American Parkour

Hey guys, I'm Magic, My real name is Cody and I'm 16. I want to start parkouring but I think that my weight and height will interfere. I'm 6 foot 115-120 lbs. Very skinny. So what I'm asking from you guys is your feedback on these questions:
1) Do you think it will interfere
2) any sites/videos on training before I go out and do parkour.

Thanks in advance

Magic

Welcome, from all of us at APK! :) So you want to start parkour eh? Good call. Heres the answers to your questions:

1) no, that shouldnt be a problem. Are you lanky? It really shouldnt matter, but your going to want to build up muscle, and that comes over time. I'm 5'9" 185 lbs and i still do well :)

2) search around youtube. My insipring videos?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KSr1pozm6Y


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjco3boDZ7A

Lastly, dont give up. Parkour is a difficult sport, and it takes time. Dont get frustrated, and be safe out there. Hope I helped! :)

Thanks for your answers. I know parkour is very hard to do. I went to a local trampoline place and tried to get all my precision jumps down and its harder than it looks  ::)

Thanks for the welcome

no problem man, no problem at all. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or post them here, we'd be happy to answer your questions and give you advice

Ya, one more since your here ;D

What do you recommend training on? like my friends go train on tramps but I don't have one :(

Sure. I train on really anything. Its hard to decipher what to train on, because it all depends. If your training for flips? then trampoline may be your best bet. Personally, i train at my frequent spots around my town, and I make up different training routines, such as balance training, precision training, etc. I also go to my local gymnastics gym for open gym nights every weekend, and that helps too. Check around your town for a gymnastics gym, because they really do help, and theres alot you can learn there too, and alot of space and cushioning to try new things. Im perfecting my palmflip and wallspins tonight, actually :)

Thanks, I will have to go see if there is a gym around where I live. Probably is really close and I just don't know about it. Good luck on your perfecting, and thanks again.

If anyone else wants to post about my questions, you can.

no problem, anytime.

Don't worry about your height/weight. In fact, that combo can be an advantage for many moves. Don't try to mimic exactly what others are doing. With different weights, heights, proportions, and physical limitations, it's up to each individual to figure out what does and does not work.

When starting out, I recommend picking a simple obstacle and exploring all the possible movements. Use your right foot first, left foot, hands, no hands. Approach it head on, from angles, or even backwards. Doing this will open your eyes to new possibilities for moving. You'll start to see training possibilities in mundane objects, instead of always seeking the perfect obstacle.

Thank for the help, I know what you mean by the proportions of people and everything. Thanks

LMFAO
Not to be a complete *******, but the only hard thing about parkour is the cardio. Practically anyone who gets physical exercise can do it. That's why it's so popular (in my opinion).

I'm not here completely to degrade though.
Most people forget some of the inner meaning. It's not about going on youtube a learning by watching tutorials. I bet anyone who pays attention can learn just about everything most traceurs do by watching one video of a guy doing it in a city or something.
Shying away from the philosophical, which most don't care about, it's all about the muscle up. That and learning how to roll. Then, you're pretty much able to do everything there is.

condition your ankles. It's a crucial joint for freerunning

YEAH! i just started conditioning, and can definitely feel it

hahaha Thats how i was when i first started seriously training, but 4 months later i've gained 20lb(most of which is muscle). at least once a week, train fer at least 3hr and start with an hour of conditioning exercises and end with an hour of conditioning exercises. the purpose being a warm-up/cool-down as well as being conditioning.

run free, run fast, run safely, and flow like water my brother

Doing pull ups will help u get alot of strength for parkour, but u also get much of the muscle from just doing it, run around climb things vault things jump, you will build muscle that way and as for where to train, you can do parkour almost anywhere, the most common objects in every neighborhood are electrical boxes. you can practice alot of differnt vaults on them and if u wanna try flips, in my opinion a soft mat/pads r better than a trampoline because u get more used to the movement and dont have aid from trampoline that can cause u to be overconfident in yourself. have fun ;)

What to train on?
Well...
I use rails and walls/buildings at schools and parks, the playgrounds and monkey bars are surprisingly fun to work with. Some iregular trees *If you can find one* to help with jumping and such I love chairs, trachcans, freshmen, bleachers, small elevated surfaces, stair cases, and, well... There really is no limit to what you can work with in truth. If you see something, you can do something.