Demon's Drill of the Month for December. Demon's Drills can be found in "Features".
What is the one thing virtually everyone could improve upon in their videos? I have seen hundreds of parkour videos and my answer is climbing up from a cat grab position. This is very frustrating to me because it doesn’t take a lot to clean them up. All it takes is a conscious effort to do every climb up with proper technique. The drill of December is to help you master the “topping out” part of a climb up.
To follow along with the method, refer to video here:
The Method:
- Find a sturdy wall about 4-6 feet tall. This is your practice wall.
Step One: Assume the starting position of step one from the video. With straight arms, kick one leg back very hard. This is an exaggeration of the actual technique, but it will help convey the driving concept of getting your hips up. When you get your hips up, it makes it possible to bring your feet over the top of the wall. Practice throwing the leg back over and over until you are comfortable with the movement.
Step Two: Do the same thing as in step one but quickly after you kick the leg back, bring both legs back under your body. If you do it right, you will plant on top of the wall. This mimics the “topping out” part of a climb up. It is a very easy thing to do, yet so many people fail to realize its effectiveness.
Step Three: Perform step one, but this time, bend the arms. Practice coordinating the simultaneous leg kick and arm push. Step Four: Do the same thing as step three, but after you kick and push, quickly bring the legs back under your body. This movement simulates the connection between the “pull up” part of the climb up and the “topping out” part. Step Five: Go out and apply this technique to some actual parkour. At first it will seem awkward and hard to get everything right, but as you drill it over and over, your climb ups will improve greatly.
NOTE: I have ended this progression at planting on top of the wall. I have also performed this drill in a symmetrical planting position. I land on top of the wall with my feet between my hands much like a saut de chat. It is also possible to eliminate the plant and completely pass over the wall. I prefer to plant on top because FOR ME, it is easier, more controlled, and has very little difference in speed compared to other methods. FOR YOU, it may be better to do a slightly varied movement. Like anything else in parkour, experiment and fine tune your technique to what works best for you.
Users' Comments
Display 23 of 23 comments
1.
12-01-2005 06:34
Skip, Kristoff, Tor, and I were working on this very technique last night at the training session. We were actually attempting to go over the wall without "topping out" persay. We were working on kicking and swinging the legs to bring the hips up and the legs clear over the wall.
2.
12-01-2005 06:47
sweet! no classes today means i have some time to go out and train my climb ups!
3.
12-01-2005 08:41
yes if the wall is thin enough, you can completely clear the whole thing. however, a very quick plant up and then tap over can look just as clean in my opinion.
4.
12-01-2005 08:51
niec tutorial, would be nice to see one from a dead hang instead of already up standing on your arms - thats not exactly the starting cat grab position.
5.
12-01-2005 09:12
i did do a complete climb up in step 5. the reason i focused on the topping out part is because most people dont know the proper technique. for the first half of the climb up, theres not much of a secret other than doing a really fast pull up...
6.
12-01-2005 09:26
I think the wall was 12 - 18 inches wide. For me, the idea of trying to clear the wall instead of a plant was to make the movement a bit harder. If I could get enough movement in my hips to get my legs clear over, I should have no problems topping out. I think Skip does this movement a little different in that he swings one leg back but also kind of pushes off with the opposite toe . . . or something like that.
7.
12-01-2005 13:07
Great tut demon, and welll put together. My only suggestion would be to slow down the vid a bit, especially for the last part, maybe doing it a second time. Great stuff though. Do you have any samplers out recently?
8.
12-01-2005 13:33
no gameyy I don't have any recent samplers out, other than this which was filmed a couple days ago.
Also, I have updated the drill with a short note at the end about personal preference.
9.
12-01-2005 14:37
Thanks I needed to work on this, the snow makes it a little more difficult however.
10.
12-01-2005 15:08
I would have to add about the first pull from the bottom of the position, it's not usually just a pullup, though it can be. It is much more effecient to use a similar leg-kip to aid in the pull.
Otherwise, great tut!
11.
12-01-2005 19:25
i personally feel cofident about my abilities with climbing after cats, but this is a VERY informative drill showing. thanks muchly demon
12.
12-03-2005 13:42
Thanks for the tip. I was practicing the other day with it and it really helped my style. This stuff really helps, man.
13.
02-01-2006 00:00
Since I'm an absolute, fresh newbie, I can't wait to try this out and get it down. Thanks for breaking it down...
14.
08-14-2006 19:23
Looking forwaed to more great tips and drills in the future
15.
10-17-2006 09:17
This is really cool. Main worry might be if I didn't get my legs under my weight and fell backwards. Would practicing going up and catching only with your arms, sort of like a plyometric pullup, by good to help get over that fear? That or have a mat below...
16.
04-27-2007 19:31
hey i know it's been forever since this was posted but i've got problems getting up from cat climb i guess. i can get into it from the ground but can't pull up from there to get my arms fully extended and get over the wall. any suggestions..?
17.
01-19-2008 02:07
Great tut, cheers, gonna go practice next time iam free, if only i had a wall...
18.
02-22-2008 16:07
Hm, lucky me I have something to apply this to. I'll hit that on Monday when I go back.
19.
02-22-2008 22:49
awesome how smooth u r. but i guess thats part of parkour i just started and i'm going to try to do step 5 from the vid when i get better
20.
02-22-2008 22:52
really good drills i'm trying all of them
21.
06-01-2008 19:46
would a 6 foot thin wooden fence work for a begginer? or 2 hard?
22.
08-07-2008 11:15
should i try the cat grab position first? or should i just learn this way? seems confusing, as i think beginners should learn how to do it in the first place?
23.
11-07-2008 17:09
Demon, should i just learn the cat grab first?
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