American Parkour

Recently I have been working on learning flips and stuff. Instead of going to a gym to train acrobats, I figured that if I could purchase my own gym mat, I could simply go to my backyard and train. Way easier, right? But my problem lies in finding a good place to purchase these mats, and which one I should buy.

There are different types of mats. Landings mats, tumbling mats, crash mats and so on. Which of these categories suits cushioning impacts from flips? I'm not really sure how thick the mats should be, I could go to the gym and measure them, but I don't have the time as of now. I'm wondering if anyone else has bought gym mats before and could recommend a place to buy them and which kinds I should get.

I think I should get a mat that is from 4-8 inches thick. But 8 inches may be too thick, making tricks harder to land, while 4 inches may be too thin, and will hurt.

What do you guys know?

The forums change because times change, Facebook has grabbed a big part of the parkour conversation. If i post a video in pics and vids it will get maybe a couple responses and 20-30 views same video posted on facebook gets 10-15 comments and 100 views.

The growth of the community as mentioned above is also huge, most of the people who were active posters 3 years ago are busy leading communities setting up gyms etc that or they dropped out. The topics of conversation that are important now, how to foster community, how to teach, building up grassroots events and competitions, this stuff that doesn't tend to be very productive to talk about online. Most of the important stuff from the past is in sticky somewhere and veterans are loathe to go over the same old points again for new comers or get dragged into the same tired debates.

Pretty much what Rafe said sums it up. I've been around these forums for almost 4 years now (whoa, it's been that long already?). I'd have to say my first two years were when APK was bustling with tons of activity. I was on these forums for a couple hours a day (WITH OVER 1500 POSTS, NOT EVEN INCLUDING THE 700 OR SO I'VE POSTED IN SOCIALIZE!!11!BWHAHAHA). Now I'm on here for about 10 minutes a week.

So why have I stopped visiting the forums so much? Well, as many have already mentioned, forums change depending on the people who come and go. Rafe said many of us are busy with other things, whether it be leading the community elsewhere, or other things in life have caught our attention. For me, I'm more focused on the local Washington community and my school work. Many others have begun to start their own parkour clubs at colleges or opened up their parkour gyms. We're busy people, we don't have time for browsing a forum all day anymore.

The change in the members also plays a part. I'm going to call the group of people I saw regularly on the forums those few years ago "my generation" of posters. I would see the same people post practically every day, all day long. I got know to the generation of posters that I was apart of pretty well, in fact that's how I've come to know the many traceurs around the states that I do now. When I saw many of them had left to attend to more important matters, I found it less appealing to live, breathe, and eat on the forums. As these friends I came to knew moved on, I felt I should move on too. The discussions change over time (and they run through cycles, actually), and weren't as appealing anymore without the generation of posters I was from. Also, a lot of discussions become repetitive for us that have been on here for a long time. Talking about the difference between PK and FR, or similar ideas a million times is not the most interesting thing do.

As time goes on, people come and go. When people change, discussions change. When discussions change, older members may not find it as appealing. But you see, the next generation of posters (you guys) are disscussing topics as a group, much like my generation did. So everything kinda runs in a cycle. That's how I see it.

6) Encourage well-known practitioners or leaders in the community to post more, even if it's just in a special Advanced section. People, newcomers especially, often come because they saw the moves their heroes did online. If they come on and see Frosti posted just yesterday giving advice or just clowning around, it's a pretty cool feeling.

This. I remember in my first months of learning parkour. I would see the guys from the Tribe or APK Alliance posting on the forum regularly like everyone else. It was really cool. These superhumanbeingpeople were posting and using this forum just like I was. In fact, I was TALKING to them. Through the forums I got to learn about the personalities and backgrounds of each of these guys. When you first start parkour, the guys with big names become your inspiration. But later on, I came to realize that they're just regular people. And I've actually met and jammed with most of these guys. Now they seem like regular, everyday people to me, but will still appear as heroes to new members. It was really cool back then getting to know them in a real, person-to-person conversation on the forums.

It's a simple fix. From the sounds of it, it sounds like a common learning mistake: You're hitting the top or the side of your shoulder as you enter the roll. Feel the top of your shoulder. As you can feel, as well as see in your diagram, the top of the shoulder has lots of bone jutting out. When you roll, you should be entering the roll on the BACK of the shoulder, where the scapula is. This is the "meaty" portion of the shoulder. The "meat" of the back of the shoulder is where you want your rolls to begin. Remember, no bones whatsoever should make contact with the ground as you roll. This fix just requires some playing around with your technique of entering into the roll. Feel carefully how the hand and arm that is placed on the ground leads your shoulder to the ground. Adjust it and find the best way for you to easily and softly lower the back of your shoulder onto the ground.

So, in short:
Roll from the BACK of the shoulder to the opposite hip.

Hope that helps. Post some feedback so we can help you more!

lol. lol. lol.







lol.

Agreed lol.

By the way. IF FOR SOME REASON, there is controversy about this, I post around on another forum that uses the same forum hosting service as APK. And on that forum, there is only positive karma. That way, you can't -1 someone, rather, you can only +1 to someone.

So if you like someone, give a +1. If you don't like them, you can't give them a -1. And no one has ever bickered about karma on that forum. Ever. It's like Facebook. You can like, but you can't dislike. #Suggestion

Come join us for jamming, celebration, and a potluck dinner!

All details can be found in the link below! BE THERE!!!!!!

http://parkourvisions.org/grandopening/

Welcome! We have a dedicated Facebook Group where you can contact others around Washington. There's a handful of traceurs down in Olympia, in fact, there's someone jamming there soon. Check out the group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/8175226949/

Happy training!

WAT

I don't even...

A great reminder for those of us who have become lazy recently

Awesome job Adam, as usual, a high quality tutorial.

+1

It doesnt have a link yet, its just on the list of jams on the calender on the home page of this site. Just tryin to get info since i gotta ask days off a good amount ahead of time where i work.

I don't see it anywhere. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough. But I can ask PKV and see if they have anything planned yet.

 I have always had the feeling that i'm never being challenged in this generation. We get things handed to us all the time with no need to ever really work for things. This has left me with a deadened sense of life, assuming everything will come easily in my life. This i know isn't true and the real world is harsh and unforgiving. I come here to ask for your help. I need something to live for, a kind of purpose, I need Parkour.
I believe Parkour can, and will, give me a more open veiw to life and actually feel a thrill of challenge; however, I know im not active a lot, yet I am in a bit of better health than some. Im building Goals and trying to figure out some for myself.

This is a beautiful thing for me to read. It's amazing to know that there are even a few kids out there who understand that there's more to be gained from life than the phone you stare at and the easy world of "survival" we now live in. Being only 16, this is something I've come to learn. Hard work and the rewards gained from it have become a lesson long forgotten by our generation, and continues to be more and more forgotten.

What's the point to being alive if there's nothing you have to struggle for to gain? To quote an unknown author: "Everyone dies, but not everyone truly lives."