American Parkour

Being the "elder statesman" (at 56 years YOUNG) of this forum, my buds and I refer to ourselves as "advanced" adults.  To quote the famous Satchel Page:  "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?"

The older you get the truer the principle, "Use it or lose it."  Also, with age, all of your parts go off warranty.  Don't forget, all the abuses of your youth catch up with you, the more of them there are/were, the worse it is.  The meaning of "extreme" sports means just that--extreme debility later on in life with each accumulated crash & burn.  I'm extremely active and agile at 56, but things break easier, take longer to heal, and that's after living a life of eating well, staying in shape, and STILL never having broken a bone or undergone any major surgery.

Do not live your life short-sighted, nor take for granted the principle "garbage in/garbage out".  That covers all aspects of life from food/friends/environment/spirituality, etc.  Treat your "vehicle" with great respect--you only get one at-bat. 

Well said, everyone.

It's no problem having you younger guys chime in, in fact, it's welcomed.  The more inter-generational PK becomes, the better.  In fact, ANY endeavor that fosters generational interaction is to be lauded.
Most of my daily physical activity is not made up of PK, but of shooting hoops and bodysurfing.  Both activities are greatly enhanced by the generational interaction.  On the courts (while I bring in all of my 55+years), most of the guys are in their mid twenties to mid thirties, and out in the surf, you get everyone from 15 to 60+, and it's all great because of it.

The young have their youth to offer for inspiration, while the more "advanced" (as we like to call ourselves) have the wisdom of our years (and injuries) to provide perspective.  It's all good.  We older guys KNOW (or should) that activities have to be scaled back by degrees, because the older you get, the longer (if completely ever) it takes to heal.  So injury-avoidance is a high priority.

There are a lot of basic moves in PK that will greatly enhance how you carry yourself through your environment, without EVER having to pull off anything even remotely dangerous.  I've done little seat and rail-hops at the ballpark that have "earned" me some favorable remarks from complete strangers who were sitting next to me, and these were guys who were 20 years younger.  If you practice ANY PK moves, your going to be ahead of 99.9% of the entire population of the planet, so it won't take much to set you apart from the crowd.

I've also had some great sessions just playing around on jungle-gym equipment at parks, and rock-hopping on boulder seawalls and jetties at the beach.  You just have to be creative and have fun.  You younger guys weren't around "back in the day" when I was growing up,  but there was maybe one or two kids in any given class who were overweight.  Now, it is at least half the class in any school anywhere you go who are overweight, and they are well down the road to encountering a boat-load of trouble by the time they are forty (if they happen to live that long).  This current generation is the most unhealthy generation that has ever walked the planet in "modern" times.  The chicken is going to come home to roost.

All that said, PK (practiced with reasonable moderation) will help to keep the "wolf at bay", as long as you don't end up in a walker by forty from a dozen broken bones, sprains, strains, tears, bruises, abrasions, concussions, contusions. . .you fill in the blanks.

Be careful, and have fun out there. . .

I kind of assumed the skateboarding scenario was part of the occupational hazard--it was the purposeful roller-pin-on-the-shin "training" that caused me to cringe a bit. . .

At first I thought you were kidding--I then realized you weren't.  No matter what activity you train for, it should NEVER include purposefully inflicting bodily injury upon yourself so as to just go numb to the pain.  The pain signals are there for a reason--to indicate injury is taking place.  There is absolutely NO reason to beat the sh*t out of your shins just so you can avoid the pain in case you happen to misjudge a maneuver.  You are not training for some life-or-death struggle.  It's just about fitness & fun--that's it.

No offense taken.  It's always a matter of relativity--from where you stand and view the world.  If everybody you hang around is younger than you, one might tend to think of oneself as the "elder"--and that's not a bad thing at all.  With the misguided "culture of youth" society in which we live, we tend to throw aside the maturity and wisdom of our "elders"--and that can be ANYBODY older than us--however old WE are.  The best-case scenario is to insert yourself whenever possible into a "younger" setting so that you can add a much-needed perspective that those younger than you simply do not have.  The more inter-generational mixing that occurs the better off everybody is--as long as the setting is positive of course.  (One would want to avoid like the plague any downward spirals.)

Anyway, think of yourself as the more "mature" member of your tribe--not the "old" one.

It's actually hard for me to imagine a late 20-something referring to herself as a "geezer".  I'm 55, and we have an AARP (not the American Association of Retired Persons), but the ADVANCED ADULT RECREATION PROGRAM basketball league at our church, and you have to show ID and be at least 50 or you are not allowed on the court.  Not ONE of us even thinks of himself as being a "geezer".

Also being a member of the surfing community, one of the more popular tee shirts worn is "Old Guys Rule".   As far as I'm concerned, you have to EARN that tee shirt--just being old doesn't cut it.

At 55, I never think of myself as a "geezer"--just "advanced".  I hang around a lot of young kids in the water and on the courts, and NONE of them would ever refer to me as a "geezer" (at least to my face).
I'm afraid I would not be a customer for any "geezer PK" tee shirt.  You are only as old as you think--so stop thinking that way. . .especially while you are still in your 20's!

With love,
David Wellens

Great advice.  That's how I do it.  It's all about moving through your environment.

Totally awesome, Pat.  No more need be said.

It all sounds great to me.  It's all about relating to your environment, whatever & wherever it is.  It looks as though you are beginning to view yours in a more creative way--that's what make PK so fun. 

Don't stop--and stay safe.