How often do you find yourself facing a new jump or technique that you know is within your physical abilities, but you can’t seem to make yourself go for it? All of our training culminates in these moments of choice that test our physical and mental fortitude. Every one of these moments we conquer advances the frontlines of battle towards our goal. Thus, all progress boils down to a series of these choices.

              In the beginning, most of us struggled greatly with these moments. I recall many times standing on the edge of a wall visualizing the movement in my head, preparing, stopping, taking a breath, stretching out, visualizing again...basically what amounts to stalling. This is a totally understandable and natural response, but we must surpass our nature to succeed. Fortunately, the more and more we face this moment, the more comfortable we become with it. Through frequent exposure we come to know our capabilities better, and learn to keep our composure whilst staring in the face of fear and uncertainty.

I’m about to describe different exercises which I’ve found very effective in conquering these moments. While these methods are meant to eliminate fear, keep in mind that fear is not always an enemy. Fear is a natural defense mechanism to keep us safe, and it does a good job of it. Eliminating fear can be very dangerous if one doesn’t have a good sense of their abilities. Numerous times I’ve felt competent to perform a maneuver and was able to overcome the fear and commit to it. Yet, I would then find myself on the ground with a sore bum and realize I wasn’t quite ready for it after all. The fear feels the same whether you are able to do the move or not, so it’s vital to analyze the situation, and your past experience to ensure you are fully capable of it.

1. Visualization: I’ll start off with some of the ones Travis Noble explained in his article, for those who are unfamiliar. First, it helps greatly to visualize oneself performing the movement a few times. However be careful not to think too explicitly, such as “Ok, I put my left foot here, then move my right arm back then…” For one, that’s not how we think when actually doing the movement, and it’s likely to confuse, which you don’t want to be while airborne! (This thinking isn’t so bad when first learning a technique though) Instead it should be a sort of bodily visualization, a “feelization” if you will. I like to physically mimic the movement while going through it in my head to refresh the body’s memory pathways. Just as the mind has a memory for state capitals and old phone numbers, the body has its own memory for movement.

2. Use Imagination! If you are confident in your abilities but find that the height or the…concreteness of the concrete concerns you, imagine the drop isn’t there; that it’s just flat ground, and that the concrete isn’t so hard, but more like nice soft sod. The old maxim “Don’t look down” is also very sound advice in the case of vertigo. Just focus on your landing spot, or surfaces you’re on. Of course, no matter how good your imagination is, the concrete will be just as hard if you actually do hit it, so make sure you are completely capable of the leap before using this technique. Also, our fear tends to disappear after performing the movement for the first time, so try to imagine that you’ve already done it flawlessly and you are just going to back to repeat it again. Even the founders used it by imagining their loved ones in a life-threatening situation. This could give them the determination to overcome the obstacle no matter what. Personally I find it difficult to loosen my grip on reality so much, but it works for some so it’s worth mentioning.

3. Anger and Frustration: Some use their frustration to drive them to make the leap. In finding that their physical abilities aren’t enough to overcome the obstacle, or mental strength to overcome the fear, their anger in their inadequacy gives them the boost to go through with the technique. Use this method seldom (if at all) and with caution though, because anger can also cause a loss of control which can make for dangerous leaps.

4. Letting Instinct Take Control:

            The following technique is really my main thesis because I only recently discovered its power and it’s not widely known. In his article “The Inner Game of Parkour,” Blane explains a crucial insight into our psychology. When we face a new obstacle or jump, there is an inner conflict between the Rational Mind and Instinct.

            The Rational Mind is literally the voice inside us that says, “What if I miss and fall? That’s a long way down!” or “I remember last time I tried and fell. It hurt like hell!” or “I was out late partying last night, maybe I should hold off” or “Woah, check out those cute gals watching, I better go for it!” and so on it goes. It is constantly analyzing and calculating and remembering and predicting. Emotions that interfere with our performance like fear, anxiety, and nervousness, are the result of our thoughts. Dwelling on a problem we had last time causes fear. Worrying about our appearance may cause nervousness. It is the Rational Mind that brings about these inhibiting emotions.

            Our Instinct is much simpler. It has been learning throughout all our training, and indeed throughout our whole lives. It doesn’t deal with words and symbols, but instead with raw physical experience. It doesn’t remember the past, or worry about the future, it can only respond to the present. All it does is take the input from the senses and react as it has learned to.

“Every repetition, exercise and past movement has taught you something that no book, spoken word or video can. It has strengthened pathways between your brain and your muscles and given your body experience and knowledge with which to better perform similar actions in the future. [Instinct] …does not change depending on your mood, preferences and opinions of yourself or whether you think you have something to gain or lose from the new jump. Simply put, it is unbiased and reliable.” - Blane

            So we can now understand that classic moment of choice in terms of a conflict between these two parts of ourselves. You are standing before a jump that is physically very easy for you, but you’re mind wont allow you to because of the drop on the other side. Now it’s not wise to dismiss the rational mind completely. It is an absolutely essential part of the process. There are serious questions it can answer such as if the obstacles are safe and secure enough, whether this is truly within ones ability, or whether one is having a particularly unfocused day. The Rational Mind is there to do these initial calculations, and that’s what it’s good at. After gathering all the data about the situation the important next step that many miss is making a final decision then getting the Rational Mind out of the way and letting Instinct take over. Most of us stall on making this final choice, instead repeating the calculation process over and over again in our heads, all the while raising our heart rate and loosing focus on the present.

            There are generally two methods to relinquish control from the Rational Mind to Instinct; Distracting the Rational Mind, and Quieting the Rational Mind.

Distracting the Rational Mind is just tricking yourself into performing the difficult maneuver by taking your attention off of it. There are a number of ways you can do this such as giving your mind some menial task to perform, or using some of the imagination techniques described earlier. My favorite is doing a short run that links into the challenging maneuver so that the mind is so focused on moving forward, it doesn’t have time to second guess the leap.

            Quieting the Rational Mind requires more practice and mental discipline, but is even more reliable and effective than distracting the mind. Once I have made my decision it’s time to turn the reigns over to Instinct. I try to silence my thoughts as much as possible by going into receiving mode. I focus on whatever the present moment happens to be, and whatever is in my view. So I am fully involved in whatever mundane thing I am looking at; not reacting to it or reflecting on it, just watching the flow of sensations through my awareness; like a transparent window through which the world flows. The influence of Buddhism is clear as this is almost exactly like the practice of zazen meditation which aims to quiet the mind and not let intrusive thoughts come. Previous experience with meditation helps a lot, but there’s no better time to start than now! A great start is this guided meditation here.

Eventually I reach a state where my Rational Mind is silent. There is no past or future, and I am fully present and focused on the moment. With everything else stripped away, it becomes a very simple matter allowing my instinct to take over and carry me through the movement.

Let’s Review the process in brief. Upon looking at the challenge, gather as much info about it as you can. Feel the surfaces and analyze the distances. Weigh all factors of the situation, then make a final decision whether you will go for it or not. However, you shouldn’t go for it immediately after making the decision because your Rational Mind is still in charge. The next step is to distract or quiet the mind and allow instinct to take control. From here you simply execute that which you know you are capable of doing. This takes a certain amount of trust or confidence in your training and abilities which is why repetition and practice are so essential.

            COMMIT! Once you have made the decision, you must completely commit to it. There must be no question in your mind as to whether you will do this thing or not. This is so important because not fully committing is the cause for the most serious injuries and mistakes. It is very dangerous to go into a movement half-hearted.

In Practice - Small Steps: Basically all of our training follows the same format. When learning a new technique we begin by breaking the movement into pieces and practicing them individually before adding them back on one by one, building up to the complete technique. The first complete attempts involve trial and error but gradually one becomes more comfortable and reaches a point of consistency where we begin pushing the limits of the technique. The same principle, in abbreviated form, can be applied to a moment of fear. Start by practicing pieces of the movement; if it’s a kong to cat, start by doing the kong, then go back and just jump into the cat, then finally put it all together. If the challenge is a simple movement that doesn’t really have pieces, like a precision, then try the movement on a smaller scale or at ground level first. This has the dual-effect of boosting one’s confidence for facing the actual jump, and serves as a review for the body’s memory. 

            All this improves with time and practice. It will become easier to quiet the mind, you will gain more confidence and awareness of your abilities, and be able to analyze a challenge and make a choice faster, with less inner conflict. However, despite all these mental tricks, nothing is as effective as just getting out there and practicing that which you fear. Face it every day, and soon you will find what was once a daunting impasse is really nothing but a mere stepping stone on your path.

            Three Zones: The next thing to learn is when to push yourself, and when to hold back for another day. We can imagine three zones; comfort, stretch and stress. The Stress zone is when one expects too much and tries so hard that they overwhelm and possibly injure themselves. If every day one is pushing his limits, sooner or later he’s going to push too hard and break. On the other hand, living in the Comfort zone is to simply repeat old habits. If one is never challenging themselves then they will never progress. The ideal is the Stretch zone where one is challenging himself in situations that feel unfamiliar and a little scary, but are possible. This is where the real progress occurs.

            The great and terrifying thing about our discipline is that it all comes down to you, the individual. Only through your own strength of will and mind can you surpass your limits and progress. Only you can decide whether you are ready to take the leap, and you must deal with the all the consequences of your decision. This is the burden of the freedom we enjoy. You are only imprisoned by the cages you erect around yourself. You alone have the power to break free. The choice is yours. Will you take the leap?

 Resources/Thanks

-Travis’s “Fear in Parkour - A Practical Guide” article          

-Dan Edwards “Moving Through Fear” Article

-Blane’s “Inner Game of Parkour” Blog Entry

- JANET RAE-DUPREE’s NY Times article “Can You Become a Creature of New Habits?”

by Levi "SkyNative" Meeuwenberg

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