Topic: Guadalupe JAM

[Matthew Lee Willis]

well, guys.  Here is a little clip..not much editing but just simple parkour.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6830402697246923589&q=texas+parkour

[Mark Toorock]

Nice! I like the choreographed palmspins, a nice look.

I do have to ask what's up with that big 180 jump in the middle? I just can't see the purpose for it, aesthetic or otherwise, just looks to me like a more dangerous landing!!

Also, the "Mexican Jumping bean" section ... is it not possible to run across those big square flowers boxes oneleg at a time? It just looks awkward to do two-footed jumps in succession like that

[Ryan Ford]

the palm spins need work. they were done on the corners as if you couldnt do them all the way. maybe you can, but those ones looked sloppy.

also, the climbing in general was pretty slow.

[Matthew Lee Willis]

Demon...true dat.  It could be faster.  I have been working my pop palm spin in the gym but haven't gotten it yet.  We were just trying to go astheistic in the sense of palm spins.  I so have them down.  The jumps...we were just trying to keep speed and what not...consecutive jumps...I was Seriously considering taking it out but i didn't...maybe I should had.

[Deft]

I am one of the guys in the vid (blue shirt) who does the slow double legged hop and the cheap corner palm spins. My only defense to all that is that this was filmed months ago and we all have progressed since then and of course we will be making bigger and better stuff with every jam we have.

[Mark Toorock]

Don't take it the wrong way guys, no need to "defend" we're just pointing stuff out

[Matthew Lee Willis]

THANK GUYS!!!

[klaymen]

I am one of the guys in the vid (blue shirt) who does the slow double legged hop and the cheap corner palm spins. My only defense to all that is that this was filmed months ago and we all have progressed since then and of course we will be making bigger and better stuff with every jam we have.

that doesn't sound good.......like m2 said, no need to defend. and don't focus too much on how big and exciting your next video is gonna be, cause you will end up trying to move on too quickly and we will have another story about destroyed knees or twisted ankles or some such. it is better to progress slowly and get stuff to near perfect before moving on. in all honesty, you will not have much noticable difference in your ability after a few months (unless of course you were practising to do some flip or something for those few months then that new <cringe>move</cringe> would be noticeable but you get what i'm saying). i think the saying is, "Rome wasn't built in a day".

anyways, as for the video. i liked that you used google videos. the parkour was decent, i agree with all the critiques so far, so i won't repeat them. but as far as editing wise goes, i think you should have used a different song. that song will be perfect for about 5-10 years from now when you make a video, but for your current level, i would have used something else....it just seemed a little too dramatic for what was happening in the video. nothing really stood out for me to say nice blah blah blah vault or whatever, but you guys seem like you are having fun, so, just keep on keeping on. oh yea, this may make me sound like someone from pawa, but if someone asks you what you are doing, please don't say parkour, say like free running or something.

[Matthew Lee Willis]

WOAH, Woah, woah.  I am sorry I might just be a little offended...(even though you asked me not to be offended)  You say its not parkour.  Now, in this case I would disagree with you.  I am sure that you have a million and one reasons why you would think that this is not parkour although, I am going to just disagree with those reasons right now (ahead of the time)  This is parkour, all elements on the uff page ( we might have taken a little creative leasure with the rail tick tack spin thing. )  I will say there is no real flow to the madness that is edited video...but come on.  This is like telling a noob that when they practice parkour they are not really doing parkour.  Like telling someone who first gets there drivers license that they are not driving they are just...stirring out of the way of traffic.  We are Traceurs and we Parkour. 

That is our Verb and Noun in our group. 
We will never pass it off as something other then that because it is parkour.

Now we might come off a little noob and by your standards we might be but we have been pking for almost 7 months now.  Some of us longer, and we were there for the slow progressions and the small jumps and the bigger jumps with bigger moves and different combinations of difficult moves pieced together.  The deciding factor I would assume would be that you may not know what this team is capable because of course you can only judge us by our videos and posts.  Please just don't take away what is most important to us by telling us we are not doing it.  THANK YOU.  All of your other comments were duly noted.

[trACEur]

Hmm... I think you need to do some more research on Parkour.

"This is parkour, all elements on the uff page"
that alone is just... terrifying. Besides, they promote Freestyle parkour.

"We will never pass it off as something other then that because it is parkour."
*sigh* dude...
1:29 - a 180?
1:35 - an Aerial?
1:55 until the end of the video - All Palmspins and a backflip.

Parkour is defined by purposeful and effiecent movement. There is little purpose and NO effeiceny in any of those movements just mentioned whatsoever. I think you seriously need to take a good hard look outside of UF and APK to learn a thing or too about what Parkour truely is. However, it was just a Jam video and I'm pretty sure it had no mention of you guys "doing parkour" in the video, so in that respect, the video is fine. It's your comment just now that worries me.

Other than the movements mentioned above I would call this a Parkour video more or less, as all the other movements were purposeful. lt seems you guys simply lack experience, but with only 7 months that's pretty much expected, and there were a few movements that were impressive for someone who had only been practicing for 7 months. Do you guys ever venture out of Texas to train with other practioners?

I liked the Passe Muraille (wouldn't really know how to describe it with the english terms) at :45,  a good combination
cool rail to rail cat leap at :55

Crap, I gotta go, but I'll try to add more later.

[Gearsighted]

Indeed, not everything within that video is Parkour, no problem with that, but it's good to have an idea of the differences.

:26-1:15- This was what could be considered Parkour. A lot of the techniques could be improved quite a bit, but there wasn't too much in the way of wasted movement.

After that, there is quite a bit that can be called "pure", mixed in with the occasional questionable movement (aerial, 180's, palmspins, etc.) I don't think you should be offended when it is pointed out that it wasn't 100% Parkour, as you obviously have no problem doing what you do. There really isn't much reason to be so attached to the name that you can't say "This video has a bit of Parkour training, with some tricks and other fun stuff thrown in." I don't really think that demeans your effort at all.

So, anyway, keep up the training, work on those climb-ups and your overall, general basics. There isn't anybody who couldn't improve their speed and coordination at least a bit. And yes, the music is a bit dramatic

[Matthew Lee Willis]

I am surprised in fact that I was not Ripped a new...you know what.  You guys answered my post with poise and respect.  Something I would never find on UF.  I didn't agree with some things of course although why is man different from another with out a little heated debate now and again.

Thank you for the general tips and comments.  I had a post on UF about twisting and grabbing feet.  I dint even want to get into that again...they told me I was a fag...end of story.  People may call our group FRPK because we like the flips and Ariel's...although the ones practicing it can flow from one movement to the other.  Just this weekend on a jam we were able to draw quite a crowd going through a mall flipping down stairs and running off into the distance.  ( carefully planned of course )

To answer tracer's questions above I was able to head to New York where I was able to jam with a couple of people that were moderators on the Uf board and like EXO.  I heard he was big after I came home.  At any rate, and I know I am going to be killed for this, they were kinda lazy.  There were almost 30 people there.  No organization really they mostly just stood around...did very few flows and any parkour in general.  I vowed that I would never be like those people at that JAM.  I did have things to learn from a couple of the traceurs there.  Exo and maybe two other people did some nice jumps down stairs and a precision.  Other then that I saw some palm spins and I dint even know if I saw one single VAULT.  COME ON really.  I had been doing pk for just 2 months and I understood that vaulting was important to the organization to Parkour.  It might have been that JAM.  I don't know but it was horrible.  They wanted to eat at a dinner like 2 hours after we got there then most people left and yet again more just standing around.  I took the opportunity to use the landscape that I don't have in my PO-DUNK town.
Thank you again for your constructive criticism.

[Deft]

The reason I felt I needed to "defend" to some comments about our vids (which I always welcome feedback) is that it was filmed in the early stages of our group and all of us has surpassed that level. Klaymen doesn't believe one can make leaps and bounds in a few months. I ask how deep he dove in when he first started pk. (I'm not pointing fingers, but I can tell you there is a world of difference from my first month of parkour versus my 3rd or 4th and I have footage to back this)
The Guadalupe Jam video is not good or great by any means. It's just the footage we had from a day of fun.

WHO SAYS WHAT WE DO SHOULD NOT BE CALLED PARKOUR!!! f#ck you in you doughnut hole!!!!!!
This is an issue that is close to my heart. I welcomed FXPK when all that came about but have been saddened when I see the amount of tricks outweigh "true parkour  moves." I have started threads on UFF asking "Where has all the parkour gone?" True in that vid. you did not see flow or all the good elements and not every skill was showcased, like stated previously, it's just a fun little video not a million dollar deal maker/breaker.   
  True, I really hate to see people posting vids that have no parkour specific moves and is all tricking. I think our vid is not quite on that level unless wall runs, pop vaults, palm/wall spins, and turn vaults are no longer part of parkour and being how I cannot flip, areial, or add any other "trick" on the street, so I can't be a trickster or breaker. Therefore am I just practising random movements?
When I train vaults and rolls should I just call it cake making?

[Ryan Ford]

I think our vid is not quite on that level unless wall runs, pop vaults, palm/wall spins, and turn vaults are no longer part of parkour

parkour movements serve a purpose. they get you over an obstacle with efficiency. palm and wallspins do not serve a purpose and do not get you over an obstacle with efficiency. same with wall runs unless they get you ovre something. i think this seems to be a key point you guys are overlooking on what is and is not parkour.

[Deft]

I think this is madness that people are getting onto our group about doing "non-pk" stuff. I am actively against vids that have no "true pk" moves. I guess for those that have only seen this guadalupe video of ours, to come to that conclusion is understandable. I filed this one away as "the early days" and will only break it out for novelty purposes to look back on an laugh. We have become FXPK group, for the most part, but I think... I mean I know we are FAR from some groups where it's just a tricking gathering and their vids have no pk in them.

[Gearsighted]

People may call our group FRPK because we like the flips and Ariel's...although the ones practicing it can flow from one movement to the other

It has very little to do with whether or not it flows, but rather, whether or not it's relatively useful and effecient, and in the mindset of such movement.This is the reason I included that issue in my definition of flow in the lexicon section Flow.

But..yeah..the flips and such are not Parkour, so get over it, it's no big deal. It's quite alright to practice Parkour along with acrobatics and other random movement, but it's nice to know the difference, that's all. Keep up the good work

[Ryan Ford]

we arent getting on your case about doing "non pk stuff". i could care less if all you want to do is flip around and do palm spins. thats essentially what team evo does in all their videos and i have tons of respect for them. we are only trying to correct you when you say that flips, wall/palmspins, and other inefficent movements are parkour.

[Deft]

It sounds like we are still on different pages especially if Demon thinks "all I want to do is flip around and do palm spins." I actively strive to be a well rounded traceur. I agree that tricks and any movement that does not help one get from point A to B is not "true" parkour. As we all know Freestyle parkour came out and allowed for more freedom of movement and expression. My interpretation of this is that we can add a bit of flair and expression but we shouldn't lose site of the original goal. So do you (people on these boards) consider people who practise FXPK not to be traceurs? I am being serious when I ask this.

[Ryan Ford]

i never said that was all you wanted to do. IF thats what you want to do, i dont care. IF you want to be hardcore parkour, i dont care. do whatever you want, but know the differences. that is the goal of this website.

[Deft]

I just think this thread is silly because I am genrally on your side of thinking (I am more apt to tell someone who posts a vid that is all tricking that it's not really pk that they are focusing on.)  Also, I feel I am one who never rocks the boat but when someone said that what I do is not pk (when I am not a trickster by far or anything like that) I see it as a slap to the face and I will respond. I will post another vid our our group as soon as I can and I think it will show that we, along myself, are not just a bunch of tricksters but instead we are a group who has been training and evolving together for over half a year and that we sweat and bleed for the sport/art/discipline that we call parkour.