American Parkour

Hey Greg!  First off, make sure you post something about the SIUE jam on here so people can be aware of it.  Also, if everyone from Missouri is going to be signing up for STLPK.com, and especially if you guys are going to be an APK affiliate soon, maybe you should think about making it a site for Missouri Parkour in general, rather than just St. Louis.  Just a thought.

Hey Saved, I don't think we're planning on going back to Ha Ha Tonka, because I think this thread was for planning a jam last year.  Where do you live?

Hello!  I don't know if there's a strong community in Columbia.  I know there isn't anyone on here that's in Columbia, but that doesn't mean there isn't anyone that trains up there.  Where are you from?  It might be best if you got with someone from that community to learn the basics, then your brother could start training on his own up there.

Hey Sebz, and welcome!

Dustin covered pretty much everything. We meet at Founders on Saturdays around 10am, and we're usually there until 12 or 1, depending on what's going on that day.  You're more than welcome to join, but as a disclaimer I feel like I should make it clear that we're not really "instructing" you.  I'm more than willing to help you learn the skills that will make parkour as safe and enjoyable as possible, but I'm not an official teacher by any means.  That said, come on down, and we'll try to have as much fun as possible!

Dude, that sounds awesome!  I can't make it (lots of crap to do that weekend.  ) but I'll be sure to tell the rest of the Springfield guys and gals.

If I had to help correct just a few things, I'd have to say that you should work on smoothing out your landings and keeping your torso and hips lower during QM.

Yes!  That's something else I was going to mention!  It looked like you were completely comfortable on the rail, so I don't think it's that big of a deal, but if you think about lowering yourself (even so low that your knees are actually beneath the bar), your center will be a lot better and you will have more control.  Like I said, it doesn't look like you're lacking in control, so it's just a suggestion.

Ha!  That trenchcoat looks so goofy with shorts and a tank top underneath.  It's like you wanted to be a flashed, but chickened out at the last minute.  Nice touch, man.

As for your movement, it was pretty good for a month and a half.  It definitely looks like you're getting over the fear that comes at the beginning.  I was really glad to see that your rolls look good and smooth (the worst one was that 3rd one you did, at 2:15ish), and the rest of your moves are decent, and will improve in time.  I was also glad to see that there were no huge movements or giant drops, bravo!

As you continue to grow, start focusing on the moments before and after the movements themselves.  I think the approach into and the landing out of a vault or movement is closer to the heart of parkour than the vault or movement itself, and learning things like how to smoothly transition into and out of a movement in terms of your feetwork, or maintain your momentum throughout a vault are the skills you need to learn to really get good at what we do.

Keep up the good work!

yessir.

Great day today!  We had three new people show up, one of whom had been doing parkour in the area for about 2 years but didn't know we existed until this week.  I feel really confident with my climb-ups now, although I want to work on being able to do more than 10 or so before I get tired and have to go one arm at a time.  Also, I did a kong over a 7-foot obstacle today, which puts a great big smile on my face.

I don't know of anyone in Joplin, but you guys might want to think about making the trip up to Springfield to train with us.  We meet every Saturday from 10-12, and even if you just came once you could get an idea of how to get started with your training.