bad.

Well, not so much bad as not good. Let us start with references to rock climbing as a prelude. Many people struggle because they do not properly use their legs: they do not get the most efficiency out of them and as a result cannot reach further or get tired quicker. Once I instruct them to utilize their legs more, the most common problem becomes where they stick their butts.

The bum and your general waist area is where your center of gravity and the middle of your body is. When you straighten out a leg, it extends through where your waist and butt were, pushing you away from your foot. If my foot is to the right and my butt is firmly over my left leg, I will be expecting to move to my left when I push off, unless I accommodate and move my butt around.

Examine the following skillfully drawn picture with care. Upon examination you will find a rather lean individual on a rock climbing wall. The person, who we will call Joe for no reason other than to avoid anonymity, has his butt a fair bit off of the wall. Joe’s current problem is this: he cannot reach the next hold from where he is.

So Joe decides that he will push up with his legs, straightening them out and increasing his reach. While Joe accomplishes this, he wastes energy. As seen in the picture, Joe’s choice location for his bottom means that he is pushing away from the wall as much as up, and he has to compensate for this by pulling in with his arms. This is a waste of energy and can lead to early exhaustion; furthermore, had Joe placed his rear good and tight to the wall, but over to one side, he would push horizontally more than vertically and not gain nearly as much height as possible.

So how does this apply to parkour?
One complaint you hear from people is that they can’t seem to get enough height from their wall runs. While you will require strength training and plyometrics in order to increase your ability, you want to maximize your potential by working on your technique. The following is an extremely brief definition of the steps involved.

As you approach the wall, you want to plant your dominant foot around waist height on the wall. The reasoning behind this is simple: any lower and you miss out on potential inches, any higher and you lose energy trying to get over your foot. Continue into the wall until you are almost kissing it, and then push up with that planted foot. I also like to add an additional tap with my hand as I go up for spatial reasons and because the motion causes my body to swing a little more into the wall and promotes greater height.

So where does all the talking about bums come into play? The second part: “Continue into the wall until you are almost kissing it, and then push up…” This is an aid to help you get nice and close to the wall. Remember that rock climber? Right now you are that climber getting ready to push up: the further out your butt is, the further backwards you will go (and you don’t have a lovely handhold to keep you close to the wall). So the goal here is to get right up to the wall before you push off to ensure the most vertical extension possible at your current fitness level.

There you have it: how to use your bum to get more from your wall runs.

Push yourself with Gauntlets

2008-10-12T12:19:00.001-04:00

The last article emphasized how rock climbing can be used as a complimentary training regimen for parkour, as well as a way to generally increase fitness. Today we follow that up with an exercise called named the Parkour Conditioning Gauntlet (or Gauntlet for short), which is also meant to compliment parkour training. In modern day terminology, the word ‘gauntlet’ is often used in reference to a long and trying course involving a sequence of difficult tasks that challenge both mentally and physically. The traceur “Demon” of www.americanparkour.com decided to create a circuit of exercises echoing this definition, which used everyday obstacles in the environment in challenging ways order to aid in a traceur’s development. To quote from the original article:

A Parkour Conditioning Gauntlet, or Gauntlet for short is a conditioning method to improve your parkour fitness. Gauntlets are planned courses through the environment that convert walls, parking lots, rails, trees, and other obstacles into exercise apparatuses. Gauntlets involve many different challenges and exercises done in a sequential and continuous manner until the predefined course is complete. Ideally, Gauntlets should be done with others so that you can push each other through as best you can. The typical Gauntlet is a mentally and physically grueling course that lasts around two hours. During this time, there should be no screwing around, no lagging, and no distractions in general. Gauntlets are for mental and physical training and should be done with great focus and motivation. Gauntlets should be done at least once a week and every week to supplement other strength and conditioning training. Each week, the Gauntlet should be tweaked and the difficulty increased. This will prevent boredom and promote continual improvement.

Most traceurs do not condition and prepare their bodies properly to withstand the great impacts and forces that are accumulated from doing parkour. While Gauntlets are not a solution on its own to solving this problem, they are a good supplemental training method that can be done anywhere and at any time. I have found Gauntlet training to be highly beneficial and enriching to my own personal parkour training. Not only is it empowering to design your own course to condition your body using walls, rails, trees, and more, but many of the exercises performed in Gauntlets also specifically enrich parkour skills. I can think of specific instances in my own Gauntlets where I have developed increased strength, endurance, creativity, technique, flexibility, and more. Because of these reasons, I believe that every serious traceur should design and engage in a 2-4 hour Parkour Conditioning Gauntlet once a week.
~ Demon

Basically, a Gauntlet is an extremely difficult obstacle course for traceurs in which natural obstacles found in the environment are used to challenge a traceur to utilize elements of parkour and supplementing exercises in order to better their physical health and endurance. I've begun to look around my city for a few adjacent areas where I could set up a gauntlet for myself and my fellow local traceurs; so far there are a couple possible locations, but the majority are too heavily secured or distant. There is not much more to be said other than what has been, and I doubt I could do it any better than the original author, so I will leave you be with a few links.

Original Article: HERE
Sample Gauntlets (varied difficulties): 1 / 2 / 3

Rock Climbing and Parkour

2008-10-10T23:54:00.000-04:00

When asked about alternative conditioning options for parkour, many new traceurs will receive an answer along the lines of “Rock Climbing.” While some may view rock climbing as a purely physically beneficial practice, I beg to differ.

Rock climbing. I expect that the majority of you will not require a definition for something so self-explanatory, however for the remainder of you: rock climbing is an activity in which the participants climb rocks. Now that we have the definitions aside, let us get into what it is to me, and why I have decided that it has such value that I should dedicate my time to write about it.

I am a rock climbing instructor at my city’s local indoor rock climbing centre. My job consists of general gym maintenance, providing advice on climbing technique and etiquette, belaying for individuals and groups (simplified: belaying is the act of removing the slack from a climber’s rope to ensure that in the event that they slip, they do not fall) and teaching others to belay. However article is about how to improve your ability, not how I make my money.

In regards to the physical aspect of climbing, it is obvious that it is just as good of a workout as any. It is one of the few sports or practices that actively work your finger, forearm, foot and grip strength along side the larger more common muscle groups such as your legs and back. This aids in wall passes and a fair few moves in parkour, aside from just the muscular endurance and strength. Some of the more experienced rock climbers are able to support more than triple their bodyweight with one hand or a few fingers, just from climbing experience alone. This is one angle that allows me to fit rock climbing into my fitness regimen, however complete fitness is not limited to the physical.

One of the secondary reasons I decided to get in shape was to better myself in my parkour training. Parkour takes more than just brute strength or agility (as mentioned in previous posts); there is a lot of mental work too. Before I began working at the climbing centre, I was deathly afraid of height; the slightest changes in altitude could break me apart. However after spending time exploring my limit, and repeatedly assuring climbers that they were safe citing facts and test results, I gradually began to gain control of my fear and as of this day no longer have a phobia towards it. In the mental world of parkour a traceur is constantly faced with difficult situations, and if a traceur has never faced fear they likely haven’t trained very hard at all. It’s key to be able to define your limits and nudge yourself out of your comfort zone, overcoming your fears in a safe controlled manner. Rock climbing helped me gain control of my phobia, and I have been able to expand that new talent to parkour to overcome my fears.

Another thing I have acquired through my experience in rock climbing is the ability to push my limits. Being able to push myself past my comfort zones is a good trait to have acquired, but being able to push yourself to go harder and try more challenging feats isn’t always the same. While the two may go hand in hand and are near assimilation, there is a slight variance, at least in my mind. There is the ability to overcome a fear (for example’s sake, try a precision from a considerable height), but there is also the ability to push your self further (jump further from that height or to a smaller target). In the bouldering area (bouldering is rock climbing without the aid of ropes) of any indoor gym, there is a huge choice in paths and selection. The choice to go high shows the ability to overcome a fear, but the ability to choose to go high while avoiding those jugs and buckets (terminology for rocks that are easy to hold onto, usually with a depression or hole in the top for easy grasping) and using more chips (extremely small, thin rocks) shows a willingness to try for something harder and stray from what you would normally do. The latter shows not only a willingness to complete a goal, but to make it a challenge so as to avoid repetition and work harder to push themselves. Without the willingness to push oneself a traceur will quickly plateau, becoming a one trick pony, never advancing.

With the aid of rock climbing, I am able to push myself mentally to work myself harder and try new things. That is why I personally recommend rock climbing as a complimentary workout/activity for parkour. While my experiences will likely vary from yours, I suggest that you try it at least once: give it a chance.

Dear Beloved Readers

2008-10-09T20:13:00.002-04:00

I.O.U. One post.

(Likely tomorrow)

The delay is due to a couple of reasons:
1) Really hectic time here, and being the only writer: it's tough getting time to write.
2) I am not hearing many new questions. I have gotten a request for an article on flips which is a little difficult but coming along.

So please, if you want more articles comment here with your question.

My apologies for the delay; I know only two posts a week as it is, is quite minimal.

Ladder conditioning

2008-10-05T12:19:00.005-04:00

Many people want to try and build up strength quickly; consider the options, get strong fast, or get strong slow: which seems more appealing? To increase your ability in strength training you need to perform repetitions in a sufficient amount - enough to allow the body to learn how to perform the exercises in a skillful coordinated way. There is a problem though - if you cannot do many repetitions in the first place, it will take you a lot longer to increase your strength. So how do you get a great enough repetition volume to allow you to get better quicker? Consider ladder training.

1) Ladder Conditioning: The concept of ladder conditioning is quite simple. You start your activity/exercise by doing one repetition, then rest. Follow this by doing two repetitions and rest again. Each time, you increase the exercise by one repetition: the rest intervals should be just enough to allow you to complete the next "rung" of the ladder. When you cannot complete the next rung, rest a few minutes then start from the bottom and try again. This style of training allows you to increase your repetition volume. An example is as follows:

Perform 1 rep of the given exercise
Rest a few seconds
Perform 2 reps of the given exercise
Rest a few seconds
Perform 3 reps of the given exercise
Rest a few seconds
Perform 4 reps of given exercise
Rest a few seconds etc.

"In a normal workout, our neophyte trainee may manage for example an initial set of 7 pull ups, a second set of 5 and a final set of 3 to give him/her a total workout volume of 15 reps. More volume (repeated efforts) is required to improve the skill of the pull up but insufficient strength makes this a difficult task.

Using our previous trainee as an example again, our beginner client manages to ladder up to 5 reps in the first set - giving a rep total for that set of 15 (which is normally the total for their whole work out.) After 90 seconds rest, they perform ladders again and reach a high of 4 reps - giving a rep total of 10 reps and on their final set managed 3 reps giving a rep total for that set of 6 reps.
So, in total, our trainee will have completed 31 reps of pull ups - 16 reps more than they could normally have achieved!"

2) Horizontal Ladder Conditioning: This is a simple variation of the ladder conditioning that spans a longer time frame; sometimes used for more drastic results for those starting from minimal prior ability. Whereas normally the rungs are spaced within one period, they are in this case spread over an extended time frame. An example of this is a variation on one of the "How to get to X push-ups in Y Weeks!" type workout.

EXAMPLE
Day One: 5 reps every ten minutes for two hours.
Day Two: 10 reps every ten minutes for two hours.
Day Three: 15 reps every ten minutes for two hours.
Day Four: 20 reps every ten minutes for two hours.
Day Five: Rest
Day Six: 20 reps every ten minutes for two hours.
Day Seven: 25 reps every ten minutes for two hours. Etc.

Rest when required, you will know. The day after the rest, do the same number of reps as the previous day. In regular ladder conditioning you would repeat the ladder in multiple sets throughout a time period, increasing the repetition volume each time; this repeats over days and days, gradually building up to reaching the higher rungs. In horizontal ladder training there is a definitive goal; a certain rung to be reached each day.

There are other variations that you can come up with: experiment and have some fun.

Can I do parkour?

2008-10-02T15:54:00.001-04:00

This won’t be a long post, but I have felt the need to address this question due to the frequency of its asking. Regardless of the forums or communities that I browse as a member, there are always posts from people asking

Can I do parkour?

…adding specifics such as weight, age, height, gender and even sexual orientation (!).

Parkour is not defined as belonging to anyone with a certain amount of skill or physical fitness; anyone can do it if they work hard enough.

Consider one of the definitions of parkour: “To move with the most possible efficiency and speed from one location to another”. This means that if you are late, catching a bus and you hop over a fence or park bench, you have just done parkour! Of course the levels at which you see it in most videos requires a great deal of training and usually surpasses jumping over a park bench, but if you work hard, it is achievable for anyone with the right mentality.

YES! YOU CAN DO PARKOUR! Age, height, gender and weight all mean nothing; it's your physical ability (developed through training), positive mentality and a willingness to try that let you go far in parkour.

Have some fun with your training

2008-10-01T21:11:00.003-04:00

Training doesn't always have to be the gloomy monotonous thing that I sometimes make it out to be. In fact there are lots of things you can do to spice up a good training session. Here are some games and activities played in our group meets:

Tag/Manhunt: As simple as they get. The good old fashioned games from our childhood brought to new life when played in the midst of a bunch of professionals. I suggest you play in a dense area filled with obstacles to really challenge yourself and work on your parkour technique. (Basic rules for each are HERE and HERE respectively)

Grounders: Another blast from the past kids game that hones in on your ability to maneuver as silently and as efficiently as possible as well as some maneuvers and techniques such as precisions. Ensure that the structure is public property so as to avoid trespassing issues and nasty people telling you to get lost. Also ensure that the structure is smaller to increase difficulty. You require a lot of people for this as well to ensure that the person who is "it" does not remain so for hours on end.

The "it" player must start from a determined point, and give a full 10-count before beginning pursuit; The "it" player must be blindfolded/unable to see (If the "it" player is caught peeking, they must start again, returning to the original start point and counting to 10).
If the "it player touches another player, that player becomes "it"; If the "it" player calls "Grounders" when another player is on the ground, that player becomes "it". If a player is on the ground, and jumps when "Grounders" is called, he must land on a structure to be safe. Landing on the ground counts as a tag.
No player is allowed to physically strike the "it" player with anything. If a player DOES strike the "it" player, it counts as a tag and that player is "it". Players are allowed to make any non-physical distractions they like, as long as it does not interfere with the other players: ie no non-"it" players are allowed to hold another non-"it" player, for use as a human shield or otherwise. Violation is punished by the player becoming "it" -
All disputes are decided by general consensus of all impartial players.
If a player who is "it has been "it" for more than 20 minutes, and has still not tagged a player, "Mercy" may be called by any player, including the "it" player, and a new player is nominated. It is then up to the other players whether or not the "it" player may continue playing.

Add-On: Adapted from the bouldering version of the game, the rules are quite simple. One person picks an obstacle and performs a move over it; the next person then matches it and adds on another maneuver (does not have to be on same object); the game continues indefinitely - or until everyone is tired. Try this in an object-dense area for the most fun and least running. Try to keep moves at the level of your least experienced traceur for fairness sake, or allow moderations of maneuvers.

H.O.R.S.E.: This game is a little more risky for parkour as you don't want to push your teammates past their ability. Our parkour team knows everyone's limits pretty well and plays as such, however I don't suggest playing it in a group with a great range of ability or where the people aren't too familiar with their own ( or others') limits.

"The object is to not accrue the five letters in the word "horse".The first [traceur] calls then performs a maneuver, then player #2 must duplicate it under the same guidelines. If player #2 misses, he receives the first "letter" from the word "horse" (in this case - an "H"); this continues through the rest of the [traceurs] until player one again: who once more makes a call. When player #1 misses his called maneuver; then player #2 is now free to call a maneuver and, if successful, force the other players to try and duplicate it. A player is knocked out of the game once he has enough letters to spell out the word 'HORSE.'"

There are many other games I am sure, and if you leave a comment with your favourite activity for training or an idea, and I will add it to this list.

Increase your long jump distance

2008-10-01T19:18:00.002-04:00

A great deal of jumping is required to adequately perform parkour. As such, any traceur should be willing to add any tips and tricks to their arsenal on jumping ability. While a previous article has commented on jump height and length through exercise, there is a method to increase jump distance that is based solely upon technique:

Lean forwards.

I thought that an optimum angle of take off for the most distance would be forty-five degrees – a combination of height and distance, but I was wrong. A couple guys have extensively studies the long jump and have found some interesting results. The optimum angle for take off is between twenty and thirty degrees!

CHECK IT OUT

Some additional thoughts.
I stumbled upon this article through a friend on an online parkour community who placed it under the heading of “How to improve your precision”. Some interesting debate arose and a fair few traceurs decided that this will not increase your precision ability. Their arguments being quite simple: no-one will think about this in a real life situation, only when posed in practice with considerable time to think and contemplate the jump; more than distance is required for a precision, a traceur requires an element of control among other things that this technique may diminish; finally they argued that plyometrics and leg strength training would do much more.

The opposing side argued in response to these. No-one in a real life situation would consider regular parkour moves with efficiency; the moves are imposed upon them through training, as can this technique. The added distance does contribute to ability though, and control can be improved on outside of this field – it is not dependent on distance. Plyometrics and strength training will increase your ability, but the technique identified will help to juice the most out of that ability.

Obviously you can see my bias; I feel that any little bits that can work towards improvement are worthy of consideration and while the article may have required a different title than chosen, the facts are legitimate and the overall can be applied to precisions regardless.

Is parkour hard on the joints?

2008-09-29T18:33:00.004-04:00

"Is parkour and free running hard on the joints? I've considered training for it but I just want to know, exactly how bad are these practices on your joints? Like... In the future, would you need a knee transplant or something?"

Yes, and if anyone tells you else-wise they are lying. One of the issues of recent with parkour is that the media has blown it out of proportion to the point that people are associating it with dangerous jumps and exquisitely breathtaking stunts. Newer traceurs see this and consider it a sign of achievement that they can jump and land from twelve or thirteen feet in the air with "no pain". No pain they say; that must be a good sign. These jumps are dangerous; while you won't feel the impact right away, you will defiantly wish you reconsidered it in ten years when you need a walker.

1) Start slow. Too many new traceurs feel the need to jump right into parkour and try the big moves; in all actuality, the best progressive traceurs started out with weeks to months and even years of extensive conditioning in order to get their bodies in shape.

2) Jump low. You need to condition your joints in order to allow them to take greater falls. While it seems like a bore, try doing little drops from two or three feet: a thousand times a week. I know many of you won't commit to that, but in order to keep yourself the safest you can be you must condition yourself.

Researchers and top traceurs agree that you shouldn't be jumping from anywhere over your head level for the first year or more, in order to allow your joints to prepare for the excessive impacts. I do recognize the truth however: that many of you will disregard this warning, and I can accept that because I did the same when I started. Keep in mind when training though that while we may be crazy, we aren't stupid. Train smart and safe or you may pay for it later.

Underbar Help

2008-09-28T13:50:00.004-04:00

I am afraid of hitting my butt or bak off of a bar on underbars and I want to improve at them even though I am kind of scared of them. Is there something I can do to help this?

Underbars are a little difficult to manage; squeezing through tight spaces without hitting your back off of them takes some practice and control, but how do you practice this when you have a phobia of hitting something off of the bars?

I use masking tape. The process is quite simple:

1) Find a good place that has two vertical bars or walls topped with a horizontal bar that could be used for chin-ups or pull-ups (allow for space on either side so that you can actually swing through). When selecting a spot, aim for trying places with different bar heights; the horizontal bar is the bar your hands go on, and thus you are practicing for different levels of underbars. I personally like to go to playgrounds around elementary schools which sometimes feature structures like the below attached to the main jungle gym. Otherwise I will also use the end of a monkey bar structure among other countless possibilities.2) Pull out your trusty tape of choice (I use masking tape as it leaves less of a mess) and tape a line across the opening under the bar. This will act as your lower boundary or bar; the space between the tape and the horizontal bar is where you will swing through. This way if you do hit your back off anything, it will be the tape and you will suffer no injuries.

3) Practice your underbar until you are comfortable with it at that height and knowledgeable that you can successfully complete an underbar in an area of that size.

4) Decrease the swing space by raising the tape. Continue practicing again until you are comfortable, then raise the tape again. Repeat until you have maximized your potential and minimized the area required for your swing.

5) CLEAN UP YOUR MESS. Discard of any tape and remove any residue left on the structure. Respect the property and the public so that they will respect you.

CLICK HERE to view a video demonstration by Demon of American Parkour's "Demon's Drills" who posted an article with this concept in it and brought the idea to my attention. I suggest masking tape over duct tape as it leaves less of a mess to clean up.

How do I get sponsored for freerunning?

2008-09-27T08:39:00.003-04:00

I have been doing Parkour for about a year and freerunning for almost just as long. I am starting to look for some sponsors but I have no idea on how to do this. I did some research and it says start with small in town companies and work up from there. I understood that but don't know how to apply or what to look for as in for a company. any help or advice?

From a potential sponsors position, you don't have too much to offer right now. Free-running is not a business, there aren't competitions or events based around it (well in all truth, Urban Freeflow has hosted one, but it was exclusive and open only to highly profiled members of the free-running community). You have to find a way to make a business off of free-running in order for the sponsor to gain advertising and thus want to sponsor you.

Consider selling yourself out as a street performer if you are good enough. That way you can perform at some venues and parties et cetera as a bit of a side show. For example if your city has parades you could go in them and show off some free-running, and build up to performing elsewhere such as local halftime shows. It may be easier too if you have friends around the same level, then you could have a little crew and make a business that way.

What I'm saying is that sponsors sponsor people for a reason, advertising. If you don't have something to offer them, what would the have to offer you?

I hope that didn't sound overly negative, I meant to give as much positive feedback as I could. I just want you to understand your position and consider what you may have to do. Sponsors aren't going to give you money or gear etc just because you can do eloquent wall passes or backflips.

Summary: You have to be able to say, this is what I can offer you (advertising, showing the public that the sponsor works positively with the new generations and is willing to invest in and support new concepts etc) in order for them to offer you anything back.

Can I use parkour to get in shape?

2008-09-25T22:20:00.002-04:00

The answer is both yes and no.

Parkour can deliver a fair degree of workout if you are willing to put in a great deal of effort in your training sessions. Parkour however will not by itself get you in a great deal of shape, it is the conditioning moves and practical workouts that will help you beef up. Parkour can help though; if training in the right way you can get a fair endurance workout out of it. The training in parkour mostly emphasizes skill and mastery of technique, learning to utilize your strength in different ways and applying them to different situations. Thus the practicing of certain techniques will help you to gain control of your muscles; working under a variety of circumstances and situations, you will gradually help your muscles to learn how to excrete the most power in the most efficient way possible. Quite simply, parkour will help you tone your muscles and get the most out of your current physical shape.

My suggestion as such is that you continue to (or begin to) workout separately from parkour; both compliment each other in order to improve your overall fitness, but you won't get significantly stronger through parkour alone. To quote from The three keys to getting the most out of parkour:

You are not going to improve in parkour if you don’t work on building your strength and endurance. If you can wall pass a twelve foot wall once, you can do it again and again and again [...] only strength and an increase in physical fitness will take you those extra feet, technique no matter how perfect can only take you so far.

Even if you are outside six or more hours daily practicing and making a lot of "progress" on the technical side, you aren’t pushing yourself or your body [...] after all the training technically to control the way you move, you will still be out of shape, without any power behind your movements and have poor endurance skills [...].

[...] there comes the point where you have to realize that all your time spent training the technical portion of your moves is not going to make you any faster, stronger, or have increased vaulting or climbing abilities. You will never significantly advance if you don’t begin to exercise and work out.

Kong (monkey) vault help

2008-09-25T15:52:00.003-04:00

Today's post is quite simple. I'm working on a larger post and also on compiling some video tutorials, though the latter isn't working out as well as I had planned due to device capabilities and malfunctions. For the time being, I will go back to the site's roots and work on answering some questions I have received. Today's post is on the kong or monkey vault.

"I started doin parkour/freerunnin but dont know where to start some vaults like the monkey vault i dont dare do cuz i keep thinkin i will hit my legs on the obstacle and go face first"

I had the same problem when I started on them, as did many people I suspect. It is harder to explain this without a video, but I'll try anyhow. (eventually I'll have a video tutorial for some of the moves up on the site; hopefully within the next month).

The way to learn any parkour move is to work at learning the technique in chunks and progress through the move. Learn the little bits and get comfortable with them before you tackle the whole enchilada. For your monkey vault as an example:

START with a wall or rail that is a few inches shorter than your nipple line ( or lower if you feel uncomfortable with that height) and place your hands on the object about shoulder width apart. This is how each step of the progression will start.

ONE: Start with your hands as mentioned, and keeping them there just jump up and tuck your knees into your chest at the top of the jump. Try and get some good height as this will help with your comfort level. To recap: your hands should remain in the spot, and you should just be jumping up and down, tucking your knees into your chest to get the most clearance possible. When you are comfortable with this and feel that your height is adequate, move on.

TWO: This an intermittary step that can be skipped, though if you want to boost your confidence you can try it: Do the same thing as number one, but lean forward and tap your feet off the top of the wall or railing, to get a feel of your height. If you feel that maybe you aren't getting enough height, re-evaluate your jump style and work on improving number one; then come back and try again.

THREE:Now you are going to do the same thing as in number one, only this time you will land on the object (which is why I would prefer a wall less you've worked on some precisioning). So jump up and try to tuck in those knees, look at where your feet are going and put them there, between your hands. AT this point you will find that it is comfortable to let go with your hands when your feet hit, this is fine. Do this step over and over, not until you feel just comfortable, but until you are confident.

FOUR: This is another intermediate step. If you are practicing on a wall or other thick object, you may wish to work on getting closer to the other side. To do theis you lean into the jump more and swing your legs through a bit; your hands will likely come off a little earlier. If it is considerably thick, you may wish to consider putting your hands further in, but this will mean you have to jump at a lesser angle and you may wish to try step one again with this new angle to get comfortable.

FIVE: Heres the final one. When you jump up pull a little bit with your arms to get yourself closer to/over the object. Instead of the middle or closest part, this time aim for the absolute edge of your target and at the last second give an extra bit of swing (but keep your legs tucked long, elsewise extending them too early you may catch) and push off with your hands. There, you've made it over and done a monkey/kong. If you didn't, well it takes practice so go ahead and backtrack a bit to find where you went wrong. Later you can work on cleaning up your landing, getting more distance, getting over higher obstacles with monkeys, diving into a kong for lengthy or thick objects etc.

After all this, remember to focus on the move; if you think you're going to fall you might do just that because you concentrated on falling, not succeeding.

Parkour in survival situations

2008-09-21T10:26:00.001-04:00

While browsing the internet like I do, I came across an interesting article that caught my attention because of its similarity to some of my beliefs. The article by Thomas Couetdic emphasized the importance of utilizing and training in other practices in order to benefit your parkour as it relates to real life situations. Here is something for you to think about and consider.

The practical use for parkour is to get from point A to point B as fast as you can in order to escape a bad or dangerous situation et cetera. However I (and Thomas) also considered adding to this: if you want to escape, what happens when the pursuer doesn’t want to give up? Parkour will not be enough; in this instance it is the escape survival techniques learned, fighting skills among other things that will help you end up on top.

"How useful are you to yourself if you can do a nice and cool jump in a confortable urban environnement but you can't walk 20km in a mosquito infested jungle ? Unfortuantely, that's the case of most Traceurs (aka Parkour practitioners). Most people train in extremely confortable situations, they have water, food, weather-adapted clothes and they can go back home at any time if they get tired, bored or injured. In the winter they train in gyms because they don't like when it's cold. At no time are they forced to face a difficulty, it always remains a matter of personnal choice."

~Thomas Couetdic

If you are doing parkour in order to better yourself in any situation involving life threats or the sort, then you should make yourself useful in a variety of supplementary skill sets. In any real life situation it is the combination of parkour and acquired skills that will help you survive.

Motivation and Effort.

2008-09-18T22:57:00.003-04:00

There is a problem with the world today: we are all lazy. Sure there are those of us who will choose to run 50k a week as a minimum, but are we really trying? Simple examination will show you that very few people in this world are really trying and putting effort into what they do. We seem to drive towards a certain goal and once we reach it we sit there contently doing only enough to keep our heads above the water.

There is a deficit of energy and willingness amongst us; it has become almost a human trait. We as traceurs face this problem just as much as the next person. Many of you know through your training that you will condition until you feel a little tired, or practice technique until you get bored of it. My question for you is: how far do you think this will get you? The addition of effort and will power into any activity will aid in your progression; you have to find some motivation within yourself, a willingness to push forward.

It doesn't matter what your current fitness level is; regardless of whether you can do ten, fifty or two hundred push-ups you will not progress further without the addition of effort. You have to be able to push yourself that extra step: one extra kong, another set of dynos, one more minute of skipping; once you finish that, do it again. Force yourself to be your own coach, motivate yourself saying "only one more round; ok maybe another right now, I think we can handle this" and pushing your body that extra step. Obviously this needs to be done carefully to avoid injury, but everyone should be working to be able to push themselves past their limits.

No matter your level, no matter what gifts you may possess, you won't experience progression without effort and a little motivation.

Looking ahead to Winter

2008-09-18T19:34:00.000-04:00

Winter is approaching as many of you know. The air has become brisker and the temperature slowly begins to decline. While we are still a fair ways away from it, it might be good to think in advance about how you will work on your parkour progression in the upcoming months.

Winter is a tough time for training; for most people, training outside is not much of an option if you live in an area prone to ice or snow. There are persistent few who wish to continue their training outside during winter, and I applaud them. To train in winter shows some great determination and requires more mental effort and alertness than regular summer or spring training.

If you choose to train outside, there are a couple things to keep in mind. Mental alertness and determination as previously stated is essential. With more difficult terrain and more dangerous circumstances, a traceur must be constantly on the lookout; area checks (which you always do anyhow, right?) and precaution are required to keep from careless injury from ice and other obstacles that come with the wrath of winter. Determination is required because of the increased strain, both physically and mentally. The way you dress will affect your movement (look HERE for some more information) and the rate of exhaustion during your training; burdensome boots and restricting jackets make it difficult to maneuver and cause easy exhaustion. This increased rate of tiring makes it hard for you to want to continue, but you must do so in order to progress; that is why winter is hard on you, but it is worth it.

For those of you who are more careful or unsure of their ability and choose not to train outside for any number of valid reasons, also need to keep a few things in the forefront of their mind. It is easy to forget about training, and it is easy to slowly seep away from regular activity in winter, and it is hard to keep a regular training and conditioning schedule; I know it just as well as you. While you will not be able to work on your technique as much due to the restrictions of winter, you will work more on conditioning and toning your body. Physical fitness is one of the three keys to aid progression in parkour; without it you will not advance beyond smoothing out a technique. During these dreary months, work on some calisthenics and plyometrics but don’t just do them for the sake of doing them, do them until you know you have accomplished something. You may stay in shape and that is fine and well, but in order to move forwards you have to push yourself. It will hurt and be hard, I will not butter it up for you but if what you want is to progress and have better ability come parkour season that is what I suggest.

Regardless of your choice, remember to train safely. Do not train until it hurts, I meant merely that it may hurt (mentally and physically); training should not cause injury if done right. Be wary of your surroundings and what you are doing, train safe, and try to have fun.

Parkour shoes

2008-09-14T14:06:00.011-04:00

I will in time, add more reviews to this page. If you would like me to review a specific shoe, leave a comment below.

“What shoes should I wear for parkour?”

One of the most commonly asked questions in the world of le parkour, and one of the hardest ones to answer. There isn’t a definitive shoe that will suit anyone, and there isn’t any single shoe that is best for parkour.

Parkour shoe diamonds can be found in expensive brands or in cheap discount bins; there isn’t any shoe that stands out as best. Obviously if you are here reading this, you don’t want necessarily want to hear that, you want me to do the work and find you some decent parkour shoes. So be it. I have scouted forums and communities looking through the reviews of hundreds and thousands of traceurs, compiling reviews to determine which shoes are most commonly used and reviewed; and the results are in.

Scoring system.
To properly access the shoes, there has to be some grading system. After scouring many forums and communities, I have decided to use eight criteria for scoring.

Grip: How well does the shoe stick to surfaces? Shoes intended for parkour should have a considerable amount of grip in order to aid in wall runs, tic-tacs, precisions and the like. To score high in this category, the shoe must have a good grippy sole that will not wear thin too easily.
Fit: How snug is the shoe? Some shoes such as skate shoes have loose fits, allowing for the foot to move around within the shoe a lot; in parkour, you want to shoe to fit nicely to your foot to minimize room for injury and increase control levels. The better the other reviewers’ fit descriptions and opinions are, the higher the score will be.
Comfort: This will vary from traceur to traceur, but you will want a general idea of how a shoe is going to feel. To grade this I looked at all the shoes reviews and looked at how traceurs thought the shoe felt as they wore it. Obviously the higher the comfort is, the higher the score will be.
Weight: In parkour, you want a nice light shoe; one that you could forget was there. Chunky and clunky shoes may hinder your performance and can be physically taxing. While durability shouldn’t be sacrificed for a light pair of shoes, you don’t want to get a heavy pair by any standards. The lighter the shoe, the higher the score.
Flexibility: Many maneuvers in parkour that require your feet will require some amount of flexibility (for instance, a wall run), and you want your shoe to be able to allow that. A shoe that scores highly under this category will be flexible enough to allow for freedom of movement, without sacrificing safety or durability.
Durability: You want your shoe to last. When researching shoes and their reviews from traceurs, I look at how long they have been worn and how they are holding up. While you should never spend much on a pair of parkour shoes, you don’t want to unnecessarily be buying more pairs of shoes because your others have worn through. A shoe ranking high here will last a little longer.
Cushioning: This is a little trickier to score. A shoe for parkour should provide some cushioning to help the lesser experienced handle drops and falls (shoes with substantially less cushioning demand near perfect technique), but should also allow the traceur to interact with their environment. A good score here will be a happy medium between the two extremes.
Other: This takes into consideration other miscellaneous details such as pricing (prices will not be listed as they vary too greatly), shape and make of the sole (flatter soles are better for precisions and control; one piece soles are more durable), traceurs’ personal remarks and brand reliability.

As a final note, when viewing score cards for each shoe there will be two numbers for each category. The first number represents the impression and opinion that I have developed through examination of the shoe and various reviews; the number in brackets represents the average score as represented by the general reviewing community.

Reviews.

Asics Gel-Evolution II

Grip: 8(9)

Fit: 8(8.5)
Comfort: 9(9.5)
Weight: 9(8.5)
Flexibility: 7.5(7.5)
Durability: 6.5(8)
Cushioning: 7.5(8)
Other: 7(8.5)

Score: 78(84)%

While the shoe is light and is considerably comfortable, with a good grip and a nice fit, it seems to fall behind in some of the other categories. The mesh takes away from durability as it can easily tear during any extensive training. The multiple pieces that make up the sole seem to be begging to be torn off and it hasn’t been reviewed as too flexible. Asics also tend to be a little pricey.

UnderArmour Proto-Evade

Grip: 7.5(8)
Fit: 8(8)
Comfort: 8(9)
Weight: 9(8)
Flexibility: 8(8.5)
Durability: 7.5(7.5)
Cushioning: 9(7.5)
Other: 8(9)

Score: 80(82)%

Being rather new to the market still, these shoes are a little pricey, however they seem rather functional. The grip could be a little better, but the overall response from the few traceurs who have tried this shoe has been great. One of the reviewers has suggested that you use another pair of running shoes for running so that this one doesn't wear out too quickly, and with the current price being what it is that may be an idea to consider.

K-Swiss Ariake

Grip: 8.5(8)
Fit: 8(7.5)
Comfort: 8(7.5)
Weight: 8.5(8.5)
Flexibility: 9(8)
Durability: 8.5(8)
Cushioning: 7.5(8.5)
Other: 8(7.5)

Score: 83(80)%

The reviews on this shoe have been the most puzzling, with some people absolutely in love with it and some who want to shoot the creator. What I have heard from the sources is that it can be a little pricey, though it can also be cheap if you look in the right places; it has been incredibly durable and able to withstand great abuse, though sometimes there are little problems like eyelets breaking off. Some other questions of concern are aimed at the toe which is a little longer and to some, a little uncomfortable, but general reviews were rather pleasant to the shoe.

La Sportive Slingshot

Grip: 8(8.5)
Fit: 9(9)
Comfort: 9(9)
Weight: 9.5(9.5)
Flexibility: 9.5(9.5)
Durability: 8(7.5)
Cushioning: 7(8.5)
Other: 8(8.5)

Score: 85(87)%

The Slingshot is a force to be reckoned with according to the sparse reviews I have seen from traceurs. With grip almost comparable to the patented 'Stealth Rubber' of 5.10 and a great fit, comfort and flexibility it seems like the shoe would be a great success for any traceur looking for a parkour shoe. There are a few downfalls though: for newer traceurs, it isn't the best choice as it is a little thin on cushioning and good technique is required, though it isn't sparse on its padding; they last for a year and a half on average if you expect maximum functionality, though they can be used for longer; finally, they are no longer being produced. That's right, the slingshots are now only available through resales; however La Sportiva has two other near identical shoes title the Fire Blade and the Race Blade which come highly recommended by the same traceurs who reviewed this shoe.

FiveTen Savant

Grip: 9.5(9.5)
Fit: 9(9)
Comfort: 9.5(9)
Weight: 8.5(9)
Flexibility: 7.5(8.5)
Durability: 9.5(9)
Cushioning: 9(9.5)
Other: 9(9)

Score: 89(91)%

Almost every reviewer of this shoe was ecstatic. Made by FiveTen, this shoe features the patented "Stealth Rubber" - an extremely grippy non-streaking rubber. The shoe is light, though there are lighter; it is moderately flexible though some reviews have lead me to believe that there is something more to be desired here; it seems to endure well and fit nicely. One source suggested a downfall is that it is perhaps overly cushioned and suggests that their Daescent model is lighter and more flexible, with FiveTen's Freerunner fitting somewhere in between.

Puma California

Grip: 8(8)
Fit: 9(9)
Comfort: 8.5(9)
Weight: 8(7)
Flexibility: 7.5(7)
Durability: 8(9)
Cushioning: 7.5(8.5)
Other: 8(8)

Score: 79(82)%

There were only two reviews for this shoe by traceurs and both seemed to like it a lot, thus I reviewed it. It seems to be a cross between a skate shoe and a functional runner. The fit is stated to be rather snug with the shoe itself is apparently quite light. Another bonus is that it is apparently quite cheap, widely available and there are many colour options. The only thing I would question about the shoe is the actual durability, as I can't see it lasting much more than a year.

Vibram FiveFingers K.S.O.

Grip: 9(9.5)
Fit: 9(7.5)
Comfort: 9(8.5)
Weight: 10(9.5)
Flexibility: 10(9.5)
Durability: 9(8.5)
Cushioning: 8.5(8.5)
Other: 9.5(8)

Score: 92(86)%

I was surprised to see a FiveFingers shoe listed under a couple shoe review threads in parkour communities. The KSO (Keep Stuff Out) version of the FiveFingers is an improvement on the FiveFingers Sprint as it, well, keeps stuff out. Since my first review of these shoes, I have actually managed to purchase a pair, as well as the "Sprint" model. The shoe fits like a sock and while it takes some time to get used to (it took maybe five minutes to get used to having fabric between my toes), they can improve form, work muscles never used, improve balance and foot sensitivity and get you closer to your natural roots. While I was informed that the sizes currently do not come in 'halves' and sometimes this misfitting can cause ankle chaffing, I found that the degree of adjustablilty in the shoes allows you to overcome this with great ease; furthermore the steps on the sizing chart are very compact, which is to say that there is a shoe for your foot size. Finally, this is not for those who are not used to barefoot training or walking. While they can certainly work towards using it, it is not smart (and you will feel it) to jump right into barefoot training if you have lived a sheltered life of shoes. This is not to discourage use, but to have you note that it takes some time to work into them.

Feiyue Los

NOTE: There are various Feiyue shoe types; being asked to review the Feiyues was rather general, so I have chosen to review the Feiyue Lo shoes because they were the most prominent in parkour communities..

Grip: 6.5(7)

Fit: 8(8)
Comfort: 8(7.5)
Weight: 9(9)
Flexibility: 8(9)
Durability: 6.5(7)
Cushioning: 8.5(7)
Other: 8(9)

Score: 78(80)%

The shoe has been identified as comfortable once you got used to them: like many barefoot shoes, there is little cushioning which I find productive (adjusting your joints properly and strengthening your calves) but which those with sloppy technique will find painful. A very concerning point is the durability - the tread has been said to "disintegrate" (a direct quote), an extreme response to the sole shredding by dragging feet and cat grabs. This puts the durability in severe question, though it has been said that the grip once the tread has worn off is excellent (if they last). The shoes are light however and the fit seems just fine. I wonder if the shoes which originally seemed meant for martial arts should stay away from our concrete jungles.

Closing Words.
I just wish to remind the readers that there is no definitive right or wrong when looking for a parkour shoe, it takes all types. You may find shoes in discount bins that are worth five or ten times the non-retail value of the more expensive options. Take some of my criteria if you wish along with your own and go check out your local shoe store, you may find a hidden treasure.

The shoes reviewed are simply those that have appeared most in the parkour communities and forums, and are not endorsed or sponsored in any way by myself.

If you would like me to review a shoe or some options that are carried by a certain brand etc., or have some comments to make on the above shoes, then leave me a comment below. Furthermore, if you would like more information on any of the above shoes, simply type it's name into the search box below.

You walk wrong: barefoot technology.

2008-09-14T13:22:00.003-04:00

It took 4 million years of evolution to perfect the human foot. But we’re wrecking it with every step we take.
Walking is easy. It’s so easy that no one ever has to teach you how to do it. It’s so easy, in fact, that we often pair it with other easy activities—talking, chewing gum—and suggest that if you can’t do both simultaneously, you’re some sort of insensate clod. So you probably think you’ve got this walking thing pretty much nailed. As you stroll around the city, worrying about the economy, or the environment, or your next month’s rent, you might assume that the one thing you don’t need to worry about is the way in which you’re strolling around the city.

Well, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you: You walk wrong.

It isn’t your fault however; it is the fault of your shoes. I am currently in the process of writing a shoe review article for those of you interested in getting a pair of shoes specifically for parkour; but for the meanwhile, I think many of you might find this article on barefoot walking interesting.

As it turns out, the shoes we wear are actually destroying the way we walk. Reading this article made me reconsider the shoes I have purchased, and will influence the shoes I will purchase in the future. I now also do some barefoot training and it is hard, but I find that results show up quite quickly, as have others.

If you are further interested in some barefoot technology, you may want to look into the Vivo Barefoot and the Vibram Five Fingers (I have reviewed the latter HERE).

Some Conditioning Tips and Ideas

2008-09-11T22:44:00.001-04:00

As some of you may know (since a fair bit of traffic comes from there) I am a member of Yahoo Answers, and spend some of my spare time answering any questions I can find on parkour. Recently a theme has seemed to develop, and a lot of people are asking what they can do to help condition their bodies for parkour. Physical fitness is a significant part of parkour when development and progression is at interest, taking precedence over technique and possibly mentality as well (though the two are quite similar in significance). The following is what I generally responded to them with in response to their queries and are things that I myself have tested and currently still perform on a regular basis.

The majority of your conditioning for parkour should utilize calisthenics (body weight workouts) as you are constantly working with your own weight. Other people will use free-weights and the like, and really that is up to you to choose, but I prefer calisthenics because there is always an ability to progress to a different level of difficulty and they can be done virtually anywhere.

Push-ups
Start on a fresh day and see how many consecutive push-ups you can do. Depending on how high your result is it is, subtract either five (for lower numbers) or ten (for greater values) from this and make this as your set repetition number. Do a set of this many repetitions at least twice a day. It will get difficult after a few days through exhaustion, so take a day or two to rest, it is mandatory that you rest a lot in order for your muscle tissues to rebuild. After a week or two, reevaluate and reset your repetition number. I went this summer (having been out of shape for a bit) from 15 to 75; but it took commitment and other training too of course. I once more emphasize that you should remember to take required rest days; forcing yourself forwards will lead to injury.

The other "ups"
In parkour a common obstacle is a simple wall; once you have wall-runned your way to grabbing the top, you are often left hanging. Pull-ups are good for overcoming this since your hands are facing the same way as when you grab the top of a wall (like a chin-up with palms facing away from your person) and this can aid you in your progression over the wall. You can also do the classic chin-ups (as well as many variations which often include different leg placement or different chin-up bar widths - the thicker the bar, the more it taxes your forearms). Finally, the big one as far as the 'ups' family goes is the muscle-up. A muscle up begins as a pull up, but when you get to the top of the pull-up you keep going until your waist is at bar level. This is very difficult and it has been said that each muscle-up takes the same effort as twenty-five pull-ups and twenty-five dips combined.

Dips
Dips are one of the few basic (that is to say that exercise form isn't altered in order to accomplish it) calisthenic moves that works your triceps. I suggest doing them as much as you can, but ensure that your shoulders don't go below your elbows as this places unnecessary stress on your shoulders. You can also do 'diamond push-ups' for your triceps - simply make a diamond with the thumb and index finger of each hand and place it between your nipples on the ground. Push-up from there.

Core
For my core, I do a little circuit that I constantly change. Some days I increase reps of a certain exercise, some days I will try to do more circuits. Here is the set I did yesterday as an example: I did three circuits with one minute pauses in between. Full range crunches (10 rep), four count crunches (15 reps), circle crunches (15 reps each direction), ankle sweeps (10 reps per side), bicycle crunch (25 reps per side), reverse crunch (50 reps), twisting sit-ups (20 reps), full range crunches (10 reps).

Four by four
This is another circuit I created that I can do at home or anywhere else practically. Find a place where you can do dips and chin-ups within 100m of each other. The circuit consists of doing four exercises for four reps each, and then you do as many sets as you can. Start with four chin-ups, then four pull-ups; if there is any distance in between, sprint to your dip location and do four of those, then end with four push-ups. Do this as many times as possible, once on a very good day I can achieve over 30 consecutive sets.

Card games
For another interesting touch to your workout, play a game of cards. Grab a pack of cards and label each suit as an exercise (i.e. Hearts=push-ups, Diamonds=reverse crunches, Spades=pull-ups, Clubs=dips). Draw three cards at a time and do each exercise for as many reps as the card's value (face cards are always ten and aces are one). This gets very difficult to do once you're half way through the deck, do what you can. You can also do variations when you’re with friends such as playing poker where the losing hand has to do all the exercises of the winning hand’s cards.

Legs
I have mentioned how to work on increasing the potential of your lower body in this article on plyometrics, and intend to continue this in a future article on running.

There is a great deal more exercises, including those with weights, which I have not outlined. I bring forward these methods and exercises because I use them and can guarantee a good workout if they are done properly. Over the last few months I have worked to develop a level of fitness where I perform some sort of strenuous exercise or activities daily and have seen a great deal of personal improvement. If you are to achieve results, you must work to your maximum potential (avoid the work-to-exhaustion rule, it has been proven wrong or not entirely accurate by a fair few members of the physiological society) and maintain a level of commitment.

How YouTube is NOT Destroying Parkour

2008-09-07T03:01:00.002-04:00

I’ve received numerous comments directed at a previous article entitled How YouTube is Destroying Parkour telling me how extremely wrong I am. While my opinions will not falter under those of others, I do recognize that I never gave any attention to the other side of YouTube’s relationship with parkour: how YouTube is benefiting parkour.

"There is no such thing as bad publicity"

Any form of publicity whether positive or negative is publicity none-the-less and will draw attention to whatever is being publicized. Regardless of how poorly compiled the majority of parkour videos are with regards to content, they still spark interest and cause people to turn their heads. The more ambitious of these people will delve further into the infinite database of the internet and more than likely learn about the true nature of parkour. With this increase in attention, parkour may be more widely accepted and more people may do it.

While many of those in the parkour community (including I) will say that the advertisement and publicity of parkour takes away from the spirit, self exploration and the exclusiveness of it, we should note that many prospective traceurs may not understand quite what parkour is, and this attention is bettering them and allowing them to better understand parkour.

The communities on such social media sharing sites as YouTube also may benefit newer traceurs or those who do not have access to fellow traceurs on a regular basis. If an aspiring traceur wants to analyze and improve upon their technique more, the have the ability to post a video and receive valuable critique from some traceurs (in between the common “flips are not parkour” “dude that was sick” and “you suck” comments).

While I had previously generalized with YouTube and other such sites’ content, branding it all as incompetent or unsafe, there are decent feeds and videos out there. Understandably no-one gains character traits by joining a community, and thus the video content remains their own and is not subject to generalizations or assimilation. There are good traceurs out there who are willing to share their knowledge and talents with the rest of the parkour community, and they need to be recognized so as to not become assimilated with the rest.

The following links are to user feeds, videos, and similar sites that I believe contain valuable and worthwhile information. No doubt the list will be elaborated upon, but for the time being, please look into these links:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?...
http://www.youtube.com/user/...
http://parkournorthamerica.com/...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P...

Barclaycard World Freerun Championships: Day after recap.

2008-09-04T17:44:00.000-04:00

IMPORTANT! READ THIS ARTICLE TOO! The linked article outlines the dangers of competition. The below article is for interest purposes; the actual event is not endorsed by Parkour Helper due to its problematic nature as explained HERE.

I thought I might sneak in an extra post here for you. Here is a highlight reel for the day old Barclaycard World Freerun Championships recently held in London (yesterday actually).

The discipline of Freerun now has an official world champion in the form of Gabriel 'Jaywalker' Nunez (USA). 2nd place went to Tim 'Livewire' Shieff (UK) and 3rd to Ben 'Jenx' Jenkin (UK) who also collected Adidas' sickest technique award. In total, a collective of 23 athletes from 18 different countries went head to head to compete at the Barclaycard World Freerun Championships on Weds the 3rd of Sept. The event started off with Mexican participant, Jorge 'Sarge' Romero failing to make an ambitious underbar to precision jump 20ft up, by under-shooting it and crashing heavily, forcing him out of the competition. Luckily, outside of a trip to the hospital and a bruised ego, he was fine but the eye watering footage will no doubt become an instant bails classic on youtube. Overall the skill level and general feeling of unity amongst all the competitors, was a sight to behold. The event ended up being an outstanding success and has been winning rave reviews from media sources worldwide.

~Urban Freeflow

Until more videos and media emerges, feel free to check out the above video and the Barclaycard Freerun Channel on YouTube as well as this collection of behind the scenes photos by Claudiu Voicu. Finally, here is the layout of the event if anyone is interested.

Welcome to September

2008-09-04T04:00:00.000-04:00

No doubt you are aware that it is that time of year when all the students head back off to school. If you are a student, you may begin to find it become more difficult to train as often as you would like; school activities and teams as well as other conflicts like work may begin to fill your schedule, but you must keep training. It only takes a couple weeks of inactivity to lose your current level of fitness, and as such it is essential that you work to stay active and train when you can. I know that some of you are thinking “easier said than done’, so to simplify the task for you here are some very basic and simple ideas to help you stay fit.

Organize regular meets. If you host a parkour meet or gym meet weekly or bimonthly, then it becomes easier to maintain attendance and schedule events around your training. If you work to establish these regular meets and conditioning sessions, then you can know in advance when you can train and you can weave the rest of your life into that schedule.

Torture yourself a little bit. This is a simple way to stay in shape. Designate certain exercises for certain unhealthy or even regular events (twenty push-ups for turning on the television or computer, ten push-ups every time you change the channel; fifty sit-ups before you head out to the movies and fifty more when you return if you ate fast food while you were out). If you torture yourself a little bit like this everyday you will not only maintain (and possibly increase) your fitness level but you may also begin to stray from unhealthy practices.

Torture yourself a little bit more. At 5:30am (or earlier if you are already a morning person) you wake up to your alarm clock, fall out of bed, dress and put on some running shoes; you then run some interval training for half an hour and come back in time to shower, eat and catch the bus. You won’t want to do it and very few people would want to but it has its benefits. If you run every morning, you will stay active, promote better eating and sleeping habits, and better wake up to the day (plus it’s nice out at 5:30am).

Go to the gym. It won’t kill you, but should do the exact opposite. Snag a membership to your local YMCA or Goodlife gym and start working out. If you find the right place it can be pretty cheap, and regardless of the price you will want to earn what you bought.

It doesn’t take much except willpower to get you going, and staying fit isn’t hard. For those of you who will still be tracing (hopefully all of you), there is another thing to consider. A lot of traceurs train around school areas, but come this time of year there are a lot of small children around the areas. Be very cautious about where and how you train; kids are very impressionable and if they see you training, they will likely try and replicate what you have done. Yes we want to publicize parkour a little bit, but these children are physically unfit for the brutal beating your body takes, and they often do not possess the technique, precautionary measures or the maturity and proper mentality to try parkour.

If you jump fifteen feet down, they will try it too. You want to always make sure you are setting a good example (regardless of how many kids are watching you trace) and watch where you trace too. Not only are students impressionable and likely to try it if you are seen, but administration is back to work as well and is not so kind. If you train during or close to after their school hours you may be asked to leave for trespassing; confront this courteously and leave if asked to do so. If you don’t show respect you may never earn it.

Have fun, keep training and stay safe.

UP NEXT: How YouTube is Benefiting Parkour

The legality of parkour

2008-08-31T14:04:00.000-04:00

"Does anybody know if there's any laws on Parkour in Southern California? Are there any rules or limitations?"

~Joe Mengel

There are no laws pertaining specifically to parkour, there are only those laws that apply to the general public. Generally if you are courteous, respectful and follow common sense then you should be okay. Many people respect parkour and are nice people and will leave you alone if you respect them and follow their advisements.

Respect is sometimes overlooked when traceurs consider training, but it is immensely essential. If we don’t respect the locals and property owners (the majority of any traceur’s training occurs on other people’s property) then they will not see any reason to respect us back. There have been cases where locals have opted to demolish architecture and certain areas because they drew traceurs to the area who did not respect any of the locals or the other architecture (leaving scuff marks on walls, mocking locals who ask them to leave et cetera). We have to respect that our training can only happen if we receive reciprocating respect.

Expanding on the statement “the majority of any traceur’s training occurs on other people’s property” with regards to the original question, it isn’t too difficult to guess what the main law broken by traceur is: trespassing. It can be difficult to recognize and avoid trespassing but it is very commonly broken, knowledgeably or elsewise. The key things to keep in mind when confronted on the grounds of trespassing are: respect the person confronting you and don’t mock them or do any of the other stupid things that build negative stereotyping; state the truth and try to get them to understand the nature of your training and that you meant no harm; apologize profusely and if you tell them that it won’t happen again, ensure that it doesn’t. Obviously if the individual is eager to prosecute you then they will do so, and it can be scary but just keep in mind those previous three things and you should do alright (unless you have said it enough times to lose credibility).

A personal example comes from a session less than a week ago when I was teaching a new traceur some basics at a local hotspot. The hotspot happened to be a school and when I went to teach some progression on a cat grab I chose a playground, using the side of the structure in order to vary jump height and distance. School is less than a week away and teachers and school administration are often at the schools preparing for the first week. During our training the school principal came outside and asked us politely to leave noting that the structure was meant for children. I apologized profusely stating my ignorance for not recognizing the potential damage to the structure that could of come from our training. After explaining a little bit about parkour I asked if it was alright if we trained in a different area of the school that was composed of walls, different levels and railings; the principal said we could provided that it wasn’t during school hours or when children were there.

Common sense and respect will almost always keep you out of trouble during your training. If you're doing something that would be illegal no matter the addition of parkour, then stop. People will generally be nice and ask you to leave if they see any conflict with law (be it trespassing or liability issues); and if you are polite in response, you shouldn't have any problems and they won't see any need to contact higher authorities.

Play it smart, play it safe, and have fun.

The 4 areas to perfect for better technique

2008-08-26T22:49:00.000-04:00

In a previous article titled The 3 keys to getting the most out of parkour I mentioned as part of one of the three keys that you need to work on improving the technical aspects of your movements in order to achieve the flow and efficiency that yields progress. Repetition is a significant piece of the quest for better technique, but it alone will do you no good. If you simply repeat the same movements over and over, you may be committing improper form and poor technique to muscle memory.

I have isolated four areas to analyze in order to help perfect your technique. To be able to analyze your own technique and identify which areas need improvement, you may wish to film your maneuvers or arrange to have fellow traceurs and friends break them down for you. Regardless of how you go about analyzing your technique, you will most likely want to know the four areas that I have suggested you focus on in order to better your technique.

AREA ONE: Object proximity and redirection of momentum.
The term ‘object proximity’ is used to reference how close you are to the object during your maneuver. If a traceur performs a vault with the intent of maintaining their speed, they will redirect their momentum as little as possible: just enough to get over the object; being closer to the object means that less energy has been wasted in redirecting your momentum. The opposite of a vault utilizing an efficient object proximity and momentum redirection would be an example where a traceur jumps excessively high in order to clear the object; this means more energy has been wasted pushing the traceur up, and the speed has been greatly diminished if not lost completely by the incompetent redirection of momentum. This effect applies to all forms of movements; as another example picture a traceur attempting a wall run. The most efficient means would be for the traceur to wait until their weight is over their foot before pushing up, keeping closer to the wall and generating more of an upward push thus maximizing height. In an example of a poorly executed wall run, the traceur would kick off a little early, forcing themselves in more of an angular direct away from the wall, diminishing the height of the wall run and risking missing the grab at the wall’s top.

In order to improve in this area: work to stay closer to your object (obviously without hitting it). The use of gauntlets or circuits also promote efficiency, since the traceur is working with less energy each lap; thus energy conservation through object proximity and momentum redirection is the primary focus in order to better continue the circuit or gauntlet.

AREA TWO: Angle of approach.
In order for a technique to be useful in a real life situation, you have to be able to utilize it under a variety of circumstances. In the event of a traceur escaping a threat and coming across a familiar obstacle in an unfamiliar positioning, it will be their training in the various approaches that allows them to surpass it. A traceur who has not dedicated time to working various angles of approach will stumble, and lose time or ground in a real life situation because they have only practiced a technique with the intent of approaching from the right or a similar fault. On the other hand, a traceur who has dedicated their time to learning how to pass objects from a variety of angles, positions and circumstances will not falter in their movements, but continue to their goal (or away from a pursuer).

In order to improve in this area: attempt each maneuver from a variety of angles alternating with both the dominant and non-dominant sides. While obviously not all of the maneuvers will be practical at certain angles of approach, your training them will allow you to instinctively and automatically integrate the most appropriate moves in real life scenarios.

AREA THREE: Control of movement.
Someone once asked me why hands are used in vaults, asking if they aided by boosting the traceur upwards or forwards or if they were just there for safety. Both those assumptions are partially correct, but the main reason is to control your movement. If you were simply in the air while vaulting over an object, you have no control of your vault and especially your landing. If a traceur does not learn how to control their movement, they may injure themselves on an uncoordinated landing, or end up facing the wrong way and thus wasting potential energy correcting their mistake among many other possible outcomes. A traceur who can better control the direction of their movements can better use their momentum and energy, and is also safer. In a real life situation they can make sudden changes that a traceur who has not worked on controlling their movement is unable to. Once again I must note that while I use vaults for exemplars, this is applied to all techniques even balancing and precisions (falling or missing versus continual balance and definite precisioning).

In order to improve in this area: you should work on your ability to control where you land, the directions you face, how prolonged a movement is, the rotation or lateral movements and such related things. These can be done by simply repeating a technique over and over, deciding each time where you want to land or step, how fast or with what lateral or amount rotational movement as well as the previously listed.

AREA FOUR: Overall flow.
You can identify a good traceur from their flow and movement patterns; they seem to slide gracefully from one maneuver to the next with very little noise or effort. The flow and lack of noise and effort comes from practicing the techniques endlessly while perfecting the other four areas. The flow from one move to the next is what ties all the visual/physical components of parkour together though it is more than just eyecandy. The ability to move so gracefully from one movement to the next is a sign of mastery, but it is also the sign of energy conservation. Jerky and blocky movements take energy, be it in the original movement or the following moves that are required to compensate for the faults caused by those prior (examples include over rotation and hitting the rail on an under-bar). When a traceur moves with deliberate flow, they use only the energy required to overcome an object.

In order to improve in this area: practice and repeat each move generously. Work the other areas to their optimum, then practice the maneuvers working them until the moves are soft, deliberate and quiet as possible, and then repeat it again. A real traceur doesn’t practice until he can do something today; they practice until they can not fail it tomorrow.

Conclusion/Summary.
Obviously this will only work to optimize the technical aspect of your maneuvers; you still need to work on the physical and mental portions in order to make the most of your parkour progression. Remember that repetition is essential, but only if it is deliberate and measured repetition.

Sport or Lifestyle (plus two more): The nature of parkour.

2008-08-25T10:43:00.000-04:00

Many people spend their time arguing, or rather debating over the definition of parkour and how to distinguish it from the similar practices of freerunning and tricking. When all their content has been used up and the fire has died down they move on to debate another aspect of parkour, and for this many are turning to the question of what parkour is. It is quite difficult to classify the nature of parkour as it is such a diverse and unique thing, though many try in a quest for fun and exploration or for the sake of knowing and knowledge. What it usually comes down to is a collective claiming that it is a sport and a collective claiming that it is a lifestyle. Both will be expanded on here with the addition of a couple more categorizations too in an effort to better decide.

Sport.
Many people will argue that parkour is a sport. Some traceurs (and non-practitioners alike) have decided that parkour can be described as the offspring of martial arts and dance, as urban gymnastics or as an extreme sport (falling in the same category as BMX and skateboarding). To further support their claims, the same supporters will also point to the great deal of physical and mental exertion required in the activity; the kind of physically challenging activity that has only come to be known the title of ‘sport’. “In what category would you expect to find people running around, jumping and vaulting over obstacles and climbing up walls?” they challenge. I myself find that I cannot answer that question on the grounds that I do not know, but I do know that the answer is not ‘sports’.

A sport is defined as

An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.

Traceurs maintain high levels of physical exertion while practicing parkour, but parkour is so entirely diverse itself that no possible set of rules and guidelines could define or govern it; because of this lack of establishment and guidelines we realize that there cannot be parkour competitions (win versus lose competition that is) which leads us further and further from associating parkour by definition to the title of 'sport'. While it may be physically demanding and share attributes of the physical activities classified as sports, parkour itself cannot be defined as a sport because it has no guidelines or rules, formal hierarchy, or teams and it can not be governed to the extent that it can become competitive as the definition demands.

Lifestyle.
Other people may move to convince you that parkour is a lifestyle. Those people often will not say “We do parkour” but instead “We live parkour”, because its philosophy has become their way of life. These traceurs claim to possess a change in their thinking processes that allow them to overcome almost any obstacle in life, physical or mental because of parkour. They agree that there is a lot of physical effort required, but wish to remind everyone that there is also a lot of philosophy and self exploration involved. The people who support this claim furthermore believe that parkour has found a way to incorporate itself in their daily lives: they may have different sleeping habits, different and healthier diets, a training schedule, more energy to do things, and a clearer mind among many other things.

Lifestyle is defined as

The consistent, integrated way of life of an individual as typified by his or her manner, attitudes, possessions, eating habits, etc.

While many claim that parkour can influence and take part in their entire style of living I find it difficult to believe. While it can produce better thought process and mentality, parkour won’t take a place in my life as I sleep, have a shower or clean the house, and it definitely won’t influence my choices when shopping for some new headphones. I understand how some believe that they are living a life defined by parkour, but I don’t believe that it has the capacity to become a way of life or a style of living. The lifestyle title does cover the philosophical side of parkour and delves into the spirit of it, but it doesn’t have the capacity to define the movements, actions or all around being of parkour. While some may consider parkour to be a lifestyle, it is not something that can be completely integrated into your life with the intent to make it a way of living. The romantic idea of living parkour is unfortunately no more than a fleeting romantic thought.

Skill.
A skill is an ability that is gained through experience and training. Parkour is picked up, maintained and progressed upon through training and experience and its credited abilities are transferable to many experiences in life. The ability to cleanly kong vault over a picnic table is acquired through extensive training and effort; the ability can not be used in a parkour competition and will not hold any part in your daily life (aside from regular training).

The fault with this categorization is similar to that of the ‘sports’ category: it doesn’t portray the substantial role of parkour philosophy and spirit. Being able to escape quickly is good, but that as a skill carries no philosophical or spiritual value. Parkour is not simply the execution of moves, but a means to better understand yourself and better your mentality among other things; these revelations are not accurately or even in part voiced when parkour is classified as a ‘skill’. It ends up that this categorization is also incompetent when used as an attempted classification for parkour; the title of ‘skill’ carries none of the spiritual or philosophical values of parkour, despite better defining the physical aspect of the activity.

Art.
This has been proposed by some to be an adequate defining category as parkour seems to contain many artistic elements. The umbrella term of ‘arts’ has the capability to include both the spiritual and philosophical side of parkour and the physical and technical side as well. The movements in parkour in their perfect form are fluid, free and functional and are expressive of the individual practicing them. The way a traceur utilizes the environment as a canvas with the body as a brush is artistic in the highest modern form. It is as such that many traceurs choose to define their practice as an art.

The term ‘art’ however doesn’t match parkour either, though it is closer. It better encompasses the main aspects but doesn’t quite seem to grasp the entire essence of parkour. Everything about parkour seem simple light and easy when you define it as an art, and the activity seems to be labeled as eyecandy. While it is much closer to the term requested and searched for, the title of 'art' doesn’t seem to encompass all that is there to be grasped and seems a little to vague and simple for something as complex as parkour.

Having seemingly discredited the major forms of classification used for parkour I may have left some disappointed; in compensation, here is my ideal categorization for parkour:

Parkour.
In the end I have come to the conclusion that parkour is its own category. Parkour is an activity so unique and one that encompasses so many things that it would be nearly impossible to conjure up a category that includes it all. The only title that could adequately describe a thing composed of so many intricate yet weighty details, while maintaining such freedom and individualization is the title of the thing itself: parkour.

When it all comes down to it, the only truth to be found is that parkour is parkour; no more, no less.

The 3 keys to getting the most out of parkour.

2008-08-24T11:35:00.000-04:00

People always want to know how they can improve in parkour, asking for tips and tricks that are guaranteed to make them better. Unfortunately there are no little tips that can be applied universally to get more distance off of your kongs, or to get those few extra inches off of a wall run since each unique situation will have its own solution; however there are three things that are common amongst all the best traceurs, three steps that can help you improve in parkour

1) Physical fitness.
You are not going to improve in parkour if you don’t work on building your strength and endurance. If you can wall pass a twelve foot wall once, you can do it again and again and again; and practicing it over and over ensures nothing more that you can pass that specific wall well. Your perfect technique on that wall will do you no good in a real life situation where you have to pass a thirteen or fourteen foot wall; only strength and an increase in physical fitness will take you those extra feet, technique no matter how perfect can only take you so far.

Even if you are outside six or more hours daily practicing and making a lot of "progress" on the technical side, you aren’t pushing yourself or your body. Practicing that vault isn’t working to increase your ability, only to perfect your technique. So after all the training technically to control the way you move, you will still be out of shape, without any power behind your movements and have poor endurance skills; these are key to progression and to be able to succeed when attempting more difficult feats.

Despite the debunking, you will need to work on the technical aspects of your training as well in order to avoid being sloppy (and thus making each move the most efficient possible), but there comes the point where you have to realize that all your time spent training the technical portion of your moves is not going to make you any faster, stronger, or have increased vaulting or climbing abilities. You will never significantly advance if you don’t begin to exercise and work out.

2) Technical training.
Physical fitness and training is what allows you to progress to more difficult feats with success, but those moves will not be worthwhile in a real life scenario if they aren’t streamlined to be the most efficient possible. The ability to jump further or higher won’t do too much if you are unable to execute a move properly. The key to success here is repetition.

I have spent entire days dedicated to certain maneuvers, spending countless hours repeating it over and over in order to make it the most efficient and effective possible. In parkour a move is most efficient if it can be done with precision, accuracy and speed without sacrificing good technique for sloppiness. Repeating a certain move over and over helps you identify your weak points; maybe you are jumping too high for a vault and sacrificing momentum and energy from that, or maybe you are rotating a little too much or too little and thus have to waste time readjusting before you can continue. Identifying these weaknesses gives you the opportunity to help turn them into strengths; practicing a vault over and over trying to get closer to the object or trying to get the most distance off of it seems mundane, but it is the time and effort put into the moves that will make them worthwhile in the future.

In a real life scenario, all the little tweaks and adjustments you have made to your movements will pay off as you can efficiently escape or chase with speed and precision; when faced with a new obstacle, you will know with confidence that you can approach it from a couple different angles and still be able to efficiently overcome it.

HERE is an article on how to improve your technique.

3) Mental endurance.
To be able to willingly participate and work to improve your physical fitness and technical ability takes a lot of patience and mental endurance. When you feel ready to give up after an hour of training, it comes down to your mental ability to give yourself another big push and keep going. Over time you will develop the ability to identify your limits both physically and mentally, and it takes a lot of effort in order to push those limits and progress further in your training. Motivation, self-confidence and a positive outlook will not come from hours in the gym or practicing a certain move, it comes from mental strength, and without it you will find it difficult to get to where you want.

You have to work over time to be able to convince yourself that you can do that move one last time, ten times, and to keep going even when you feel like giving up. It takes time and commitment in order to be able to push yourself to train and to be able to nudge yourself out of your comfort zones. It all comes from telling yourself over and over that you can do it, and telling yourself that one more wall run will not kill you. Mental endurance and strength are the only things that stand between you and the pursuer or escapee in a chase when you feel that you can’t run any longer. It is the hardest of the three keys to progress within, and the most rewarding too.

Conclusion/Summary.
These are the three keys that are essential to know and practice in order to be able to get better at parkour and progress steadily within it. While other people may stress things like learning a basic monkey vault and the likes, I believe that you need to start with a positive mindset, and then work on your physical and technical capabilities from there. It isn’t all easy, it isn’t all the fun and games that you see in YouTube videos, it can be really gritty at some times; but if you have what it takes, the willingness to continue and push forward, then you will surely succeed.

Competition and its place in parkour and freerunning

2008-08-23T00:48:00.001-04:00

If you pay any attention to any of the parkour and freerunning media, you already know about the Barclaycard World Freerun Championships which is coming up on September 3rd. Sponsored by the renowned urbanfreeflow.com and featuring twenty one freerunners from seventeen countries:

...the first-ever Barclaycard World Freerun Championships will be staged at our legendary Roundhouse, where a specially-designed course will be constructed as a massive challenge to more than twenty of the world’s top freerunners. This ground-breaking event is a global celebration, which will showcase the awesome artistry of the best from the worldwide scene. Each athlete will perform to the accompaniment of his own individually selected soundtrack and in a unique twist, each will be judged by his fellow performers, on athletic skill, creativity, complexity and above all, “flow”.
-Roundhouse

While the event itself has very little content to comment upon, it raises the interesting topic of competition and its place in parkour and freerunning.

Competition.

The word itself derives from the Latin roots con and petire which combine to give the meaning ‘to seek together’; in other words competition refers to the unified efforts of all involved, working with and against each other to seek new heights for everyone’s mutual benefit.
D. Edwardes – Urban Freeflow

This ideal definition of competition is by all means virtuous; a collective working together in order to advance as a whole. With this definition the goal is to create an environment that is as complicated and challenging as possible for every participant in order to force each person to work to their maximum potential to resist defeat. In this sense every participant would be competing with each other in order to overcome failure, and no single entity would lose unless they lost as a part of a collective. However in our modern day society, the definition has been modified to a more simplistic description of a win or lose situation, and it is this that we are working with.

Competition in Parkour.
As to be elaborated and embellished upon in a future article: parkour is not a sport. Sports involve win or lose situation styled competition, while it would be almost unethical to compete in parkour. Parkour is about getting from one place to another as fast as possible, and the methods of doing this vary from person to person.

The mentality of the practice focuses on the improvement of the self by means mental and physical. Every traceur works towards improving their own skills in a way that is best suited for them, and their practices and techniques vary just as much as their fingerprints do. The practices and techniques of any traceur can be considered an extension of their personality and being. Everyone has their talents and handicaps and follows their own paths; forcing a grading system to see how well a traceur can adapt to what the judges want kills the spirit of parkour and the freedom of individuality associated with it.

Some people have suggested an obstacle course with a time trial since the defined objective of parkour is to get from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible. The problem with this is the type of training that it encourages where traceurs will begin to push themselves harder and harder; dangerously and unthinkingly forcing themselves past their capabilities and limits in order to shave off a couple seconds from their time, instead of methodically and safely progressing forward.

Some competitions already taking place amongst training partners are games like H.O.R.S.E. where each traceur attempts to copy another’s moves, losing points for failing to duplicate the move. This pressure forces traceurs to try things that they are possibly not ready for. From this they can sustain injuries from pushing themselves too far, or pick up poor habits that cause them to choose idiotic choices while training in the future.

Other stupid challenges that some traceurs hold are jump height competitions. This is just incredibly stupid. Aside from the fact that you shouldn’t be jumping from more than your height for well over a year (considering proper training), trying to see who can jump from the highest spot is dumb, encourages amateur and dangerous feats and is extremely detrimental to the health of anyone practicing (regardless of where the implications fit in on the individuals lifeline).

In regards to the possibility of holding a parkour competition in the same manner of the freerunning competition, it is unnatural. A skill acquired by those who practice parkour is the ability to adapt, and this ability brings us closer to our environments. In the freerunning competition the environment is manipulated and controlled as they create an elaborate layout of their own.

The final remark is in response to other practitioners of parkour who have commented that the publicity and commercialization of such events takes away from the spirit of parkour and assimilates it into the group of extreme sports. Some of the public may misinterpret such generic and false classifications and traceurs are concerned that parkour could generate the negative stereotypes that surround skateboarders and other extreme sports athletes.

Competition in freerunning.
Some people may consider that it is alright to host competitions for freerunning since it is closer to acrobatics or gymnastics. Surely this competition seems to reflect that, with my first impression of the article being a bunch of well built guys doing an Olympic rhythmic gymnastics (choreographed ribbon) routine without the ribbons, and with an addition of a couple obstacles. But there should still be the consideration of the differences in individuals.

The grading system for this event doesn’t seem to be constructed that well. Questions arise such as “Who decides what ‘proper movement’ is?” and “How do you define the ‘skill level’ of a move?” It doesn’t seem fair that someone can tell you that points were lost because you can’t perform as well as a person you have never met and whose techniques and moves are radically different that your own. It doesn’t seem plausible that a judge would rationally dictate that your movements were not classified as ‘proper’ when they are unable to understand your own handicaps and strengths.

Freerunners are required to acquire the ability to adapt to their environment just as much as any traceur and their interaction with the environment is just as intense and important as any experienced in parkour. The manipulated layout takes away the freedom of freerunning, the element of surprise and the excitement that is found when guessing what new experience lurks around the next corner.

The competition dilutes the practice to the extent that it seems to just be a test of gymnastic and acrobatic ability over any acquired freerunning skills. This cycles back the my original impression of the rhythmic gymnastics, where the goal is to organize a pretty routine using the objects around you in order to appease the judges. This effect is far from diminished by the addition of a soundtrack, to which the freerunners arrange and perform their routines.

Conclusion/Summary.
Parkour and the many branches of its variation tree (featuring freerunning and tricking et cetera) are far from being classified as sports. Any concept of competition beyond the ideal definition would likely be detrimental in the long and short run. While it may be fun, the practices and moral ethics are not proper in relation to the philosophy and the fundamentals of parkour and freerunning. In my opinion (which is shared by many online parkour community members) though it would be interesting to observe, a competition for any of the above would be more detrimental than doing nothing at all.

How YouTube is destroying parkour.

2008-08-17T22:11:00.000-04:00

On May the 31st, 1997, eight friends banded together to form a group called the Yamakazi. It was more acrobatic than parkour and had no definitive rules. With the aid of media appearances, the Yamakazi were invited to play acrobats in the show "Notre Dame de Paris." David Belle refuses to join saying that he never intended to let his creation become commercialized and in 1998, the group was disbanded. But what does this have anything to do with YouTube?

As parkour becomes more widely recognized, we begin see it more and more in the media. The commercial world is based around income and profit, and it is around that that companies and ideas are made. When parkour started showing up more and more it began to focus more on getting attention, more of an audience. To continue to increase in popularity, people doing parkour in the videos began to resort to showing the flashiest and showiest moves possible in the hopes of becoming famous and possibly profiting in the future. This has grown to the extent that the mass majority of YouTube videos relating to parkour show only the biggest jumps and most elaborate flips, with the only crashes or bails being fantastic and painful. This causes a few problems.

Parkour, free running and tricking are very different: parkour is about efficiency, getting from one place to another in the quickest and most fluid way possible; free running takes the fundamental parkour moves and adds a few more flashier moves for more of an acrobatic flare; tricking is almost exclusively gymnastics outside, featuring elaborate flips and kicks and spins, but you can't tell that from the videos. When people make videos, they aim to tailor it to an audience. They know that if they show clips of them missing a cat grab it won't be too popular (unless it is a spectacular fall), whereas the more elaborate vaults and the bigger jumps will. People gradually built on this until they were doing flips off buildings and jumping over people, still calling it parkour however; mashing it together with free running and tricking, effectively removing its identity.

This poses a problem to newer traceurs. In the founding days of parkour, traceurs learned everything through experience and challenging themselves; however with more and more people gaining access to the vast amount of resources, new and aspiring traceurs turn to the internet as a means to educate themselves on parkour. When harassed by a stream of parkourfreerunningtricking goop, the aspiring traceur immediately picks up some bad mentalities.

First impressions are often the biggest, and in this day and age the impression is usually quite far off track. The aspiring traceur sees parkour as flipping off of buildings, or trespassing in order to do a huge gap in a mall, and take them to be parkour. Not only do these traceurs pick up on the mentalities that are frowned upon by traceurs, but they decide that such feats are parkour, and that is what they have dedicated themselves to trying. Regardless whether or not they succeed at this, they begin to spread the misconception of parkour themselves having never experienced the real thing. It is in this way that the false identity of parkour is spread. If these traceurs later on decide to post videos or other media forms of what they call parkour, the assimilated false identity is spread more. Bit by bit parkour loses all meaning and is lost in a sea of misunderstandings, and there is more.

If a traceur deems such actions to be parkour, then they will in turn come to attempt such feats. This is extremely dangerous! You have no doubt heard me rant about starting slowly, telling you that it may take some months before you should try a five foot drop for the sake of your safety; what happens when a new traceur with no experience tries to flip off of a two story parking garage? The majority of parkour injuries are usually accumulative, building up over years of impact or malpractice causing joint pain and other maladies in the future; the "new wave" of parkour on the other hand, brings serious immediate injuries let alone serious long term ones.

While there are credible and useful videos on YouTube about parkour, they are often overshadowed by the flashier showier ones, and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between someone teaching you good or bad technique.

This is by no means intended to discredit YouTube, as previously stated it can have useful and credible videos from time to time, all depending on the contributers. I am merely using it because it is more widely recognizable and more likely to be used as a source for parkour technique and training. There are sources everywhere that portray parkour inaccurately, while there are also credible sources. With the access to such resources though people can post whatever they please, and distinguishing fact from fiction becomes a tremendous task.

These are some of the reasons I suggest that aspiring traceurs and the experienced alike try to stay away from such things. If you are new and looking to learn, there are many other sources out there to help you (this blog being one of them). I would suggest looking for traceurs in your area as hands on teaching is the best form, though it is also mandatory that you learn independently a bit too. If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for future articles feel free to post them here. Good luck in your training.

Conclusion/Summary.
While such popular media sharing sites and outlets as YouTube do well to promote parkour and bring it to the attention of the masses, it doesn't always represent the true nature of parkour and many poor things can result from that. People begin to assimilate parkour into freerunning and tricking and the grandeur portrayed by professionals in the videos are mistaken for common stunts; thus newer and younger traceurs may injure themselves trying things that they are far from ready for having mistaken them for regular parkour stunts and maneuvers. The blame here is not directed at YouTube as an organization, but the community of people who contribute to this and who post such videos under false titles and descriptions.

An overview of protective gear for parkour.

2008-08-17T16:24:00.000-04:00

I've been spending a bit of time catching up on all that I have missed during my week long absence, and while scouring the Chatroll parkour archives I stumbled across a conversation between a newer traceur and my friend Francis. The newer traceur Jyuun ask whether or not wearing gloves was a good idea. I have also recalled seeing conversations elsewhere in the past where someone will ask what types of protective gear should be worn. There are protective pads and helmets and gloves available all over the market for sports, but which are suited for parkour?

Prior to getting into the different forms of protection, something should be clarified. When training, everyone is prone to injury, it happens; but it's not about how many times you fall, but how many times you stand up, and it's standing up that takes some effort. If you feel that you need certain protection and I say don't use it, by all means use it; do what feels best for you. Not everyone is the same and not everything that I say or suggest will work for everyone, that's just how it goes. The following are simply statements and opinions of my own, and it is up to you to use your judgment and decide what you will do, for there are no definitive right or wrong answers. If you wish to wedge yourself amongst a small bundle of pillows, that is your choice. I always mean to emphasize safety, but trying too hard to be safe can occasionally be detrimental to your cause.

Head.

I have seen people suggesting that traceurs wear helmets while training, and that is just silly. While there are always opportunities to injure your head in parkour by means of a fall or bad maneuver, a helmet would likely be more of a hindrance than anything. When you make to attempt such maneuvers as shoulder rolls and moves through smaller areas such as under-bars, a helmet could sacrifice the integrity of the move and possibly even cause injury. Furthermore, if you feel you need a helmet this early into your training, chances are you are going too fast and are trying things that you aren't yet ready for. Remember mommy was right, it's better to be safe than sorry; take your training slow, you have your whole life ahead of you.

Joints.

One of the most common responses that I have seen in regards to questions about protective gear for parkour training has been knee pads. Actually, it is very rare that your knees will come in contact with anything if you have been training properly. Knee contact could occur in a slip on a wall run, or if someone fails to execute a proper landing, but even those are minor and are usually the fault of the traceur. You will find that the majority of precautionary equipment for knees and other joints in any sport just involves support and compression braces for people with bad joints. It is as such that you can wear braces on your knees for helping them in landings, rolls and jumps; but you should not need to cover them in order to avoid scratching, as it is quite unlikely that you will injure them if your technique is good.

Some people in response to the question of protective gear have replied by looking at the gear some people in "extreme sports" wear, having not practiced or tried parkour properly before. It is that reason that they suggest such inane things as elbow pads for parkour. How many times while training parkour have you injured your elbow? Maybe you got a little scratch when you fell backwards and landed on your arms, but other than that there aren't many circumstances where elbow pads are beneficial. By no means do elbow pads interfere with regular maneuvers and they can certainly be worn if you so desire, but if you don't own any it is definitely not worth the money to go buy a pair.

I've seen other traceurs wrap handkerchiefs around their wrists to prevent scraping on wall runs and turn-vaults on thick objects among other things; I wouldn't do any more than that as anything thicker could compromise movement and would just be irritating. The wrist however are quite likely to scrape if you are doing any wall runs or vaults and if you wish to prevent scrapes and scarring, it is ideal to wrap them with a handkerchief or a sweat band type wrist wrap.

Hands.

I would avoid covering up your hands for a few reasons. First of all, though you may scrape them a little bit you need to condition them somehow to thicken and toughen them. If you wear gloves, you will always need to wear them because you will never give your hands the chance to adapt to the change in activities. If you are wearing gloves to protect yourself in an area with broken glass or the likes, you may want to consider cleaning that area up if not training in a new one; for while in a real life situation it may be unavoidable, there is no reason to injure yourself while training. Another reason you want to avoid covering your hands is that gloves are often slippery and they can't provide the grip a good pair of hands can. Sure some gloves have some grip, but no glove is as versatile in gripping different materials and terrain as a hand (unless they are mighty expensive and include suction cups). Also, parkour emphasizes interaction with your environment, you are constantly working with it and exploring it in many ways. Your hands are where the majority of your touch senses are, and it would almost be a crime to cover them up with gloves, as you lose all that interaction with your environment and that sense of feeling what you are working with.

Conclusion.

While it is up to the individual to decide for their self what they will or will not wear I believe that provided good technique and practices, no traceur (unless for some medicinal reason) absolutely requires any protective gear. If you are a beginner and train by yourself, you are safety conscious or just want to be careful then by all means wear them; the choice is all yours.

Locations, how they affect training and how to make the best of your location.

2008-08-16T22:32:00.000-04:00

Location can play a role in your training as a traceur, though some make it out to be a lot more than it really is. Location may mean it’s difficult to locate traceur groups or even to find a decent amount of obstacles or training areas; but it is not as limiting as some traceurs may make it out to be just as long as you are willing to look and put in the effort.

When confronted by newer traceurs requesting advice and tips for their training, I am often asked where they can meet other traceurs in their area. This is a difficult question to answer as I have not been to every city in the world to meet and take the contact addresses of traceurs, so I often refer those traceurs to any online communities local to them as well as MeetUp. My past experience has related that it’s usually quite easy to find traceurs if you go and look. I have had occasions where I am training and I will be approached by traceurs or other people interested in parkour; and of course I talk to them and refer them to the online community that hosts my city’s meets.

The other questions that newer traceurs may ask are often along the lines of “does anyone know some good places for parkour in _______?” The same problem arises as when the traceur is looking for training partners: it’s not very likely that traceurs from that area will see your post and reply (unless you are on an online local community board or forum). There may be other local traceurs able to answer your questions provided you live in a more populous city but if that isn’t the case, the odds are very slim that you will get a reply, and you will have to analyze your environment yourself.

In a real life situation you may have to get over irregular objects, and it is the combination of the acquired “parkour vision*” and improvisation skills along with previous practice that will allow you to overcome them. Many traceurs complain that there aren’t any places for them to train, but when you consider it you realize that any object that isn’t completely flush with the ground can be considered an obstacle to overcome and train on. If you were about to miss the bus, you might jump over a common park bench in order to make it on time while running around may make you miss it; that is parkour and it shows that practice with common and irregular objects can allow you to better yourself in future situations. It is good to keep this mentality not only because you will have an endless stream of training locations and obstacles, but to aid in the development of your improvisation skills and the enhancement of your parkour vision. If you are willing to look and train anywhere and on anything, you are better prepared for a real life scenario than if you practiced a wall run at a single location for hours.

If you have found a curious obstacle, feel free to post a picture and/or description and I will try and find a way to pass it because I will continue to contribute to this article by finding some common or abnormal objects myself and describing how to pass them, as well as posting links to various forums and communities.

*"Parkour Vision" is a way to define the traceurs' inherent ability to find new obstacles to overcome anywhere, as well as being able to consider a great number of possibilities and ways to overcome said obstacle.

SOME COMMUNITIES:
PKTO - Southern and Central Ontario
Northern Parkour - Northern Britain
PKBC - British Columbia
APK - American Parkour
PKSG - Singapore
Chicago Parkour - Chicago
PK Australia - Australia
Winnipeg Parkour - Winnipeg
Washington Parkour - Washington
Bristol Parkour - Bristol
SFPK - San Francisco area
HIPK - Hawaii
UFF - England
PKIRE - Ireland

Parkour backpack advice and reviews.

2008-08-07T09:29:00.000-04:00

Different meets will run in different ways, but the most common way to run a meet is to move from one location to another, while stopping at each location and practicing some moves before moving on to the next. The goal of a backpack thus is to keep your items and personal effects together and provide a way for you to transport them easily place to place. In this case you can easily get along with grabbing your favourite backpack (or alternatively any form of bag that will do the job) and loading it up with whatever you wish to bring with you. If you share the same situation as this keep in mind that any bag can suffice, or alternatively you can go with the ever popular “fanny-pack” for smaller loads.

If you are wearing a backpack for increased weight and resistance while training, please note that this is dangerous and detrimental to your health and safety. While I don't like telling people to buy things, if you really want that much to add resistance and weight, do yourself a favour and buy a proper weight vest.

If you intend to run and actually perform parkour moves with your backpack on, it’s a different story. You don’t want to be wearing a regular backpack while doing a roll or an under-bar. In this situation a really small bag is the better option, something minimal so as to restrict how much it limits your movement. Any emptied camel pack style hydration bag is a really good option in this situation as it holds everything close to your body, comes in many sizes, doesn’t restrict movement or range of motion (provided you picked the right fit) and is comprised of a relatively strong material. Alternatively if you have a larger load it is in my opinion essential to find an ergonomic back pack that will help distribute the weight as research shows that exaggerated movements with a larger load can greatly increase the risk of back damage.

The other cases would be that you have either decided not to bring a backpack for lack of need et cetera, or you are looking to invest in a parkour specific back pack. If you fall into the second class, chances are you’ve already looked around and are aware that you are most likely to find a parkour specific backpack on the internet. I have also looked around a little bit, and would like to offer these brief reviews on some of the more popular parkour backpacks.

Urban Tool Designs
Urban Tool hosts a variety of different holders and other products that are meant to keep effects on your person and has been considered and used by a great deal of traceurs, but only two designs caught my eye as being functional in a parkour environment.

The sportHolster

The sportHolster sells for $59.99 and comes in three sizes. Its shape resembles that of a gun holster from older movies, but has a more functional twist. It is an ergonomic solution for those who only have a little bit with them but wish to keep it safe and on their person. It has two main pockets: one on the back which is enclosed by a mesh like lattice, and one on the left arm strap which is better suited for cell phones, mp3 players, small cameras and the like. Provided you order the right fit, the holster hugs your body and does not appear like it would slip off accidentally in any circumstance. The materials used ensure flexibility and a wide range of motion, while remaining light and keeping close to your person. The main problem with the sportHolster is the functionality in comparison to the price. If your intent is to move around with this as a means of protecting your goods, you won’t go too far if you have a lot to protect. While the back pocket is larger and can accommodate a fair bit, it is not very protective in an instance where you have to roll out of a jump. That being said, there are parts of the back pocket that reach towards the front more that could accommodate smaller items, though how securely they would stay there is not something I have heard. The left strap pocket is enclosed and is the most functional part of the overall design, and the right strap features a key fob. While many people have looked to purchase this for its tight yet relaxed fit and ergonomic design, the sixty dollar price tag is a little too high when you consider that only one pocket may be functional in an actual parkour run.

Style: The mesh back gives it a very fresh and sporty look to the already sleek, minimalistic and overall cool factor. It is currently available in three sizes and comes in either yellow or black. 5/5

Fit: The design allows for a very snug fit and the material is very comfortable. The pockets are arranged in a way that doesn't interfere with vaults, leaps or running, though the contents of the back pocket are vulnerable when doing rolls. 4/5

Weight: The minimal design coupled with the incorporation of mesh and other light weight materials allows for full marks. 5/5

Durability: It appears that the material is quite strong, though the mesh back may give way to frequent rolling within a year of regular use (hypothesis, not actually tested). 4/5

Value: The fact that the back pocket is rendered useless when practicing rolls takes away from the value as only one pocket remains. What would normally seem a little high priced becomes a little pricer when function is taken into consideration. While your personal effects may be valuable, you can not hold many items reasonably and this option becomes greatly overpriced for its functionality. 1.5/5

Overall: If your intent is to keep one object safe while looking fashionable, this is for you. However if you are looking at practicality, you may consider that the sportHolster is for sports as opposed to parkour. 3.5/5

The hipHolster.

The hipHolster sells for $49.99 and is a close fitting bag that hugs around your thigh with support from a hip strap and the optional leg strap; it should be noted though that the leg strap is nonnegotiable when practicing parkour as the bag would else wise hang loose from the hip strap and could not only hinder your performance as an annoyance, but while hanging the bag is more susceptible to getting banged off of an obstacle while on a run. The hipHolster has four covered pockets, a key fob and a Velcro strap that will support cables such as a pair of earbuds. The one thing that is noticed in comparison to the sportHolster is the bang for the buck. While the cheaper alternative, the hipHolster holds itself against your leg in a way that no pockets are rendered useless or questionable and will not interfere with a parkour roll as it can be adjusted to sit more to the front of your leg. The holster is a one size fits all design as the strap lengths can be adjusted, and with this comes flexibility and comfort while it stays close and firm to your person.

Style: The hipHolster is very fashionable, and while it may not hold the sportier look associated with parkour, it looks like something I could wear on a daily basis (provided my wardrobe matched). The hipHolster is a one size fits all deal and is available in five colours (black, fango, camouflage, aubergine, and earth). 5/5

Fit: The hipHolster appears to hug your leg when coupled with the optional leg strap. The straps do not in any way look constrictive, but comfortable, and the one size fits all option means that it will be a perfect fit every time. 5/5

Weight: While the overall weight is dependent on how many pockets you fill, the material is one of those used throughout the Urban Tool products and is very light and nearly unnoticeable. 4/5

Durability: Provided correct technique is used, the hipHolster will rarely if every come in contact with any objects aside from one's leg, and it strong enough to hold up to the elements. While I was unable to locate any comments on longevity I expect that with proper care this option could last a fair few years. 5/5

Value: The cheap man that I am normally could not fathom spending fifty dollars on a backpack; however if the price is compared to the price of every day backpacks, it does not seem too much at all. Though I wouldn't mind a few dollars being shaved off, I could see myself purchasing the hipHolster without a glance back. 4/5

Overall: This option seems highly functional, comfortable and many other adjectives. I would eagerly purchase it if the chance arose, though I may try and bargain for a slight discount. 4.5/5

Urban FreeFlow
Urban Freeflow is regarded as the leading parkour and freerunning community online. With their mass popularity, they have decided to market by selling shirts and DVDs, and now a back pack.

UF Parkour/Freerun Backpack.

Embroidered with their famous glyph logo, Urban Freeflow’s backpack sells for 21£ (that’s roughly $40.95 Canadian or American). This is my second time reviewing this backpack, as I have seen one myself in use and saw an increase in functionality. The backpack features two main compartments with smaller ones enclosed within. It makes the most of its compact size in order hold any essential items that you may wish to carry while performing runs or moves. The bag has chest straps to keep the backpack tight to your person, and it doesn’t take away from freedom or range of movement. If you like to parkour topless or shirts with very thin material , I expect the straps may cause some chaffing in the under arm and side areas, as the look a little to rugged and don’t look designed differently from your run of the mill backpack. I have been judging bags by their function during a parkour roll, and while my first impression was that this bag keeps all your belongings in the middle of your back thus hindering your roll ability and possibly causing injury to you and your effects, it is so compact that as long as the contained items are durable, they can survive the impact.

Style: The backpack is available in only black and features the well known glyph of Urban Freeflow. While the compact pack may look silly to some, looking like a child's backpack painted black with a pretty stencil, however I believe that the backpack looks alright. The backpack does not seem to have any real advantage or disadvantages in a beauty contest and remains a solid three. 3/5

Fit: This backpack is very compact and the straps will adjust to fit almost any traceur, however the straps may not be as comfortable as some alternatives. 4/5

Weight: While the overall weight is dependent on how many pockets you fill, the material is one of those used throughout the Urban Tool products and is very light and nearly unnoticeable. 4/5

Durability: The material of the backpack seems durable enough, however a great deal of it comes in contact with the ground during rolls and has the potential to wear out within the first one or two years. 3/5

Value: Forty dollars is a fair bit to pay for this backpack in my opinion. While regular backpacks can still go for quite a bit, I would suggest that Urban Freeflow shave five or ten dollars off of the selling price. 3/5

Overall: The overall impression is that this backpack appears to be a only smaller version of a regular backpack, however it's compact nature gives it an advantage over some of the similar alternatives. 3/5

TraceHQ
TraceHQ is a smaller parkour related online community. Their website is still under construction, but their community extends offline and appears to be doing quite well. In their store alongside a small assortment of clothing is their Traceur Bag.

Traceur Bag.

For an estimated $67.95 with shipping to the United States or Canada, this bag has very few features that make it in any way exceptional. I reviewed this bag only because I have seen it posted as a solution in forums where people inquired about parkour bags. The backpack features two large zippered pockets on the interior and seems capable of holding a great deal of belongings. The bag also features inner pockets, side mesh pockets (the kind you see on regular back packs that hold water bottles et cetera), an optional hydration pack and shoulder strap access to the pack, as well as a shoulder strap access to your headphones. While the straps are a step up from the Urban Freeflow alternative in comfort and the material is able to take a beating the bag is larger, heavier and bulkier. Ideally if the choice is to have a parkour backpack as opposed to way to carry your stuff around, you will want a smaller bag so as to not weigh you down, impair your ability to move, or cause unnecessary strain on your back.

Style: The backpack appears no different than any backpack that could be found in a regular store, and only comes in the one colour. 2/5

Fit: The straps adjust to fit nearly any traceur, and feature much more padding than the Urban Freeflow option; other than that there are no real indicators as to whether or not this bag would fit and be comfortable and thus it receives a neutral three. 3/5

Weight: While the fabric looks lightweight, the actual backpack is pretty large and when filled could reach a considerable weight. 2/5

Durability: The material of the backpack seems rather durable, and if the backpack is not used in any rolls, it could last a fair number of years. 3/5

Value: This bag is largely overpriced considering how few advantages it has over any common back pack. 1/5

Overall: Considering how obtrusive this bag seems, my overall impression is that I would suggest it only as a means to carry your stuff from A to B without the addition of parkour movements and techniques. You may be just as well or better off with a regular back pack or hydration bag. 1.5/5

Conclusion.
Out of the four options reviewed thus far, I would definitely choose the hipHolster as the majority of the other alternatives leave the bulk of your belongings in the middle of your back hindering your ever important rolls; and it is the best price to functionality option.

I will add more reviews to this as I find more intriguing or forum spammed options, to keep you better educated on your options. Until then leave me a comment and tell me how I'm doing, and feel free to ask any questions or propose ideas for future articles.

To read more on what to wear while performing parkour: CLICK HERE

Music and its roles/effects in training.

2008-08-07T08:33:00.000-04:00

I listen to music like many others; However, I will never train with music. As a member of many parkour groups and forums I have seen numerous requests from people asking for some good music to practice parkour, run or exercise to. My response is always the same: don’t listen to music while training. Ultimately the choice is always up to you to decide how you will train, but allow me to offer my opinions on the matter.

A substantial piece of parkour that has to be felt to be understood is the interaction that a traceur makes with their environment. You should be able to listen to your environment and yourself while training. You want to be able to take in the beauty around you as well as cope with obstacles; you can not fully understand the complexity of your surroundings (and thus, your safety is compromised through your lack of awareness) when you are busy deciphering lyrics and listening to the melodies playing in your ear.

Music also impedes upon your self awareness while training. You are no longer as able to concentrate on your breathing or making your landings quieter. You don’t pay attention to the little things like the small piece of glass you are about to shoulder roll across or how big the drop on the other side of that rail really is. Even while walking down the street with headphones on you lose a great deal of awareness of your surroundings, and I can’t see why you would want to do the same while training where you are more than likely doing substantially more dangerous things than walking.

“I disagree. When working out, music can motivate you.”

Some people do feel this way and believe they can get what feels like a surge of energy from the deep bass lines or heavy metal beats of their favourite songs, but that isn’t right. I don’t mean to say that they don’t get a rush from their music, but that it isn’t proper or correct. The adrenaline rushing through your veins is synthesized from an unnatural source. You must have some motivational problems if you find yourself dependable on music for the energy to keep you going.

The only thing that any traceur should be dependent upon is gravity in hopes that they will come back down after a jump. In all seriousness, any form of dependability that is beyond the preservation of life (such as eating and breathing) is a hindrance and detrimental. When your music is absent and you are being chased or giving pursuit in a real life situation, what is going to motivate you to run faster and longer? While you may quip that being chased or pursuing is a good deal of motivation, that alone will not keep you going when you feel like giving up. You have to be independent in order to survive; everything that you are dependent upon is impermanent, and without independence you will be at a loss when all those things you have depended upon are gone.

Parkour is centred on the self: finding your mental and physical limits, being able to push yourself further, and acquiring self motivational skills among many others. At some point during your progression into parkour, you should start to hit a plateau and it is here that you will require your self motivational skills. If you do not work on being able to push yourself further and harder even when you feel like giving up, then eventually you are going to hit a brick wall (metaphorically, no pun intended) during your training.

This is by no means a message to abolish music, but a subtle thought provoking nudge suggesting that you may be better off moderating your music while training. I understand that many of those traceurs who have decided that they wish to train with music regardless of its detrimental side-effects will not acknowledge anything that I have said, so allow me to add in a couple other reminders for their benefit as well.

If you have chosen to listen to music while training, you should consider how you will secure your mp3 players and other devices while training for parkour. There is a great chance that such a device will fall out of a pocket during a vault, and it is as such that traceurs training may wish to consider an arm band to hold their player if not just utilize a securable pocket. There is also the problem with the headphone cables; the loose hanging wires are sure to get caught while training, and if they don’t pull your music player from your arm band or pocket to be damaged the headphones will be ruined due to disconnected or torn internal wires. As such you should keep the wires underneath a shirt, or find another alternative to the same effect keeping in mind that you need enough wire to remain flexible without the wires being stretched unnecessarily. The actual headphones should not be headphones at all but ear buds, as headphones are bulkier and more likely to fall off during activity. Finally, keep the volume at a level that allows you to still hear some of your environment, for the benefit of your own safety.

Conclusion/Summary.
While music can be a source of entertainment, and some find it to enable them to push further, it is detrimental in the long run. Listening to music while training impairs you judgment and senses; injury is more likely to happen as your awareness of your environment diminishes. While some traceurs will listen to music while training (and it is their and your choice), I suggest that you don't, for the reasons previously listed.

How to improve your jumping ability with plyometrics.

2008-08-06T19:30:00.000-04:00

I've been browsing the internet searching for topics and questions related to parkour that should be addressed. Whilst browsing the internet, for my leisure I was logged into an online parkour community on chatroll that I frequent and saw a post from a friend Francis who wrote:

In parkour, a traceur's challenge is to overcome obstacles with simplistic goal of getting from A to B. While obstacles vary in shape size and overall being in the majority of scenarios a large percentage of the encountered obstacles require a traceur to either go over them or find an alternative route that can bring them around to the other side. In these cases vaults and wall passes are the most commonly used, and both required the ability to jump. Parkour is about efficiency and thus it is good to work to improve on your ability to jump in order to easier overcome objects and gain more distance off your vaults. While many would work on squats and the like in order to increase their leg strength for jumps (which is also required), there is also the necessity for power.

A jump is one of many events that become more successful with an addition or increase in power. Power is defined as a measurement of how much force is exerted in an amount of time; more force in a smaller amount of time means more power. A jump is a sudden burst of energy and thus the more power and individual can exert, the higher or further the individual can jump. In order for Francis and the rest of us to improve on our jumps, we need to increase the amount of power we can exert, becoming more explosive.

One good way to achieve this is to use a branch of exercises called “Plyometrics”. The branch of Plyometrics consists of various exercises to work and increase an individual’s muscle power by performing quick movements to toughen tissues and train nerve cells to stimulate a pattern of muscle contraction that causes the muscle to generate as strong a contraction as possible in the shortest amount of time. Muscular power is determined by how long it takes for strength to be converted into speed; the ability to convert strength to speed in a very short time allows for athletic movements beyond what raw strength will allow. In order for us to jump higher, we will focus on plyometric training for our legs so that we are able to exert force in a smaller amount of time.

There however is a problem that is often overlooked, and many traceurs and other athletes who wish to improve their power head straight into plyometric exercises without a single thought. Plyometric workouts are mainly high intensity and high impact, and it may be detrimental to one’s health. I for one have bad knees and as such I am taking my plyometric regimen very slowly, however even someone with no history of knee injury or ailment suffers a lot of impact on their joints every time they try one of these exercises. Tests show that a simple three foot drop can produce a force of about two times your body weight; in my case that’s nearing three hundred pounds being pressed down on all my joints. As such I suggest that before someone starts into even the most basic of plyometric exercises, they should be able to do around one hundred consecutive body weight squats in order to show that there is the muscle strength to support the joints. I’m saying this not to be a big meanie, but to emphasis safety. You won’t be doing too much parkour if you’re stuck in bed for a month. All this being said, you shouldn’t be deterred from attempting to do plyometrics. There are simple exercises and difficult ones, and anyone can do them if the effort is provided. Almost anyone from any sport will benefit from plyometric training; an increase in power can mean an increase in sprint, jump height, kick, and tackle quality among many more.

Before I begin to conclude this blog, it should also be explained that these exercises alone will not cause you to improve as dramatically as if you continue to strength train as well. Plyometrics focus on being able to turn strength the ability to exert a great amount of force into speedy power, but in order to gain that power there needs to be that initial strength as well. Professionals dictate that plyometrics should be done only once a week due to its nature of being high impact; that leaves the six other days in which somewhere you should be focusing on strengthening your legs. While I won't go into any detail describing the many exercises that exist to strengthen the legs, I will post a few sites in the links for your further understanding and being.

RESOURCES AND LINKS:
BASICS: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
JUMPING: 1 / 2
PLYOMETRIC EXERCISES: 1 / 2 / 3
UPPER BODY PLYOMETRICS: 1 / 2
AQUATIC PLYOMETRICS: 1
LEG STRENGTH: 1 (scroll down) / 2 / 3 / 4
CHATROLL PARKOUR GROUP: 1

The pros and cons of training in a group and by yourself.

2008-08-06T16:15:00.000-04:00

Some traceurs like to train in large groups; some prefer to train on their own. A new traceur may wonder: “Which should I choose? Should I train by myself or in a large group?” I don’t intend to say that one should be chosen over the other, that is a choice for you to make on your own; however I can provide some points for each one so that you can make a better choice.

Group Training.
Training in groups can provide a wide variety of experiences; depending on who you are training with as well as the size of the group. Training in a new environment or trying new moves while with other traceurs is extremely beneficial as they can spot you and provide additional safety as well as provide critique in order to help you to perfect your technique. One thing you don’t get when you’re training by yourself is the multiple angles and views that other traceurs may have; this can be used as an advantage as you may see a new or different way to pass an obstacle and eventually acquire the ability to look at an object and list off a number of ways to pass it, as well as which may be the most efficient. Members in a parkour group help each other, and this learning and helpful environment is greatly beneficial in the developmental stages in a traceur’s journey. Another benefit of training in a group is: it is fun! You not only gain valuable experience but can share memories, make new friends, play games (the game “grounder” can be particularly difficult when the participants are all practicing traceurs) and more while learning and practicing parkour.

There are however cons to both choices as well that need to be addressed. If the group you are with are much more advanced than you and don’t take as much notice, you may end up sitting out and just watching some of the time. Alternatively, you could also attempt the harder stuff in order to fit in or through pressure, and risk injuring yourself. While it is good to learn your limits and push them, you don’t want to go and attempt to copy the others; you will not improve this way. You will only risk injuring yourself, be it in the present, or in the future due to accumulation. The same can apply for people at your level; if they get you to try something that you are not ready for, then again you risk injuring yourself, and you can not do parkour with a broken leg or in a coma. If the group is more advanced, you may also end up feeling sad that you can’t do what they make out to be so easy; you may come to think that you aren’t cut out for parkour when really you just started out with people above your level. In a larger group you may not get the support that you need in order to advance, and may find that you remain at a stand still. There are many cons unlisted, but just as with the pros, it all depends on the group you are with.

Solo Training.
When you train by yourself, you have to push yourself much harder, and benefit from this. Without the influence of others, it becomes a lot harder to get yourself to try that precision or try a cat leap over that huge gap. It is this increased difficulty that causes you to work yourself and push yourself harder. You get to learn your limits physically and mentally and learn to push them both. With out the comfort and safety provided by a group environment, you reexamine your surroundings and become used to them in a way that is more fitting to a real life situation where your goal is to escape or get to a certain point as fast as possible. In this case you would have whole new obstacles, and you have to be able to know your limits and know yourself enough that you don’t second guess. A big part of parkour is getting to know yourself and when you train by yourself there is a great deal of self exploration as you question whether you can make that gap et cetera. Whereas with a group session you would force yourself to overcome that gap and nail that precision under the influence and comfort provided by the others, by yourself you will stutter physically and mentally trying not to second guess yourself as you try as hard as you can to get yourself to leap up and out of your comfort zone. Training by yourself can help you realize what you truly can and cannot do, and can help you better understand yourself physically and mentally.

Training by yourself is not recommended until you get the basic safety techniques down (landings and shoulder rolls). When training you are more open to injury unless you have had some prior experience; if you don’t know what you are doing you are very susceptible to injury. If you are injured in any form of severity, you may not have a means of getting medical attention if you don’t have (m)any people around you. Being alone and injured is a frightening experience, and it is as such that I recommend that only traceurs with some prior experience attempt to train on their own. Furthermore if you intend to get anything out of training by yourself, you have to be very self motivated and ready to take initiative. Without other people around you to help get yourself moving, you may find yourself sitting in a hole. If you do not try and motivate yourself to the extent that you are actually doing things and moving around, you will never progress and might as well have stayed at home. The main risks of training solo are the possibility of injury (not necessarily from over exertion or trying things you aren’t ready for, but mainly from improper technique) and the possibility that you may not experience any progress due to a lack of effort.

Where to find a group.
Often I have found while out training that traceurs may find you, however there are options that don't require you to just hope while out training. There are many online parkour communities ranging from websites to forum sections to Facebook groups, all you have to do is look. When you locate a community you will most likely wish to post your name, age and gender (though these are often optional), location and what exactly you are looking for. For example I might say:

My name is Pic-Pac. I am a seventeen year old male from Lisses, France. I am looking for a training partner or group of traceurs who are experienced, are willing to help and know the city well.

I hope this article was reasonably beneficial and worth the read. If you have any comments, questions or ideas for future articles please write them as a comment on this article until the possible future when a comment box may be installed.

Conclusion/Summary.
I like to train in groups. I recommend that everyone try their best to train with at least one more person on a regular basis. On the other hand I always emphasize the importance of training by yourself, and I think that if you find yourself motivated enough and comfortable with the basics of parkour then you should try to train a couple times a month by yourself, even if only for an hour or less. I like to keep a variety a mixture of the two, but the choice is yours. I have presented you with some of the pros and cons (I emphasize “some”, as it would be very difficult to map out a complete list as it varies with each different situation) and it is now up to you to decide for yourself how you will fit the two options into your training regimen.

I don't know where to begin

2008-08-06T15:13:00.000-04:00

This article has been removed. The original content has been revised and can be found in part HERE and HERE.

"What should I bring to my first meet?"

2008-08-06T13:00:00.001-04:00

"What should I bring to my first meet?"

~Craig Dobson, NY

Different people will hold their meets differently, however many of them will bring the same things. My first time out to a meet I wore track pants and a spandex shirt, and ended up on a meet with guys who some might say looked like gangsters; however both them and I wore appropriate gear, and we will discuss that here. As a general rule you want your clothes to be a nice relaxed fit without restricting any movement (“low riding” your pants or shorts may feel relaxed to you, but greatly hinder your ability to move; be smart). We will discuss what you should wear and bring, going from the feet up.

Shoes.
You want a nice light pair of shoes that are flexible and breathable; it makes it that much easier to move around in. I also suggest that your shoe has a thinner sole so that you can better interact with your environment and studies show that the repeated impacts will actually train the muscles around your knees to work to protect them. You also want your shoes to have a fair bit of grip, as well as a flat bottom (in past experiences with soles of variable shape, I have had cases with a pair of running shoes where a bar will got stuck in the shoe during a take-off for a precision, and it did not end well) and some half decent ankle support. If it is your first time out, I suggest that you simply sort through your current shoes for a pair that matches some of these insights; don’t spend the money on parkour specific shoes this early on. If you are interested in investing in some shoes that are better suited for parkour, you may be interested in THIS ARTICLE.

Pants and Shorts.
The majority of parkour practicing will be done in the summer due to the weather conditions and as such, shorts are often worn. You have to be careful though because in my experiences of past, there have been shorts with a low crotch that can limit movement. For the other seasons, pants are the option which is most likely to be chosen (without excluding the possibility of wearing them in summer too). While people would instantly assume that this means track pants, jeans are okay too. What people don’t always realize is that the founding definition of parkour included that it was meant as a means to get from A to B in the case of an emergency such as a chase or escape. In this real life situation you are not likely to be walking around downtown in your track pants, and it is reasonable to consider training in jeans or pants that you may normally wear. This does not mean that you can "low ride" with the excuse that it is more suited for a real life situation since it's what you normally wear; keep in mind that you are just training, and should dress as such. If you choose to wear jeans you want them a comfortable fit, with the greatest range of motion possible. The rule for pants and shorts is that you want a good fit that provides the greatest range of motion possible, while the decision between whether to wear shorts, track-pants, jeans or anything in between is up to you.

Tops.
In the summer and other warmer times, any t-shirt or long sleeve shirt will really suffice; there generally isn’t any restriction caused by shirts. If you are really into parkour and intend to train during the winter, you have to be a little more careful. You should dress in layers, but you can’t expect to pull on a bunch of shirts and expect that they will keep you warm. When you exercise you sweat and winter is no exception, especially if you have just loaded yourself with a bunch of shirts; you are going to be warm. Sweat is what cools you in the summer but in the winter it may freeze while on your person and make you overly cold. If you don’t layer properly, you are going to do exactly the opposite of what you originally intended. I myself have not extensively practiced parkour in the winter and can not offer any proper advice of my own on layering shirts, however after a fair bit of research, I have found a method of layer that has been tried and spoken as true:

Layer One: This layer is in direct contact with your skin, and it is this layer that takes the sweat away from your body so that it doesn’t freeze directly on your person. For this layer you want a tight fitting material that will take the sweat away from your body. Materials that fit into this category are polypropylene (better known as long underwear), polyester, thermax, thinsulate and wool. You want to avoid cotton as it traps moisture and will stay wet, and if it doesn’t freeze it will still continue to draw your body heat.

Layer Two: This is a warmer layer which provides insulation, keeping some heat in. The second layer also carries moisture away from the primary layer to the last layer. It doesn’t need to be a tight fitting as the first layer but if it is to function properly it still needs to keep contact with the first layer, so don’t go too loose. A fair bit of second layer clothing will feature extras such as armpit ventilation zippers, long front zippers, as well as adjustable cuffs, collars and waistbands. Think along the lines of a jogging jacket or a long sleeve shirt. Material that is appropriate for this layer includes polyester, down, fleece, wool and newer synthetic and natural blends.

Third Layer: The third layer allows the moisture to escape and blocks the wind, and should be tough enough to withstand a few scrapes, tears and abrasions. As with the second layer, the options for the third layer often in clued extras such as the aforementioned ventilation zippers. Many sources suggest that the material be of similar type to Gore-Tex (simply a common brand name for water-repellent, breathable laminated fabrics), while cheaper alternatives include light wind-resistant and water-resistant fabrics.

This three step layer process should keep you warm and comfortable in the winter and if required, you can remove layers if you become warmer than desired (you can also add on another layer on top of the outer if it is really cold or windy, such as a light windbreaker).

Hats and caps.
If you wish to wear one, there isn’t anything stopping you. Hats are not detrimental and do not reduce movement in any way (unless you have a crazy hat), and it is up to you to decide whether or not you wish to wear one. Wintery toque style hats may keep you warmer by blocking heat escape, while baseball caps can keep the sun out of your eyes and protect you (to a slight degree) from burns.

Backpacks.
As previously stated, different meets will run in different ways, but the most common way to run a meet is to move from one location to another, while stopping at each location and practicing some moves before moving on to the next. The goal of a backpack thus is to keep your items and personal effects together and provide a way for you to transport them easily place to place. Unless your meets include actual runs and instances where you would be wearing the backpack while performing moves and techniques (and it is extremely unlikely that such things will be performed at meets let alone at your first meet ), you have no need right now to delve into different types of backpacks. Simply grab a good old backpack or any other bag that will do the job and load it up with whatever you wish to bring with you.

To read more on backpacks including reviews of some of the various options: CLICK HERE

Extras.
Whatever else you choose to bring is up to you: a cell phone, a bus pass, some change, an mp3 player or diskman (though I highly advise against the latter pair. CLICK HERE for more information.) or whatever else you may fancy. The only thing I suggest you bring is water as it is easy to get dehydrated, and if your group travels around a lot you may wish to consider some change or a bus pass in order to get around (if the locations are too far apart to reasonably run or walk to).

There you have it, a moderately brief summary of what to bring to your first meet. Hopefully this article was reasonably beneficial and worth the read. If you have any comments, questions or ideas for future articles please write them as a comment on this article until the possible future when a comment box may be installed.

Credits go to Brendan Quigley as well as the many other sources (if credit is due to you, please note so in the comments as I have visited a great deal of sources and could not list them all) that I traversed in order to obtain enough information to educate us as to how to properly layer.

*It seems that there are going to be many articles in the near future.

An introduction to the blog and parkour.

2008-08-06T09:30:00.000-04:00

I stand in lit pixels here now as a traceur, and I'm taking a moment to educate you on what makes me such. Anyone can call themselves a traceur, but it takes something special to actually be one. With modern day media picking up on the parkour and free-running scene, it is mandatory to understand the differences and draw out the definitions in order to better define who we are.

"Parkour or l'art du déplacement is an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body. It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything in the surrounding environment—from branches and rocks to rails and concrete walls—and can be practised in both rural and urban areas. Parkour practitioners are referred to as traceurs, or traceuses for females."

By that definition parkour is simply to get from one place to another in the quickest most efficient way possible, which often means over coming objects and obstacles. The idea is that in a chase you can outrun a pursuer or catch up to someone, or in an instance where you’re late for an event you can get there as quick as possible. However anyone who has actively taken part in the art of parkour knows that it is more than that.

No knowledgeable person can expect to adequately define parkour in a simple arrangement of words; it's like trying to define love: it's a little different for everyone, and can only be experienced. Often a younger person who wants to try be a traceur, expects that they can sit in front of their computer and search “parkour” up on Google or YouTube, and learn to be a traceur by studying how other people get past this obstacle or accomplish that move. But that isn't any way to learn parkour and the person who does that is not a true traceur by any means. Parkour is not just a sport that can be picked up, judged, or watched online, it is a way of living, a lifestyle that has to be lived and experienced to be understood. It's a means to return to what we once were, to reconnect with ourselves and our environments. Parkour is an individual mindset, an opportunity for an individual to better themselves; a big part of parkour is learning about who you are and redefining it in the most positive way possible. When someone is standing alone looking at the eight foot precision in front of them, and the ten foot drop in between, it takes a lot of mental effort on their behalf in order to leap up and out of that comfort zone, and push their limits mentally and physically.

Another problem that arises when one tries to understand parkour through internet videos and media, the problem of distinguishing what is parkour and what is not. The terms ‘parkour’ and ‘free-running’ are used interchangeably so much in the common day, that it has become difficult sometimes to distinguish between the two. While parkour and free-running are both respectable arts and require some of the same mind, neither is the other. Free-running is more based on the execution of style and flair, not flow and efficiency. While free-runners use their environment well and use it artistically, it's quite different from parkour, more of an urban gymnastics. In a real life scenario like a chase where you are running from a pursuer, it isn't efficient to do a back-flip off of a drop, or do a wall spin while running full out while being chased. Free-runners may also have some of the same spirit and mentality that traceurs do, and it is not up to me to say that one is better than the other, but all I intend to do is outline the differences between the two and try and reverse the assimilation that has taken place.

Another thing about the art of parkour is that it's about freedom. Unlike a gymnastics routine, or a 100 metre sprint, there aren't rules and guidelines and set moves, it's always up to you. An argument could be that there are named moves and it is these that are executed over and over again, but what isn’t recognized is that they are intended more to be used as references. It's the unique combinations and variations of these named moves as well as the ones that a traceur invents on their own that makes them who they are in parkour. New traceurs tend to try and learn to do parkour by copying a move over and over and over. While it is essential to practice the important moves such as landings and rolls for safety’s sake, new traceurs should refrain from limiting themselves to copying moves. Parkour is being destroyed as the uniqueness is being taken away; everyone seems to be doing the same things the same ways to accomplish the same goal. To avoid this assimilation it’s essential that new traceurs work on their own in their preliminary stages, to find the most comfortable way for them to vault that rail or scale that wall.

Parkour is a wonderful way of life, always speaking to you if you'll listen, bringing us ever closer back to the roots of our nature. You learn: to respect yourself and your environment. You learn: to find your limits and push them. You learn: who you are. I've searched just as hard as any man for a sense of something I could call freedom, I never thought I'd find it.

Opinionated definitions aside, this blog is about helping you. Questions and problems will arise no matter how or what you are training, and my intent is to answer those questions and solve those problems. This blog is for you. If you have a question about something, leave a comment or request my e-mail address. I will take into consideration all legitimate questions and problems, and answer them from a variety of angles in order to help you pick out a solution that best matches your situation.

Until site traffic builds, I will browse some parkour forums online and find the most common questions, and try to answer them for you. As the site progresses, there will also be a method of organization and search functions in order to help you find what you’re looking for.

The question now arises before any of this begins “What right do you the author have to tell us what is right or wrong?” and I answer quite simply that I have no rights, but nor does anyone else. Only our founder has the right to tell us what is right from wrong, but I am here to help you because I too am a traceur and I have been where you have, done what you have done. I have asked the same questions as you and have been through the experiences that allow me to answer a question properly. In the event that I can not answer a question myself, I will do research until I have your response. This blog is for you, not for me. There wouldn’t be any benefit for me if I told you to try something and it didn’t work, meanwhile if it works, more people will come here and become educated and we can build up a database of parkour questions, answers and facts in order to better the entire parkour community.

Welcome to Parkour Helper.

Information

2008-08-01T22:12:00.000-04:00

Copyright.
All articles an original content are copyrighted under Bill C-11e and all former withstanding copyright legislation.

Republication.
All articles are free for republication without the requirement of the author's written consent under the conditions that all content remain in its complete original form and all credit and appropriate links to the original content are provided. Furthermore, as a courtesy (and promotional aid) please post on the original article with a link to the location of your article.

Disclaimer.
Any involvement in dangerous sports and related activities carries a significant risk of damage to property, personal injury or death. Participate at your own risk! You should become knowledgeable about the risks involved and assume personal responsibility for your actions. The publishers of parkourhelper.blogspot.com assume no liability or responsibility for any consequences of the actions you take.

Privacy Policy.
ParkourHelper.blogspot.com collects visitor information with the help of Google Analytics program as well as other affiliates, and uses the collected information for the purposes of traffic analysis and improvement of the site by using such means as placing and reading cookies on your browser, or using web beacons to collect information. None of the collected information is used by the webmaster of ParkourHelper.blogspot.com for any illegal purpose or is being sold or transferred by the webmaster of ParkourHelper.blogspot.com to another party.

Contact Us.
Place a comment on an article (all comments are reviewed regularly), or E-MAIL US at ParkourHelper@live.com.

Conditioning & Training

2008-08-01T10:50:00.027-04:00

The following articles have been tagged with the label 'Training & Conditioning'

Can I use parkour to get in shape?
Conditioning tips and ideas
Confrontation: Audiences
Confrontation
Have some fun with your training
How to improve your jumping ability with plyometrics
Increase your long jump distance
Is parkour hard on the joints?
Kong (monkey) vault help
Ladder conditioning
Locations: their effect on training and how to make the best of your location
Looking ahead to winter
Motivation and effort
Music and its effects/role in training
Parkour in survival situations
Push yourself with Gauntlets
Rock Climbing and Parkour
Some Simple Motivation Tips
Spot Checks
The benefits of barefoot walking
The four areas to perfect for better technique
The pros and cons of training in a group
Tracking your training
Training Green
Underbar Help
Welcome to September
Wall runs and your rear end
What should I bring to my first meet?

Gear & Media

2008-08-01T10:50:00.026-04:00

The following articles have been tagged with the label 'Gear'

Barefoot technology
Parkour backpacks: advice and reviews
Parkour shoes: advice and reviews
Protective gear
What should I bring to my first meet?

The following articles have been tagged with the label 'Media'

Barclaycard World Freerun Championships: Day after recap
Competition and its place in parkour and freerunning
How YouTube is destroying parkour
How YouTube is not destroying parkour
Parkour in survival situations
The benefits of barefoot training

Basics

2008-08-01T10:50:00.024-04:00

The following articles have been tagged with the label 'Basics'

Can I do parkour?
Competition and its place in parkour and freerunning
I don't know where to begin
Kong (monkey) vault help
Locations: their effect on training and how to make the best of your location
Music and its effects/role in training
Some Simple Motivation Tips
The four areas to perfect for better technique
The legality of parkour
The nature of parkour
The three keys to getting the most out of parkour
Underbar Help
What should I bring to my first meet?

Q&A

2008-08-01T10:50:00.017-04:00

The following articles have been tagged with the label 'Q&A'

An overview of protective gear for parkour
Can I do parkour?
Can I use parkour to get in shape?
How do I get sponsored for freerunning?
How to improve your jumping ability with plyometrics
Is parkour hard on the joints?
Kong (monkey) vault help
The legality of parkour
Underbar Help
What should I bring to my first meet?

Parkour Helper: "So I'm a traceur, now what?"

Welcome to Parkour Helper

It's Winter Time

Training Green

Confrontation: Audiences

Confrontation

Tracking your training

Spot Checks

Simple Motivation Tips

Wall Runs and your Rear End

Push yourself with Gauntlets

Rock Climbing and Parkour

Dear Beloved Readers

Ladder conditioning

Can I do parkour?

Have some fun with your training

Increase your long jump distance

Is parkour hard on the joints?

Underbar Help

How do I get sponsored for freerunning?

Can I use parkour to get in shape?

Kong (monkey) vault help

Parkour in survival situations

Motivation and Effort.

Looking ahead to Winter

Parkour shoes

You walk wrong: barefoot technology.

It took 4 million years of evolution to perfect the human foot. But we’re wrecking it with every step we take.

Some Conditioning Tips and Ideas

How YouTube is NOT Destroying Parkour

Barclaycard World Freerun Championships: Day after recap.

Welcome to September

The legality of parkour

The 4 areas to perfect for better technique

Sport or Lifestyle (plus two more): The nature of parkour.

The 3 keys to getting the most out of parkour.

Competition and its place in parkour and freerunning

How YouTube is destroying parkour.

An overview of protective gear for parkour.

Locations, how they affect training and how to make the best of your location.

Parkour backpack advice and reviews.

Music and its roles/effects in training.

How to improve your jumping ability with plyometrics.

The pros and cons of training in a group and by yourself.

I don't know where to begin

"What should I bring to my first meet?"

An introduction to the blog and parkour.

Information

Archives

Conditioning & Training

Gear & Media

Basics

Q&A