American Parkour

I didn't see anything about this in the stickies or tutorials so I'm asking it here.
The fundamental jump I'm asking about is just the jump--the kind of jump you use to get height and distance, not precision--just jumping up in the air as high as possible. So it's a little different from the precision or the cat leap. Also, you know when you're running and maybe have an obstacle or large puddle or something that you can't really vault over, so you want to get as much air as possible. What's the best form for that?

(if you can supply a helpful link/video that would be fantastic)

I want to make sure I have all these down:

- avoiding injury to ankles, feet (I practice jumps barefoot on a clean floor), and knees. The last one is big. I want to jump really high but not have to tape ice to my knees and ankles after practice like Rajon Rondo
- getting as high as possible in the air
- getting as much distance as possible
- landing properly as described in the APK tutorial

Any answers would be great, thanks for reading.

I'm such a wuss. I was practicing the landings as described in the apk tutorial and I got tired doing them, even. I was into pk for a long time but then I took a hiatus because of school and work. Now I'm playing basketball and I want to do this, too, again, except focus on fundamentals instead of vaults. I really really want to learn how to jump and land properly, never learned that. Thanks everyone in this thread for providing assistance

parkourMulvey, after christmas I picked up some Adidas Bounce for $50. I asked a salesperson before I bought them and he said the best shoes for doing a lot of jumping have shocks, or extra cushioning underneath the heel, kind of like this

hope it helps.

I have the exact same problem. I went to gymnastics gym, and monkey vaulted easily, falling onto a thick mat on the other side. When I had no fear of injury, I could do it. I'd say if you can't find a gymnastics gym--and they're hard to find--start on REALLY LOW OBSTACLES. Like, knee-high. Then, keep drilling the obstacle, and eventually you'll be like 'heck, it's two feel tall!' and monkey it. You can increase the height when you have more confidence.

Last night I had a strange, vivid dream, and I thought I'd post it because, although I don't usually read much into dreams, during my training today I noticed it had relevance to my attitude toward parkour.
In the dream, I was in a strange colorless city where scary (demonic) faces appeared to morph out of objects, like walls and traffic lights. So if you were looking at something it would suddenly leer back at you.
I seemed to have a knowledge of this world even though I haven't had any dreams like this before; for example, I knew that it followed certain rules of physics the real world didn't, and that things left lying around in this city (like trash) tended to mutate into some sort of monsters. Also, I think I was with other people, because another 'rule' of this city was that everyone had to move around in pairs, almost as if they were linked to someone else while there. I can't remember so much now, but gravity seemed arbitrary, working in some places and moon-like in others. The most important thing about it, though, was that it was a scary place, custom-designed to frighten me.
The ending of the dream took place in a large underground area, possibly a subway station (in between the tracks) but I'm not sure. In the middle there was a dark beast with horns or something that was larger than the small scary faces I had seen earlier around the city, and standing on its own, not out of an object. I think I remember walking closer and closer to it trying to see it clearer, and when I was close to it, it disappeared. I was left standing on my own, and somehow I remember 'knowing' that the beast had never 'been' there in the first place.

Thanks for reading all that anyway I talked about it with my dad, but I don't think i really fully understood the dream until I was drilling monkey vaults this afternoon. I was trying to clear a VERY small wall and couldn't believe I was actually hesitating to vault it, since it was about knee-high. I felt an annoying reflex slow me down or stop me every time I approached it at a run. Suddenly, though, I remembered the demons that peeked out of inanimate objects in my nightmare. It sounds kind of new-age to say this, but I think that dream was pretty deep. The demons didn't represent the city's dangers or evils at all, but the demons of my own inner world--my fears. Ordinarily our little fears hide somewhere at the backs of our minds, but in parkour we are forced to not only acknowledge and confront them, but to overcome them. The fact that I didn't fight or run away from the 'boss' demon in the subway station, but just tried to understand it better, is probably a good way of dealing with fear in parkour.

ps. And I did manage to monkey that knee-high wall btw  It felt pathetically awesome, but soon I'll move up to the chess table in the courtyard, I know I will

Some of you may remember that earlier this year, I posted a thread in the Socialize section requesting quotes from traceurs for an article on Parkour I was doing for an anti-drug magazine for young people. (I'm sure the mods do, but don't worry I asked first!) Charles Moreland and Zachary Cohn were a great help in this respect, so thank you guys!
The publishing schedule of any magazine is long-winded and tortuous, but this morning, I open my email, and what do I see? The editor of said magazine telling me she's still very interested in featuring Parkour in their September 2009 issue, but there's a catch. The magazine has undergone a complete revamping, going from four-color to full-color, and depending more on photographs. Also, my 1,000 word piece needs to be cut down to 800 words by January 30, meaning one thing; merciless editing. As for the photographs, that's where you guys at APK come in.
I need some sweet, slick photos of Parkour that would entice young people into trying the sport. I would prefer the ones that look safe, as opposed to roof hopping, just because of the nature of the publication. I can't really afford to pay for the rights, but if I could have permission to use your photo, I would give the source and photographer in the article, not act as if I'd taken the pic myself. If you would like more information about the magazine I'm doing this for or what I would do with your pictures (I'm still working out how many images I'll need, etc.) please PM me. Thanks, and I hope this is the right forum for this topic.

My hands were freezing today in my high tech Hotfingers gloves! And it wasn't even snowing. I just switched from a swelteringly tropical climate to New England about 3 months ago though. I still want to train, but I kind of made myself sick last time I got all gung-ho about training in all weathers.

I had to suffer some pretty bad cramps for a while. Recently I discovered Ibuprofen. I'm really against drugs of any kind really so I only take the Motrin if I have an exam or really tough studying to do that day, or if it's REALLY SUCKY. I'd say take a break from parkour for the first couple days because they're the hardest (at least for me) and if you want to sleep all day because of it, do it. Otherwise, exercising usually at least takes your mind off it, and sometimes even relieves the cramps. I'd look up on homeopathic remedies for it if it's a chronic problem, but honestly I think it gets better as you grow.
And yeah men have it too easy!  (I just had to tack that one on)

Well, I just started parkour (really excited; feel as though I've been waiting all my life) and here are the things I want to develop right away:

-General upper body strength, I want to be able to pull myself up with no difficulty and I'm fairly heavy.

-Explosive power. I want to JUMP, and be able to launch off surfaces, like walls, with power as well as control.

-Get Kong vaults downpacked to the point that I know I can get one done easily over a reasonable distance.

-Improve cardiovascular health (I have exercise-induced asthma as well, anyone have much experience with that? It's like mild asthma which is only induced by exercise. Very annoying to be forced to stop when you're not totally tired because you can't breathe).

-Get on top my house with a wallrun. This one part of the house isn't very high and I've almost reached it.

I need to pace myself though! I've been so eager with my training that I went and got tendinitis in my wrist. Haven't trained in a week and its still not totally better, talk about frustrating.

I'm glad there's a post like this in the thread. I get kind of intimidated by all the experts. Anyway, this, minus wallrunning to my roof (I wish, man; I live on the sixth floor). BTW, I don't have experience with that particular variety, but I had asthma as a child and both my boyfriend and brother have it. Theirs, though, is more influenced by stress and the temperature (my boyfriend actually nearly overcame his due to years of martial arts training, and is only bothered by it very occaisionally. Don't lose hope--just look at it as another obstacle to overcome). About the wrist tendinitis, just wrap some gauze or athletic tape or something around your wrist pretty tightly, and it won't be so twisted up during lazy and speed vaults. I had that problem too.

I bruised my knee lazy vaulting over a rail. My knees are usually the only thing I bruise. Because it leaves an ugly splotch on your skin, you should ice it as soon as you can, hold the ice on for ten minutes, take it off for ten, put it back on. There are also bruise and sore muscle rubs you can buy, but I prefer homeopathic ones because I grew up around hippies or whatever (I would recommend Boiron Arnicare Gel, I bought mine for $6 at Whole Foods and it works fast) but it's a common and usually not too dangerous injury, so learn to treat it. If you wait too long after you got the bruise to ice it, get used to the color purple because you'll have that there for a while.