American Parkour

I haven't trained for a while now... One week I was sick, the next only minimal necessary moves. Tried a fun looking running precision and sprained my ankle slightly. Joy.

I did however do one day...

3 Pull ups
3 Dips

Thanks for your in-depth replies.

I definitely see how parkour could be useful in those situations, however rare they may be.

I believe that we all train with fun in mind...do you agree?

This week I have spent lots of time walking around the downtown Seattle and Bellevue areas. For those who don't know, the whole place is one big parkour hotspot. HOWEVER, most of the things will never exactly be "in your way".

Instead of making a detour from point A to point B just to go over obstacles, I tried only doing things when I needed to, or if it decreased my travel time. Rarely did I ever actually do anything. There was only really an occasional lazy vault or safety vault. You would be surprised how often you don't hit the obstacle staight on, making the lazy vault extremely versatile. When I DID hit an obstacle straight on, it was usually a high rail on a slight ledge, or another type of awkward obstacle. For this situation, the safety vault is my favorite way to go. Sure, you could learn to do kongs at neck height, but most of us can't do that...or at least I can't. The safety vault is by far the most versatile way to clear obstacles, big and tall, short and wide.

Other moves I saw to be useful but never actually used were the wall run and the climb up...especially if you can do the wall run at an angle. I never ran into a wall that would require this, but it would certainly be useful.

So, IN MY OPINION, those are the most useful and primary "moves" that you should train.

Practiced broad jumps...very silent. They feel pretty solid.

I have yet to get out to practice; the weather is awful. Rain, rain, and more RAIN!

Workout video consisting mainly of prisoner squats and dive bomber push-ups... That pretty much speaks for itself.

Good news: I can still do kongs over rails.

Worked on ambidextrous lazy vaults on walls. Decent, didn't feel too smooth, however. Definitely could use some work. I did work on the hurdling small objects thing...did okay, I guess. I had waist height and lower thigh height to choose from, and I could only do lower thigh.

Other messing around...lazies to reverse "dismounts", as I call them.

Fun day.

Minimal work-out:

20 Push-ups
2x2 Dips

I need to work on lazy vaults and other vaults that involve awkward angles...and wall runs...and climb-ups.

I'm re-learning my rolls. I've long deglected those... I worked on forward and backward ones today. Backward rolls are suprisingly useful; they're not too fast, but they get the job done. I find that they actually absorb impact better than forward ones. The lack of arm use results in minimal impact anywhere.

Also on my list of things to do, hurdling small objects. What's the point in vaulting something staight on that's lower than your waist? I'm going to try to start the progression of that tomorrow.

My abs FINALLY stopped being sore. I'm getting back into the swing of things...generally practicing basic skills and minimal work outs. Today, I practiced in my yard...not much to do. Awkward environment. Cat traverse, safeties, and precisions.

I got a new pair of shoes that has amazing grip...under armour something. Really nice.

I'm trying to go Somewhere to practice vaults...

I had to go through lots of pages to find this journal...that pretty much speaks for itself.

I haven't trained these past few months, and it feels awful. I tried to let my knees rest, but they aren't any better. It has been wet and icy...

Honestly though, I have barely kept up my conditioning. I can only do about three pull ups now, and that is quite hard for me. My once newly-honed climb up skills are all but gone.

But I'm going to work at it all again. I'm going to set some short term goals for myself to get me going again. Five pull ups, two deep dips, thirty push ups, and most importantly, renewing my skills. I'm going to take it from the start again.

I want to try to start today...its unlikely though because it is ten degrees out.

Been really busy. Got one short session of parkour in, and worked out a bit today...pull-ups and push-ups.