I just finished watching jump britain, courtesy of the manilla gorilla. Sebastien foucan was pretty much the centerpiece of that movie, and it was interesting hearing what he had to say. One of his philosophies was that he trained alone. Period. In his mind, training with a friend presents a big problem. Namely, that you will try things which you would not try alone, and this can be very dangerous. This is not the normal kind of peer pressure - "oh no, i want my friend to think i am cool so i will do this jump." it is a more competitive kind of peer pressure - "he did this, so why the f*ck shouldnt i give it a go? he is no better than i am!"

Seb also says that if you train alone, it is much more difficult to progress at first. Although it is much safer, you have nothing to push you and make you combat your fears. Since you are alone, your fears about a certain movement will be bigger. If you train alone long enough, you will get to know what triggers your fear, and when to take it seriously. You will better understand your abilities, and know the difference between when your mind is playing tricks on you and when something is truly dangerous.

Watching jump britain, seb seemed to be much more conscious of his mind and body than any of the others. Some times he would simply not try something because he didnt believe his body could do it, while all the other guys were going crazy and hurting themselves (for example the railflip to catleap in the gym). Other times, he would go ahead and do a massive 360 catleap, without even thinking about it. I wonder how much of this awareness can be attributed to his huge amount of experience, or whether it is in the way he trains. Does training alone really give that much of an advantage?

My theory is that for the first couple years or so, you need to constantly be coached, and told/shown whether you are doing certain movements right. Only once you have mastered the majority of the movements is it an advantage to train alone.

Right now i sometimes train alone, and sometimes with friends - pretty much any day i have time and dont feel sore from a previous workout. Should i try training alone more, or is Seb just a crazy frenchman?

I trained almost solely alone for the first 6 months I did parkour. Then for the next year or so, I was usually alone. Now the majority of my training is with one buddy (during college) but I still train alone a lot, especially during breaks from school.

I am more focused when I train alone and the accomplishment of something new is more satisfying. I have a better understanding of a technique when I learn it on my own. Overall I think you learn things more comprehensively and progress faster when you are alone.

I think its kindve sad when people wont do parkour just because they dont have anyone to do with. They are missing out.

However, I will admit that training with other people has some benefits as well.

Yeah. Both solo and groups have their advantages, but solo is more meditative. Youre right, i do feel bad for the people who feel unable to train without a buddy. Their progress is entirely dependent on someone else. For instance, i have a friend who is really into parkour, but i have never seen him training without a friend. I dont know what he will do when his friends go off to college. Hopefully find some new buddies lol.

Unfortunately, I've rarely done this.  Today seems like a good day for it though, I'll post back later.

i enjoy both.  training alone is good, but personally i find it harder to push myself if im alone.  peer pressure helps sometimes   i like training with others because you can get feedback on your movements, and help, as well as having others find new lines to take etc.  generally i only go alone if theres something specific that i want to try over and over and nail, and not have others be bored waiting for me...

I agree with Seb for the most part because I train alone most of the time because not many people in my area like Parkour because of the lack of obsticles etc. Every time I do train with a conpanion I seem to say have more fun, usually learn more, and find more obsticles because of multiple minds. Training alone might be the reason that I am not the best traceur in my opinion but I'm fine with that because I say that I did it and what I have done in the past is what I felt to do, I was more free.

well i see training alone is pretty boring, with a friend you will be interested and trying those new things might be dangerous but it can also be benificail, like when me and jonny boy trained for a little while before stereo showed up i did a dash vault which i was trying to do for a while (it was just the mental block) and then i just did it because i seen him do it and i felt "inspired" to do it............so all the time isn't bad to train with a friend........

Well I have a lot of trouble solo training.  Not so much because I don't want to, it just seems like I'm always around friends.  I am almost always constantly practicing though.  I'm one of those people that can't stay still too long, or I will cramp up and ugh............pain . 

I would love to trian alone sometime, if I can ever find the time.  It sounds like it is really a great thing to do.  Plus with all of the social interaction that I have I could use some "self-time". 

I think there are a few perks either way you go.  With others, or alone.  With other people you are encouraged to try new things, push yourself, but of course the knowledge of boundries is entirely up to you.  It can be very difficult to hold yourself back when you are being pressured to do something, when you are alone you are free to do whatever you want, inside of your comfort zone.  I do like the knowledge of safety when I am in groups, if you somehow do get hurt you have people to help you out.  I highly recommend that even if you do train alone, do it in a place with at least a few others around. 

Safety safety safety