Topic: Welcome Quatrogenarians!

[David Glass]

Wow, its good to see this age bracket for PK.
Let me introduce myself, I am the Grape Ape, what brought me here is my son,a five year old that could power the world with the energy that he has. I've been pretty active all my life; not a sport that I cannot play, I may not be the best but I can partcipate at a reasonably good level.

What brought me here was I was looking for a sport that my son and I could do together or at least encourage him todo. I noticed he loved doing cartwheels and front rolls at speed and running and jumping on to the couch and sometimes over it. Which reminded me of something I had seen years ago; it was a BBC special about freerunning with David Belle and Sebastion Fouchan(sp)  with them running and jumping and rolling; and thought this would be perfect for him.

Then I looked at myself and realised that the last ten years of my life, were a waste, I had stopped being active and the beer-belly was getting bigger. Something had to change the birth of my son and the responsibility of being a parent slowed down my once active lifestyle again. So now I have a new determination to get in better shape and have the energy to be there for my kids.

I know at my age that some of the moves just aren't worth it, but the fun of controlling your body and to see what it can do is amazing. Plus PK seems to be a timeless activity; it can be done at any age, unlike other sports where their is a finite life span for upward progression.

In my youth I was a skateboarder,Tony Hawk wasn't even a pro, and Tony Alva ruled the pool. Moved on to tennis had natural ability with that sport, claim to fame lost to a Wimbledon finalist 6-0 6-1, still have for the game just not the time. Played basketball, baseball, hockey at club levels. Then I found snowboarding,before the kids where here, and loved it. Mountain biked in the off season just to be in the woods. Well thats me in a nutshell thanks for reading play hard and play safe.

Two questions on what would you do? (1) would you send your son/daughter to Judo first or gymnastic first? I personally took judo when I was younger and learning the ability to fall correctly was a Godsend.

Or(2) would you send them to gymnastics to learn balance and body awareness?

thanks

40 yrs physically
27 yrs mentally

Welcome to PK, Grape Ape (I like your name)

I too began PK as an effort to participate in more activities with my kid. He still doesn't do gymnastics or judo or anything to that effect (too young), but if you can, enroll him into gymnastics. Of course, that'll mean you'll have more catching up to do 

[Kevin Davies]

Two questions on what would you do? (1) would you send your son/daughter to Judo first or gymnastic first? I personally took judo when I was younger and learning the ability to fall correctly was a Godsend.

Or(2) would you send them to gymnastics to learn balance and body awareness?

We started my son in gymnastics when he was two (he is now 4).  My little girl who is 20 months old started it about 3 months ago.  I think it has been great for both body awareness and for learning to fall.

[Stinker]

  Hey, fellow 'old folks'!  This reminds me of the kind of play my brothers and I did when we were in Jr. High school.  That's what's so appealing to me now about it.  Watched a home vid my nephew made of himself and his brother and friends doing freerunning, and it amazed me. I am fully intent on 'getting back on the bicycle', so to speak.
  Started today, on the job....had a perfect opportunity climbing up a transformer, switch gear, and up to a landing for a door from the main electrical room at the local newspaper.  Easy entry into the movement from obstacle to obstacle, without much danger of screwing up.  I like Dave's mantra - pace yourself, and injury avoidance.
  I'm looking forward to this.....glad you're all here.

[JMaserati]

Hello to the rest of you "old farts"!  LOL

I thought I was gonna keep a low profile here, due to my age - so I'm kinda glad I found this discussion.

Running thru suburbia before it was called "Parkour" or anything, just like most of us here. Really love how it's coming together and the discipline and enthusiasm of the younger generation.

Early '70's we called ourselves the "Lightning" club, and we specialized in running on and jumping fences and avoiding dogs and cops. In my teen years in the early '80's I specialized in KungFu and jumping onto rooftops while being chased. Also was very good at stairwells (up and down) and jumping off rooftops.

Later served in armed forces as Army Commando, where these early techniques got disciplined and honed.

Now, too old, fat, and broken up to practice - but still enjoy all aspects.  May be able to incorporate basic techniques into a fitness program to get myself back in shape.  Would love to find some local practitioners and share with them some "ancient" techniques, and pass on the knowledge I have.  Salute!

[Muhammad]

This thread reminds me.. If I live until October 2008, I will be 35 years old. I am thankful that I found this discipline. It gives a certain satisfaction at this age that the younger guys are surely not yet aware of.

Sometimes I catch myself wondering, how many of these people in their teens and early twenties will still actually be doing parkour when they reach my age, or will they have long since retired and succumbed to the inactivity that is expected in our society.

[damonomad]

Greetings all,
I am 34 and a performing artist/monkey kung fu teacher in NYC that is does PK. Wanted to say hello and know of there are any other 30 and up crew in NYC?
see some of you soon,
in service,
Damonomad


www.templeofthemonkey.org

[alankroeger]

Hey all don't think I qualify as a Parkour practitioner but have always sought new interesting exercises just for variety sake.
Mostly a runner who bikes, hikes, and loves gymnastic style activities. Never participated in weight lifting, too boring, but calisthenics and yoga like stretching have mostly been a part of my regimen. Done a bit of Rock Climbing a decade or so back. But being 52 I like to keep things safe and I no longer in peak form so I will see what Parkour moves I eventually learn. Too me the philosophy/spirit of Parkour is what I find attractive and compelling.

[Gencala]

Hello everybody,

My name is Dave, i'm a dad of two kids I'll turn 34 (so still a rookie here) next thursday and i'm from Holland. I've been reading your 30/40+ board the last day's and it inspired me to ask for a same kind of board on www.parkour.nl where i'm rather active. My question has been regarded but there are still not a lot off 30+ traceurs in holland (you americans alway do it bigger and more uh? ) But hey at least there's a board now to encourage (older/mature) people to pick up this fantastic thing called parkour.
I've been training now since june 16th after searching to replace my training in aikido wich i've practised for 16 years. And I just love it. I have a history in rockclimbing, windsurfing, besides aikido other martial arts and i did som athletics. Enough to have a good base for parkour. I especialy love the philosophic idea behind it wich, I think, has a lot of similarities with aikido.
Further more there is to say I'm a teacher in highschool and so I have no problems with mixing with the young ones (usually I'm more "childish" as they are)
I'll will be following this board as it is also interesting for my dutch forum and because I read a lot of encouriging things here.

[Muhammad]

Welcome in Alan

[Timothy Chen Allen]

I turn 45 this month (and I celebrated by running 45 miles two weeks ago! http://timothychenallen.googlepages.com/occ45miler.html).  My primary sport the last three years has been long-distance running; specifically ultramarathoning.  But I recognize that I'm over-specialized; I wanted to branch out.  I saw a description of Parkour in a book; googled it and saw the videos and immediately knew that I wanted to try it.

I'm fitting all of this in around being married, having a seven year old son, and having a very time-intensive job.  Fortunately, I've become better about time-management with age.  Unfortunately, my energy levels sometimes let me down.  I do find that once I get started, I can overcome being tired to have some fun.

Right now I'm doing the Workout Of The Day and have been working on some of the most basic moves-- rolling and precision jumping.  When I'm comfortable with those, I'll start working on vaults.  The point is, I'm not in a great hurry to learn everything at once.  The workouts already are very different from what I am used to, which is a really good thing.  I've really lost a lot of upper body strength, so working on pulllups and pushups (two of the exercises in the APK warmup) is really good for me.

I agree with the discussion so far on the topic of injury: when an old guy gets injured, he stays injured for a lot longer time!  When I was 25 I used to do dumb stuff knowing that if I got hurt I'd be up and around again in a week.  Now it's more like a year.  So I'm a lot better at not hurting myself now.  The trick is to balance that with still wanting to try new things and take risks.  I mean, there's not much point avoiding injuries at the expense of always playing it safe!

[Muhammad]

the journey into parkour is pretty amazing if you stick with it, and the training is like none other. one of the nicest things is the ability to apply the skills you develop - in everyday life situations.

[dilet2e]

Wow, I'm glad I found this thread. I sometimes think maybe I'm crazy for trying to start doing PK at the age of 47, totally out of shape.

But the reason I'm out of shape is that nothing has motivated me to exercise... until now! I'm working hard on my upper body strength, and my flexibility. And endurance. I actually have a reason to climb the stairs at work instead of taking the elevator, a far more interesting reason than just "you know you really should."

I KNOW I gotta take it slow. I just hope I can keep motivated if it takes longer than I hoped to get to the "fun" stuff.

--Terri

[Timothy Chen Allen]

I KNOW I gotta take it slow. I just hope I can keep motivated if it takes longer than I hoped to get to the "fun" stuff.

Welcome!  47 isn't too old at all!  I'm 45 and enjoying the sport.

My one piece of advice would be to always do at least a few fun things in your workout.  If my parkour training consisted of nothing but Quadrupedal Movement (QMs) and rolls, I would quickly get bored.  So I always spend at least some time in each workout doing something I love.

For example, this morning I trained by doing QMs to warm up, working on rolls for 15 minutes, and doing cat jumps and muscle-ups.  But I finished off with 10 minutes of lazy vaults and turn vaults-- two things I'm pretty good at and that I love to do.  It's just a reminder that I do this sport because I love the feeling of vaulting and overcoming obstacles-- not just to stay in good shape.

Good luck!

[dilet2e]

I KNOW I gotta take it slow. I just hope I can keep motivated if it takes longer than I hoped to get to the "fun" stuff.

Welcome!  47 isn't too old at all!  I'm 45 and enjoying the sport.

My one piece of advice would be to always do at least a few fun things in your workout.  If my parkour training consisted of nothing but Quadrupedal Movement (QMs) and rolls, I would quickly get bored.  So I always spend at least some time in each workout doing something I love.

For example, this morning I trained by doing QMs to warm up, working on rolls for 15 minutes, and doing cat jumps and muscle-ups.  But I finished off with 10 minutes of lazy vaults and turn vaults-- two things I'm pretty good at and that I love to do.  It's just a reminder that I do this sport because I love the feeling of vaulting and overcoming obstacles-- not just to stay in good shape.

Hey thanks! Well, now that I've learned how to do a couple of vaults I gotta find a place where I can practice them! Last Tuesday I drove over an hour to get together with a parkour group and they taught me a lot. And, now I see the limitations of the playground where I've been practicing. But at least it has some fun stuff to do, like you say. Meanwhile I have driven around a bit looking for likely spots.

[dilet2e]

Well, I'm STILL looking for someplace to practice vaults... I dunno, maybe I'm having a failure of imagination when I look at places. And probably I need to get out of the car!!

[Timothy Chen Allen]

Well, I'm STILL looking for someplace to practice vaults... I dunno, maybe I'm having a failure of imagination when I look at places. And probably I need to get out of the car!!

I found my "parkour eye" got a *lot* better after I started training with others occasionally.  I had good luck driving all the way over to the next big city to train with them.  You probably will see a lot of things that you simply *can't* do-- for right now.  But you will begin to see the realm of possibilities available to you.

After my first exposure to working with other traceurs, the nearby playground suddenly teemed with possibilities-- Quadrupedal Movement (QM: any flat spot will do!), a place for a cat leap, a place to do top-ups, a terrific rail for lazy vaults and turn vaults, a wall for wall runs... check out my video to see this place and what I do there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1-qK_Uoroo.

I agree that you should get out of the car!  Try running a while near your house and looking at obstacles.  I find that my imagination for parkour just grows with use.  Good luck!

[dilet2e]

I DID watch your video, very cool!!!! 

My employer's grounds have some interesting possibilities for training, but alas, I wouldn't want to risk the possibility that they might not consider it respectful! There is one area that was really popular with skateboarders until they put up a big "no skateboarding" sign. Still, perhaps I could change in the company gym & go running after work, and... I dunno... "fly casual." 

[Muhammad]

thanks for sharing that video tim. that was cool. if i could offer any advice it would be to continue doing exactly what you're doing, and maybe try trading that gymnastics style rolling technique for the one where you roll from shoulder to opposite hip because it would serve you better on hard surfaces. also, training whenever possible with other people will really speed up your advancement. keep up the hard work man, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how much progress you have made by this time next year. keep posting up vids for us once in a while so we can follow how you're coming along

[Timothy Chen Allen]

thanks for sharing that video tim. that was cool. if i could offer any advice it would be to continue doing exactly what you're doing, and maybe try trading that gymnastics style rolling technique for the one where you roll from shoulder to opposite hip because it would serve you better on hard surfaces. also, training whenever possible with other people will really speed up your advancement. keep up the hard work man, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how much progress you have made by this time next year. keep posting up vids for us once in a while so we can follow how you're coming along

Thanks, Muhammad! Yeah, Several people mentioned the roll as something I could improve.  I've been working on the roll like a madman since.  I start all my workouts with 30 rolls now, alternating sides.  It's hard wok unlearning a bad habit!  But it seems to be coming along.

I've found a great group here in DC to work out with.  I agree, working out with people is where I learn new stuff.  We work out every Tuesday in Gateway Park in Rosslyn, VA at 6:30 pm.

I'll put together another video within the next month or so.  Thanks for the pointers!

[Muhammad]

That's cool you found some people to train with regularly. It's get's lonely training by yourself all the time LOL.