American Parkour

I agree that we should do the U of MN, although sending them the check directly would be silly.  We should get a group together, all wearing our MNPK shirts, and just clean.  Beforehand, we can alert any and all news crews we can think of (including campus news at the Daily), and maybe they'll give us some good press. If nothing else, we could make the front page of APK by documenting it ourselves and use that when we present to the U again.

I think I've found my new training music. 

...and my two legs.

Thanks Chad.

Das war saugeil, und super lustig.  Ihr seid kreativ und es scheint, dass ihr ungeheuerlich viel Spass zusammen habt.  Mach weiter Jungs, es hat mir echt gefallen.  Wenn ich irgendwann in der Nähe von Kassel bin, melde ich mich.  Sieht aus, dass ihr ziemlich viel für Training habt.  Wie ist's mit der Polizei und Parkour in Deutschland?  Habt ihr Probleme damit?

Schön, und das Ende war das Beste. 

That's Chris Sharma, current climbing god.  I didn't realize he spoke perfect Spanish!

Josh,

You should try and change your thinking that stepping back and returning to something later is "lame."  It is, in fact, an important tool and valuable skill that we all do in order to rationally grasp a situation, which also includes accomplishing goals such as Parkour or Freerunning skills.  I do this in climbing all the time, where I work on a route or a problem and just can't get it.  I intentionally step away and either come back to it later in the session, or try it another day.  Gaining fresh perspective, or simply starting with a fresh brain AND fresh body, I usually nail it the first time.  Stepping back helps us calm ourselves, see it from a different angle, and or just simply rest.  A lot of people say drill it until you master it, but that doesn't mean right away all at once.  Switch gears, try something else.  The brain tends to get stuck in one mode when we're working on a problem in an almost OCD sort of way, and we must intentionally decide to get out of that mode. 

I hope this helps.  Happy training, and congrats on your accomplishments thus far.

A friend sent this to me today, via the New York Times

New York Times Video Times Cast 10-12-10

http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/timescast/1247467375115/index.html?hp


There are two articles before the Parkour piece, so feel free to skip ahead about 2/3 the way.

Well, if you're training partly for a rock climbing trip, then climb as your training.  Work on challenging yourself with choice of handhold and gradually choose holds that are smaller and smaller.  Crimp holds and slopers will get your hands and fingers in shape quickly.  By using your feet on the wall as well, you're training your hands more slowly, rather than hanging your entire body weight from just your fingertips.  If you don't have strong fingers and hands, that's a good way to injure yourself by straining a tendon.  Keep in mind that tendons take a lot longer to strengthen than muscle.  They also take a lot longer to heal if injured.  I've done it too many times in my years of climbing.  Once you're more comfortable on the wall, try ceiling work (if you have a gym/bouldering cave near you with holds on the ceiling).  You can still use your legs and core, but it puts more emphasis on your hands.  If you've got space and a little money to spend, build a "woody" or a buy a hangboard (Metolius makes a great one, available at REI) and hang it above a doorway.  Plans for cheap but effective woodies can be found online.

If you don't have access to a climbing gym near you and are broke, try and find a building with a seam that sticks out at a safe height that offers about the same width as your door moulding.  Do some cat traverses with feet on the wall.  Better yet would be if you can find a ledge for your feet as well as your hands.   Look closely and you'll find some brick building with something like that.  It wasn't until I started PK that I looked closer at buildings to find all the little bricks that stick out, even if just a little bit.  As long as you're not climbing up, buildering is a fun way to train that shouldn't get you into too much trouble, especially if you're playing Ground is Lava.

I hope that gives you some possibilities.  Good luck! 

I've been a rock climber for about 11 years now and doing Parkour for almost four.  In climbing, I've always had to rely on chalk because my hands get super sweaty.  In Parkour, however, I've never needed it for some reason, and I think it's because I just never considered it, because 1) it would look silly carrying a chalk bag around in the city while training, 2) I believe the "leave no trace" philosophy should be adhered to in our urban spaces in order to convey a positive message about Parkour, and 3) your hands and body will adapt.  In January when I started my climbing season again, I learned that chalk and Eco balls (chalk alternative in a little pouch that you squeeze) were no longer allowed in the bouldering gym where I train.  We can only use liquid chalk, which works great, but a hassle to deal with because you constantly need to reapply and can't do it on the fly.  I decided to try and go as long as I could with nothing at all, and I'm still bouldering 3 times a week for 1.5 hour sessions with no chalk.  Your body will adapt, but I will say now, it's 99% MENTAL.  I just told myself I wasn't going to think about it or care, and now I'm doing ceiling routes without issues of slipping. 

In short, my vote is NO chalk, unless you're in a natural setting on real rock. 

Try some rock climbing or bouldering to strengthen your hands and forearms.  It will make a huge difference.

Casey, the situation at the U of MN is similar but worse to a certain extent.  The Parkour and Freerunning Enthusiasts Club isn't allowed to train on campus officially, which defeats the purpose of the club altogether.  After going to the university last spring, we petitioned them as part of the club and the entire MN community to let us train, prepared to go to the top with a Powerpoint and as many positive stats as we could dig up.  After only our first meeting, whose goal was to figure out who we would actually present to, we received a letter stating that the university had officially declared that we were not allowed to train on campus. 

We discovered, however, during the Midwest Jam, that the prohibition to train by the campus authorities was in official wording only.  After speaking with 2 different police officers who approached us during the jam, they said that they were told to express concern for our safety, and then leave us to our training. 

Moral of the Story: universities and colleges (especially the big ones) are businesses and must protect themselves legally as much as possible.  That said, they don't necessarily need to follow through with what they say, if it impedes support from those who contribute to the business' success.  Try not to take it personally, and keep training respectfully.  If you ever wish to present your case again, feel free to contact me.  I can send you my Powerpoint and/or give you some tips.  There are other clubs and groups around the country who have experienced the same, and they can be of help as well. 

Good luck!

Don't count out Taylors Falls.  That was awesome!