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Be Careful Who You Learn From Print E-mail
Monday, 23 November 2009

American NewsThis is a warning to all current traceurs, and anyone who is thinking about learning Parkour from someone else. Parkour is still young, and it is still new, and it is growing incredibly fast. Beause of the nature of parkour (it's so exciting and fun and requires no equipment), it has become a popular thing to teach. Places like Primal Fitness, APEX, or the Parkour Visions Gym are run by the most experienced pratitioners in the country, and students can be confident in their trust that their instructors know what they're doing. But if you don't live in one of these places, there might still be a place that teaches parkour. American Parkour encourages you to be careful about these places and these instructors. American Parkour will be releasing a teaching certification early next year so students can have proof of the competence of that instructor, but until then there are a few easy rules you can follow to at least get an idea of how good your potential instructor really is:
  • Ask lots of questions about the parkour, the instructor and the instructor's history. Ask how they started training, where they started, when they started, and who they've trained with. Then go home and do some research, see if you can find any record of their posts online or articles they've written. Try to track down the people they mentioned and contact them to see if they're legit. A good teacher will have made a mark in the community.
  • Ask to watch a class before you commit to anything. A good instructor will be confident in their classes, and should have no problem letting you watch - or even take part - in a class before you sign or pay anything.
  • Do your own research before hand - find out what a good landing looks and sounds like. Find out what a good roll looks like. Then when you watch the class, make sure the instructor demonstrates some techniques and watch for their level of control. If their rolls are sloppy, if their landings are loud, if they don't have any flow... stay away. The instructor is not experienced enough.

It's not just that they don't have a full mastery of the techniques. If they haven't been training long enough, they simply aren't experienced enough to fully understand each of the techniques, and how to explain them. Just like you wouldn't learn baseball from someone who first picked up a bat a year ago, or martial arts from a yellow belt, you don't want to learn parkour from an inexperienced teacher. This article was inspired by a recent CNN article featuring Sean Hannah, who was a student at Primal Fitness just last summer. By watching the video, you can clearly see his inexperience with parkour techniques. It is dangerous to have inexperienced people teaching parkour, and every injury that results from a inexperienced teacher results in more negative press for parkour.

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Display 47 of 47 comments

1. 11-23-2009 10:51

Oh.. man. See that barrel roll at :54 ? *hisss* that's bad news. If he can't manage to keep himself safe while training, how is he supposed to keep his students safe?

2. 11-23-2009 11:34

wow that was horrible. My god... We need to publicly disclaim this guy because... wow. he's gonna hurt people.

3. 11-23-2009 11:35

Not to mention that this is exactly why health professionals in PK should be traceurs 1ST to claim any affiliation with pk.

4. 11-23-2009 11:54

Yeah this is just :sigh 
 
Oddly enough some of his 'students' were moving more naturally than he was. Are there any telephone poles near LA Fitness that could conveniently have flyers for Primal-Fitness on it? :p
akh

5. 11-23-2009 11:58

This is the most dangerous combination though, someone who has authority but doesn't know what he's doing. We really need to get that standardized cert process in!

6. 11-23-2009 12:29

"Hannah has mastered the art so well he teaches parkour classes..." 
 
I didn't know mastery was this easy!
Jag

7. 11-23-2009 13:24

Honestly, this article needs to be corrected. As we all know parkour's translation to the art of movement is a factual error--no ifs, ands, or buts. If we all contact CNN, http://edition.cnn.com/ feedback/forms/form6.html?1, we might be able to get some sort of editorial feedback. 
 
Journalism is so sloppy. As a literary editor, my mind is frequently blown by all the misspellings and factual errors. But it's instant web news, so wuteva.

8. 11-23-2009 14:55

s**t people are gonna die... 
 
Will just anyone be able to get one of these teaching certifications? or will you have to be a certain age? 
i know that you will have to prove your skills first, but it doesn't make sense for a 21 year old who doesnt have as much experience as a 14 year old to be teaching instead of said 14 year old because of his age.

9. 11-23-2009 15:02

I was talking about exactly this subject earlier this morning. It's really worrying to know about all these pseudo coaches with an experience of just a couple of months thinking they're absolutely capable of teaching... but just thinking that there are hundreds of pseudo traceurs pseudo teaching pseudo parkour all over the globe is what really worries me. So many broken bones. Great post!

10. 11-23-2009 15:52

ok this guy is insane... he was trying to do a hand stand on that thing at 2:38... he could have broken his arm or worse up there... you could tell he didn't know what he was doing just by the way he moves in general

11. 11-23-2009 16:00

If he's mastered parkour than I must be the freaking Ghandi of freerunning, 
amateur

12. 11-23-2009 16:03

Personal Trainer + 
Degree in Kinesiology + 
 
Pushing parkour for your business and being completely ignorant-FAIL 
 
Gotta be harsh, 
Absolutely NO flow, landing, rolls, vaults sub-par (no pun) 
This guy cares nothing about parkour he is just trying to pump his resume. He was able to get the words out, which sounded decent, however he came across nervous and a little shaky. I give credit to him for going to Primal to learn, but I take the credit back because he went for the wrong reason. His movements and scripted speech shows he has NO IDEA!! 
 
SMARTENUP PEOPLE!!

13. 11-23-2009 16:08

akh: I agree that some of the students' tuck jumps were better than his. 
This guy scares me. I fractured my right clavicle just from falling on a picnic table from another picnic table due to not having a plan of action. This guy is going to hurt himself if he hasn't already. 
Clip 0:31-0:35 makes me cringe. He doesn't transfer his weight, tuck his lets, or land on the balls of his feet. He would be fantastic at teaching his students how to do it incorrectly.

14. 11-23-2009 19:03

I just recently (as in a few weeks ago) started teaching the first every parkour classes in my area (Long Island, NY). Although I've been training for two and a quarter years or so, I still don't feel that I'm qualified to teach parkour. Hence, these classes have become more like informal learning sessions where we exchange information and I show beginners basic techniques. That being said, I'm certainly more qualified than the man in this video. The fact that he's teaching people the "proper" way to train scares the heck out of me. :sigh

15. 11-24-2009 03:07

This was so painful to watch. Alot of my friends today were asking me about the front page video on CNN today and i just held my head in shame. This not only made Sean look bad, but CNN.com and Parkour as a whole. This was a horrid piece that had very little depth or research. Whoever greenlit this needs to be demoted. Sean even mentions his broken bones on the video. that alone would cause me to never want to train anywhere near him.

16. 11-24-2009 08:15

Thank you for putting this up Mark/Zac. 
 
I think we should get this message across to as many communities as possible worldwide, not just in the United States. 
Putting it up on mine now. 
 
 
(BTW, who are these parkour-spot.com guys? Never heard of them before, and by a cursory glance through it doesn't seem like either David or Sebastien are behind it.)

17. 11-24-2009 09:48

Wow. Well it's obviously disheartening to be singled out by APK as an example of what not to do. Look, I'm not even going to front. I was nervous as hell taping for CNN. That kind of attention is new to me and it showed. I threw those runs together on the fly at their request and knew it wasn't going to look tight. I kind of expected to get roasted for that. It is what it is. (Don't get me started on the handstand. I can do that. I've done that there. But the nerves got my head and I quit like you're supposed to. I asked them not to use that and of course they did.)

18. 11-24-2009 09:49

“He’s mastered to it the point…” Please God kill me. I never claimed to be an expert. I said I’ve been at this for two years and that my class is not comprehensive. It’s an introduction. I love this discipline, I get asked about it all the time and I wanted to create something that could open the door for others who were curious. I’ve deferred to Primal on numerous occasions in my classes, even making sure they were mentioned in my own press - http:// www.expressnightout.com/ content/2009/09/over-the-top- exercise-parkour.php

19. 11-24-2009 09:50

I’m also not happy with some of the factual errors. Never once did I say parkour meant the “art of moving” except as the kickoff to a fuller definition. They shortened it and put it up like a French-English translation. I know that’s not what it is. You know that’s not what it is. What am I going to do? They didn’t even get the name of the club right. It says Sports Club/LA right there on my shirt (in case you want to put up Primal flyers. We’re on 23rd and L. Go for it.)

20. 11-24-2009 09:51

As far as the class itself goes, I stick by what I’m showing to people. The stuff we did outside, choppy as it was, is light years from what I’m making others do. None of you were there. If you had been here’s what you would have seen – a lot of warming up, a lot of stretching, a lot of basic plyometrics emphasizing absorptive landing, lots of QM, and a handful of entry-level precision and rolling drills. You also would have seen four guys dripping with sweat and exhausted, but safe.

21. 11-24-2009 09:55

I put a lot of thought into what I put in (and did not put in) to the classes. I also held several free classes first to gauge what would work and what would not before I asked for money. I didn’t go into this blind looking for cash or to “pump my resume.” Parkour is still pretty obscure, even though it’s a huge deal to us. I’m making jack on these classes. I’m doing it because I enjoy it.

22. 11-24-2009 09:55

I also want to set the record straight about the APK article. “…Sean Hannah, who was a student at Primal Fitness just last summer.” No, I wasn’t. I’ve been to Primal a total of four times – once in April of 2008 and three times during the last few weeks for Travis and Frosti’s freerunning class. In between I’ve been to several jams but for the most part I’ve been on my own. You might say, “And it shows.” That’s fine. I’ll show my best and hopefully change your mind.

23. 11-24-2009 09:56

I just wanted to make it clear for any Primal people who see this (or wrote it) and think I just swung by this summer to crib notes for my knock-off version. That’s garbage and not true. I have deep respect for what they do over there. They’re the best, no question. I want to continue learning from them if they’ll continue to have me.

24. 11-24-2009 09:58

In the meantime, if 2 years of PK training, a degree in Exercise Science, 6 years of personal training, 15 years of martial arts, and a lifetime of running, jumping, and climbing on things doesn’t qualify me to teach what amounts to a 90-min cross training program with the most basic overview of Parkour techniques, well, I respectfully disagree. And I will be first in line for the cert when it becomes available. This is not a hobby for me. I want it to be all I do.

25. 11-24-2009 09:58

Until then, I appreciate everyone’s comments. Some of the criticism was fair and on point, and the rest is good motivation to train harder. See you at the jams. 
 
-Sean

26. 11-24-2009 10:30

Look here is the basic endpoint.  
If you are not a competent traceur yourself, then do not agree to any press coverage if you even suspect that your level of skill is sub-par. You will lead people astray and lead them to incorrect training methods. Aspiring Traceurs will measure their own movements against yours to see if their form is correct, but how can they learn correctly when the person they are looking to is not proficient in Parkour themselves?  
 
at 2:10 in the video, you'll see yourself, Sean, teaching (broad Jump or Landing, perhaps?) It is incorrect either way.

27. 11-24-2009 10:34

I'm glad you stressed the safety and slow progressions, but besides that you need to vastly improve yourself before leading other people down your road of parkour. In fact, give your trainees websites and research material so they can learn and compare from an array of sources.  
 
Over and Out, 
Jon

28. 11-24-2009 10:37

Look, I don't know anything about Sean or his classes, so I won't comment on that, and I do feel it was a bit harsh to single him out.  
 
And this is from someone who's been there (as have a lot of you), the media has this annoying habit of mis-quoting you and putting words in your mouth, or distorting what you've said. It's happenned with us on every single interview we've ever given on parkour. So I'd take everything in media articles with a pinch of salt.

29. 11-24-2009 10:38

That said, I fully agree with whatever APK have written in the rest of the article about being careful of who you learn from, leaving aside the 'example' made of Sean, since I don't know anything about his particular case.

30. 11-24-2009 11:16

Sean, 
 
Thank you for the honest reply. 
 
+1 respect.
Jag

31. 11-24-2009 11:23

To gutout: Agreed. The CNN thing happened really fast. Maybe I should have said no. That's hard to do. Especially when I know I can put together tight lines when I have the time to preapre. This was pretty spur of the moment. Not making excuses. But, yeah, based on this experience I doubt I will agree to do anything else until I have more confidence in my higher level stuff. Had we filmed just the things I wanted to show at class, this probably would be a very different conversation. Thanks again for the input.

32. 11-24-2009 11:33

Sean, 
 
While your reply is helpful, the fact is that you are teaching. If you ever take a step into that roll--you better be competent. You aren't. Your degree makes no difference to your skill level, and your martial arts is nothing to do with parkour technique. I'd be like saying "I'm a hung gar practitioner so I'm good at water polo". If you want to defer to primal--defer, don't create a class at a sports studio!

33. 11-24-2009 11:35

Sean, I feel for ya man, but I have to say that a person who puts themselves in the position of coach and teacher had better be prepared to come under fire for the example they set. This was very bad coming from someone in your position AND it was you who made the decisions that put yourself there. This community very zealously guards its image and its members for good reason. It would be very easy for us to lead an awful lot of people to serious injury if we didn't. It could turn this wonderful, constructive thing into a blight. So ultimately, I do not find APK's actions at all harsh.

34. 11-24-2009 11:46

As for your overall skill level. I'm sure you're a fit guy and I'd wager that you can perform a lot of Parkour techniques under optimal conditions, but I would like to point something out. I big part of our training is to make these movements organic, a natural part of our movement vocabulary. When the need arises, it is what your body should default to. If it doesn't, then you're missing a big part of what we do and are misjudging your overall skill level. Nerves are no excuse for the technique in that video. Take this into account as you continue your training. I wish you the best!

35. 11-24-2009 16:35

Sean, 
Its great that you had good intentions. That settles a lot of the strife here. 
Its good that you're trying to put parkour out there. 
Its sad that CNN presented you/parkour in this way. Media has a way "molding" things to fit their needs. 
This is a learning opportunity for you and for the pk/fr community, lets make sure we keep it in that perspective.  
 
My initial interest in parkour was not from the best of sources, and im was instructed poorly more than once, but i got to where i am now anyway. Others can overcome a few poorly represented media spots as well,this is no great disaster

36. 11-24-2009 21:07

Wow. I'm shocked at the hostility here. I've met a couple of you and I know you wouldn't confront Sean like this in the "real world", why would you here? It's hyperbole & fear mongering to say Sean's teaching will inevitably lead to broken bones. Sounds more like parkour-influenced conditioning. Shaming someone publicly solves no problems, and isn't the best way of tackling an obstacle like inexperienced teaching. It's easy to sit and flame from a computer, it's hard put yourself out there. I'd like to end on a positive note: Sean's words provided a good overview of parkour and its appeal.

37. 11-25-2009 08:57

Sean, I appreciate your reply, and will email you to have it added to the actual article. 
 
I apologize for my error, I wrote that you were a student, I didn't realize it was just a jam, and certainly you can see how that WOULD appear as a chance to build crib notes, it's happened to Primal several times now, so hopefully it is an understandable mistake on my part. 
 
As for the teaching, to me that's not the worst thing, and I still feel it is important to single you out, now for two reasons. 
 
...
M2.

38. 11-25-2009 08:59

If you are teaching a class, then it needs to be stated clearly that you are teaching the absolute basics. Of course any media outlet is going to take the "best" of what you say from their perspective, and frankly when you're speaking for a young activity like Parkour you need to be fully prepared. 
 
Whether you are qualified to teach what you are teaching or not I won't comment on, I haven't taken your class. 
 
I can say that knowing we have a boot camp that goes through 6 weeks of the basics and NOT taking it before starting your classes could be seen as irresponsible, right now it IS the ...
M2.

39. 11-25-2009 09:02

certification process. for an instructor to teach in a primal class they go through 54 weeks of training.  
 
6 weeks boot camp 1 
6 weeks boot camp 2 
6 weeks advanced classes 
 
6 weeks assistant BC 1 
6 weeks assistant BC 2 
6 weeks assistant advanced 
 
6 weeks observed instructor BC 1 
6 weeks observed instructor BC 2 
6 weeks observed instructor advanced 
 
for some people it may not have been exact, but you didn't even take BC 1 - as per my previous email I thought you had at least taken an intro session. 
 
Finally, and to me frankly more important ....
M2.

40. 11-25-2009 09:05

it sounds like you KNEW you weren't ready to represent parkour in front of CNN. 
 
I can't help but say that this means you were willing to put yourself over the national or international impression you might give of parkour. 
 
And this is meant for everyone: If you're not qualified to go on the news then DON'T. You won't help parkour you will possibly hurt it. 
 
Sean I've received a lot of comments from people that do't need to be repeated here, but looking at that video doesn't make you look like an expert, or even in the best control.  
 
I KNOW that 's not how you want parkour represented ...
M2.

41. 11-25-2009 09:09

and I know it's not the standard that you even want for yourself. The problem is, you get in front of a camera, and what's done is done, and they WILL put the worst thing up there. 
 
The worst thing you say, the worst thing you do. 
 
I have fallen on national TV. I have said stupid shit on National TV. I have learned, and I'm sure you will too, this is just an unfortunately harsh lesson due to the level of exposure, and frankly, the level of representation. 
 
I do feel APK is in the right in it's stance on this as our job is to spread parkour in a positive way and to help others to do the same.
M2.

42. 11-25-2009 09:11

Please come take the boot camp, it will help greatly in getting you towards the cert. 
 
I'll be in DC Dec 7th, hope to see you then. 
M2
M2.

43. 11-25-2009 12:02

Points to consider: 
- If you are teaching, you must accept responsibility and be prepared for that role and all it entails, including safety and proper representation. 
- You can't stop people from teaching, but you can help guide them to improve in a positive way. 
- The community should provide constructive feedback to teachers, and help promote good teachers to newcomers. 
- APK posted some great points on evaluating instructors, and they can definitely be applied to anyone, including non-certified teachers. 
- Helping teach free local classes is a great way to give back to the community!

44. 11-25-2009 12:47

Mark, 
 
Thank you for responding personally. This experience has been extremely humblimg. I want to represent parkour faithfully and if I don't have the respect of the community then nothing else I do matters. Thank you also for your invitation to the boot camp. It looks like I missed the opening of the most recent round, but I will be there for the next one. Everybody have a great holiday! 
 
-Sean

45. 11-25-2009 21:22

Well, I love this post because it warns people. I was never taught parkour. I taught myself. I always thought(and still do) that parkour is best learned by yourself so that you know whats best for yourself. But its good that there are instructors. I just disagree with some of the techniques used by some people. They may even disagree with mine, but it's all about whats more efficient for your body. With that being said, they should have classes out for people with certain body types.

46. 11-25-2009 21:26

...in addition to my comment above, I think that conditioning classes and some parkour classes and lessons are GREAT if the instructor is experienced enough.

47. 12-11-2009 11:44

Keithtyler, 
 
the vast majority of "self-taught" traceurs who just watched videos on YouTube are young males. And many of them (anecdotally, since no one's collecting stats on this) get hurt in their training. 
 
That might sound like the "best" way to you, but it doesn't to me, for a variety of reasons.  
 
I believe that parkour is for the masses, and the more people who adopt it and benefit from the training, the better. 
 
Sean, thanks for your honest replies, as well. We look forward to seeing you at Primal, and even if Mark's not around when you come in, I'm confident you'll have a good time!

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