I just figured I'd put up a post clarifying some things about training, since we are getting more and more people. Some of it is stuff you already know, some of it may be new; but please read it and take it to heart. Most of you do these things already (which is part of what makes me SO proud of this organization!), but it never hurts to have a reminder. Some of it may seem like small stuff, but as we know through our training, small stuff can add up to big stuff pretty quickly.
Organizing Training Sessions1.Group training is not "regular". This means that, unlike a gym or organized team sport, we do not offer regularly scheduled "classes." If you're new, keep checking the training calendar to see when people will be out. Do not expect to see something like "every Tuesday at 7:00" on the schedule, and don't be discouraged if the training appears spotty. We do train, it's just much looser than you might be used to seeing with something like a gym or an organized team sport.
2.Everyone is responsible for organizing training sessions. Do not wait for me to tell you when to train. Train when it works for you, and post the details up in the training calendar so that others may join you if you wish to train as a group. If everyone does this, we should have a big variety of training times up for people to choose from.
3.Post your training times in the Training Calendar forum, and use the correct format. There is a sticky in this forum for how to do it. Posts with subjects like "Training??" are uninformative. The subject should say when and where; if you're worried about training alone and want to ask who will be there, let that happen in the body of the message and make final arrangements in the thread itself. But give us a place and time to work from so that people can use the calendar forum at-a-glance.
4.Find locations on the hotspots map If you're new, and uncertain where a place is, check the Madpk Hotspots map. There is a link to it here at the Madpk forum and also on our website
www.madisonparkour.com At the Training Sessions1.Lead a group warm-up, always. You MUST warm up before training. When the group arrives, choose someone to lead the warm-up. More experienced traceurs should take the initiative here, as you are the example to less experienced traceurs. The warm-up does not need to be complicated (joint rotations, jogging a lap or two, jumping jacks, some QM, etc.) but it does need to be effective in raising the body temperature slightly and getting people loosened up. The APK Warmup is a good one if you're stuck for what to do.
2.Everyone takes responsibility for the training environment, always. Respect landscaping, check your surfaces, do not mark walls, Leave No Trace. Pick up trash in the training area even if you didn't make the trash. Do NOT make graffiti or tag anything. More experienced traceurs are responsible for educating less experienced traceurs about this, and being examples themselves.
3.More experienced traceurs are responsible for new traceurs/beginners. If people show up to training and are brand-new, it is up to the more experienced traceurs to take those people under their wing and get them started. You need to sacrifice your own training on that day to teach new people the basics. It doesn't mean you don't get to train. We learn a lot by teaching! But remember what it felt like when you were new. These people are taking a risk being out there, trying something brand-new in public with a bunch of strangers. Help them feel successful. Start small, be patient; but mostly, don't leave them out there hanging. Make them feel welcome, get them warmed up, teach some basic skills. Balance, "touch" drills, and landing techniques are great ones to start with. The point here is, you take the initiative to introduce yourself, welcome them, and give them something to learn/work on.
4.Everyone is respectful to authorities, always. If you are asked to move on, do so respectfully. Everyone so far is great with this. I just wanted to be sure it was stated explicitly.
5.Never forget that you are representing parkour. Every training session is an opportunity to educate people about what we love to do. We don't want "no parkour" signs going up around town; so be mindful of your actions and how they reflect on our discipline.
6.If something is broken/damaged from training, take responsibility for it. Sometimes things break. Your best bet is to find someone like a manager/owner, and tell him/her that you were exercising (don't say "parkour") on the item and it broke, and offer to make it right. If that's not possible, let me know and I can follow up. Don't just ditch the training site and leave the broken thing sitting there. Tell someone about it. This does not mean "You break it, you buy it." I don't mean you have to pay for stuff, necessarily. What I do mean is that it's the honorable thing to admit your responsibility for something, and offer to make it right. If money has to change hands, we can work together as an organization to manage that so no one is left on their own. But often just admitting your responsibility is enough; in the past when this has happened we've been told, "Oh it was old anyway, we're just going to replace it." But it reflects well on us to handle our training environments with integrity.
...that's about it.
If I've forgotten anything, please let me know, or if you have questions/comments, feel free to weigh in on this thread.
Thanks for all the great stuff you do already with training and with helping our organization grow. I am so proud of us! Let's keep it up and put our best feet forward for future training!
