Ceredigion Parkour

Pictures Pictures Pictures!!!

2011-08-06T23:27:00.000+01:00

After getting a hold of a decent camera we have started taking more and more pictures and uploading them. If you haven't done so already, head over to our twitter account and take a look.

Swim or Sink Video

2011-07-22T14:17:00.003+01:00

Recently featured at the Parkour Generations website, I thought this video was just too good not to share. Featuring some truly breathtaking movement along with the most outrageous trousers since MC Hammer, set aside seven minutes and prepare to be inspired.

Reflections of a newcomer: Teaching

2011-07-22T11:55:00.000+01:00

Here is the next installment of my Reflections series of posts. This year has brought many new opportunities and most especially teaching others. Whilst we have a long way to go ourselves, local people have come to recognise what we do as a serious and beneficial discipline. After being approached by youth centre workers, kids, parents and elderly citizens we realised the necessity to branch out a little more and begin teaching others.

This has also led to discussions of taking the ADAPT course later this year to provide more official representation of ourselves and the discipline locally.

So, in the relatively short time I have practised parkour what have I learnt about teaching others? Well, in order to teach effectively, develop your friendship with whoever you intend to teach. It means you are more likely to be on the same mental 'track' and makes it easier for you to demonstrate and teach key movements in a way they will understand.

Now what about the practical side of teaching? As much as you need to be able to teach the theory, ultimately, if you are teaching someone parkour you need to teach the practical aspects, the movements, conditioning and so on.

1. Responsibility
- As much as you may not take or want to take liability for someone, still feel responsible for that persons training, after all, you are the teacher. Feel responsible for their safety but find the right balance since for your student to learn and apply and further develop their skills they should not feel heavily reliant on you for everything. Parkour is something unique to each individual and as much as it can be shared, ultimately it needs to become something personal to each and everyone of us. Thats something I try and instill in any new recruits early on.

2. Physical Capabilities
- Assess their physical capabilities through a short, light intensity practise session or maybe a series of questions to assess how they stay active and try to remain fit or by asking them to attempt specific movements. I won't make too many suggestions since I use different techniques for different people but find a way to measure what they are likely to be capable of so you can structure a session around them. This becomes a challenge when you have larger groups to teach.

Also, I appreciate that many of us may not be medically qualified, but that does not mean you should not ask if they have any injuries or disabilities that have affected them physically before. A bit of common sense goes a long way. Take a look at these two hypothetical examples. E.g: Student A is in their late 20s, broke their wrist about a year ago and finds it hurts when a lot of pressure is put on it for long periods of time. Student B is in their late 40s, physically tries to stay active but does suffer from Asthma which they developed later on in life.

Now, remember these are my own personal assessments based on the above, I am certainly not medically qualified but for Student A, I would be careful about putting too much strain on the injured wrist so may spend more time during the session focusing on jumps, precisions and other movements that rely on your legs. I would not neglect the upper body though since in order to strengthen that wrist they will need to exercise it but I would ease into that with light intensity exercises to begin with till they feel comfortable. If they feel discomfort I would move them onto a different exercise to take the strain off.

For Student B, they may have trouble with things from a cardiovascular point of view, so any sprinting and running I would ensure that student does a pace comfortable to them and that they have their asthma pumps on them incase they have an asthma attack.

That is just my personal assessment and judgement on the matter, but it is certainly better than not asking them and just continuing without any consideration. You may not feel comfortable with making an assessment so you may feel it best to avoid certain things entirely, or seek recommendation from a more authoratative source.

3. Technique
- To teach movements effectively learn to break them down. Try this when you train yourself, go right back to beginning, imagine you are a complete novice and want to learn the speed vault, how will you do it? How will you break that movement down into smaller movements? Or, talk to other practitioners, ask for their advice on how you envisage breaking it down or ask for their recommendations. Analyse videos from authoratative sources in parkour and how they break movements down. A word of caution, if you intend on using youtube or other sources for videos just bear in mind that just as much as you can find videos that demonstrate principles safely you can find videos that do not. A series of short videos I can recommend are Parkour Generations: Behind the Jump series if you want a place to start.

Those are just three aspects of teaching and there are many more which I cannot realisticly cover in this post so I shall leave it there for now.

Teaching is a responsibility as much as it is enjoyable. Like everything in life it will take time to learn to teach effectively and initially it can be a daunting prospect but with many rewards. To watch a student of yours go through the same process you once went through, to go from being weak to a strong and agile traceur is incredible. To watch him or her achieve things they never thought were possible and the list goes on and on.

Construction Work

2011-06-06T12:56:00.000+01:00

So if any of you have followed APK or Parkour Visions in the USA you may have come across STURDY...if you haven't, I suggest you follow the link attached to this post immediately.

For a while now a few our team members have expressed interest in getting a hold of gymnastics equipment. This is simply because access to gyms with adequate equipment is restricted around this area unless of course you are willing to travel a good hour and half which is not cheap to do and neither is purchasing gymnastics equipment.

So, next logical step to take is to construct equipment ourselves and that is exactly what we intend to do!

The reason I recommended sturdymade.com is that the guys there have done a lot of work and a lot of research into this. So before you knock together those fantastic ideas you have in your head, have a look at sturdymade.com because the last thing you want is your handiwork collapsing on you.

We will keep you posted and upload some pictures as well when we have the time!

Big thanks to the guys behind STURDY, they are doing a fantastic job!

Working on that stubborn gut...

2011-06-02T15:04:00.000+01:00

Hello one and all, it has been a very long time since I last posted but we are very much alive and well. Thought I would share with you some thoughts about a new method of training that I have added to my ever growing arsenal of methods.

Okay, so recently I noticed that despite having a decent training regime and sensible eating habits there are stubborn bits of fat still hanging from my carcass despite having lean muscle behind it all. Now don’t mistake this for being an article about self-image or how to ‘look good’ because it is not. Its aim is to look at a particular method I have incorporated into my training in order to tone up and further my physical development. After all, who needs excess fat deposits anyway? It won’t assist you in any way unless you are prone to injury, in which case you may wish to use it as a means to cushion yourself.

The media today is pumped full of ways and means of how to ‘get fit quick’, ‘get washboard abs in weeks’ whether it be dietary supplements, strange mechanical contraptions or more extreme methods such as surgical intervention.

Granted, they may have some affect and they may indeed work faster than natural methods such as good ol’ fashioned exercise, but, they are expensive, results are variable, they may need to be complimented with regular exercise and good eating habits and long term damage may result from using them. Not only that but you cannot force your body to burn off fat from a particular part (stomach, bum etc) of your body.

Why take all that risk both financially and physically when you can train your body with no real cost other than your time? The benefits of exercise I feel far outweigh that of any of the above methods. Exercise affects the entire body and helps not only to shed unnecessary weight, but to replace it with muscle and strengthen your cardiovascular system. Do you really think a dietary pill or the Fat Buster 3000 that’s only £39.99 can top that, because I don’t?

So, what is this method I use, why do I use it and how may it benefit you?
First up, do you know what the terms aerobic and anaerobic mean and how they relate to exercise? Well, without getting overly technical and for the sake of this article, aerobic exercise can be thought of as moderate exercise that relies on oxygen to generate the energy needed for extended periods of time (e.g. long-distance running, jogging or cycling). Anaerobic exercise however, is the complete opposite. It is intense exercise that does not rely on oxygen but rather chemicals produced by your body for short periods of time (e.g. sprinting or boxing).

How the hell does that benefit you I hear you ask? Both types of exercise will burn fat, but it’s the time they take and when they burn it that matters here.

As much as I enjoy running, I find it very tedious and time consuming, especially as my goal is to burn off the excess fat I have accumulated. You see, to burn fat aerobically, it requires running long distances and the fat will only be burned during the time you are running. After an hour, or two maybe, of running several times a week, I find it very difficult to keep going and lose my enthusiasm. That does not mean to say I am going to stop running, remember that aerobic exercise has its benefits, especially for your cardiovascular system which is very important when practising Parkour.

So, rather than substitute my running, I have added something new that is intensive, takes very little time (12 minutes, excluding my stretching and joint rotations) and can burn fat for up to 24 hours after my training. And how do I do that I hear you ask? Read on…
1. Jog at a steady pace for 4 minutes

2. Sprint for 20 seconds

3. Walk for 10 seconds

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3, 8 times (which is 4 minutes in total)

5. Jog at a steady pace for 4 minutes

It is that simple. The high intensity and sudden bursts tap into your anaerobic system and increase your resting metabolic rate which results in the burning of fat after exercise and not during (interestingly one of the bi-products of anaerobic exercise is lactic acid).

I have been doing this for a few weeks now with my Parkour training and have seen noticeable results in my performance and the removal of stubborn fat. I recommend that if you attempt this, pace yourself to begin with, don’t sprint at full speed as if you were being chased by a pack of rabid wolves. It may be simple, and 20 seconds may not seem like very long to sprint for, but make no mistake, it is very intensive.

And to conclude, don’t forget your stretching and joint rotations!

Home Cold Home

2010-12-27T01:06:00.002Z

Just a quick post to say that Ceredigion Parkour is back on UK soil, after our fortnight abroad. It's a little ironic; one of the reasons we decided to travel to Czech Republic and Poland was to see how traceurs there deal with training in cold weather, but in fact we've come back to colder weather than we had out there. Fear not though, the trip was more than worthwhile. After my last post, from Krakow, we spent another week in Poland, travelling up through Warsaw to Gdansk, before heading back down to Warsaw to catch the train to Prague, where we finished our trip.
I'm in the middle of writing a proper account of our travels, but in the meantime I'm struggling to sum up the trip in a succinct blog post; trying to put the experience of those two weeks into words seems impossible. At it's most basic, it was three lads spending a fortnight abroad while practising Parkour, but in fact it was so much more. There were a few trials along the way, but plenty of highs too. It was certainly an unforgettable journey. Check back soon for the full story of exactly what did happen when Ceredigion Parkour headed east for the winter...

The Trip: Day Four

2010-12-14T18:52:00.006Z

As I write this, I'm sat in an apartment, overlooking the centre of Krakow. In three days, we've travelled 1,436 miles, and it's been an absolutely mind blowing experience. From being lost in the bad side of town in Ostravia, to subzero train journeys across borders, it's not going to be a trip that's forgotten in a hurry, and it's only just begun!

"But what about the Parkour?" I hear you say. Well, J had arranged to meet up with a few of the traceurs near Ostravia, where there was a jam going on. Although this meant a four hour journey immediately after we landed, we all agreed it would be worth it. So, we slogged our guts out to get there, arrived and then... were completely unable to find them. After wondering around for a couple of hours in Kopřivnice, we caught the train out of there, a little disappointed that we hadn't been able to meet up with the traceurs. Determined to make the best of the situation, we decided to have our own session in Ostravia.

With the snow falling fast, we set off along the streets, in search of a suitable location. Finally, after a brief trip into gang territory, we found a nice location, with rails and walls aplenty. It was a fun session, a good introduction to Parkour in a new environment. We attracted a few strange looks, and the wrath of every dog that passed (seriously, it's like they had all been trained to hunt us down), but all in all we had a great session, and after an hour or so retreated to our cheap, luxury hotel room with smiles on our faces.

To summarise, we've had a great start to the trip, and looking forward to the next leg of the trip, as we see what Poland has to offer.

To the East

2010-12-11T02:16:00.003Z

Just a quick post; in a few hours, we're going to be flying to the Czech Republic to begin our two week trip. All three of us are really excited, and looking forward to meeting and training with the communities out there. I don't think any of us are exactly sure what to expect, but to be honest, that's the appeal. Jonathon's already been in contact with several traceurs, so we certainly won't get bored, but there's still going to be plenty of time to explore.

A big thanks go to Spiked, who've shown a lot of interest in the the trip. They've done a lot of good work promoting a positive image of Parkour, and hopefully we'll have an opportunity to work with them in the future. In the meantime, we'll be keeping you posted with the latest updates whenever we have the chance.

Parkour Training in Winter

2010-12-04T13:01:00.003Z

For just over a week, the UK has been in the grip of a cold snap, with the earliest snowfall in seventeen years. For the first time, temperatures went above freezing yesterday, whilst the in the Scottish highlands, the temperatures have been as low as -21c. Clearly, the time has come to hibernate and wait this winter out...

Of course, Ceredigion Parkour has no intention of doing that. Winter is actually my favourite time to train. There are a large benefits to training at this time of years. Techniques are improved, focus is increased and endurance grows. Sure, it might not seem like the most enjoyable way to spend your time. Additionally, your potential is severely reduced; icy surfaces will seriously limit how far you can precision jump. But as long as you warm up properly and are bear in mind the conditions, winter training can be extremely rewarding.

I'll do a further post on getting the most out of your winter training in the future, but for now I'll leave you with a video from the great crew at Glasgow Parkour. Be inspired!

Parkour Travel, or: Why I Want to Run Up a Wall in the Czech Republic

2010-11-19T22:29:00.010Z

Dobrý den! In a little over a week, Ceredigion Parkour will be descending on the Czech Republic. We're all really looking forward to the trip, but virtually everyone we've told has asked the same question: Why? Why would anyone make the choice to spend their hard earned money on going to Europe, just to run up a wall? Aren't there enough walls in Wales?

It's true, some activities lend themselves more naturally to travel than others. Open any surfing magazine, and I guarantee you'll read an article about a trip to some exotic location with massive waves. In fact, in my past life as a surfer, I enjoyed several trips abroad: Surfing beautiful waves as the sun rose on the French coast, or dropping into monstrous double overhead waves off the Irish coast... but I digress. With surfing, every wave is different, and the surf travel industry is big business, selling us dreams of perfect waves.

As things stand, travelling to far flung countries to practice Parkour hasn't captured the public's imagination in the same vein. Is there any difference between the walls in the UK and the walls in Europe? In short, no. But, after all that, it isn't the walls that inspired this trip. It's people.

The surf trip, by it's very nature, is to a large degree about avoiding people. Waves are fickle creations, and the more people there are, the more people you have to fight for each wave. With Parkour, on the other hand, there's an abundance of walls and obstacles, more than enough to go around.

I have very fond memories of the Rendezvous events in London, where hundreds of traceurs converged on the capital. There was none of the tension that's present when a hundred surfers paddle out to the line up. Rather, there was very much a spirit of relaxation, of exploration, of good old fashioned friendliness. People from all over the world came together to learn, and have fun at the same time. After that, the idea of the idea of combining travel with Parkour seemed completely natural.

Personally, I have always found travel to be synonymous with learning, and I'm definitely anticipating this trip to be a learning experience. A chance to see how traceurs from other countries approach their Parkour, especially in a colder environment, is going to be both fun and enlightening.

Why do I want to run up a wall in the Czech Republic?
Because I love Parkour.
Because I love travel.
Because I love learning about other cultures.
Because I can.
Basically, why on earth would I not want to run up a wall in the Czech Republic?

It's going to be a blast.

Motivation - Individual Inspiration

2010-10-24T17:50:00.009+01:00

In this blog post, I thought it would be beneficial to spend a while considering our driving forces in Parkour. Looking at our motivations is more than just self examination, but also allows us to adjust our attitudes and our training to get the best results. Motivation has an effect on every aspect of our parkour, and with a bit of effort, can revitalise tired training routines. Above all, remember, motivations can change. What initially motivated you to begin may be completely different to what motivates you to carry on, to progress. To begin with, consider one aspect of our motivations.

WHO. Invariably, when you look at the motivations for practicing Parkour, you'll find that other individuals played a key part. Many can trace their first motivation to videos of David Belle jumping over the rooftops of London, or Sebastian Foucon attempting to escape from James Bond or other such gems found on the television or on youtube. Going back to the modern day origins of Parkour, that original group of practitioners, the yamakasi, were inspired by each other. David Belle was encouraged by his father, and inspired by the work of Georges Hébert. Everyone was inspired by someone.

Take a moment and think about who played a part in motivating you. If you're anything like me, then many people will have played a part. Although I was introduced to Parkour through the David Belle BBC promotions, and the Jump Britain documentary, it was actually my personal friends who motivated me to actually start training. Without their example, I would never have got off the couch.

If you feel your training is in stagnation at the moment, then consider whether those initial motivating individuals are still driving you in the same way. Looking for fresh motivation? There's a number of different places to look. You could try:

The founders

The passion showed by the the initial practioners can be contagious. Spend a while looking at videos of them in action, or speaking about their reasons for practicing Parkour. See what inspired them, and maybe it'll inspire you to. I've been fortunate enough to train with some of these people, and I can safely say it was one of the most rewarding experiences I've enjoyed.

The pioneers

Although they may not have been there at the begining, there are some individuals who show that same passion for the art, and take it to new levels. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find them amidst the stream of mediocrity on the internet these days. The best way is through finding websites and blogs which show that passion, then regularly check the videos they post/link to. Don't just look for those that are technically proficient; look for those that make you feel in awe.

The local community

Don't underestimate the people training in your area. There are only two people I train regularly with, but they motivate me ten times more than the best internet video or blog. Again, it doesn't have to be about outstanding technical ability. When you see someone you train with regularly pushing themselves, steadily progressing, it impels you to do the same. When even after a hard days work, in the pouring rain, they still show up for training with a smile on their face, it's difficult not to be motivated.

The bottom line is to find individuals who, by their passion for Parkour, motivate you, inspire you. Your training will progress as a result.

Whats New?

2010-08-23T21:43:00.000+01:00

Certainly has been a lot going on in the past several weeks, we attended Parkour Generations Rendezvous 5 in London, Southbank and had the honour of spending valuable time training with some of the most professional but fun loving parkour gents and gals around! Sebastian Foucan was also in attendance as well and gave us many valuable insights into training.

Aside from that we are continuously training both day and night whenever possible. Our media is gradually increasing in size and quality. A short film is on the cards as is a community website for practitioners and new comers in Wales.

Stay tuned either here or on facebook for more updates and news!

Product Testing

2010-07-22T14:35:00.000+01:00

In light of the upcoming Rendezvous, and the haggered state of some of my kit I thought it would be wise to make a small investment in some essentials...

1. Jogging Pants
2. Vest Tops/Lightweight Tees
3. Hydration Packs

Purchased them this week at a very small cost (under £45 for the 3) and will be thoroughly testing them throughout the grueling training I have ahead of me! Given a few days of usage, I will come back and post my review of these items and see whether or not the small investment was indeed worth it.

Reflections of a newcomer: self-development

2010-04-28T16:31:00.000+01:00

Well its been some time since my last "reflections" post, but here I am now presenting some possibly basic principles to you which you may have heard before but why? Because repetition is necessary in order to "remember" a principle of which you need to "learn" to apply. These are my own thoughts so don't take them as gospel.

So what principles or tips am I looking at and why?

1. Body and Mind as "One"

The art of displacement encompasses the development of at least six basic abilities: jumping, running, climbing, balance, awareness and control (or stealth). Your whole being (body and mind) is involved in any one or all of those above areas. For example, balance involves the usage of your entire body as well as concious effort to ensure you do not allow yourself to fall in a particular situation.

With that in mind, understand that when you train, you are training your entire body, not just a particular part of your anatomy or a particular set of muscles as you would in a gym, it is more than that. So why am I saying that? Simply because many people can get caught up in thinking that to improve say your saut de chat (monkey/kong vault) you should do push ups to gain some upper body strength and that may be true, but why just work your biceps alone? Why not say do the kong movement on the ground and work both your legs and your arms, or perhaps performing the movement onto an obstacle? Why restrict yourself as if you are working on a particular muscle set? Why not improve your body as a whole?

Remember, whilst our bodies are made up of different components, view your body as one whole and complete tool and whilst you may do exercises that will work a particular area of your body more so than others, try to exercise all areas rather than restricting yourself as you would do so in a gym.

2. Focus

Focus is something I find very hard a times, there are a lot of distractions some of which you cannot get away from and some of which you can and should try to. Some times i've found a lot of people are carrying stuff with them like keys, mobile phones, wallets and so on. Do you honestly need them? Is there somewhere you can perhaps secure them safely? Free yourself from excess things for the duration of training so you are not overly concerned about them.

Other distractions such as people are an example of something you are unlikely to be able to avoid but if you have the ability to do so and to really find focus when training, locate a quieter spot (if you can) to train to allow deeper focus on the task at hand. That doesn't mean to say distractions such as people are not helpful in any way, it certainly keeps you alert to the possibility of being distracted during a movement so it can train you to concentrate more so on what you are doing but that is for you to decide.

Try training alone is my other recommendation. It is a challenge both mentally and physically, but... it is a superb way of locating your weaknesses and learning to push yourself, to motivate yourself and to find confidence in your own abilities. Once again I am not saying that training with people will hinder you, in fact training with people brings many other benefits but sometimes with training partners talking with each other and leaping around it can be difficult to find the focus needed. Much can be dependent on what you are intending to achieve.

Just two thoughts that have crossed my mind recently and may be of use to someone.

Updates

2010-04-22T17:40:00.000+01:00

Things progressing quickly now... Meeting Mike from Kinetics Wales to discuss becoming a member and representing them in Ceredigion. Looking into the ADAPT course, intensifying training, making arrangements to organise workshops in conjunction with Parkour Generations at the local schools through a new initiative that has been put in place called 5x60.

Lots happening at the moment, so stay tuned guys and girls.

TicTac - Ceredigion Parkour

Training Requests

2010-04-12T07:15:00.000+01:00

Having a lot of requests for training sessions which is really great from all corners of the local area and even further afield in Pembrokeshire. If you would like to know more, want to arrange a session feel free to send us an email to ceredigionparkour@hotmail.co.uk and we will get back to you.

TicTac, CPK

Updates

2010-04-06T14:35:00.000+01:00

First of all, congratulations to Kinetics Wales who are now insured and are going to be taking their A.D.A.P.T training soon. Im sure it will be an amazing experience all round, so if any of you guys are reading this, I hope you've been preparing yourselves! ;)

On top of that the school sports officer for a local comprehensive school has got in touch so hoping to arrange some sessions soon plus, we may soon be representing Kinetics Wales here in Ceredigion and be insured to practise the art of displacement initially before we go for the A.D.A.P.T qualification.

Lots of preparation in the meantime all round!

TicTac

Ammanford Team and Upcoming News

2010-03-16T08:00:00.000Z

Great bunch of guys and girls, here's two group shots we took before we had to leave that day. Should have a video and some more shots coming up shortly so stay tuned for that. Hoping to get in touch with the Youth Service to arrange training sessions for youngsters and the Art Centre to get permission to host a Jam on the Art Centre premises and get the ammanford team down in the near future.

Other news, got a tester tshirt due to arrive for Ceredigion Parkour so hopefully we can start to advertise ourselves and what we do a little more.

Training sessions will be changing and becoming a little more structured for us now, so as of lunch-time on Saturdays we will be holding a definite training session as during the week can be a little difficult for us.

Changes are happening fast, so if you want to get involved just drop us an email ;)

Kinetics Wales Event

2010-03-13T20:15:00.000Z

Was privileged to meet and train with Kinetics Wales based in Ammanford area today. Difficult really to write about the entire training session but overall, fantastic welcome by all, lots of energy, learnt alot, taught alot and look forward to the next event. Brought back some brilliant memories of London with the rigorous warm up!

Videos and photos are on there way which is great. Thanks once again to all the Kinetics Wales team, especially Mikey and Bradley, good boost for the CPK.

Stay tuned, media on its way ;)

Updates!

2010-03-09T07:19:00.000Z

So what is new in world of CPK? Well, we've had an encounter with another team based down carmarthen/swansea area called Kinetics Wales which is brilliant. The art of displacement is beginning to take roots slowly but surely in the county. Parkour Generations has also taken notice and will be coming over here in the near future.

May arrange a session with Parkour Gen, Kinetics and ourselves in due course which I will keep you all updated about. Heading down to ammanford this Saturday to catch up with them.

Other news, we've almost come to the end of our first year of training. I can't believe it, it's just gone so quick, but so many memories and highlights, but, forgetting the past lets look to the future and what opportunities it will bring.

Tic Tac

Reflections of a newcomer: Law Enforcement

2010-01-22T16:27:00.002Z

I thought it would be a good idea just to refresh my memory on the the powers that police have and general law not so you can have a way of 'fighting back' should a policeman stop you when practising Parkour but give you the ability to act responsibly enough so as to avoid any unnecessary incidents or encounters with the police which are likely to cause further problems for traceurs now and in the future.

Here are a couple of points I found when going through the police national legal database:

1. Police can only remove trepassers if there are two or more individuals on the land and have caused damage.

2. Police can disperse groups of two or more individuals and exclude them from an area for 24 hours should it be an area designated (by an authorising officer) as having persistent anti-social and intimidation problems.

3. Minors (youths aged 16 or under) can be removed from an area between 9pm and 6am if they are not under the control of a responsible adult (aged 18 or over).

4. Fines can be issued for youths causing excessive noise and behaviour that is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to others (anti-social behaviour).

5. Police do not support individuals using glass, barbed wire or other harmful objects used on walls, gates and fences to stop intruders due to the legal problems it can create.

A couple of points I found from the above which I am going to act on are these:

1. 9pm to 6am is considered as unsocialable hours, especially for minors but I am personally not going to train during those hours to avoid any incidents or when it gets very dark (even though I am 21 and not a minor, I am still young and considered a "youth" by the community if not by police).

2. Excessive noise or activity causing a nuisance can be dealt with by police so when I train with others I will make sure we are quiet and respectful at all times to a reasonable level.

3. Distressing and alarming behaviour as well as harassment can be dealt with by police so again I will ensure I respect the public, trying to communicate with them and show we are not a threat and ensure training is structured so it isn't likely to appear as rowdy behaviour.

4. Two or more individuals is regarded as a "group" by police, so I imagine in the community, elderly people especially would have the same feeling, so if I train with others I may consider where possible spliting into smaller groups so that we do not appear as threatening to elderly residents.

Note that there are local bylaws you may have to consider but even though it may stop incidents entirely it will definitely go some way to keeping the peace and saving ourselves from any unnecessary incidents. Obvious points to add to the above is not to be abusive to police regardless of whether or not they are the ones out of line.

Overhaul

2010-01-21T10:04:00.000Z

Because of the recent growth and things that are happening for us over in Ceredigion, we are going to take the time to sort out expansion, approaching different authorities in the community, re-design the blog, possibly publish a website and who knows where things can go from there!

Watch this space!

BBC Article

2010-01-20T14:56:00.001Z

Within a few days of writing the article about Parkour and it's development in Mid Wales, it has been published on the local bbc website!

Aside from a few grammatical errors, I hope it will help promote a better view of Parkour and hopefully bring us many other opportunities! I am still fairly new to Parkour myself, so I apologise if perhaps there were things I missed or could've improved on in the article.

I would like to thank the BBC for publishing this as it isn't exactly "ground-breaking" local news and also Parkour Generations, Majestic Force and all traceurs who have helped us so far to develop our training but also encouraged us to adapt, learn and think for ourselves when it comes to our training and keeping the art form alive.

Train Hard, Train Safe!

The Next Step

2010-01-14T21:37:00.001Z

Well I just recieved something I was not expecting...

An email from the local BBC centre asking me to write a 500 word piece on Parkour, who we are, why we do it and what is happening in Mid Wales in relation to it. I sent them an email some time ago, but I didn't get my hopes up on receiving a reponse.

Time to get my thinking cap on!

New Year!

2010-01-14T12:40:00.001Z

Hello to all and may I wish you all the very best for the new year ahead of us! It will bring major changes for many I am sure including us! Only a few weeks have passed and Ceredigion Parkour is already seeing changes.

I am happy to announce and to say how privileged we are to be considered a team among the global parkour community announced over at http://www.parkourgenerations.com/. Hopefully this will bring us a step closer to our goals as a team and expand locally.

In fact, some expansion has already taken place! Aside from the major improvements we have all made and training with DB who has stuck with us from day one, we now have a very young, new recruit to consider! No doubt it will bring us many new challenges as a team, particularly with our training methods. As always, we will adapt and hopefully get our new recruit to truely understand Parkour.

Other planned developments include making ourselves known to local authorities and officials, raising awareness of Parkour and hopefully coming to different arrangements about usage of both public and private spaces for training purposes.

As another quick side note, the large amounts of snow and 6 foot snow drifts have given Martin and I the chance to start learning front flips amongst other things!

All in all, a good start to the new year, who knows what else it will bring!

Such a beautiful day...

2009-12-30T09:05:00.003Z

Hello!

Hope everyone has enjoyed the break from work that christmas brings (or not :P) and had the opportunity to train in that time and perhaps even in the snow. It has certainly been an interesting fortnight for Ceredigion Parkour so far! It has been groundbreaking in many respects for us and it is definitely a preview of things to come ;)

First off, Martin and I had the privilege of training in the snow and meeting up with the only other traceur that we know of in this area. Following that, we found two new spots in a local town that we have passed countless times before and yet overlooked them!

These two spots have opened up our creative side and given us the ability to try out new movements, combine movements and push ourselves that little bit further.

I have seen major improvement from all 4 members which I have highlighted below to show them and to anyone else reading this that training does pay off over time, even if you have those days where you don't feel like doing much or just are not in the right frame of mind. Do NOT stop training!!!

1. D (Female Training Partner)
- Increased upper body strength (you seem to be managing anything that requires upper body strength much better now)
- Overcoming fears (clipping your feet is now a thing of the past)
- Attempting new movements (you shocked me when you attempted your first underbar movement because of how fluid you were...your a 'natural' when it comes to poles aren't you? anything you want to tell us? ;) )
- Training in the public eye (your doing really well with this!)
- Coping with us blokes (Your a rose amongst three thorns!)

D, keep persisting with this training it is paying off!

2. Martin (Where do I begin?)
- Expanded creativity (tic tac precisions, cat to cat, finding new routes and new ways to move)
- Becoming an effective teacher (you helped me overcome several movements and fears in just two days!)
- Extreme confidence level increase (your abilities to calculate risk and consider your own abilities and limitations has given you a major confidence boost and the capability to expand your movement)

Martin, you are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with...

3. Daniel
- Expanded creativity (again, similar to Martin you have found new ways to move, considered new possibilities and overcome considerably large obstacles with ease)
- Providing good moral support (My first precision between railings - if you could call it that - I attempted would not have been possible without support from you and Martin)
- Overcoming barriers (you are determined not to be defeated by anything that you know is within your capabilities to perform)

Daniel, maintain that "undefeated" attitude, it is paying off...and as a side note, try not to dislocate your finger again ;)

4. Me (Jonathon)

....

Even though I am aware of progress I feel I have made, I am going to leave it up to my training partners (or should I say my close friends) to list any improvements I have made from their perspective as I have done for them.

To anyone that is reading this, if you have a few moments, look back to the day you first started training and now look at where you are now...look at your weaknesses and strengths, what you have overcome, what you want to overcome and how you can continue your improvement.

All in all, the last few days have really shown us how effective our training has been over the past 5 months (that really has gone quick!) and that there is always room for improvement despite the problems we face on a daily basis. The weather, atomosphere and company has been fantastic! Who knows what 2010 will bring for us!

Train hard, train safe!

Reflections of a newcomer: Parkour Culture

2009-12-18T15:54:00.002Z

Parkour Culture

Had a few moments to chill out today in amongst all my work so I watched the Rendezvous 4 Q & A highlights that Julie Angel has just released. I began to realise how Parkour or the people practising it have become a culture or at least a society with principles, codes of conduct and possibly additional societies and cultures coming to life in amongst this vibrant art.

The only way I can describe this is by making an extremely loose comparison between the culture and society of Parkour and that of Street Racing. Bear in mind I am only looking at the general foundation of culture and society and not making a comparison of the art of movement and racing.

Media plays a big role in glamorising cultures and societies (sorry, I will be using those two terms as I haven’t decided whether or not a society is part of a culture or a separate entity altogether). Take a look at the Fast and Furious series of films or the many number of feature length films or short edits released relating to Parkour and Freerunning such as District 13 or the thousands of videos on YouTube and you may begin to understand what I am describing.

Everything is fast-paced, intense, adrenaline fuelled action that goes against what is considered “normal”. How would films captivate a younger audience if that wasn’t the case? But, despite this, it doesn’t blur out the principles of their respective origins entirely. Frequently you will see reference to friendship and family relationships (whether by blood relation or not), initiation processes and ‘expected’ conduct from the people that make up the society or who wish to be a part of it.

I began to see this with Parkour and how the glamorised image from the media has led to new cultures, societies and groups coming into being but all originating from one source just as from a biblical stand point, life originated from one source. Just take a look at the culture more closely for a few moments.

The Rendezvous in London was an eye-opener when it came to noticing the family aspect of the Parkour and Freerunning society when I looked at Yann, Chau Belle, Stephane, Johann, Julien, Thomas, Dan, Forrest, Toni, Kazuma, Agota and Annty to name but a few. Despite the lack of any or very little blood relation between them or that they all practice the same art, they operate like a family.

An aspect of family life is that of resolving problems between families or its members or individual problems that its members may face. At the Rendezvous I saw Yann and Chau (or Kazuma, honestly can’t remember which it was) take a walk and from their faces I assumed that whatever was being discussed was of a private and serious nature (but I will never know that for definite; could’ve been about hair colour for all I know or perhaps me skulking around). As I watched them talk, I could see how much Yann cared for and wanted to support Chau or Kazuma with whatever it was that appeared to trouble them.

Maybe I am digging far too deep or making a mountain out of a mole hill but that is certainly how it appeared to me as these concepts are familiar to me from other pursuits of mine.

Going a little deeper, even though I am new to Parkour, its culture and society, I was lucky enough (despite the amount of people at the Rendezvous) to receive that genuine care and support from none other than Stephane. I’ll be honest, my initial thought following the Q & A session was that he wouldn’t want to be bothered with my doubts and fears. In actual fact, as stupid as it may sound and despite the fact everyone (especially Yann) emphasised the need to treat each other like family, I viewed him like a celebrity.

I realised that this is probably an occasion in my life that is likely not to occur again any time soon, so I wandered over and put to him a problem I faced similar to something he himself as well as many others have faced. As I explained some of my fears, he listened intently, paused for a few moments and then in no more than one sentence told me exactly what I needed to hear (this also goes for Dan as well who I have pestered several times in the past and yet he continued to tell me exactly what I needed). As clichéd as that may sound, it was so true. As of that moment, my entire outlook on Parkour and my training changed entirely and for the better (not to mention the two days of the RDV and all that I learnt).

Moving onto friendships now, despite language barriers, we have developed friendships that are unlikely to fade away regardless of age, race, sex or location. This isn’t a new concept to me like I said before, but seeing as there is only one other culture or society that practices what they preach to this level, it has caught my attention.

I am going to leave my thoughts there for now to save completely boggling peoples minds, and yeah some of it may seem like I’m digging too deep, but take a few minutes to think about it at least.

Rendezvous 4 Q & A Session

2009-12-16T07:59:00.003Z

Somewhere we had the privilege of being ;) I'll let the video speak for itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owXGhQclhTc

Reflections of a newcomer: Training

2009-12-05T18:30:00.004Z

Im new to Parkour compared to some of the veterans out there or the Parkour Community in general but I really have seen my perception, awareness and everything else change. Todays training session was wet, windy and moderately cold like every other day at the moment...

Wasn't really expecting much from myself due to various reasons but I stuck it out, met up with my training partners as we haven't trained as a group for some time now and went for it.

I feel like we have started to take it to the next level. Yeah we aren't removing the fun elements of Parkour from our training but we are certainly taking it that bit more seriously, developing our confidence levels in each other so as the more we progress the more we know we can rely on each other... thats what friends are for right?

Anyway, wet, windy, cold and miserable but the amount of energy as a group that we generated was amazing. Passers-by picked up on it and that led to several conversations which has its benefits. I realised today the need for training partners just as much as I have realised the need for solo training experience as well.

Overcame a new barrier for me today and in two days I have seen drastic improvement in a particular aspect of balancing which I have a real weakness with. Point of this? Train with friends, get them to push you harder just as much as you push them. Mashimo pushed us today and because of that we worked that much harder. Our female training partner also pushed herself to the limits and felt better for it (Hang in there, you are doing great! Especially in coping with 3 blokes :P ). I pushed everyone to maintain structure with training, focus on primary elements of our conditioning and as a result its paid off!

Expect new things from Ceredigion Parkour, were kicking it up a notch! ;)

Side note, finally did a little filming today :) hopefully photos and videos will be on there way in a while, but would rather put that together when I feel adequate enough to do it! :P

TicTac

Flips and Spotters

2009-12-03T07:33:00.003Z

I sometimes suffer with severe lack of confidence, everyone does at some stage and it is not something that is easy to remove. Because of that I was looking into spotting techniques and some tricks because I reckon that if I was to commit to learning a front flip with assistance, overcoming that fear would certainly knock down some confidence problems I currently have.

The results are two fold, firstly I reckon the confidence boost will be fairly substantial for someone such as myself. Secondly, I will gain confidence in a friend who would be the spotter for the movement. If I certainly dont attempt a front flip then a palm spin will be the next best movement to attempt with this.

I'll keep you all posted.

The lone wolf

2009-12-02T11:59:00.003Z

Well, my training partners are heading to centre parcs in nottingham next week so I am expecting a good 10 or 12 days of solo training. Whilst it is something I look forward to as it gives me the ability to focus entirely upon the task at hand and overcome barriers purely through my own motivation and capabilities it feels quite strange.

It may be the doorway to more solo training for me as I mentioned in a previous post, so this is certainly a good opportunity to begin down that road!

Ill keep everyone posted and to my training partners...hope you have a good time ;)

TicTac

Here comes the rain again...

2009-11-27T19:04:00.003Z

The rain is never ending I tell ya...regardless...still managed to do a run on my lonesome. Gave me time to think, to reflect and to maintain my focus and very surreal when you sit around in the rain watching the world go by. Very unique experience that no doubt will come around again.

Training is being kicked up a notch and training solo has its benefits so i'm going to be trying it out for a while see if I can overcome some of the major challenges that face me!

Certainly understood the concept of "train hard" today...trained till I bled! But still full of energy funnily enough!

Train hard, train safe!

Then It Clicked!

2009-11-26T09:18:00.002Z

Rolls....they are a fundamental component of the movements that form a part of Parkour, just as an ollie is fundamental to skateboarding, bunny hops to bmx bikes, duck diving to surfing... all of them play a major role for various reasons including chaining movements together or for your own safety! But damn it!!! are they difficult to learn and understand.

The majority of people have different techniques and the more videos you watch the more principles you read about, the more you confuse yourself! Rolls have done this to me... All I have considered is theory from every different angle except my own and I failed to consider the basic idea when it comes to rolls... shoulder to hip, avoid spine.

Had some time to think about this recently as I have stopped viewing videos, reading articles and trying different methods for rolling; in fact, I have stopped doing them all together in my training for some time now which is detrimental to my progress but it's time for some correction.

I sat down and thought about it for some time realising that I need to avoid the spinal cord for obvious reasons and that to roll, you need to be in a ball like shape and the key component to aim your rolling side at a 45 degreeish angle.

It is very difficult to explain in words, but I tried something that followed the basic principles and it worked so much better than anything else I have ever done or confused myself with. Obviously I have a long way to go yet with mastering rolls, chaining movements together with them and rolling on various surfaces, but the technique that is so damn simple changed everything for me! It simply clicked because I cleared my mind of all the crap I had seen and read that worked for some but not for others and I considered the basic principles and looked at it from my own perspective.

I am not saying tutorial videos are wrong or articles about it, but don't confuse yourself by reading or watching too much; look at the basic principle of the movement, what it is accomplishing then look at it from your perspective, visual how YOU would move to avoid damage not visual how you would move according to how another person does it.

Its all about you, self development, self teaching...

Train hard, train safe! ;)

Wales Parkour Jam

2009-11-13T09:44:00.004Z

Hello everyone! Just to let you know a fellow traceur from Aberystwyth is organizing a Parkour jam. It's going to be a really good session and hopefully will see a nice turn out! If you want to get involved just email us or add Gwion James to your facebook and post on there. We are looking at possibly next week, however were looking at talking to the local council, doing some advertising as well so spread the word!

Everyone, regardless of your abilities is welcome, so please do not hesitate to come along even if you do not want to join in!

EDIT: Date and time confirmed...

21st November 2009 - 2pm - Meet at aberystwyth train station!

Muscle Memory and Breaking Down Movement

2009-11-11T14:02:00.001Z

The last few sessions have been a time of reflection on my training pattern and the results of them which have led to me becoming far more aware of my own body and mind, but in particular, a concept that I have only just began to understand despite being familiar with it for some time now.

That concept has been described as “muscle memory”. My initial understanding of muscle memory was that if you repeat an action over and over again your muscles (or rather your brain through use of neural pathways communicates with your muscles so I have found) become accustomed to that movement so that you do not have to “think” consciously before you “act”, rather it is drilled into your subconscious.

It should be obvious that it applies to Parkour because simply put, if you perform a movement repeatedly your brain becomes accustomed to how your muscles should respond in a certain situation without the need for you to consciously think about how to perform that movement. A popular phrase that you probably have heard is “it just comes natural” and that is exactly what this is.

After reading a few articles about it and as a result of an event that happened in my last session, I came to realise how important muscle memory is, repetition and breaking down movements, but also a few things to think about.

I am going to keep this as simple as I possibly can…

For something to become natural, for your brain and muscles to become accustomed, you need to repeat a movement regularly. Like anything else in life, unless you repeat something, or put it into practice you won’t remember it or how to do it. But, even though this seems like straightforward stuff, there are some very dangerous things that I noticed…

Firstly, as traceurs and traceusses we want to master our movement, perfect it, but the more you drill a certain movement in a certain way over a certain obstacle (you get comfortable basically) the more difficult you will find it to adapt that to a new environment or new situation.

Adaptation as we know is a key element of Parkour and our self development and this became clear to me at my last session in unfamiliar surroundings. Adaptation is also an element that Parkour Generations really stressed the importance of to me.

During my last session I found it difficult to adapt to the new environment and I realised this is simply because I have got so used to training in specific locations and performing almost identical training routines and ultimately I have not, until recently, tried new movements or new challenges to adapt to. Sure, the new environment had walls, stone work, railings, bollards, kerbs and benches like all my other training environments, but it felt different, it was new, there were more people walking around, surfaces were different and that caused me to shy away from doing anything. That is when walking around the environment, analyzing it, touching the various surfaces really should be done to help you adjust to the fact that it consists of elements you are familiar with, it’s just simply a new location with new challenges or slight variations for you to adapt to.

Secondly, if you drill movements incorrectly (using wrong technique) without trying to make any correction, your muscles (I know its our brain really but I will say muscles to make it simple) will remember that and continue to act that way making it extremely difficult for you to correct it in the future. Equally as bad is thinking your memory will forget the incorrect technique if you don’t do it! It does not work. You will have to work hard to correct it.

Thirdly, and this is a slight variation of the point above, if you say do a saut de chat (monkey vault) using a two foot take-off you become accustomed which is good, I am not disputing that! But several months (time comes into this) down the line you try and learn a split foot take-off, you will soon realise how difficult it is because of how comfortable you have become with doing things a certain way, you get used to it.

Here is a quick summary of the principles that can really help you:

Find a new environment or adapt your training.

1. Don’t get overly comfortable with your surroundings or at least the way you overcome certain obstacles.
2. Correct your technique; don’t assume you cannot improve it, push yourself.
3. Try new movements and challenge yourself; don’t get comfortable doing a movement a particular way and then try adapting it several months later, it will only be harder.

Really positive benefits from the above principles are that you will enjoy your training more, because you will adapting to new techniques, movements or trying to find new challenges which a fixed routine may not offer you and you will find it easier by not doing the same old thing every single routine. That doesn’t mean to say you shouldn’t drill movements, it simply means adapt, be creative!

This coincides with my last session where I finally overcame my fear of monkey/kong vaults. For anyone who knows me, this has been a BIG problem personally. Cutting to the chase, by breaking the movement down, I overcame that fear and overcame the obstacle.

This is not something I thought would ever work and it does relate to muscle memory as well which I will go on to explain.

What I did, and has been done by many others, is broke the movement down into parts. For the saut de chat I simply worked on my take off and landing on the obstacle. This was a real challenge for me, but early on in my training I realised the need to work on the split foot technique because it felt so unnatural (can you see where this is going?). I stuck at it every training session but I felt like I was getting no where.
Now I realise that I was getting somewhere. During a session I went to drill the split foot technique and land on the obstacle but instead I went right over it and honestly didn’t realise what I had just done until a few moments after. At that point so much went through my mind! Could it really be that by drilling the foundational part of a movement that doesn’t necessarily overcome the obstacle helps you make that final little step of overcoming it? Yes it does!

By working on probably the most fundamental parts of the movement (the approach, the take off, and if possible landing on the obstacle) I can overcome it even though I haven’t actually overcome it before. Why? Because by drilling the fundamental parts through repetition and correction, what was unnatural and something I had to really think about, now has become natural or performed subconsciously where I don’t have to say to myself mentally, “right, land in a one-two motion with my feet, swing my arms forward…” and so on.

This leads on to my final point…

Have you ever faced an obstacle or a situation where you just can’t find the confidence to tackle it for one reason or another? Did you find yourself mentally talking yourself out of it? If so then this may help you out.

Forget the obstacle in front of you and take a minute to think about what sort of movement is needed to overcome it (for example we’ll use a precision jump). Now, consider the precision jumps (not jumps in relation to this obstacle, just the movement) you have done before at the same distance, how did you do?

Now distance-wise this obstacle is well within your reach, but right now you are thinking (consciously) about it and visioning yourself doing it but it just doesn’t seem possible.

Stop yourself there! You need to divert your mind or drill the movement more. Run off somewhere and perhaps perform the movement over a smaller obstacle then come back to it and keep drilling that. Do not take much time to consciously think about it because you do not need to (unless it is an obstacle where you are putting yourself at major risk). Subconsciously you have completed that movement (precision jump) hundreds of times before and it’s your subconscious that you should be using.

With a little commitment and perhaps more repetition this will pay off and has started to for me. It is not something that you can learn from articles, but by being aware of it you can make adjustment and see the difference for yourself.

Well I hope that insight will help others out because it’s starting to change my perception with my training and hopefully I can overcome some other problems I am facing by following this advice.

parkour-spot.com

2009-11-10T08:53:00.002Z

New website has been developed that is aimed at keeping track of various spots around the world. Not sure if it is a joint venture between its owners and Parkour Generations but it seems to have been received well. I've started adding spots on it with detailed information and where possible, photographs.

Just to say, we've got an email address now: ceredigionparkour@hotmail.co.uk for any correspondence.

Anyway, just thought I would drop in and mention that, expecting a good week of training!

The Weekend

2009-11-08T21:07:00.000Z

Weekend went really well, training certainly was intensified but the enjoyment was certainly still there. Training late saturday evening resulted in extremely heavy rain, yet despite that we all ended up topless running and jumping around. To be perfectly honest its been one of the moments I have most enjoyed so far!

Following that we went to aberaeron where by shear chance I overcame my fear of the saut de chat (monkey/kong vault) and managed to overcome a wall using the split-foot method I have been working on and developing since my training began!

I wasn't expecting to accomplish it to any degree but I did, and now its a case of improving it slowly and hopefully reap the benefits!

Can't wait for our sessions during the week and what joys they may bring :)

Training for next few days...

2009-11-06T14:33:00.003Z

I shall be training every day through-out the course of this weekend and next week so if you want to join us or me feel free, just drop a pm on the forums, send me an email, text me etc etc and hopefully we can meet up!

Attempting to kick my training up a notch with the winter months kicking in so to speak. On a slightly random note, recent blog post by Dan Edwardes on www.parkourgenerations.com really struck a cord with me and its something that I found difficult to describe myself as a new-comer but it's worth checking out as it really does explain how much more there is to Parkour/Freerunning than the actual movements that have been defined i.e. saut de chat, saut de bras, roulade etc.

The principle that stood out was not to neglect those bits inbetween, the less spectacular movements of your body. The energetic, dynamic movements are over in a very short time, but they are the ones that most people 'see'. What they don't see is the run up to a jump, or the exit from a roll, that just seems to be the 'bit inbetween' that doesn't look spectacular but has a huge impact on your abilities. It's all well and good being able to do a running jump and your jump itself may be very good, but how about your run-up to it? how bout mid-flight? how about your landing? how about your exit from it?

There is so much more involved than doing the actual movement regardless of how well you think you can do it, and i'm glad Dan has summarised that because I couldn't.

Training Day ?

2009-11-02T22:59:00.003Z

Lost count of the training days now haha! It's been a good 7 to 10 days since we trained as a group although I have been training myself in the meantime but we finally managed to sort things out and train again together tonight and what a night it was...

Despite the rain, wind, darkness, cold and whatever else nature could throw at us it was one of the more light-hearted sessions we've had but a lot of returns from it!

After heading to a very local spot we stumbled across a telegraph pole that had been chopped down. Looking at our training location and this pole, I realised it could fit across at least 3 of these spaced out walls with a gap of 8 foot or so between them providing us with a perfect opportunity for balance and quad exercises!

Bearing in mind the wind, rain, mossy, sodden telegraph pole and almost complete darkness (apart from some light coming from a conservatory) it was probably one of our most challenging obstacles to attempt yet. Adrenaline made the first attempt at the pole only to result in a DIY castration which he took pretty damn well considering...

Next up...me... Now I am becoming stronger and more capable with quad movement but this was a major challenge simply because of the conditions. I must have stood there for what felt like the good part of 5 minutes staring at the pole suspended 4 foot above the ground (well out of my leg reach if I were to slip) covered in moss, splinters and nails... Hard to say what was going through my head but stuff that, I had to do it, there was no way I would let this defeat me...if I can manage quad on a rail I can do this.

Climbing onto the pole I did my best to get a good grip on it and then off I went...each hand and foot being placed carefully and precisely for fear of crushing my nuts (to put it bluntly :P).. with each movement I could feel my hands sliding ever so slightly as I put pressure on the mossy surface... no going back now... Almost there... with careful, precise movements I finally made it! That just sealed the deal for the rest of evening and boosted my spirits as well as everyone elses including our female training partner who accomplished more in her first bad weather training session than we did in our first training session....damn you!!!!

Anyway, enough talking...i'll keep you posted on the next training session where I can feel even more progress being made!

Two Paths

2009-10-29T14:15:00.003Z

Not long after I started training, I was attempting a simple wallrun, which happened to be by a set of steps. A chap walking by asked what I was trying to do. I replied that I was trying to run up the wall. With a smile reserved for the simplest of people, he pointed out that it would be far easier to walk up the steps. He was right.

So, why do we run up the walls next to the steps, vault the bench others walk around, balance along the railings alongside paths? Why take the hard path, when the easy path is just alongside? In the above example, I gave the bloke a cheeky smile and said that it would take a whole extra second to take the steps, and who has that kind of time to spare? Whilst that raised a chuckle, I don't think any of us seriously think we do what we do to save time. I can only speak from the perspective of my own twisted mind, but I think the reason we take our chosen path is because it's the harder path. Challenge is what drives us.

Of course, in this case we are the minority, and I'm not just talking about our movement. Whilst you struggle to perfect your cat balance, on an icy rail in the dark, the rest of the world is eating ready meals in front of the TV. Taking this further, the majority of people consistently take the easier of the two paths in all aspects of life. They want everything easy, and they want it now. They'll eat fast food because it's more convenient. Rather than the long road of perfecting their craft as a musician, then working hard to achieve their goals, they'd rather enter x-factor and be instantly plucked from obscurity by Simon Cowell and catapulted to their dreams. They'd rather waste away on the sofa, watching other people live their lives, because that's much easier than making their own lives meaningful. Comfortably numb.

I have a certain personal obligation, some work I do voluntarily. The other day, I was struggling to go on with it. I sent a text message to Tic Tac, and asked him why should I bother, when there was no need? Why struggle to do the right thing, when you can take an easier path and still not be doing the wrong thing? I've saved the reply.

"Compare it to Parkour. The easiest path stems from human laziness. Challenge yourself, otherwise you die and become purposeless."

Whilst we may not literally curl up and die, there's more to living than breathing. In fact, one of the criteria something has to fulfill to be classified as alive is movement. So, when faced with the two paths, don't automatically take the easy way out. Run up those walls, monkey vault the bench, balance along the railing. In those moments, reflect on where you are, the choice you have made. Breathe in deep, you are alive.

Almost...

2009-10-28T22:58:00.001Z

I've almost nailed it! Will be a major physical achievement but the shoulder-height vaults are getting ever closer as is vaulting perfection I might add. Still trying to nail precisions, here's hoping for a good session tomorrow...

Side note, damn council ripped down a section of rail I used to use by the youth centre....first my tree in the river, now the damn railings!!!!

Its a beautiful day!

2009-10-27T07:57:00.004Z

Despite the forecast weather seems pretty good today! Hoping for a good session this evening in the dusk! Time to overcome some barriers, and improve technique!

Behold! Winter Cometh!

2009-10-25T15:47:00.003Z

The frosty chill and blisteringly cold winds are on there way to Wales! Training continues as always! Haven't posted for a couple of days so thought I would pop on and say yes we are still here, still training hard and getting as much enjoyment out of it as possible to last the winter! Looking forward to next session, just itching to get out there!

Swansea Jam Incoming

2009-10-16T21:06:00.002+01:00

Well guys and girls were heading to Swansea tomorrow so keep an eye out for 3 guys in "Master your Movement" tshirts, you can't miss us! Be our first session as the three of us in the major public eye in the city of swansea!

Training Day 17

2009-10-15T11:20:00.003+01:00

Training this afternoon from 4ish onwards. Meet up at the Park if you want to join us. The female traceusse will be joining us probably so hopefully can soak up some of her motivational/determinational goodness and also introduce her to world of jumping; precise, controlled jumping! ;)

Determination

2009-10-14T09:50:00.002+01:00

This is a quick post just to say to all traceusses out there to keep up the good work! The determination i've seen a female member of our team put into her training despite bad weather and lack of sleep really had me amazed especially after my determination last session was completely shot!

I've got to hand it to them, they are far more determined than us blokes sometimes and I look forward to my next session with her now so hopefully her determination can motivate me a bit more.

Break of Dawn

2009-10-07T19:02:00.001+01:00

Seeing as I am up at the crack of dawn every day...decided to take a shot at a dawn session of Parkour :P Freezing cold winter air, possibly rain and wind...yeah this is gonna be good!

Training Day 15

2009-10-05T16:11:00.004+01:00

The 15th day of training as a group is upon us this evening! Starting at 4.45pm in Aberaeron park and spots around Aberaeron till 6pm and finishing off around 8, 8.30pm at a secret spot! See you all there! ;)

Training Day 12 to 14

2009-10-02T07:59:00.003+01:00

Yes another training day is upon or rather two or three sessions over the next few days. Winter is coming, training will get harder but we will become stronger. If you want to join us check out the forums or meet in aberaeron this evening around 6pm and for saturday and sunday i'll keep you posted.

Swansea Jam

2009-09-28T15:17:00.002+01:00

Yes its looking like the weekend after next we'll be in Swansea and possibly have a good two days full of Parkour goodness! If you want to join us your welcome, just make sure you text, email or pm me to let me know!

Photos!

2009-09-27T09:45:00.001+01:00

Yes we have photos now that aren't completely rubbish! Check out the media section of the forums to find out more!

Training Day 11

2009-09-24T11:45:00.001+01:00

Went very well! Got some pictures on there way!

Repetition + Perseverance = Pay Off!

2009-09-21T19:05:00.003+01:00

I'm going to cut to the chase. Training is intense now as we all fight our way towards movement perfection (well...as close to perfect as we can!) . I can't say that today has felt like a remarkable day to me and I certainly wasn't expecting what happened.

I trained solo at mid-day in and around a secret spot near where I live just working on conditioning, my balance and precisions etc before heading to aberaeron later in the afternoon to meet up with Mashimo.

First up, the quadruped movement. As many may know its one of the few things I am getting increasingly more proficient at but I didn't expect to quad the entire bridge across the river...yes thats right, I managed to quadrupedally (that isn't even a word..) move across the bridge with the assistance of Mashimo who stood in front and basically helped motivate me.

Certainly the bond between us as training partners is increasing!

And that isn't all...

Managed to walk all the way across the tree fallen in the river, turn around, walk back again and cross it entirely! Again, in the last training session I was no where close.

Finally (yes i'm afraid thats not it...), I began drilling my split foot take-offs. Now monkey/kong vaults + split foot take-offs are my arch nemesis as you will see in my previous blog posts or with discussions you may have had with me. So I began drilling my split foot take-offs and then it just happened...

After all the split foot take-off training I have done in the last few training sessions and at home I successfully dove into it properly almost clearing the entire length of the picnic table (yes the entire length, not width!) without major effort. I really didn't think I would ever even be able to accomplish that much but I have! I will continue to drill it until I finally attempt to kong vault over the table. After performing it once successfully I repeated and repeated to really drill it in but it still needs a lot of work.

I can certainly see how horizontal movement comes with the split foot technique! This is not only a blog post for me to realise what I have accomplished but to encourage others in that, if you keep drilling the things you find the hardest it will without fail pay off! I certainly haven't had the full pay off yet but I feel its close. Not only that, but when you do accomplish something like this, it really motivates you and makes you feel stronger.

Train hard, train safe and remember to repeat, repeat, repeat... It honestly will pay off even if you feel like you are making no progress.

Training Day 10

2009-09-21T08:36:00.003+01:00

Training in aberaeron possibly or at my place, from 4.45ish onwards. Mashimo, Adrenaline, me and DB will be present. If you want to attend, post on the forums about it and i'll give details on where we are!

Training Day 8 or 9

2009-09-18T14:01:00.002+01:00

Check forums for details but its today around 4.45pm at the usual spots.

Silence is golden

2009-09-17T16:12:00.003+01:00

This is something that has always been on my mind from day one of my training and mainly due to what I have heard from others or read in articles...silent landings!

Yeah it's all well and good saying 'land silently' but just for a minute, actually ask yourself the question: How do I land silently?

Seriously...how do you land silently? The word silent is misleading, but the misdirection should point you in the right direction (bear with me on this one...). Lets face it, you cannot land 'silently' because that would mean you made no noise whatsoever which physics dictates otherwise. Two objects impacting causes sound dependent on the force of impact. But that doesn't mean to say you can't land 'quietly'.

Hopefully your mind is starting to drift down another path now but yes you may not be able to land silently but you can land quietly surely? Everyone can stamp their feet and you do that by applying as much force through your leg as possible. Simple! If you can do that, then you can land quietly. It is almost the opposite of that, but what you are actually doing is controling that force.

I can't say there are any fixed rules on this but i'll give you a few tips from my own experience that tie in with the comments and thoughts of those more experienced than myself.

1. Think Quiet/Silent, Ninja

Honestly, think quiet, think control, think and act like you are a ninja and if you land hard, try it again but this time really really think about that quiet or never-possible-silent-landing. Your mind needs to be on the right wavelength for you to accomplish this!

Now onto the physical bit...

Mashimo and I found this out during our last session and this particular body position or move whatever you want to call it seemed to assist us with our quiet landings.

1. Tuck your legs.

Yes its simple and it is part of some movements in Parkour like the precision jump. When you do a precision jump you tuck your legs up (to visual this think of Morpheus in the Matrix scene where he fights Neo) or a tuck jump for working on your explosive take-offs or squating. That is the position you need to be in in the air. Most importantly it gives you that extra bit of clearance for any obstacles you are clearing.

2. Land on the balls of your feet.

Yeah another simple and common tip given by all. You see that if you try landing completely flat on your foot as if you were stamping the floor the difference between that and landing on the balls of your feet.

3. As your coming into land extend your legs.

Again, common tip. Keep your legs tucked in the air, then start to extend your legs or reach for the floor with your feet but if they are completely extended I find that works against you.

4. Bend your legs as you land.

Common tip number 3... Don't let your legs collapse! Your not aiming to crouch and sit down on the floor with this. Remember, think control! And don't let your butt slap the floor or your heels.

5. Tense (not in the sense of becoming rigid though) your muscles.

Whats this? A not so common tip that sounds like it may go against the rules? If your not going to collapse then you have to control your descent or fall don't you? You do this by tensing up (again, not becoming rigid but aiming to control your descent like you would with a squat) your muscles in your legs as you land so they are taking that force or energy from the landing instead of your bones and joints; you don't want to fall like a dead weight because if you do you will notice that your knees or legs (not muscles) start to ache. If they do, they are probably taking the majority of the impact instead of your muscles.

I'm not saying you won't have aching legs or knee joints at all during training but it is a possible sign that you are falling like a dead weight.

Try not to focus too hard on the techniques i've given when you train because that'll distract you but just remember the basics:

1. Think quiet, think ninja, think control (think think think, mentally just get in the zone).
2. Don't fall like a dead weight, control yourself!

If your knees or ankles wobble or your legs feel loose you aren't controlling yourself.

Only you can judge how loud or quiet you are landing so listen to your landing and really focus on making it quieter but becoming more controlled it will come in time.

Preparation and new developments

2009-09-10T21:48:00.004+01:00

Preparing myself for two challenging days, friday and saturday. Holding two training sessions. The first on friday is likely to be just Mashimo and myself and on saturday its looking like it will be all of us plus the additional team member. Two days of intense training and in particular, breaking down some mental barriers for me personally e.g.....

The Kong Vault!!! as well as a myriad of monkey vaults. They are the most challenging and scary movements for me due to past incidents but now I feel I must face my fear head on because I know I am physically capable of the movement, but just mentally it is beyond me. Maybe I mentally focus too hard on having the perfect technique and complicate matters for myself? Maybe in the words of Morpheus (yes I know this is cliched) I need to 'free my mind' and take that leap.

Onto other matters, website will be coming very soon which will hopefully put us on the map so to speak. I'll keep you all posted plus previews will be available on the forums in due course.

Reflection: Darkness and teaching

2009-09-08T16:50:00.003+01:00

Since I have a few minutes to myself, I thought I would post my reflections on yesterday evenings events.

Everything started after a friend of mine who wants to get fit again encouraged me to arrange a session with myself, my wife and other training partners in the evening. Seeing as I hadn't been able to train during the day I jumped at the chance and made the arrangements.

Unknown to me however, my friend who suggested it was under the impression we would be training at my place whereas I was wanting to train in Aberaeron however she was more than happy enough to go along with this and we all (aside from Adrenaline who wasn't able to make it) headed down there around 7.30pm.

On the drive down a lot of things were going through my mind...first off, this was the first session I had done in a long time in relatively dark conditions since we train in a wooded area with little street lighting. Secondly, I have never ever trained with these people before and despite being close friends with them/married to one of them I was nervous because I am still new to the concept/methods behind Parkour myself.

On arrival nerves kicked in as I felt more responsible now and was scared in way of training someone else in a proper way and helping them have the right understanding of Parkour. Not only that but it was very dark so safety was top priority especially as she is older than I am.

Its at this point I stopped and briefly reflected on the London Rendezvous and the methods/instruction the parkour generations and yamakasi guys gave me and used that as the basis for training my friend. With the support of Mashimo the training began with a warm-up and to my surprise my friend felt envigourated after it and ready to go! Guess we must've done something right!

The rest of the session brought further surprises when we began to teach her the fundamentals of two vaults, a two handed vault, beginning by jumping up and putting one foot on the railing/wall then passing over it and a monkey vault by performing the initial step up onto a picnic table, followed by split foot landings. Literally within minutes she had overcome far more than I had during my first 5 days of training and had done so in the dark!

I watched as her confidence growed at an increasingly fast rate...needless to say, I was absolutely astounded and taken back. As the hours ticked by, we wrapped up the session by walking back to the park and cooled down (not before a nice long walk with her on my back and regular squats :P).

I could see the energy, confidence and enjoyment in her eyes, the same as I felt following my two days in London. I guess that you need to really believe in yourself and what you can do and that by following the advice I was given, I too can teach Parkour properly despite my current level of ability. It has given me a lot to think about and I hope that it will help strengthen the name/methodologies behind Parkour in my friend and in myself.

Train hard, train safe...one heart, one crew!

What I learnt from Rendezvous IV

2009-09-08T11:04:00.009+01:00

Rendezvous IV was a truly momentous event, at least for me. TicTac has already done a very good round up of the event (see below), so I'm going to focus, not so much what happened, but what I learnt.

Speed is nothing, flow is everything. Ok, maybe I'm exasgerating here, but the principle is sound. In one of the first training exercises we did, a simple turn vault, I confidently sped forward, vaulted, and ended up on my posterior. Later on that day, in my rush to vault two railings, I ended up slopilly catching my ankle on the last vault. The old adage of 'more haste, less speed' still holds true. If you want to traverse your environment true effectively, keep flow as a priority, not speed.

I need to learn French. Through no fault of their own, the Yamakasi's first language is French. A lot of the points and teachings they tried to instill had to be translated. Imagine how much better it would have been to get that information first hand...

We start together, we finish together. As well as that being the chant that kept us going through thick and thin, the message held true. The sense of unity in the group, both trainers and trainees, was truly something to behold.

The Yamakasi are some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. To speak to these guys, you forget that they've been training almost as long as I've been alive. I never was detected an air of superiority, no elitism. They weren't just there to pick up a paycheque, they were there to share their love for Parkour. Great guys!

Things that I thought were impossible, are possible. Your limits are normally self imposed. The movements these people were capable of were incredible, no doubt about it. However, the movements they taught me were things that I thought were out of my reach. By the end of the weekend, I'd managed (a very poor) palm spring. I rolled (very slowly) on a pavement. I attempted a wall run far higher than any previous effort. All in the space of two days. Who knows what will be possible tomorrow?

When flying from Toronto, use your air miles. If Nick hadn't used his air miles to get to London, it would have cost him thousands of dollars. Ouch.

Hostels are great places to stay. Cheap, convenient, and comfortable. Bargain!

When you think you can't go on any longer, go on a bit longer. No where was this more true than in the grueling warm up sessions. Having collapsed during a press up yet again, I felt like every last ounce of energy had been spent. With the aid and encouragement of one of the trainners, I discovered I still had a good couple of ounces left. THEN I was finished ;)

The importance of support and motivation. Although the teachings and example of the trainners was beneficial, where I really benefited was their support and motivation. That's what helped me to push past my previous boundaries, something I plan to take on to our group training.

London's a really big place. Sure, Victoria Coach station may look close to Southbank centre on a map. It isn't, especially when you're knackered after a day of hard training!

This may seem like a contradiction to an earlier thought, but take your time. Enjoy the ride. Don't rush to be the best.

Again. AGAIN... Forest is a scary person. He was the physical embodiment of the phrase 'If at first you don't suceed, try try try again.' And with Forest, trying again was not optional. Which may be difficult, but ultimately beneficial. I now try and imagine him at our training sessions. Would he let me get away with that half-hearted vault? I think not!

Always carry a basic first aid kit around. Allow me to stress that Parkour is no more dangerous than any other sport. But when accidents happen, it's wise to have some kit on hand to deal with the situation. If it hadn't been for Tracey and her bandagy thingy, limping for the coach at the end of the day on a sprained ankle would've been a lot harder! Thank you!

Yes, Rendezvous IV was an incredible event, that has shaped my training and my view of Parkour more than I can explain in a simple blog post. Roll on Rendezvous V....

Training Day 7 and Hotspot Photos

2009-09-06T20:33:00.005+01:00

ell, training day 7 (or is it 8?) happened today. Didn't post it on forums, was a spontaneous thing so just went with the flow.

Hoping to add these to the hotspot maps for a better visual of the areas we train. Photos of us training and videos will be turning up, just waiting for one of our team to sort out a decent camera which shouldn't take too long! Anyway, enjoy some visuals of our training areas! I won't go through explaining them all, time for you to use your imagination, get creative and realise whats possible!

Our London Rendezvous

2009-09-01T11:23:00.005+01:00

Get ready for one of the longest blog posts of my life...

Well, as some of you may be aware, Adrenaline, Mashimo and myself attended the two day Parkour Generations Rendezvous 4 event in London over the bank holiday weekend and damn was it an event to remember!

We left for the 6 hour trek to London on Friday morning and arrived later that evening. When we arrived, we were like 3 kids in a toy shop! Rails, walls, fences, benches, kerbs and architecture of every shape and size, everywhere! It was hundreds of square miles of playground!

After arriving we did a quick (or what we hoped would have been quick if we didn't get lost :P) detour to the Southbank Centre just to get a feel for the place before the event began on Saturday (and work out how to get there). There, we met Nick who had travelled from Toronto and was in same boat as us, completely new to the London area although he managed to find the Southbank Centre well before we did!

After wandering around the Southbank Centre we found our way to our accomodation and settled down.

Saturday morning came round, I woke up very early and had a nice fresh start as we all congregated outside our apartment before heading to the Southbank Centre, arriving about an hour before it started (can you tell we were eager?).

Not long after arriving and with no one else around, we had the pleasure of meeting Forrest (Warmup Instructor from Hell) and were soon joined by traceurs/traceusses from every corner of Britain and the Globe (Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Canada etc). 10am, the doors opened and we filed in to registration (basically to sign our lives away :P) where we were greeted by many of the original founders of Parkour and the Parkour Generations Team. It was like meeting celebrities for the first time in the flesh! I know that may sound sad but thats what it felt like to me!

After a long wait, we had a brief introduction from Dan and then we headed to the roof for the rooftop warmup! Sounds fun doesn't it? :P

It was the most agonizing but rewarding warmup session of our life! It really made us realise that our warmup sessions need to change a lot. With the hour of non-stop stretching/light to moderate exercise over we split into three groups and went our seperate ways to train. Adrenaline and I worked with Brian one of the Parkour Gen guys who was a really good laugh. He put enjoyment into Parkour and began our session with a cool-down in the 20 foot square, water fountain (you'll see it in some of the photos at www.parkourgenerations.com) which really felt good after the warmup.

Our sessions revolved around a combination of drills which help improve our coordination, balance and flow which was the major focus. Following this we focused on one or two specific movements so as not to do too much, too fast, but to progress gradually. Every so often then we would switch places with the other teams and go to different areas within a few minutes walk and continue our workout.

(I will skip to the end of the day now otherwise this blog post will be twice as large as it is now!)

At the end of the day following our cool-down session, despite being worked extremely hard and our muscles aching we still felt energized which really showed how well our training had been performed and structured; just the right balance.

We had the pleasure of then sitting down for a Q & A session with the Yamakasi/Majestic Force members and a short movie of Naoki Ishymara (I apologise if I spelt the name wrong) a traceur who was seriously injured recently (not a Parkour accident) and will spend the next 3 months in hospital as a result. Despite not knowing him personally, I still felt sad and a giant card was created that we all signed for him to help motivate him through these tough times. In fact, both days were dedicated to Naoki and I think that made us all train harder! Ganbatte Naoki!

The Q & A session was brilliant! So many questions and so many answers that all helped in some way! The few things that stood out to me were about Parkour in general and the community surrounding it. Parkour is about discovery of not only the environment but of yourself. Its not just exercise but a way of life in a sense. It involves the imagination, creativity and family as well as motivation. But also on a much more deeper level, it involves overcoming mental barriers and not just knowing what is motivating you, but the reason why it is motivating and the reason why you train and practise parkour.

Anyone who does Parkour or freerunning are part of a giant family and I felt that close bond of friendship with all of them and they emphasized that to us, that we need to support each other regardless of our views or our attitudes. Despite never meeting any of the Yamakasi/Majestic Force/Parkour Generations/attending Tracuers in my life, we all felt and treated each other like we had known each other for years. Even though I would say 60% of those in attendance couldn't speak fluent english or any english in some cases, we were still able to communicate.

Every instructor/founder had unique attributes and I could not put any single one of them above the other because they are all unique in their own way and you'll see below why I say that!

Stephane Vigroux stood out to me because of the advice he gave me following the Q & A session. I nervously approached him thinking that perhaps he would be offended in some way by talking to him without prior permission (stupid I know) but quietly he stood there and listened to what I had to say and gave me a short but clear answer to my problem which helped me on the second day and will in many training sessions to come. He was quite quiet, but his focus was amazing which I could see when jogging with him between spots.

Yann Hnuatra had a heart of gold. Full of life, energy and emotion; you felt you could really draw close to him.

Forrest, a friendly but intimidating guy who, if you really want to train hard, will definitely give you a run for your money. I swear he has some sort of military background because whilst he doesn't work you into the ground :P, he does expect effort, even if the person can't achieve a particular movement completely, that doesn't mean they shouldnt try and I really liked that about Forrest.

Toni Fisch (Have no idea how to spell his name but I apologise if its wrong) was awesome! Full of energy and always had a smile on his face or was laughing. I briefly did some training with him over the two days and really enjoyed it.

Johann Vigroux did the majority of my training and he made the effort to go around each individual and help them, he showed interest in each person despite there being about 20 to a group as did the rest of the instructors. Very similar to Stephane, for obvious reasons.

The parkour gen instructors such as blane, brian, will, scott?, chris and andi (sorry to the rest, I can't remember everyones names!!!) were all brilliant in their own way from making it enjoyable, to drilling you to perfection.

Francois and James were both brilliant as well, pushing everyone but each at their own pace making the training enjoyable and rewarding.

Dan Edwardes, whilst I didn't train with him personally because he spent the majority of his time coordinating, he is a hard-working individual who I show great respect to for his determination and effort that he puts into Parkour and the support of all those who practise it such as Naoki.

Kazuma, another focused individual who stood out to me because of that much like Stephane. Unfortunately I didn't have the pleasure of training with him a great deal, but no doubt I will meet him again.

Overall, the most physically and mentally rewarding two days of my life! I have learnt a lot in those two days that will help me and hopefully help those I may train in years to come, not only specific movements, but also training methods and how to evolve my training and also mentally as well. All I can say is, roll on the next rendezvous and french classes :P

Progression

2009-08-24T19:21:00.004+01:00

Hello all! Well Adrenaline and myself went for an unofficial run today briefly, keeping it light, focusing on our balance, quadruped movement and other foundational aspects of movement and training.

It led to an interesting but brief conversation regarding progression, confidence, success and of course, weakness.

The reason this came up is because I became disheartened and perhaps had some disbelief in myself triggered mainly by watching the progress of Adrenaline who managed to kong vault a picnic table several times with little trouble.

It was at this point he made me realise that progression is gradual as I have said and that we have only officially trained about 8 to 10 days in total and say in comparison to someone such as David Belle, Stephane Vigroux or Dan Edwardes who have trained for years, to expect such progression so quickly is unlikely and can lead to accidents or misjudgements.

He then helped me focus on the progress that had been made in just 8 to 10 days worth of training such as the fact that on day 1 I couldn't even monkey vault onto a low bar, wall or bench whatsoever but by day 10 it has become far more easier and to some degree so has vaulting the actual obstacle in question. If that amount of progress can be made in such a short space of time gradually without pushing myself well beyond my own capability he explained how much more capable will you be in 10 weeks, 10 months or even 10 years?

It certainly gave me some food for thought. I have to pace myself and realise that there is no such thing as failure in Parkour, only weaknesses and opportunities to learn and adapt. Whilst it takes to effort both physically and mentally to progress in whatever way possible, I shouldn't push myself to learn so quickly but rather focus on the basic, foundational principles, master them and progress slowly.

A quote I once heard really helped me understand this and allowed me to analyse myself:

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” - Henry Thoreau

It is not so much the fear of getting hurt but more so a lack of confidence and perhaps disbelief in myself which has led me to negatively judge myself and not put 100% effort into whatever it is I intend to achieve. This became clear after I attempted a wallrun. I wasn't fearful of hurting myself, but almost fearful of failure which is not a concept related to Parkour and also disbelief that I could not actually accomplish it when in actual fact I could and I eventually I did.

Parkour involves overcoming both mental and physical blocks. The tip from all this I have learned is to analyse your progression over a short space of time and realise how much you have actually achieved and not to analyse those around you. It has also helped me to focus on myself at any given point in time and really tell myself out loud or mentally that I can accomplish something if I put effort into doing so and not doubting myself based on my previous performance.

World Freerunning Championships

2009-08-22T23:31:00.012+01:00

A week ago, the second 'World Freerunning Championships' took place Eight thousand people filled Trafalgar Square to watch Freerunners from around the world compete for the title.

Prior to the event starting, I was in two minds about even watching the event. I'd heard a fair amount of negative talk; Was this just a blatant attempt to cash in on the latest craze? Or was this a way to promote understanding of a new movement? Was this going to do freerunning more harm than good? In the ends curiosity got the better of me, and so I settled down with a Chinese curry and turned on the television.

The opening seemed to be promising, with an impressive demo by the Urban Freeflow crew, where freerunning was described as moving 'seamlessly from A to B, with tricks thrown in,' which seemed like a pretty fair description. Despite wanting to shoot the 'hip-and-with-it' presenters within a few minutes, I was optimistic. However, that soon came to an abrupt end.

Within seconds of the competition starting, the first competitor had to leave the stage, injured. This pretty much set the scene for the competition: A collection of athletes, one as young as 16, pushing themselves too far. Runner after runner tried to pull of a succession of more and more complicated tricks, spinning more than a Russian gymnast. It sounded like a skateboarding contest, with the commentators shouting out names for tricks I've never heard of. It reminded me of a comment someone made about the dangers of competition in freerunning, noting how at the highest levels of competition in gymnastics, injuries are guaranteed as athletes push their bodies far beyond their capabilities. As several runners messed up their landings or otherwise injured themselves, I wondered how many of these would still be able to run in five years time? I took up Parkour because I wanted to improve my movements, not end up on crutches!

Additionally, as the commentators repeatedly warned the audience that this wasn't to be attempted at home and should be left to the professionals, I wondered how many parents would let their children even think of freerunning (or Parkour, due to their close association) after this.

Aside from this, I was really disappointed by the lack of flow on display. Considering the description of free running as moving seamlessly from A to B, there was very little seamless movement on show. Participants seemed to generally saunter around the stage from wall to wall, stopping every so often to do a triple somersault. Possibly this was due to the format of the competition, the pressure to achieve, or maybe the constrictions of a man made course that made fluidity so much harder.

There's no arguing that the acrobatics on display were amazing, and all the entrants had an incredibly high level of ability. However, I'm now decided that I'm certainly against competition in Parkour, and that things need to change a lot, more than I think possible, before I'd support a competition in freerunning. EZ (surely it should be pronounced 'Eee-Zed?' We are in the UK after all), who helped promote and organise the event said that such competition can only do freerunning good. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, and so I'll assume that EZ was sincere; the fact he's made a ton of cash out of freerunning, and the event highly promoted his organisation and website (which claims to be the "The OFFICIAL Worldwide Freerun/ Parkour Network" a claim made without any realistic basis) have been purely incidental; that the only entrants from the UK were from his crew a coincidence. But this competition didn't do freerunning any favours in my eyes.

In conclusion, I congratulate the participants on their incredible skill. But this wasn't freerunning, at least not the freerunning I fell in love with. Something that was meant to be about freedom of movement had been put into a cage; restricted to a man made stage, no more than a moneymaking, commercial event. Unless things change substantially in time for next years event, I'll give this a miss.

What are your thoughts on this years freerunning championship, or competition in general? Please leave your comments below, or discuss this further in our forums.

Training Day 6

2009-08-22T07:38:00.005+01:00

Date: 22/08/2009

Time: 10am till 3 or 4pm

Location: River/Harbour Bridge Area, Aberaeron

Attendees: TicTac, Adrenaline and Mashimo

Feel free to join us. More details on the forums!

http://ceredigionparkour.forummotion.com/forum.htm

Forums

2009-08-19T21:14:00.004+01:00

Whats a community without a forum? Since we don't actually have anywhere to hold major discussions without swamping the blog with comments, I have created a free (for the time being) forum for discussions. Again, it is a feature that will be improved and expanded on over time.

http://ceredigionparkour.forummotion.com/forum.htm

Be like water

2009-08-12T22:36:00.007+01:00

Between one thing and another, I ended up having to train alone today. Bring out the violins! So, after feeling sorry for myself for a while, I decided to try something new.

I've really enjoyed reading the articles on parkour.net (I highly recommend them to anyone with the desire to get to know Parkour a little better), and one of them stressed the importance of all round fitness. Our previous sessions have been, by and large, a case of finding obstacles, then experimenting with how to get overcome them. This time, I wanted to try and capture the real essence of Parkour (as I understand it anyway, please post corrections to the usual address): Getting from A to B. No detours, no second attempts, no hesitation. With this goal in mind, I stepped outside, into the miserable rain, and began.

I started with a run down the coastal path, for about 1.5miles. There didn't seem to be much opportunity for more efficient movement. The only thing I was able to do was to save a millionth of a second by vaulting a bridge rail.

Eventually, I reached the town, where I tried to find the quickest route through to the park. There were a couple of vaults by the harbours edge that kept me going, before I reached the spot we practice our wall runs. Without breaking step, I launched myself up the wall, grabbed hold of the top.... and floundered like a fish on a bike. It must have been hilarious for the family walking past. My feet scrambled uselessly against the wet surface as I failed to find the slightest bit of grip. With possibly a slight feeling of embarrassment, I dropped back down and took the more conventional route up the steps, before nonchalantly lazy vaulting a nearby rail, in a desperate attempt to salvage a shred of self-esteem.

Finally, I reached the park. Desperate to try some more vaults, I diverted slightly from my route to try and speed vault a bench, but in my tired state I ended up tapping it with my foot. I approached the bridge, the final opportunity for a vault. Fate had other plans however, and a group of bewildered (yet very pleasant) O.A.P.s conspired to obstruct my path. I left the park, thwarted, and began the run back home.

Conclusions? It was a very... interesting... experiment. The thought I set out with was to be like water: to flow through the environment, without hesitation. Looking back at the run, I feel like I accomplished that. I never stopped, never broke pace. When obstacles arose, I either flowed over them or, in the case of the attempted wall-run, splash against them before finding a path around. Which is what water does. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. My vaults may not have been at their best, but when you're trying to get from A to B, you don't have time to stop, catch your breath and evaluate the obstacle. You just have to go for it.

So, not the most exciting session ever, but a very important one IMO. Plus, with the news that we're heading to Rendezvous 4 (Stay posted for more information), I'm going to need to keep working on my fitness levels!

Until next time, be like water my friend

Parkour Rendezvous 4

2009-08-12T11:55:00.002+01:00

This is looking so so tempting! It's held yearly so it would suck to miss such an opportunity but it is at such short notice as well aaargh!!

http://www.parkourgenerations.com/rendezvous4.php

Simple Workout

2009-08-12T10:08:00.003+01:00

I can take no credit for this whatsoever as it is a simple regime designed by a member of American Parkour (www.americanparkour.com) and you can see the original article on their website and I encourage you to read it.

I have started doing this every morning now before work which is apparently the best time to do it. Its a good way to maintain a workout regime because its very simple to follow.

You could start with the APK Warmup also found on the website above which is as follows:

3 Sets of:

15 - 25 Squats
10 - 15 Pull-ups
10 - 15 Push-ups
5 Samson Stretches each side

If you don't want to start with the APK Warmup then you can try out this Simple Workout routine:

Warmup Stretch #1 - 25x Tai-Chi Twists
Stand, feet shoulder width apart. Relax arms by sides. Keep looking straight ahead. Rotate your waist left and allow your arms to swing and slap your hands, one on your stomach and one on your lower back as your arms swing around. You will have to rotate your waist fairly powerfully to do this. Rotate the other way and repeat. Keep looking straight ahead throughout this movement as it stretches your spine.

Warmup Stretch #2 - 2x Downward Dog (Yoga)
Stand, feet shoulder width apart. Place hands on ground directly in front of your feet and walk your feet backwards forming a triangle shape with your butt being the highest point. Your arms should be locked out in front of you and bear some weight. You should feel your hamstrings stretch (if you don't try keeping your feet flat to the floor. Hold each repetition for 5 deep breaths.

Movement #1 - 15x Body Squats
Stand, feet shoulder width apart. Point your arms straight out in front of you, palms facing down, flat. Lower to a 90 degree angle with your legs, then pull your arms into your shoulders and then rotate them so they are behind you with palms facing up. As you raise back up, swing your arms back in front of you. Breathe in as you go down, out as you come up.

Movement #2 - 5x Circle Push Ups
Stand, feet 2x shoulder width apart. Fall forward with your arms stretched out until you catch yourself and then move your hands a couple of inches further forward. This is the start position. Now, like a push-up, bend your arms so your forearms are coming into contact with the ground then 'pull' against the ground moving your shoulders forward. You should be parallel with the ground. Then reverse it and repeat. Breathe out going forwards and in coming back.

Movement #3 - 3x Bridges
Lie flat on your back with your arms stretched out behind above your head, palms facing up. Bend your elbows so your hands are down by your ears with palms flat on the ground. From here, push yourself up so only your hands and feet are touching the ground and hold for 3 deep breaths and as high as you can so you are almost parallel with the floor.

Movement #4 - 2x Hanging
Find a bar or ledge and from it, arms loose, as long as you can. When you finish the first repetition wait 30 seconds and then repeat.

Cool Down Stretches #5 - 3 Sets of each...

Stretch #1 - 10x Arm Circles
Stand, feet shoulder width apart. Hold arms out straight and level with your shoulders either side of you so you form a crucifix type position. Then rotate each arm in big circle movements keeping them straight.

Stretch #2 - 10 Second Toe Touch
Stand, feet shoulder width apart or further if needed. Bend down arms stretched out and touch your toes and hold for 10 seconds.

Stretch #3 - 1x Side Splits
Stand, then spread feet as out as far as they can go (doing the splits) whilst keeping your Torso and upper body completely upright. Then slowly come out of it and repeat.

Add more squats, push-ups and breathes where appropriate each week.

So im going to keep trying that out and i'll see how it goes!

Training Day 5

2009-08-10T10:08:00.004+01:00

Ok, in the process of arranging training day 5 for this week. Usual spots; My goals for this session are to improve my monkey and lazy vaults and may even attempt a kong vault after getting a few tips from a more experienced team of traceurs. Need major work on the rolls, something just isn't quite right and I am taking far more impact than I should be.

So the overall goal is to 'perfect' the movements and hopefully learn a new one in the process and overcome yet more fears.

On slightly more off topic subjects, noticed our link rankings in google are extremely high when you search for 'ceredigion parkour', 'west wales parkour', 'wales parkour', 'aberaeron parkour' and hopefully 'dyfed parkour' shortly.

Got in contact with an old member of Parkour Cymru, Gaz, so aiming to have our first official jam in Cardiff or maybe Swansea and team up with some of the veterans.

Advertising CPK

2009-08-09T07:52:00.003+01:00

Well in an effort to advertise Parkour in Ceredigion I have created profiles on Twitter:

WalesParkour

And...

Ceredigion Parkour on Facebook

Hopefully we can draw in some people and really make ourselves known in the local community. Benefits from that include not having any trouble from security services not that there are many.

Training Day 4

2009-08-08T12:28:00.005+01:00

Fourth day of training is upon us. Usual spots, more photos and videos coming. Although haven't even edited the last set so stay tuned from them. Going to get a couple of still shots up of all of us as well!

Heres two still shots of places we can focus on several movements.

Training Achievements

2009-08-07T17:21:00.004+01:00

The session went absolutely fantastic! These are a few shots of myself performing my first monkey vault over a waist/stomach high rail as well as some lazy vaults and small precisions! All in all, one of the best training sessions yet! What was so great as well about it was that we all set some sort of small goal for the day and for mine, it wasn't small in my mind but I still managed to accomplish it.

Training Day 3

2009-08-07T09:00:00.005+01:00

The third official day of training is upon us! Except plenty of photos and probably some videos as well today. Adrenaline and myself will definitely be there, not sure about Mashimo yet. I managed to video some precision jumps I was doing yesterday and one or two rolls and its really helped me see where I need to improve to gain that 'efficiency' in my movement.

I'd recommend it to anyone out there training on your own or with a group; film yourself doing various movements then compare it to basic principles of that specific movement and some of the more trained and experienced members of Parkour and see what adjustments you need to make because it's helped me out already.

Hoping this will be an intense session so we'll keep you all posted.

David Belle Interview

2009-08-05T13:42:00.005+01:00

Check out this interview with David Belle I found on AMERICAN PARKOUR . The guy's fascinating, and has deepened my understanding of what I want to achieve from Parkour. Considering TicTac's recent comments on goal setting, David's comments really hit the mark. He goes on to consider the nature of fear, risk, 'winning,' martial arts, and his father's guidance.

WATCH THE VIDEO!

"Keep moving"

Training Day?

2009-08-05T11:21:00.005+01:00

Well, no fixed date as of yet for training day 3, so any suggestions? I'm recovering from my severe beating I took from our last session thats for sure :P It taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of warming up and cooling down. I'cant overemphasize that enough but spend a good 20 to 30 minutes at least regardless of whether or not it feels boring or just worthless.

EDIT: Ok, training around mid-day tomorrow, then a session on saturday all being well.

A Second Opinion

2009-08-04T11:33:00.007+01:00

Maybe I'm just foolishly optimistic, but I felt that the second training session went well.
It's true, our precision jumps were a bit sloppy to begin with, but I was impressed with the team's ability to analyse the jumps, see where the problem lay, and correct it. After a few attempts I felt the standard of jumping improved, especially considering the less than favourable conditions. At least until I screwed up my landing and hurt my ankle. Hey, no pain no gain!

As TicTac described in his comment, we then made our way to the harbor, trying out various techniques along the way.
Kudos goes to Mashimo; as well as the 10 ft jump TicTac described (which Mashimo was also the first to scramble up), he managed an impressive monkey vault over a wall that had me beat.
Bonus points go to TicTac; his quadrupedal movement over the bridge hand rail really impressed me.

After reaching the end of the harbour and considering the pros and cons of trespassing on a closed off section of the harbor, we had a great run back to the car, taking it in turns to take the lead. It was really fun, seeing how different members got past different obstacles, whilst thinking on their feet.

All in all, I thought it was a good session, both challenging and rewarding. My knees and ankle may be sore, but there's a smile on my face.

Training Day 2

2009-08-03T16:06:00.001+01:00

Ok, we are all set! Our second training day will begin this evening at 6.30pm. It's going to be interesting with the wet weather! Definitely going to have to work on our confidence levels and just practicing small movements. After all, what good is our training if we can only do it in dry conditions?

Mind over matter

2009-08-03T10:49:00.003+01:00

Needed to clear my head a bit this morning so headed down to the usual place. After watching a couple of videos of Stephane Vigoroux, Dan Edwardes and Kazuma (Parkour Generations) I realised the need to shut your mind off to whats around you and focus on the obstacle in front of you.

This being only the third day I have trained I have already noticed a marked improvement in my rolls and precision jumps. A major step towards doing this was an intense warm up session involving stretches and muscle building exercises followed by light pk movements to become more aware and sensitive to what is around you.

Even managed to do quadrepedal movement half way across a bridge rail which is a major improvement. A lot of it comes down to building confidence in your mind then focus alongwith perfect breathing. You find your more efficient with the movements then.

No breakthroughs on vaults, but it'll come in time I guess.

One small step for man...

2009-08-01T17:50:00.008+01:00

Team member Adrenaline Fueled checking in...

As avid readers of the blog will be aware, yesterday, August 1st, was the day that TicTac had arranged to be the first official session of the Ceredigion Parkour team. Anticipation was high, and my dreams for the past few nights were full of misjudged vaults and failed landings. However, after TicTac had filled me in on his scouting expedition (see the earlier blog posts), I was feeling a little more confident as we headed down.

We started off with some basic precision jumps, getting the hang of the proper technique. After I felt comfortable with my balance, I tried out jumping barefoot. I'd certainly recommend this as a way to improve your landings: when you mess up, you know about it!
After that we practiced our rolls, before trying out some vaults, including the scarier-than-it-looks monkey vault.

Sure, we didn't redefine the boundaries of parkour, but it was a great start. At it's most basic level, Parkour is about overcoming obstacles, and no obstacles are bigger than those we have in our own minds. As well as the more obvious exercise in physical motion, I found the experience to be mentally refreshing in several different ways.
Although I've never considered myself to be shy, I've never enjoyed making an 'idiot' of myself in public. It was a reasonably quiet day, but to begin with I was acutely aware of anybody who passed by in the vicinity, feeling as if I didn't have the right to be there. The effect on my performance was obvious, and I became distracted and nervous whenever I thought someone was looking at me. I'd either make mistakes or, worse still, not even attempt a jump. However, thanks to the example of my teammates, I gradually became more comfortable, and by the end of the session I felt comfortable enough to practice in the full glare of the public, even if it did involve making an idiot of myself ;)
It was really interesting to see how after a while, we began to see new ways of interacting with an environment which we were all already familiar with. Paths, walls and railings that I had never even noticed before were transformed into opportunities. I believe that in life we spend so much time looking without seeing, so it was a refreshment to experience seeing the world through new eyes.
Another mental barrier that had to be overcome were my irrational doubts. I knew that I was more than capable of doing a monkey vault, but to physically commit to one proved harder. Having built up my confidence on some easier vaults, I had to push aside my fear of failure and just go for it. As expected, I survived.

So, all in all, a fantastic first day. I felt like I'd accomplished something, as well as having had a damn good time. Roll on session numero 2!

Hotspots and Training Areas

2009-07-31T12:28:00.000+01:00

Well for the benefit of everyone I thought it would be an idea to create a personal google map showing some of the spots and training areas around Ceredigion alongwith pictures, obstacle/surface info etc so for anyone new to this area or new to Parkour you can easily find a place to train without having to search for it. I'll be adding and expanding it as time goes on. If you have any spots/pictures to add to the map let me know!

The link: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=100286409635643447009.00046ffdf0725ae55c0f6&z=14

Training Ground

2009-07-31T07:33:00.000+01:00

I went on a discovery expedition yesterday, to see what places around Aberaeron that would be great for training and trust me, Aberaeron is not short of options! Take a look at some of the pics below of training areas that are out of the way, so your not right in the public eye.

Day One - 1st August 2009

2009-07-30T12:08:00.000+01:00

Well, it's all set! This coming Saturday will be our first day training as a team! We are all excited but nervous at the same time, especially for me personally since I am just getting back into Parkour after being out-of-action for some time.

All being well we'll be training in Aberaeron so if you see us...... try to keep up ;) We'll keep you all posted on how the day goes, because it is a landmark for all of us!

Ready, Steady, Go!

2009-07-30T11:47:00.001+01:00

First of all, I would like to say, Hello and welcome!

Our aim and hope is that Ceredigion (West Wales) Parkour (CPK) can begin to expand and grow, helping all people, regardless of race, age, physical condition or sex come to a knowledge of Parkour and get something out of it.

As time goes by we will expand this blog and sort out a website to get some publicity and draw in more and more interest as time goes by.