APK's Overcoming Fear Contest - Perspective Hoodie Giveaway

Trev Perspective Hoodie

We ran a contest to give away one of our new Perspective Hoodies. The results are amazingly inspiring! Congrats to the winner - Kyle Clayton who wrote a poem that captures the essence of getting over fear in parkour pretty well!Clayton will receive a free Perspectives Hoodie for his entry. Because all the entries are so inspiring, every person who entered this will get a coupon for APK gear - we'd be proud to have any of you repping APK! Read more to see all the entries and get details of the coupon!

Since all the entries were so inspiring, we'd like you all to rep APK. We're going to do a one-time coupon only for people listed in this post, it is good for your entire order, but you must order only APK branded gear as we cannot give that high of a discount of any product that is not made by APK. If you entered this contest, use coupon code "OVERCAME" for 25% off. Coupon is good for 1 week, no exceptions to these terms. Thanks!

Tell us about a time you overcame your fears in training - one person will win our new super-limited edition hoodie "Perspective" http://bit.ly/APK_Perspective

Photo: Tell us about a time you overcame your fears in training - one person will win our new super-limited edition hoodie "Perspective" <a href=

Derek Zoock Still being new to the sport, but wanting to try something new, I wanted to do a flip off a waist high box at the gym. I was so afraid of messing up. but with the coaching of fellow traceurs, I was able to do it! And now I'm completely fine doing it.

Thursday at 4:11pm · · 2
Joseph Thejumpingbean Unruh Today! I just did my very first backflip after days of frustration and hours and hours of trying to over come the mental barrier. Thanks to one of APKs tutorials!

Thursday at 4:11pm · · 1
Joshua Nichols haha he beat me to it^
but same here, this past week I landed my first backflip after months of trying to convince my body to rotate backwards.

Thursday at 4:14pm · · 1
Jimmy Davidson i did a little today =] there is this sketchy precision to this 2in by 4 in wood thing pretty high up and just at the max of my precision. I KNEW i could do it, but that little hint of "well i could .. not make it" was in my mind. After some cleared thinking and some progression jumps i got the precision. =D Feels good man.

Thursday at 4:14pm · · 1
Mg Weible when i was training in daytona i overcame my fear of heights when i did a cat to cat 20 feet above the ground, knowing if i didnt land it i wouldnt be able to catch my self mid fall...is that hoodie for sale?

Thursday at 4:14pm ·
Libby Wallace rode bike across a bridge and I'm deathly afraid of heights,) Overcame the fear just long enough to get safely across twice!!

Thursday at 4:15pm ·
Chris Maher Fear of falling (not so much heights) when I did hand stand on 20 foot connected outdoor 2x4 wood awning.

Thursday at 4:18pm ·
Kimberly Heuer I was training on my own, trying to get a kong down outside. In a gym I was just fine, but doing it outside scared me to death. So, after about 15 minutes of chickening out, I realized that I knew I could do it, I just had to ignore the fear. Lo and behold! A Kong!

Thursday at 4:20pm ·
Liam Hamon Doing supermans over this slab. Scared me forever after I hit my head on it but eventually overcame that and got it.

Thursday at 4:21pm ·
Gabe King I was afraid to do a double gong over a table an kept getting hurt because of my hesitation but when I finally went with the flow it was easy!

Thursday at 4:21pm ·
Lindsey Marr On Monday at the warrior lab we were working on precision jumps from the 4 foot box to the 3 foot box. The jump was not that far, but after my knee injury in January (and not being able to train for 4 months) landings still scare me. Especially on heights! So after a few minutes my mind was yelling at me to go, but my body froze. I got down to shake it off, then a few minutes later got back up and was just as scary. I wanted to give up and not do it, but the support of my teacher Christopher Wilczewski and the fellow students gave me the courage to do it. I landed successfully and was able to do the precision a few more times that day. I was not only impressed by myself, but impressed by how much the support of others help me be successful in the movement.

Thursday at 4:24pm · Edited ·
Dakota Cantwell I have issues with precision jumps. But after a while I realized that if I didn't think, but instead I just pushed through and did it my training kicked in and now I land them almost every time.

Thursday at 4:23pm · · 1
Marshall Byrd I've "technically" been partaking in parkour for nearly a decade, but when I was younger I had no idea it had a name, nor did I realize that I was doing something outside of just having fun. I was mainly just running through the woods, climbing and jumping over various obstacles that large storms had left in their wake. Even after SO long I had never, EVER wanted to do any sort of tricking on a hard surface. The constant fear of it just being a hard surface wouldn't even allow me to jump down and do a simple roll across it. After five or so years of knowing the practice's name and with the support of my new group of friends and fellow runners, mind you I had always been a solo trainer before, I was finally able to attempt something onto concrete. I've only been with this group for the past few months, but with their support I've been able to conquer just about every fear I've had of hard surface training. I believe I was standing on that slab for nearly twenty minutes, jumping up and down like an idiot without even a hint of any tuck or trick, before finally just going for it and landing on my hands and knees. But I had done it, without serious injury, and the rush it gave me has allowed my training to go further in urban environments. Fear may be something you have to conquer on your own, but I believe that with good friends and proper guidance, anything you're afraid of can be overcome.

Thursday at 4:25pm ·
Kenneth Lewis I was at a Jam in boston and we were at the harbor or some sort. And I wanted to do a side flip down to a rock. Now the only problem was to my left there was a 15 or 20 foot drop and then on my right was some bars and water that went down to the drop. My legs were shaking like crazy I was thinking to myself "I can do this I can do this." my friends were rooting for me. Then I just went for it. I landed the side flip really low.. So I wasn't really happy with that. So I did it again and landed perfectly. Im afraid of heights so it was really... Scary.

Thursday at 4:25pm ·
Jereme Themonkey Reed there was a somewhat decent sized gap between my friends roof and garage and i wanted to sideflip over it i went on grown and stuck the flip 15 times on ground then tried on roof

Thursday at 4:25pm ·
Scott Berson Kong to precision used to scare the crap outta me- just work on it with progression. Started with short distances, short objects, moved up..further up...progression is the watchword, always.

Thursday at 4:29pm ·
Patrick Ford Out of all the fears I've had while training, the biggest fear of them all would have to be in the beginning, I was afraid to do a backflip. Every time I got my head around doing it, I would go for it and either hesitate and stop, or bail out. I never had a gym to go to, so everything I know I learned through youtube videos, or self determination to do it. So pretty much, I said to myself one day I did something I had never tried before, just doing it, not thinking about it, not getting in the zone, just doing it. And I think Nike actually makes a good point with that slogan, because honestly, it worked. I landed on my knees but I had the rotation. That was the biggest fear, because well it was the first one, and I didn't know how to overcome, and face them until that point. Just do it.

Thursday at 4:35pm ·
Ian William I had been living in St. George, Utah for months. I had left my family and training group behind for the chance to experience more traveling and training. During my time there, I had come across a few things that I had mental blocks over. Then, one week a few of my old training friends from Arizona decided to come to St. George to train with me. They had progressed so much, and with that and the motivation from my friends being there, I accomplished literally every mental block I had built up on my own. That day ended up being one of the best days of my life.

Thursday at 4:36pm ·
Thomas Christopher Hoag My biggest obstacle was, and is again, starting. I no longer care about the injuries I have sustained throughout my life and seek to remove all the old mental baggage and finally be truly human and free!

Thursday at 4:36pm ·
Robert Ward When I was first starting out in parkour anything with a kong or dash vault scared the crap outta me. So one day I said "Screw it I'm goin for it" and successfully nailed both.

Thursday at 4:38pm ·
River Purkiser I was outside training an i have never done a cast away but i was at the beach so i just went for an landed it first try! That was the first time ive ever done anything without trying it in the gym first!!

Thursday at 4:38pm ·
Elijah Blue Chimner i was doing some dives over some pads and i wanted to do it out of a window but all my windows are kinda high, so i just kept doing it over some pads untill i knew i could do it out of a window, scared the crap outta me, but i did it.

Thursday at 4:38pm ·
Laura Boehme Before I even knew about parkour/freerunning, I did gymnastics and cheerleading so I was pretty comfortable with flipping. Because of this, my neighbor (who would later be the one to get me into parkour) challenged me to learn wall flips. I decided to do it with no instruction because it couldn't be much different than a back flip right? Wrong. I went to the gymnastics gym I worked at, and proceeded to flip onto my face repeatedly. From then on, wall flips terrified me. I did a few on a trampoline a couple years ago but basically had mini panic attacks mid air. Finally, last week, I got my new pair of shoes that actually had some grip and decided it was high time to learn my wall flip. Several times chickening out and putting on "The Final Countdown" later, I did my wall flip for the first time successfully. I did 3 total. They weren't that pretty but I got over the fear! :) Now I have to work on getting the technique down!

Thursday at 4:38pm · · 1
Tnz Austin ‎5 Meters down Catleap and a flood down there, the gap was aprx 3 Meters wide... I stood 3hrs there before i jumped... And i have to say.. I wont do it again that was the ugliest shit i ever been trough!

Thursday at 4:42pm ·
Jc Riddle II A wise man once said, "Money is a great tool, but a terrible master."
This statement hit home one day with my fears. I decided that letting my fear tell me I couldn't make the jump; or walk on such thin a branch at such a height. I I took control of the fear; and since then. I have been doing much better in my training.

Thursday at 4:44pm ·
Dan Vollans I was working on double back flyaways on rings and didn't fully commit (without a mat ... I know) and only performed a little over a single and landed with my hands outstretched behind me. I dislocated multiple carpal bones and tore 90% of the ligaments connecting the rest. 6 Titanium screws and 4 3-inch pins later:

Semi NSFW image: https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/523996_742811512677_2015564361_n.jpg

There was an equally long cut on the bottom where my carpal tunnel release surgery was. I was out of commission for almost 4 months. I have now started working out again at my parkour gym, but the rings are always scary to look at.

Just in the past two weeks I have gotten the courage to start working on exercises with them again. I'm nowhere near trying any fancy skills on them, as holding my body weight is still tough on my hand. Everyday I have to remind myself of how far I've had to come from my injury and how far I still have to go; it's a struggle.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/523996_742811512677_2015564361_n.jpg
sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net

Thursday at 4:44pm · · 1 ·
Greg Gordon just yesterday i got scoot fullls i was rly scared and the second one i went for i threw a 540 flop lol so i was scared to do it but i had to right after and got it

Thursday at 4:50pm · · 1
Nathaniel Natty Stewart Mine not be really epic, but being new-ish to parkour, I was working with one of my friends who was really good. And he challenged me to do a dash vault. The idea of it scared me but I did it anyways and I can do dash vaults now. But I still hate them. But for a better overcoming of fear, hopefully. I'm going to a gym later this week where I will hopefully learn to do a front flip on the ground (and land it to some extent), wish me luck.

Thursday at 5:00pm · · 1
Brian Ritenour I have been working up to double longs for months now and I can do them super far in the gym but as soon as I got outside they just became insanly scary. So on day I got all my closest friends together to the park called kidskingdom my fav out door training spot. Well with everyone's motivation and a little self reliance I was able to hit the first kong and flew through the air around 5' with nit much time to think I hit the second one hands dead center of the 5" concrete platform and flew to my feet and ran out of it I was so excited I finally got them. Lol I couldn't stop doing them after that :)

Thursday at 5:02pm · · 2
Chris Smith A couple of months ago, I finally did this double kong that was about 5 maybe 5 1/2 feet long. I had been looking at it for at least a few months. I came near to trying it a few times before. One time I was about to do it and we got kicked out right then. One day me and my friends were there, I popped in my headphones and go pumped up and finally tried it. It took me forever. I got it almost effortlessly. I knew I had it, but it was super scary because it was concrete walls and pretty intimidating. Everybody was like "OHHHHHHHH!!!!!" It was amazing. I can do it without thinking too much now.

Thursday at 5:03pm · · 1
Joey Stone Well I learned how to jump over a chair. I was pretty scared about that. But I did it.

Thursday at 5:05pm · · 1
Brandon Ortiz rail precisions, nuff said...lol

Thursday at 5:16pm · · 1
Michael Jones first sideflip on concrete.. I had mastered it off pretty much anything, and I was so nervous, but in the end it was easy

Thursday at 5:42pm · · 1
Nathan Nix I went to train in Nashville one year, and I tried my very first tunnel flip ever. I threw it off of a two foot prop. I landed on sandy dirt and slipped, twisting and breaking my foot.

One year later, I came back to Nashville and landed my first tunnel flip. We got it on video. I felt sick from the fear and adrenaline, but at the same time I never felt better in my whole life. Nothing that I've ever done has topped that moment.

Thursday at 5:47pm ·
Bayley Webb pretty much all precisions and doing parkour/climbing at height.

Thursday at 5:57pm · · 1
Jacob ParkourKid Keys this happened recently actually. 2 days ago to be exact. this was the largest cat leap i have ever done. 14 feet with a run up. this sounds simple, but it was over stairs with a 7 foot drop. it actually took me several run ups to stops, and just looking down into the drop. it was the scariest thing i have done thus far. after realizing it was only perspective, i ran and leaped. flew through the air, grabbed the ledge, and pulled myself up victorious. the hardest thing i had to overcome was the fear of bouncing back, but i did and i made it. the feeling afterward was one of adrenaline, amazement, and knowing this is one more victory under my belt.

Thursday at 6:00pm ·
Casey Wilson I was doing a castaway for the first time outside and I finally overcame my fears and did it

Thursday at 6:09pm ·
Johnny Ho well, the first time i tried to do a dash, i was totally scared of not making it over the waist high wall. my traceur friends told me it'll be fine, so i tried it. in the end, i got over it and it was fun for me. another time, i wanted to try and kash over a lunch table long ways. it looked pretty scary since i had to dive towards the middle of the table to be able to clear it. it took about 10 minutes before i could muster up my nerves to even try. when i did try it though, i almost missed the edge of the table, but thank god that i completed it without slipping off and landing on my butt. the time where i wanted to learn a front flip was the toughest time of all. i've always tried it on a mat and i always landed on my butt. then one day, i met a tricker who taught me what to do. then, i tried and i landed on my butt. but then, i kept on trying and then i finally landed, but it wasn't perfect. so i kept practicing it and now i'm fairly good at it. it was the same with side flips, just that i landed on my side instead of my butt. but oh well, practice makes perfect :)

Thursday at 6:14pm ·
Daniel Loguinov There was a mega cat leap from a rock to a wall. Bout 10ft. I was scared that I'd ram into the wall, but I just gave it 100% and land the perfect cat grab. Felt amazing.

Thursday at 6:24pm ·
Kyle Clayton Recently I was working up to a cat leap that was a bit intimidating, and afterwards I went back through my thought process and my emotional state at the time, and wrote this poem about it. (Hopefully a poem can count for my entry:)

The Battle

My way is clear,
yet held by an unknown force I remain
pacing in agitation,
uncertainty? no.
This is fear.

Fear unjustified,
I make the leap and grasp the edge,
but only in my mind's eye,
it is enough.
My resolve solidified.

A battle within,
a culmination of emotion,
my heart screams for relief,
I know will come,
but only if I take the leap.

My heart beats fast,
yet within my mind a door closes,
the battle dies down,
I am one.
Alone at last...

No time left,
the ground falls away beneath,
yet all is right.
In midair, freedom,
flight beyond regret.

fear and gravity overcome,
my fingers grip the ledge,
peace at last,
the struggle over,
another battle won.

Thursday at 6:28pm · · 1
Devin Stavert everyone has a million stories and this is just one of mine. My freerunning training began before I even practiced it. My training began in my backyard on my trampoline. With a limited budget I wanted to get proffessional height.. So I put a 12ft trampoline bought off kijiji on my second storey deck.. My idea - to gainer from the trampoline on the deck to one down below. I waited for that perfect day, nice weather, no distractions, landed new tricks, confidence was high, believed that I could do it, camera was rolling, and had someone watching me. I jumped at the count of three with total commitment. :) landed. I was right I could do it.

Thursday at 7:26pm ·
Kyle Morris Alright here goes, I've always had such a huge mental wall for back flips. I can land punch fronts like a champ but back flips seemed so unnatural and I could just never bring myself to do them. I know a lot of people feel the same way I do and have a difficult time breaking down the wall. So one day of training I was feeling really bummed out because I wasn't hitting my side flips right and there was hesitation in my legs on my precisions and tic tacs. So I decided for whatever reason to attempt a back flip well needless to say I didn't land it and banged up my shoulder pretty bad. I climbed back up to the ledge I was using and stood there and literally picture a huge brick wall in my head and I just couldn't do it. So I went home bummed out and watched some tutorials by some I mean at least 50, so I go out again mentally prepared and just break down and still can't do it. So a few days later I stumble up this parkour in nature video with different species of animals doing a lot of moves that we have adapted to parkour and in this video is a little monkey and he nails a perfect back tuck and I say to myself "Hell if a monkey can do it than I can too!" So then I go out stand on that ledge put all my focus onto an object in front of me and think of that little monkey and I jump as high as I can, tuck my knees tight into my chest, rotate backwards, and nail it perfectly! I mean this thing was olympian good, I killed it I was so excited and proud of myself and that little monkey. Parkour has given me more than just confidence to do tricks but confidence in just life in general.

Thursday at 8:05pm ·
Alan Michael Müller The first time I bailed on a vault;Went to Kong Vault over a 4'6" banister and hooked my feet on the bar. Hit the floor so steep and hard,it was straight out of a cartoon. I threw my hands out to catch the fall and ended up hitting myself so hard in the chest to save my face,I couldn't breathe. When I came to,I laughed...and laughed...and laughed. By the way,the hoodie is gorgeous and I would wear it every time I PK,it would be only for PK.

Thursday at 8:30pm ·
Jake Tuthill When i tried, and succeeded, doing the same move in the same place where i previously broke my neck!

Thursday at 10:56pm ·
Naveen Soni i was jump from 2nd floor when dog running behind me to bite me...i was continue sly running around 5 min and finely go on building and thank god....i was on 2nd floor ....and thanks to David Bella so that i remind how jump nicely like cat a cat to bend your knees and rolling the body immediately unfold knees immediately.

Yesterday at 12:30am ·
Raul Piscoya I went to Monterey last sunday.
Looked at this cat from this ledge to a small tower out in the sea this time is was high tide so there was water and its a pretty high drop.
I thought about it a lot got down the wall and practice my precision jumps to cat in the back then headed back looked at it i can feel the fear or wat it i fall and hit that rock the water unveiled. Lots of thoughts came to mind hahaha but i trusted my body and i knew ive trained enough to bail took the leap of faith and made it nicely :) hoped on and turned around and thought for one sec and said i could precision back.... and jumped in mid air i was like crap is a lil far hahahaha but landed a lil flat footed but super happy everyone was like WTF? cuz i raised the bar for everyone else to try to conquer the fear of jumping back to the ledge now hahaha

Yesterday at 1:26am ·
Raul Piscoya http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=437235469652500&set=a.124045330971517.9310.100000981512012&type=3&theater

WUT TIME IZ IT???
NOT SCARED NO MORE!!! :D

ADVENTURE TIME!!! The world is my playground. Meeting amazing people on this jou...See More

By: Raul Piscoya

Yesterday at 1:27am · ·
Brandon Busby I would like to say getting over my fear of backflips but they still dont sit right with me yet

Yesterday at 1:34am ·
Jesus Delgado I have been learning and practicing parkour/freerunning for about two years now. Up until a few months ago, I was completely scared of doing flips. One day, I decided that I shouldn't let the fear stop me from learning to flip, and so I attempted the backflip - the flip that seemed most easily achievable for me. I'm not going to say I landed it on my first try - far from it in fact - I belly flopped. Luckily, I had some padding to cushion the fall. After much practice and repetition (about 1 month), I finally began landing on my feet. But alas, I was still scared of performing a backflip outside, without cushion. Just two days ago, I overcame my fear again. This time, I did a backflip outside. And I know that it doesn't end there. There will be more fear in the near future, but at least now I know how to overcome it.

Yesterday at 4:57am ·

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