I still remember the moment I first heard of Parkour.
If my memory serves me well, it was early December in 2005. I was cycling towards Wigston town centre with Joe. We were riding along a narrow path and Joe was attempting to explain Parkour to me. At that time I had no idea what Parkour was, and believe me, Joe’s explanation was brief. Conversations often are when your cycling next to a main road! But it sounded like fun, for sure!
In January 2006, whilst in year 9 at high school, I had my first try at Parkour in my school playground at lunch time. It started off with me, Joe and a couple of our friends and we spent lunch time after lunchtime going over simple vaults in the playground. Even after learning one vault, I wanted to learn more. Although I wasn’t serious about it yet, I felt like a kid again, I just wanted to learn more about it. We progressed further as did my eagerness.
It was early February of 2006 when I first met other practitioners in Leicester. It was early on a Sunday afternoon; we meet up at the War Memorial outside Queen Elizabeth’s college. That day there was great weather and a great atmosphere! A few months back, I'd never heard of Parkour and now I'm here - seeing some incredible stuff from guys like Blane. It really boosted my confidence; it was proof that if you train properly, you will get you to where you want to be.
My confused views of Parkour were becoming clearer: I felt freedom.
Summer came and high school was over, I moved on to a different college to Joe. Throughout the majority of the first year at Beauchamp, I didn’t really have much contact with my old friends, such as Joe. I still trained Parkour, but just by myself. A few people noticed me training and were interested and I taught them what I knew.
During 2007, my training really began to become a huge part of my life; the passion grew and I began to take it far more serious than I did in the past. I decided that if I wanted to continue training Parkour and achieve a good level, I must develop a strong and healthy body. I turned from the casual practitioner into an athlete, building my strength and fitness as well as changing my diet. Even my mind changed too - I matured very quickly because of Parkour.
Around late 2007, whilst training at Leicester University, I bumped into Joe who was training with a few other guys. It was like a reunion, and since then, we’ve been training together a hell of a lot. Our friendship blossomed once again and we quickly became close friends. Joe trained a lot with the other regular Leicester guys (such as Blane, Callum, Alex, Tim and Dan) and they soon became my close friends too.
Since then, times have changed dramatically. Out of the original group, Blane moved to London to teach Parkour full time with Parkour Generations, Alex has moved away for University and a few others have stopped training, leaving myself, Joe, Dan and Tim. In recent years, we’ve also had some new arrivals, like Andeh and Jak - two very experienced practitioners who moved to Leicester for University.
Parkour has changed dramatically too - both globally and in Leicestershire. From an underground discipline that the majority had never heard of or witnessed, to one of the fastest rising sports in the world, often featured in films and on TV. Whilst most people have heard of the words “Parkour” or “free-running” very few understand what it means or know how to go about learning it. Even fewer understand how to teach it safety.
It is this rapid rise to fame that gave birth to the LPA. The organisation made up of the most experienced and skilled practitioners in Leicestershire. LPA aim to teach Parkour correctly, to represent the discipline responsibly and to maintain and grow the great community we have here in Leicester.
On a side note, through my 4+ years of training, I've found that your biggest challenge and greatest friend is your mind. Whether it is taking control of your fear and trusting in your skills, or just finding time to train whilst still making time for family, friends, college, work and Parkour... it’s all in the mind. It’s possible to train despite a busy life style, even if it is just for one day a week. If you’re passionate enough about it, you’ll find the time. It’s this commitment to do so, to better yourself, which means you’re already very much in the discipline.
So far my experiences in Parkour have been amazing; I've changed greatly for the better, I've progressed and I’ve met some amazing people. Here’s to many more good times in the future!
P.s. Our forum is currently proving to be a great place for the community to converge outside of training and talk - sign up and join in the fun!
“Experience is a great teacher.” - John Legend
-Sam
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Friday, 23 April 2010
Event Write Up: Sunday 11th April
The date is Sunday 11th April 2010, the time is 11:15am. I’m sitting cross-legged on the edge of a wide concrete path, behind me towers the war memorial that overlooks Victoria Park in Leicester. To my right, Sam and Joe are doing the same. We joke about looking like “little Buddha’s” as we look along the path that slopes down out of the Park. Anyone walking up it would just see us three sitting there in a line, legs crossed, at the top of the hill.
As I said, it’s Sunday, and this Sunday is the date of our second monthly community session. There is a slightly chilly breeze in the air and the sky is grey, nothing like the glorious Sun from the day before. Yet the ground is dry, and there is no sign of rain. The days of ice falling from the sky seem to be behind us for another year.
The session is set to start in an hours time.
It’s not long before Blane and Shirley arrive, shortly followed by Dan on his roller blades/wheelie shoes. We shake hands and exchange greetings. For a moment, it’s just like the old days, with just the few of us training and joking together in the best of spirit.
As the clock draws closer to twelve, people start to trickle into the park from all directions. Our group grows from the 6 of us to 10, and then from 10 to 20. By the time it is 12pm the group is getting close to forty people. Along with the good turn out of beginners, I’m also amazed at the turn out from other cities and communities who have made the effort to travel here to train with us. As I look around the crowd, I see friends from Nottingham, Loughborough, Luton, Hinckley, Coventry, Northampton and London! I want to thank each and everyone of you guys for travelling down to train with us.
As everyone is chatting and exchanging greetings, I take a moment to look around. I see guys stretching out, whilst others are practicing handstands, or trying small climbs. As people being to move, I feel the excitement in the air growing, in anticipation of the coming session. I glance at my phone to check the time. It’s 12:15. Right! Time to kick this thing off!
The warm up
Look up, look down. Look left, look right.
Dan led the group, slowly waking each person’s body up, one joint at a time. The exercises started out gentle enough, but ask anyone who has experienced one of Dan’s warm ups before and they will tell you that they are anything but gentle!
Roll the shoulders forward, large shrugs. Now roll the shoulders backwards.
The pace steadily increased, gradually picking up in speed and intensity and then…
Hold your arms straight out to the side at 90 degrees.
Now this excise involves holding your arms out straight at 90 degrees, parallel to the floor. From here you do small circles forwards and backwards, along with various other small movements. It sounds very, very easy, but as you go from one exercise to another, without rest, the burn in your shoulders continues to build and build. The ingenious part for this exercise is that you can always go for longer and dig deeper, after all, who can’t hold their arms out to the side? It was nice to see the grins on the faces of some of the Parkour Generation collective during this one. As guys who regularly train and teach in London at the Parkour Generations Academy classes, they have more experience with this exercise than most!
Dan warmed everyone up thoroughly from head to toe whilst myself and the other LPA guys offered advice and encouragement to the groups of beginners in the collective body of traceurs. With a massive grin on his face, Dan explained challenge after challenge.
Through out the warm up I constantly saw ear-to-ear smiles, interspersed with determined looks as people gritted their teeth and pushed through the harder challenges. After half an hour of pushing, jumping and crawling, not to mention the one and a half mile run around the edge of the park, the warm up was coming to a close.
I love the sense of camaraderie you get during these large group warm ups and this one was no different, the vibe and atmosphere was incredible. It is a real testament to the Parkour community and the bond shared between those who practice. It is always amazing to see how so many like-minded people can come together, many of who having never met before, and act like they have been good friends for years.
After the warm up was concluded, we split everyone up into three groups. One group was lead by myself, the second group was lead by Dan, and the final group by Sam and Joe. Due to the large numbers of people, there was no way we could physically fit 40 people into one spot. So instead, we cycled between the first three spots, with one group heading to each spot. From this point onwards the day was fairly informal, more of an open session where everyone one was free to try whatever they wanted, rather than a structured class. Of course, there were always LPA instructors on hand to suggest little challenges or to give advice to the less experienced guys.
The training begins
I had one of the smaller of the groups, around 7 or 8 guys. We chatted as we headed over to the rocks at the far end of the Park. Looking up, I could see the grey clouds parting and the sun coming out. It looks like it was going to be a sunny day after all!
This first spot consists of about 14 or 15 knee height rocks that are laid out in a line. We dropped our bags at the rocks and got started. I kicked things off by taking a look at an off ground challenge. Simply trying to get from the first rock to the last without touching the floor, and it wasn’t long before everyone was having a go. What makes this challenging is the awkwardness of the jumps between each rock. Unlike the walls and rails of urban environment, rocks and trees are not uniform. The angles are constantly changing and rarely are you landing on a flat surface that is parallel to the floor. This means you have to alter your technique slightly on each jump, sometimes you will be landing at an angle or even with your feet on a near vertical face of the rock, grasping at the top with your hands in order to hold on.
The day continued in much the same way, with sun, jokes, laughter and challenges. And lots and lots of movement! I could give an in-depth description of the entire day, but you would be reading for a long time! So instead I’ll just highlight a few points that stick out in my mind.
I remember doing a balance challenge with Sean from Nottingham and having to “re-spawn” each time we fell off. Navigating our way over a series of rail precisions, along a rail at height, under a walkway and around a tree! It was amazing to train with old friends again. Guys like Sean and Aaron who I used to train with regularly at one point or another in Leicester, who have since moved away.
We hit up every spot we could between Victoria Park and the town centre. Whilst we were at the walls outside the old Phoenix theatre, a few people got to work sizing up the large running cat leap near the entrance to the car park. This jump involves sprinting towards a 3ft high wall, and using it as step to launch across a gap and grab onto a high windowsill. A few different guys got this jump, but a shout out has to go out to Ash from Coventry and James from London for this one. Ash needs a mention as he got this jump so damn ridiculously clean, although I think James was the true champion for his sheer determination to make this one. Despite being close to the end of the day, and after several attempts of just being an inch below the windowsill, James not only made the jump but busted it out three times in a row.
It was also Joe from Hinckley’s last session in the city before moving back home. As a parting gift, it was great to watch him fight for, and nail, the movement where you lazy vault into a sitting position on a rail and then spin your legs back over. After several attempts, and one funny but painful bail, Joe got the movement down super smooth. It was an amazing day to leave on and I’ll really look forward to the next time we can hook up.
Goodbyes
From about 5pm onwards, we slowly lost members of the group as peoples energy levels started to drop and legs started to grumble. By around 6:30pm we were training at DMU and about ready to call it a day. My body had had enough from the previous days of training, so now I was just stretching and chatting with the guys that were left.
With such large numbers earlier in the day, we had too many people to session the main spots nearby Leicester University. As a few of the guys wanted to check out the spots before heading back to their respective cities, we decided to make the walk back up to the university to finish the session.
About halfway back up to Victoria Park, the guys from London realised that they didn’t have enough time to get to the university and back down to the bus station in time for their bus. Sean and Jak also had to catch a train to Nottingham and had to make a move. We shared handshakes, hugs and goodbyes. After such a great day of training in the sun, we went our separate ways.
And that left four, myself and Dan, as well as Ash and Danny from Coventry. We spent a while exploring and sessioning around the university. After around 8 hours of training our legs could take no more. At about 8pm, Dan and I said our goodbyes, and headed over to the university Café for a well-deserved Soup of the Day and Hot Chocolate! A great end to an unforgettable day.
Thanks to everyone who come down. You all made the day what it was.
Here’s to many more!
You can also watch Lauri’s footage of the day here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6IVX7cH22U
For further details on our next monthy event, visit www.leicesterparkour.com
-Tim
As I said, it’s Sunday, and this Sunday is the date of our second monthly community session. There is a slightly chilly breeze in the air and the sky is grey, nothing like the glorious Sun from the day before. Yet the ground is dry, and there is no sign of rain. The days of ice falling from the sky seem to be behind us for another year.
The session is set to start in an hours time.
It’s not long before Blane and Shirley arrive, shortly followed by Dan on his roller blades/wheelie shoes. We shake hands and exchange greetings. For a moment, it’s just like the old days, with just the few of us training and joking together in the best of spirit.
As the clock draws closer to twelve, people start to trickle into the park from all directions. Our group grows from the 6 of us to 10, and then from 10 to 20. By the time it is 12pm the group is getting close to forty people. Along with the good turn out of beginners, I’m also amazed at the turn out from other cities and communities who have made the effort to travel here to train with us. As I look around the crowd, I see friends from Nottingham, Loughborough, Luton, Hinckley, Coventry, Northampton and London! I want to thank each and everyone of you guys for travelling down to train with us.
As everyone is chatting and exchanging greetings, I take a moment to look around. I see guys stretching out, whilst others are practicing handstands, or trying small climbs. As people being to move, I feel the excitement in the air growing, in anticipation of the coming session. I glance at my phone to check the time. It’s 12:15. Right! Time to kick this thing off!
The warm up
Look up, look down. Look left, look right.
Dan led the group, slowly waking each person’s body up, one joint at a time. The exercises started out gentle enough, but ask anyone who has experienced one of Dan’s warm ups before and they will tell you that they are anything but gentle!
Roll the shoulders forward, large shrugs. Now roll the shoulders backwards.
The pace steadily increased, gradually picking up in speed and intensity and then…
Hold your arms straight out to the side at 90 degrees.
Now this excise involves holding your arms out straight at 90 degrees, parallel to the floor. From here you do small circles forwards and backwards, along with various other small movements. It sounds very, very easy, but as you go from one exercise to another, without rest, the burn in your shoulders continues to build and build. The ingenious part for this exercise is that you can always go for longer and dig deeper, after all, who can’t hold their arms out to the side? It was nice to see the grins on the faces of some of the Parkour Generation collective during this one. As guys who regularly train and teach in London at the Parkour Generations Academy classes, they have more experience with this exercise than most!
Dan warmed everyone up thoroughly from head to toe whilst myself and the other LPA guys offered advice and encouragement to the groups of beginners in the collective body of traceurs. With a massive grin on his face, Dan explained challenge after challenge.
Through out the warm up I constantly saw ear-to-ear smiles, interspersed with determined looks as people gritted their teeth and pushed through the harder challenges. After half an hour of pushing, jumping and crawling, not to mention the one and a half mile run around the edge of the park, the warm up was coming to a close.
I love the sense of camaraderie you get during these large group warm ups and this one was no different, the vibe and atmosphere was incredible. It is a real testament to the Parkour community and the bond shared between those who practice. It is always amazing to see how so many like-minded people can come together, many of who having never met before, and act like they have been good friends for years.
After the warm up was concluded, we split everyone up into three groups. One group was lead by myself, the second group was lead by Dan, and the final group by Sam and Joe. Due to the large numbers of people, there was no way we could physically fit 40 people into one spot. So instead, we cycled between the first three spots, with one group heading to each spot. From this point onwards the day was fairly informal, more of an open session where everyone one was free to try whatever they wanted, rather than a structured class. Of course, there were always LPA instructors on hand to suggest little challenges or to give advice to the less experienced guys.
The training begins
I had one of the smaller of the groups, around 7 or 8 guys. We chatted as we headed over to the rocks at the far end of the Park. Looking up, I could see the grey clouds parting and the sun coming out. It looks like it was going to be a sunny day after all!
This first spot consists of about 14 or 15 knee height rocks that are laid out in a line. We dropped our bags at the rocks and got started. I kicked things off by taking a look at an off ground challenge. Simply trying to get from the first rock to the last without touching the floor, and it wasn’t long before everyone was having a go. What makes this challenging is the awkwardness of the jumps between each rock. Unlike the walls and rails of urban environment, rocks and trees are not uniform. The angles are constantly changing and rarely are you landing on a flat surface that is parallel to the floor. This means you have to alter your technique slightly on each jump, sometimes you will be landing at an angle or even with your feet on a near vertical face of the rock, grasping at the top with your hands in order to hold on.
The day continued in much the same way, with sun, jokes, laughter and challenges. And lots and lots of movement! I could give an in-depth description of the entire day, but you would be reading for a long time! So instead I’ll just highlight a few points that stick out in my mind.
I remember doing a balance challenge with Sean from Nottingham and having to “re-spawn” each time we fell off. Navigating our way over a series of rail precisions, along a rail at height, under a walkway and around a tree! It was amazing to train with old friends again. Guys like Sean and Aaron who I used to train with regularly at one point or another in Leicester, who have since moved away.
We hit up every spot we could between Victoria Park and the town centre. Whilst we were at the walls outside the old Phoenix theatre, a few people got to work sizing up the large running cat leap near the entrance to the car park. This jump involves sprinting towards a 3ft high wall, and using it as step to launch across a gap and grab onto a high windowsill. A few different guys got this jump, but a shout out has to go out to Ash from Coventry and James from London for this one. Ash needs a mention as he got this jump so damn ridiculously clean, although I think James was the true champion for his sheer determination to make this one. Despite being close to the end of the day, and after several attempts of just being an inch below the windowsill, James not only made the jump but busted it out three times in a row.
It was also Joe from Hinckley’s last session in the city before moving back home. As a parting gift, it was great to watch him fight for, and nail, the movement where you lazy vault into a sitting position on a rail and then spin your legs back over. After several attempts, and one funny but painful bail, Joe got the movement down super smooth. It was an amazing day to leave on and I’ll really look forward to the next time we can hook up.
Goodbyes
From about 5pm onwards, we slowly lost members of the group as peoples energy levels started to drop and legs started to grumble. By around 6:30pm we were training at DMU and about ready to call it a day. My body had had enough from the previous days of training, so now I was just stretching and chatting with the guys that were left.
With such large numbers earlier in the day, we had too many people to session the main spots nearby Leicester University. As a few of the guys wanted to check out the spots before heading back to their respective cities, we decided to make the walk back up to the university to finish the session.
About halfway back up to Victoria Park, the guys from London realised that they didn’t have enough time to get to the university and back down to the bus station in time for their bus. Sean and Jak also had to catch a train to Nottingham and had to make a move. We shared handshakes, hugs and goodbyes. After such a great day of training in the sun, we went our separate ways.
And that left four, myself and Dan, as well as Ash and Danny from Coventry. We spent a while exploring and sessioning around the university. After around 8 hours of training our legs could take no more. At about 8pm, Dan and I said our goodbyes, and headed over to the university Café for a well-deserved Soup of the Day and Hot Chocolate! A great end to an unforgettable day.
Thanks to everyone who come down. You all made the day what it was.
Here’s to many more!
You can also watch Lauri’s footage of the day here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6IVX7cH22U
For further details on our next monthy event, visit www.leicesterparkour.com
-Tim
Monday, 19 April 2010
Rebirth
Every country, city or town
Has a group of youths jumping around
Climbing walls
Vaulting rails
Major success
And epic fails
Here in Leicester is where I reside
A recent shift from Nottingham’s tide
I’m a laid back young man and a DMU student
But 50 percent of my life revolves around movement
‘Dance
Drama
Parkour
DMU’
Is what my facebook info states
My foundations of life is what this equates
Tim Joe Toboggan Andeh and Dan
Are the fellow members of this LPA clan
Hell night sessions are all part of the plan
Technical training as much as we can
Finding our limits but reaching new heights
An ambient setting beneath the street lights.
Various spaces you’ll spot us about
Trying new methods of running new routes
Phoenix arts, watch out for glass shards
And Leicester Uni’s security guards
The market place protects us from rain
The filled in subway on Millstone Lane
Important meetings with LPA
Enjoying soup in the library café
My key point here is to illustrate change
But training parkour has a very wide range
To some of you this may seem strange
When I say Nottingham to Leicester is quite the exchange
From Robin Hood and market square talk
To Curve Theatre and the long New Walk
Every country, city or town
Has a group of youths jumping around
Parkour Generations and LPA
Urban Revolution and Notts PK
All kinds of people across the UK
Jumping around but that’s more than OK
Jak
Has a group of youths jumping around
Climbing walls
Vaulting rails
Major success
And epic fails
Here in Leicester is where I reside
A recent shift from Nottingham’s tide
I’m a laid back young man and a DMU student
But 50 percent of my life revolves around movement
‘Dance
Drama
Parkour
DMU’
Is what my facebook info states
My foundations of life is what this equates
Tim Joe Toboggan Andeh and Dan
Are the fellow members of this LPA clan
Hell night sessions are all part of the plan
Technical training as much as we can
Finding our limits but reaching new heights
An ambient setting beneath the street lights.
Various spaces you’ll spot us about
Trying new methods of running new routes
Phoenix arts, watch out for glass shards
And Leicester Uni’s security guards
The market place protects us from rain
The filled in subway on Millstone Lane
Important meetings with LPA
Enjoying soup in the library café
My key point here is to illustrate change
But training parkour has a very wide range
To some of you this may seem strange
When I say Nottingham to Leicester is quite the exchange
From Robin Hood and market square talk
To Curve Theatre and the long New Walk
Every country, city or town
Has a group of youths jumping around
Parkour Generations and LPA
Urban Revolution and Notts PK
All kinds of people across the UK
Jumping around but that’s more than OK
Jak
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
All The Small Things
I'm writing this mainly for the newer people in the Parkour scene in Leicester. As we currently don't provide classes (YET... coming soon everybody!), apart from the monthly sessions, I thought this would be useful in allowing the newer guys to take their newly learnt skills to the next level.
Parkour is so complex. There is so much to work on and working on the small things will carry over and make a difference to your whole game. This is a great thing! There is always something to work on. There is always something you can improve!
Below I will provide a number of simple things for practitioners to work on. Should you have any issues or if you want some advice, ask an LPA instructor.
Note: If you're training alone, please be careful and take care. It is recommended that you train at LPA sessions under our instructors.
Move!
A 'run' is known as a number of movements put together to form a route. Runs allow you to utilise all of your techniques and adapt them specifically to the environment in front of you. You will be coming in to techniques, or out of them, from different angles, at different heights and on different obstacles. Putting together routes is a great way of developing a number of qualities including good foot placement, spatial awareness and confidence. Also, the obvious benefit is that it will improve individual techniques as you drill them repeatedly.
Next time you train, I suggest picking a spot and then selecting a point A and a point B. Your aim should be to move from A to B - and then back again. Repeat it, perfecting your route. Your goal can be to move with speed and efficiency or you can be more creative with your route.
As well as runs, you can perform single techniques - running precision jumps, arm jumps, tic tacs etc. Use your new 'Parkour vision' to decide what you can do, but don't limit yourself, always keep your mind open and try new, different things. Your movement should not be confined to set techniques.
Balance
An improved sense of balance will improve your ability to take off, land, move along thin surfaces and it can be practised pretty much by anybody, at any time. Simple drills, such as walking up and down a rail can be made harder by jumping from rail to rail. The important thing is maintaining balance is remaining switched on in your head - knowing what you're doing will help you retain your balance.
Further drills you can practise include: vaulting onto a rail, or object thing enough to require increased balance, and holding that position without falling down or using your hands or squatting down and then standing back up again.
Although it may seem boring, simple drills such as these can be very beneficial to your Parkour - like I said, all the small things! ;) I know I can speak for everybody in LPA, and even most practitioners worldwide, when I say that a small but perfectly landed and well balanced jump is far more 'impressive' than a massive, messy jump.
Touch
It may be easy to perform a jump - but you need to ask yourself: did I land well... was it quiet... how can I improve it?
Perfect landings are hard to achieve. Even the most experienced practitioners still need to work on them - it's always an ongoing process.
It's easy to put all your power into a jump and throw yourself at it, but a lot harder to decide how much power is needed to allow you to STICK* it and how to manipulate that power as well as your foot positioning to make it a quiet landing. Although it may be aesthetically pleasing, the reasoning is mainly concerned with looking after your body. Landing properly will reduce the impact placed upon your body.
(*Stick is a term used in Parkour for landing a jump without falling backwards or forwards, as if you're stuck to the object)
I'm sure LPA instructors will have guided you in the right direction with regards to landing - but if you want some pointers, have them evaluate one of your landings so you know what to work on!
It could be anything from foot position (always landing on the balls of your feet and not your heels - this will reduce the impact as well as allow you to control your landing - and not slip off - and make it easier to jump again afterwards), power (too much power and you'll overshoot the jump, too little and you'll find yourself falling back) or volume (a quiet landing generally suggests control and a lesser impact, as opposed to a uncontrolled, high impact, loud landing).
Now you know what you need to work on, find a jump and practise! It doesn't have to be high, it doesn't have to be on a rail, nor does it have to be on a wall. You can practise your landings anywhere. Once you're more advanced and think you're ready, you should move up and challenge yourself: rails, walls etc. Repeat jumps over and over again. They don't need to be standing precision jumps, they can be running or they can be kong to precisions. Think about every movement your making, think about how much power you're using and practise.
Repetition, Repetition, Repetition...
Repeating a technique will no doubt improve your confidence with that movement. However, should you have bad habits, you will just be enforcing those bad habits. So, ask an LPA instructor to evaluate your technique, find out what you can work on, whether it be the take off, hand positioning, foot positioning, landing.
Drilling techniques in runs, as mentioned above, will greatly improve your ability to move and with time you'll develop an instinct where you will know which movement is necessary without having to stop a plan it out.
Repetition is the key. Repetition will build confidence and it will also build muscle memory. Repeat the techniques on varying obstacles and angles. Also, a fun challenge: if you have a stronger side, for example, you prefer turn vaulting to your left, try it on the weaker side!
Physical Conditioning, Nutrition and Research
Improving your strength, flexibility and fitness will improve your Parkour significantly. However, I believe this to be a subject of far too greater depth, one that requires a whole new article itself - well, more than an article, a whole new book. Generally, any form of exercise will benefit your Parkour. My favourite exercises include: sprints, squats, deadlifts, lunges, glute-ham raises, pull ups, push ups, bench press, dips - amongst many others.
Every Thursday night there is a fitness session with Dan - click here for more info! - which I recommend you go to, it will be of benefit for sure! Even if you just go once, it will give you an idea of how you can condition your body and you can then take the knowledge home and practise! I could write a training programme for you but it's far too much of an individual thing - but I'm more than happy to help you, just ask!
The saying, 'you are what you eat' is true. Filling yourself with junk won't do you any favours. Like physical conditioning, nutrition is such a large topic that I can only really talk about it in brief here - hint hint as to what my next article will be about ;) Below are a few bullet points which may help you eat better, give them a try:
Google is your library!!
Should you have any questions about this post, head over to our forum and just ask, or speak to an LPA instructor next time you train!
Hope this helps
Joe
Parkour is so complex. There is so much to work on and working on the small things will carry over and make a difference to your whole game. This is a great thing! There is always something to work on. There is always something you can improve!
Below I will provide a number of simple things for practitioners to work on. Should you have any issues or if you want some advice, ask an LPA instructor.
Note: If you're training alone, please be careful and take care. It is recommended that you train at LPA sessions under our instructors.
Move!
A 'run' is known as a number of movements put together to form a route. Runs allow you to utilise all of your techniques and adapt them specifically to the environment in front of you. You will be coming in to techniques, or out of them, from different angles, at different heights and on different obstacles. Putting together routes is a great way of developing a number of qualities including good foot placement, spatial awareness and confidence. Also, the obvious benefit is that it will improve individual techniques as you drill them repeatedly.
Next time you train, I suggest picking a spot and then selecting a point A and a point B. Your aim should be to move from A to B - and then back again. Repeat it, perfecting your route. Your goal can be to move with speed and efficiency or you can be more creative with your route.
As well as runs, you can perform single techniques - running precision jumps, arm jumps, tic tacs etc. Use your new 'Parkour vision' to decide what you can do, but don't limit yourself, always keep your mind open and try new, different things. Your movement should not be confined to set techniques.
Balance
An improved sense of balance will improve your ability to take off, land, move along thin surfaces and it can be practised pretty much by anybody, at any time. Simple drills, such as walking up and down a rail can be made harder by jumping from rail to rail. The important thing is maintaining balance is remaining switched on in your head - knowing what you're doing will help you retain your balance.
Further drills you can practise include: vaulting onto a rail, or object thing enough to require increased balance, and holding that position without falling down or using your hands or squatting down and then standing back up again.
Although it may seem boring, simple drills such as these can be very beneficial to your Parkour - like I said, all the small things! ;) I know I can speak for everybody in LPA, and even most practitioners worldwide, when I say that a small but perfectly landed and well balanced jump is far more 'impressive' than a massive, messy jump.
Touch
It may be easy to perform a jump - but you need to ask yourself: did I land well... was it quiet... how can I improve it?
Perfect landings are hard to achieve. Even the most experienced practitioners still need to work on them - it's always an ongoing process.
It's easy to put all your power into a jump and throw yourself at it, but a lot harder to decide how much power is needed to allow you to STICK* it and how to manipulate that power as well as your foot positioning to make it a quiet landing. Although it may be aesthetically pleasing, the reasoning is mainly concerned with looking after your body. Landing properly will reduce the impact placed upon your body.
(*Stick is a term used in Parkour for landing a jump without falling backwards or forwards, as if you're stuck to the object)
I'm sure LPA instructors will have guided you in the right direction with regards to landing - but if you want some pointers, have them evaluate one of your landings so you know what to work on!
It could be anything from foot position (always landing on the balls of your feet and not your heels - this will reduce the impact as well as allow you to control your landing - and not slip off - and make it easier to jump again afterwards), power (too much power and you'll overshoot the jump, too little and you'll find yourself falling back) or volume (a quiet landing generally suggests control and a lesser impact, as opposed to a uncontrolled, high impact, loud landing).
Now you know what you need to work on, find a jump and practise! It doesn't have to be high, it doesn't have to be on a rail, nor does it have to be on a wall. You can practise your landings anywhere. Once you're more advanced and think you're ready, you should move up and challenge yourself: rails, walls etc. Repeat jumps over and over again. They don't need to be standing precision jumps, they can be running or they can be kong to precisions. Think about every movement your making, think about how much power you're using and practise.
Repetition, Repetition, Repetition...
Repeating a technique will no doubt improve your confidence with that movement. However, should you have bad habits, you will just be enforcing those bad habits. So, ask an LPA instructor to evaluate your technique, find out what you can work on, whether it be the take off, hand positioning, foot positioning, landing.
Drilling techniques in runs, as mentioned above, will greatly improve your ability to move and with time you'll develop an instinct where you will know which movement is necessary without having to stop a plan it out.
Repetition is the key. Repetition will build confidence and it will also build muscle memory. Repeat the techniques on varying obstacles and angles. Also, a fun challenge: if you have a stronger side, for example, you prefer turn vaulting to your left, try it on the weaker side!
Physical Conditioning, Nutrition and Research
Improving your strength, flexibility and fitness will improve your Parkour significantly. However, I believe this to be a subject of far too greater depth, one that requires a whole new article itself - well, more than an article, a whole new book. Generally, any form of exercise will benefit your Parkour. My favourite exercises include: sprints, squats, deadlifts, lunges, glute-ham raises, pull ups, push ups, bench press, dips - amongst many others.
Every Thursday night there is a fitness session with Dan - click here for more info! - which I recommend you go to, it will be of benefit for sure! Even if you just go once, it will give you an idea of how you can condition your body and you can then take the knowledge home and practise! I could write a training programme for you but it's far too much of an individual thing - but I'm more than happy to help you, just ask!
The saying, 'you are what you eat' is true. Filling yourself with junk won't do you any favours. Like physical conditioning, nutrition is such a large topic that I can only really talk about it in brief here - hint hint as to what my next article will be about ;) Below are a few bullet points which may help you eat better, give them a try:
- Eat a balance of carbohydrates, protein and good fat
- Carbs: pasta, brown/white rice, brown bread, potatoes, fruit
- Protein: chicken, tuna, turkey, eggs, nuts, yoghurt
- Fat: nuts, yoghurt, peanut butter, eggs
- Avoid snacking out on chocolate and other snacks
- Eat 3-5 whole, good meals a day
- Drink water regularly throughout the day
- EAT YOUR FRUIT AND VEG ;)
Google is your library!!
Should you have any questions about this post, head over to our forum and just ask, or speak to an LPA instructor next time you train!
Hope this helps
Joe
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Event Write Up: Sunday 7th March
I woke up at 9:15am on Sunday 7th March to the piercing sound of my alarm clock. After rubbing my eyes and allowing myself to get to grips with the situation, I realised what today was and suddenly pulled the window blinds out of the way so I could see what the weather was like: dry - good; sunny - very good. It would seem we had been blessed with the weather that day - the sun was shining and it was was quite warm, the best weather in a while following the recent snow and rain.
By 9:45am I was fully awake and had just showered. I indulged in some breakfast... 4 weetabix, 75g of Muesli and 350ml of milk... all weighed and measured - a nice 113g of carbs, 20g of protein and 8g of fat. Perfect start to the day. Sam arrived shortly after at just gone 10am as I was cooking rice (after weighing it, of course) ready for the bus journey from Wigston to town.
We were on the bus at 10:55am, stopping outside the DMU at 11:10am. We walked over to Phoenix to find 2 guys already waiting, 50 minutes before the meeting time! Damn, I like eagerness :) Over the next 50 minutes, another 30 or so people turned up - all eager and ready to train, everybody creating a fantastic atmosphere.
We began shortly after 12pm with Dan leading the warm up which everybody seemed to find challenging but also fun, everybody united in a circle, smiles on their faces performing the exercises. Following the warm up we split into 2 groups: a beginner's workshop group and a group for people with experience who just wanted to train. The beginners group split into 2 workshops, each led by Tim and Dan - they headed off round to the back of the Phoenix, whilst the training group, led by Andeh, stayed at the front.
The two workshops shared two smaller training locations round the back with both working on routes involving vaults, underbars and jumps and also precision - including a fun precision game for Tim's group, which I'm sure they'll all recall!! The workshops were based upon the fundamental movements of Parkour - developing these movements correctly aswell as using them in combinations and routes. Everybody had a great attitude and all helped each other and congratulated each other - a fantastic atmosphere indeed!
I walked about between the workshops, helping out where necessary, and it was great to see how far the LPA and Parkour in Leicester has develloped over the past year. We have moved from a pretty much underground group of practitioners to teaching for Pedestrian Youth Arts, holding our first outdoor beginner's session and now our first monthly community session - along with a few other projects in the pipeline, things are shaping up and it's all looking very positive for Parkour in Leicester!
After Phoenix, we moved on to the empty Market in the city centre where we took a break from the workshops and training and thought it was time for a game. TAG! (Or Tig...) Two people were on and, obviously, had to catch other people. The game combined with the location provided fantastic opportunity for everybody to utilise their new skills and knowledge and proved to be great fun! With 30 seconds of the game remaining, it was decided that the two people on in the end would have to perform 50 push ups - either all at once or split into sets - either way, the race was on now!
The game ended with Ronil and our own LPA instructor Sam on. They each performed 50 push ups, much to their enjoyment! ;)
Our final location for the day was at DMU - before we posed for a group photo under a rather large wall!
The workshops had finished and now the session was all about everybody training (or jamming) freely, getting to know each other more and having fun! It was great to see so many people moving and having fun... everybody helping each other, giving advice and pushing themselves.
After a couple of hours here, we finished with a warm down. The weather was still beautiful as the sun shined with not a cloud in sight - we had certainly been blessed, not just in terms of weather, but also with the people and the atmosphere, what a perfect start to many monthly events!
With well over 30 people in attendance, ranging in age, gender and experience, it was a fantastic day! Everybody trained hard, learnt new skills and had great fun!
Thank you to everyone who made the event as great as it was! Well done to everybody too for all of the hardwork and for bringing such a great attitude!
Visit our forum at http://leicesterparkour.com for more information on the next event which will be in April!
-Joe
P.s. A video from local community reporter John Coster reporting on the Phoenix workshops: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc4K-yb6mqY
By 9:45am I was fully awake and had just showered. I indulged in some breakfast... 4 weetabix, 75g of Muesli and 350ml of milk... all weighed and measured - a nice 113g of carbs, 20g of protein and 8g of fat. Perfect start to the day. Sam arrived shortly after at just gone 10am as I was cooking rice (after weighing it, of course) ready for the bus journey from Wigston to town.
We were on the bus at 10:55am, stopping outside the DMU at 11:10am. We walked over to Phoenix to find 2 guys already waiting, 50 minutes before the meeting time! Damn, I like eagerness :) Over the next 50 minutes, another 30 or so people turned up - all eager and ready to train, everybody creating a fantastic atmosphere.
We began shortly after 12pm with Dan leading the warm up which everybody seemed to find challenging but also fun, everybody united in a circle, smiles on their faces performing the exercises. Following the warm up we split into 2 groups: a beginner's workshop group and a group for people with experience who just wanted to train. The beginners group split into 2 workshops, each led by Tim and Dan - they headed off round to the back of the Phoenix, whilst the training group, led by Andeh, stayed at the front.
The two workshops shared two smaller training locations round the back with both working on routes involving vaults, underbars and jumps and also precision - including a fun precision game for Tim's group, which I'm sure they'll all recall!! The workshops were based upon the fundamental movements of Parkour - developing these movements correctly aswell as using them in combinations and routes. Everybody had a great attitude and all helped each other and congratulated each other - a fantastic atmosphere indeed!
I walked about between the workshops, helping out where necessary, and it was great to see how far the LPA and Parkour in Leicester has develloped over the past year. We have moved from a pretty much underground group of practitioners to teaching for Pedestrian Youth Arts, holding our first outdoor beginner's session and now our first monthly community session - along with a few other projects in the pipeline, things are shaping up and it's all looking very positive for Parkour in Leicester!
The game ended with Ronil and our own LPA instructor Sam on. They each performed 50 push ups, much to their enjoyment! ;)
Our final location for the day was at DMU - before we posed for a group photo under a rather large wall!
The workshops had finished and now the session was all about everybody training (or jamming) freely, getting to know each other more and having fun! It was great to see so many people moving and having fun... everybody helping each other, giving advice and pushing themselves.
With well over 30 people in attendance, ranging in age, gender and experience, it was a fantastic day! Everybody trained hard, learnt new skills and had great fun!
Thank you to everyone who made the event as great as it was! Well done to everybody too for all of the hardwork and for bringing such a great attitude!Visit our forum at http://leicesterparkour.com for more information on the next event which will be in April!
-Joe
P.s. A video from local community reporter John Coster reporting on the Phoenix workshops: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc4K-yb6mqY
Thursday, 4 March 2010
In Too Deep
Like anything in life it’s not always beneficial focusing on one thing for too long; it’s the start of growing a narrow mind and ignoring everything else around you; environment, friends, hobbies, awareness and even yourself. The key in these and many other situations is balance. This isn’t meaning to say do everything in an equal time or never try too hard on something because most people have an ambition in life where they will need to take more time, dedication and passion towards achieving it than other things in their life.
Sometimes you may be trying to reach a certain goal over a long period of time. Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and in some cases even years may be spent focusing on one goal you have set yourself upon. The more time goes by, the more you may lose your self-belief (which is such a thing to lose) that you can even achieve this goal. Sometimes you may even forget why you wanted to achieve it in the first place and all your mind is focused on is this one thing...
Most people would tell you to ‘never give up’ and ‘believe in yourself’. Which is right, you shouldn’t give up and confidence is definitely key in any ambition.
I’ve had so many mental blocks in Parkour building up to jumps; the mind full of confusion and doubt, the eyes focusing on the same spot for so long and everything around you feels as if it’s on the other side of an invisible wall. Your mind is in the usual building up state of nothing mattering anymore. You have to do it, you must do it, you’re more than capable of doing it, you feel the burning emotions of scare and confidence combining in your heart... and while all of this questioning and confusion is going on in your mind, your physical state remains stationary, merely on standby. Your body is fine... waiting patiently; it’s just waiting for you mind to make that final decision.
Now most of the time I would walk back and forth motivating myself and all this energy will gust out of me after a huge mental debate and BAM! Next thing I know I’m looking down at my feet and doing the casual walk feeling so good about myself for doing this... jump (in this case). Ok, 2 more times to be sure the first wasn’t lucky... the build up to the 2nd jump is never as intensive as the 1st, the build up is still there but your mind is at much more ease. Simply because you know you’ve just done it and it’s real. It’s yours; you’ve got this 2 more times no problem. Sometimes your body won’t even wait for your mind to decide whether to go or not for the 2nd jump or one you’ve done many times because you’re bursting with so much confidence. Which feels good but you should never take the unworthy risk. You’ll have plenty of opportunities in life for your body to move before your mind, possibly in a good old adrenaline rush.
This is great, it’s the progression of Parkour, you’re getting better and you’re sure of it. You go home feeling so good about yourself and feel like you’ve unlocked a whole new door to the discipline.
However, sometimes you may go out to train and you might not feel as confident as you did the last day you came out. Everything seems big or you may feel like your mind isn’t totally with it. Then you come across a new jump you’ve never noticed before. You get a little scared into the usual build up (because you know you’re capable of; this is the reason you even get scared in the first place) and you’ve been through the whole natural process of building yourself up... only this time you just can’t seem to get your body there, like there’s not enough power within you to lift yourself off the ground. Or it may be something that’s putting you off at the time. Either way, you feel that it’s going to be a dangerous thing to attempt it on this day with the state your mind/body is in.
At these times you can get really mentally messed up with a jump, especially if it’s just a simple one where you KNOW could have easily done it on a day you feel 100%.
So you come back another day only this time feeling much physically and mentally better, everything seems fine and you think nothing more of it. Again, you’re faced with this jump you must continue. Now, sometimes you may do it with ease at this point and think “Wow! Why was I so worked up about that?”
The weird thing that happened to me a while ago was that I stepped back into that jump and it felt as if I had left it 2 minutes from the other day. You don’t even know why you can’t do it now, but you just can’t... it’s a mental block, as if your mind has saved all these mental feelings from the day you weren’t feeling right and is still pushing them against you. This happened to me quite a few times on the same jump, I just couldn’t do it. I kept trying to go back to it but without realizing, losing my self-belief.
In actual fact, it was more like I was training myself to be scared of the jump rather than doing the jump... I was in way too deep. In Parkour I’ve noticed that you should really try and avoid looking into something too much, it only adds negative thoughts into your head and puts you in more of a confusion state rather than a confident powerful person.
“You have to see into the heart of things, into the truth of things, not metaphorically either – but really see, like looking into metal and making it melt, see it for what it is with hard words and vicious insight.” – Bob Dylan
It’s now when you need to step back and unwind your fears, try other things out for a few days or even weeks, change spots and experience new things. This isn’t classed as giving up; you’re still training. It’s just another approach into achieving your goal.
A few weeks later with some time out of training altogether due to work, college and family I went back to this jump, sub-consciously forgetting the problems I had with it all those weeks ago. Sure I went through the shaky leg build up (baring in mind I was in worse physical condition than I was and it was almost pitch black... which really didn’t help for this specific jump) and in time I got it like a good’n... now 2 more times! I had stepped into a brand new fresh state of mind for this jump... a better one!
This whole build up had nothing to do with my physical ability. It was purely a mental block, like I said; your physical state is merely on standby waiting for your mind to make the final decision. When you fall in too deep with a goal such as that or anything in life, step back from it. Look around, experience new things... but don’t give up! It’s just another approach into achieving your goal. Have a go at a bit of everything; change of location, approach, movements etc. Variation can take you a lot further than all your energy focused on one specific thing.
Balance is the key.
“When your emotion is free of being bound up on fears, the body can flow with pure motivating energy.” – Bruce Thomas
- Sam
Sometimes you may be trying to reach a certain goal over a long period of time. Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and in some cases even years may be spent focusing on one goal you have set yourself upon. The more time goes by, the more you may lose your self-belief (which is such a thing to lose) that you can even achieve this goal. Sometimes you may even forget why you wanted to achieve it in the first place and all your mind is focused on is this one thing...
Most people would tell you to ‘never give up’ and ‘believe in yourself’. Which is right, you shouldn’t give up and confidence is definitely key in any ambition.
I’ve had so many mental blocks in Parkour building up to jumps; the mind full of confusion and doubt, the eyes focusing on the same spot for so long and everything around you feels as if it’s on the other side of an invisible wall. Your mind is in the usual building up state of nothing mattering anymore. You have to do it, you must do it, you’re more than capable of doing it, you feel the burning emotions of scare and confidence combining in your heart... and while all of this questioning and confusion is going on in your mind, your physical state remains stationary, merely on standby. Your body is fine... waiting patiently; it’s just waiting for you mind to make that final decision.
Now most of the time I would walk back and forth motivating myself and all this energy will gust out of me after a huge mental debate and BAM! Next thing I know I’m looking down at my feet and doing the casual walk feeling so good about myself for doing this... jump (in this case). Ok, 2 more times to be sure the first wasn’t lucky... the build up to the 2nd jump is never as intensive as the 1st, the build up is still there but your mind is at much more ease. Simply because you know you’ve just done it and it’s real. It’s yours; you’ve got this 2 more times no problem. Sometimes your body won’t even wait for your mind to decide whether to go or not for the 2nd jump or one you’ve done many times because you’re bursting with so much confidence. Which feels good but you should never take the unworthy risk. You’ll have plenty of opportunities in life for your body to move before your mind, possibly in a good old adrenaline rush.
This is great, it’s the progression of Parkour, you’re getting better and you’re sure of it. You go home feeling so good about yourself and feel like you’ve unlocked a whole new door to the discipline.
However, sometimes you may go out to train and you might not feel as confident as you did the last day you came out. Everything seems big or you may feel like your mind isn’t totally with it. Then you come across a new jump you’ve never noticed before. You get a little scared into the usual build up (because you know you’re capable of; this is the reason you even get scared in the first place) and you’ve been through the whole natural process of building yourself up... only this time you just can’t seem to get your body there, like there’s not enough power within you to lift yourself off the ground. Or it may be something that’s putting you off at the time. Either way, you feel that it’s going to be a dangerous thing to attempt it on this day with the state your mind/body is in.
At these times you can get really mentally messed up with a jump, especially if it’s just a simple one where you KNOW could have easily done it on a day you feel 100%.
So you come back another day only this time feeling much physically and mentally better, everything seems fine and you think nothing more of it. Again, you’re faced with this jump you must continue. Now, sometimes you may do it with ease at this point and think “Wow! Why was I so worked up about that?”
The weird thing that happened to me a while ago was that I stepped back into that jump and it felt as if I had left it 2 minutes from the other day. You don’t even know why you can’t do it now, but you just can’t... it’s a mental block, as if your mind has saved all these mental feelings from the day you weren’t feeling right and is still pushing them against you. This happened to me quite a few times on the same jump, I just couldn’t do it. I kept trying to go back to it but without realizing, losing my self-belief.
In actual fact, it was more like I was training myself to be scared of the jump rather than doing the jump... I was in way too deep. In Parkour I’ve noticed that you should really try and avoid looking into something too much, it only adds negative thoughts into your head and puts you in more of a confusion state rather than a confident powerful person.
“You have to see into the heart of things, into the truth of things, not metaphorically either – but really see, like looking into metal and making it melt, see it for what it is with hard words and vicious insight.” – Bob Dylan
It’s now when you need to step back and unwind your fears, try other things out for a few days or even weeks, change spots and experience new things. This isn’t classed as giving up; you’re still training. It’s just another approach into achieving your goal.
A few weeks later with some time out of training altogether due to work, college and family I went back to this jump, sub-consciously forgetting the problems I had with it all those weeks ago. Sure I went through the shaky leg build up (baring in mind I was in worse physical condition than I was and it was almost pitch black... which really didn’t help for this specific jump) and in time I got it like a good’n... now 2 more times! I had stepped into a brand new fresh state of mind for this jump... a better one!
This whole build up had nothing to do with my physical ability. It was purely a mental block, like I said; your physical state is merely on standby waiting for your mind to make the final decision. When you fall in too deep with a goal such as that or anything in life, step back from it. Look around, experience new things... but don’t give up! It’s just another approach into achieving your goal. Have a go at a bit of everything; change of location, approach, movements etc. Variation can take you a lot further than all your energy focused on one specific thing.
Balance is the key.
“When your emotion is free of being bound up on fears, the body can flow with pure motivating energy.” – Bruce Thomas
- Sam
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Beginnings
I thought it would be appropriate to start this blog off with a quick introduction of who I am and who LPA are. Well, my name is Tim Hurst and I live on the outskirts of Leicester. I’ve been training Parkour for around about 6 years and I have been lucky enough to meet and train with people that are thoroughly dedicated and passionate about movement.
I feel privileged to have witnessed the growth and development of Parkour in the UK. It has gone from being completely unknown to being recognised within the mainstream consciousness. Whilst the media interest has been positive for the growth of the art form, I also believe it has been a double-edged sword, leading to misconception and misunderstanding.
We formed LPA with the hope of passing on our knowledge and passion for Parkour. To promote Parkour as a discipline of self-development and discovery rather than one of competition and adrenaline junkie stunts. We want to encourage people to train and practice safely. Not to mimic what they see on the YouTube but to look and see the training behind the movements.
LPA is made up of guys who have lived and experienced Parkour. Everyone in the group has trained through the tough times, through the icy winters in the rain and the snow, I have the greatest respect for each one of them. Every person in the group has their own individual ideas on why they practice and what they want to get from training Parkour. As such, each person in the group trains in their own individual way. It is this collective experience that we want to bring together to help Parkour develop in a positive way.
This blog will become a place for LPA instructors to share their knowledge and experience. Posts will range from advice for complete beginners, through to their own thoughts and ideas on Parkour.
I hope that in the future we will be able to look back on this moment as the start of an exceptional community. One that is not only passionate and dedicated, but also respectful and supportive of everyone else, regardless of skill or experience.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
I feel privileged to have witnessed the growth and development of Parkour in the UK. It has gone from being completely unknown to being recognised within the mainstream consciousness. Whilst the media interest has been positive for the growth of the art form, I also believe it has been a double-edged sword, leading to misconception and misunderstanding.
We formed LPA with the hope of passing on our knowledge and passion for Parkour. To promote Parkour as a discipline of self-development and discovery rather than one of competition and adrenaline junkie stunts. We want to encourage people to train and practice safely. Not to mimic what they see on the YouTube but to look and see the training behind the movements.
LPA is made up of guys who have lived and experienced Parkour. Everyone in the group has trained through the tough times, through the icy winters in the rain and the snow, I have the greatest respect for each one of them. Every person in the group has their own individual ideas on why they practice and what they want to get from training Parkour. As such, each person in the group trains in their own individual way. It is this collective experience that we want to bring together to help Parkour develop in a positive way.
This blog will become a place for LPA instructors to share their knowledge and experience. Posts will range from advice for complete beginners, through to their own thoughts and ideas on Parkour.
I hope that in the future we will be able to look back on this moment as the start of an exceptional community. One that is not only passionate and dedicated, but also respectful and supportive of everyone else, regardless of skill or experience.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
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