Topic: Feet first!?

[Zack Newkumet]

Ok recently I've been focusing more on bars and railings, and starting to try the jump through the gap (under bar?).

I've seen some people go feet first through tiny gaps, like 10 inches or something. And they don't touch either the bar or the wall/bar/railing underneath them. I've tried jumping feet first under a bar that's about waist hight but it still feels extremely odd. I'm always afraid I'm going to hit my shins, elbows, lower back, face or back of the head when I try these.

Anyway, any pointers on how to practice them (like doing what I'm doing in a ~waist high gap?)

Much appreciated!

[Colorado Kong]

I think the underbar where u first grab the bar then go through head first is the hardest (underbar 360), and in my opinion is easier if ur smaller, try it out sometime.

[ZacharyCohn]

A technique I like to use for those thin underbars is a little bit different from the technique used when you have a lot of space.

Hmm. You know what, there's no way I'll be able to explain this. I'm shooting for a video this afternoon, so I'll try and remember to make a video tutorial, and I'll post it here later tonight.

[Logan Lay]

Check the Demon's Drill "Duct Tape Tutorial" on the APK Main Page. It eliminated my inhibitions about The Underbar.

When it's a smaller gap I'm sliding through I usually end up doing it slower and more controlled - kinda like slowly easing yourself down from a muscle-up on a Pull-up bar. The best place to look is first the Duct Tape Tutorial and then after you get those basics down - watch a bunch of vids of different underbars. Best of Luck!!! 

[Zack Newkumet]

Alright thanks all. I'll watch this "Duct tape tutorial."

I guess it's just practice.

[Jus7in]

Lol, going feet first into underabrs is tough, but if the gap is too small for you to feel comfortable, you can swing your legs from the side into the gap. That way you aren't going feet first, you can adjust you height to get through and then slip your legs through.

[Daemon of Dunasthai]

well, what if you're underbarring through something over your head? i cant 360 underbar because of my wrist, but i normally go through sideways with something like that.

is that good, or is there a possible way to make it better?

[Sammaron]

is the 360 one sposed to be the harder one??? I'm having trouble gathering the courage to go feet first 

[Acewall]

Yeah, I really feel like the 360 underbar is alot easier. And it helps alot if you smaller. I was so afraid of underbars until like a month ago. Honestly, just do it. Don't think. 2 weeks into training parkour I underbared through like a 1.5 space, and was afraid to try it again until a month ago. Which was 4 1/2 months later. So yeah, be like nike, just do it. 

[Chris Ell]

The way I learned how to do my first underbar was by breaking it down into two steps. First, jump at the rail, grab the top rail, and put both your feet on the bottom rail. Next, do the same thing but this time slide one leg through and keep one planted on the bottom rail to get used to the motion of your legs going through. Those should make you feel more comfortable with doing one. Also you can approach the rail and do an underbar coming from the top down instead of straight at it if it feels more natural to you. After that you pretty much just have to brave it and do one.

[Ozzi]

Watch starting minute 5:00, thats how I practice and teach under bars. Use a bungee cord, easiest way.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lCrToAEaPs8

[Muhammad]

underbars is one area where I am getting pretty good, due to constant training. going through feet first is good when you are approaching the underbar at a dead run and you don't want to stop your flow. if you run at an underbar at speed, and then slow down to place your hands on it first, it will negatively affect your flow and speed, but if you get used to jumping feet first through it, and catching the bar with your hands mid way through and swinging yourself hard the rest of the way through, you will pass very fast and smooth through it, and be able to exit running without breaking your flow.

i advise you spend a lot of time on underbars, learning how to do all the different methods of passement effectively, and learn to chain them together in long flows so that you are able to weave in and out of bars quickly using a wide variety of movements without hesitation. working underbars like that will really increase your flexibility and upperbody strength, and it's a good conditioning method for your shoulders and other joints. you will get the occasional scrape and bruise in your learning process, but eventually you get so used to the underbars that it happens less and less frequently.

take a look at the following videos and try to learn all the types of movement you see here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkHPQPozDRs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TawZ9ExB9I0

[Ozzi]

Needless to say those are now on my list of favorite videos. Fantastic videos mate (ozzi making a bad imitation of English accent) 

[Muhammad]

I have a place to train that is similar to the one in that first video with Dan and Forest, and I never get tired of it. I've been training that same spot several times a week now for three months straight, and I still learn something new every time. Actually I was just there tonight, and spent about three hours working the bars and rails. It is such a good workout. Tonight a group of us were trying to see how long we could sustain continuous flows though it, using as many different passements as we could do. We were getting up to like 15 or 20 passements per run, which would leave you totally out of breath, and we found basically that once you mess up on one of the moves, your flow pretty much stops, so you have to try and make each movement as good as you can get it in order to keep your movement going forward. After like three hours of doing that stuff, it seems like every muscle in your body hurts. It's so good that way

[Ozzi]

I need to find a spot like that. I think i need to heal first too though.

[Muhammad]

No underbars for you with your jacked up shoulder. you got to wait a good while for that!

[Ozzi]

I know, I can always come out with some kind of one arm under bar though, after all PK is all about doing the possible to overcome the obstacle if needed in an emergency too, right?.

Actually that gives me an idea. I'll have to wait till I am healed, but then I can try to come up with some kind of "handicap moves" using one arm or something like that. I think it would be a good idea to know because like I said, what if you really need to move quick in an emergency? Are you going to get all screwed up just because you are injure? Obviously this has a limit when it comes to leg injuries but it would be fun just to try using one arm for certain situation.

I saw a video of David Belle doing a pretty long gap jump to a one arm Cat Leap, that bastard.

[REMO]

don't try to many crazy moves that don't use your hands.  Keep it simple until your completely confident in yourself.

[Muhammad]

At the New Yorker Festival, I saw Leon doing one-arm wall climbs like it was nothing.

[Ozzi]

 I can do one arm wall hop, it was kinda funny at first. I have been doing lots of precision since my shoulder accident and I am getting better and better at them, obviously is like pretty much the only thing I can do. But the technique is getting cleaner and cleaner. I cant still wait to get healed, the local papers is waiting for me to get heal to get a story.