When I train, when I move, when I flow, I block everything out. Everything goes, except the next move, the next path. The place I occupy is a figment in my mind, input by my sense to be manipulated in whatever manner I see fit. I’m talking about parkour, the physical discipline in which the goal is to move fluidly and gracefully over, around, across, and under a myriad of obstacles that could impede movement. On the outside it could look like the traceurs training in parkour may be causing trouble or acting childish, but beneath the implied antics there is a deep philosophy: be like water.
Many of the tracuers in Georgia agree there are two big Georgia hotspots: Athens on the east side, and Decatur right in the heart of the state, Metro Atlanta. We communicate through online forums, set a time, and all the traceurs meet near the church for which Church St. was named, and we make our way just a few hundred feet down the narrow road in front of the station to our first area, the Decatur MARTA Station.
Decatur is spectacular, there are shops and restaurants lined up near the station, all made of brick, and there are very large mosaics painted on the brick that add color to the already eclectic feel the town has. A handicap ramp runs up the left side right next to a short set of steps, and large stairways and planter beds meet tangent to the path further along. Bollards in the front prevent drivers from driving on to the station landing, as there is no curb there, but they serve another purpose while we are there. Only wide enough to support one foot at a time, we use them to practice balance by walking, or for some, running across them.
As I travel up the path moving slowly up the left side I can smell lunch 3 hours before we sit down to have it. Eclectic little shops and restaurants line the left side of this path, one of which, The Raging Burrito, is a place we have filled with groups of up to 20 on occasion. At the top, the view opens to reveal a wealth of things to do for both the layman and the traceur. The old courthouse sits stoically in the backdrop, with a gazebo built for small bands off to its left. Picnic tables rest a little closer with a few large trees nearby that are good for shade on the hot summer days, and good for climbing when we’re bored. Behind us is the top of the station we passed earlier. It has a large expanse of stone floor to act as a 2nd floor of sorts, although the only way into the main entrance is back around to the bottom.
We have usually warmed up by the time the group makes their way up the path, and at the top is one of the best places for helping new traceurs train and learn. Sure, parkour is an individual activity, but it’s being able to snap back into the group mindset that benefits the community. The more experienced guys help set up “spot drills” which is kind of like Simon Says, except with movement. Someone asks me to demonstrate a technique called the Kong Vault, so I get to be Simon. I approach the obstacle (in this case, a wide railing) with a smooth gait, and drop my feet apart as I get nearer, I roll through off my left followed by my right while extending my body skyward, my feet hit just barely above my head as my hands finally make contact with the rail, I press forward and down hard on the surface on the rail causing my body to right itself in the air. As my feet touch down, my knees are angled apart at around 60 degrees and I roll across my right shoulder and left hip to demonstrate that technique as well.
Everyone does the line a couple times with someone spotting the landings of the more difficult or dangerous techniques. The training isn’t Spartan by any means, there is a fair share of goofing off and playing around, on occasion we just wander around, which is definitely a great benefit to the overall group morale and it keeps people training. At my first group training in 2007, the “Jam of the Century”, I remember saying that, “only traceurs can come together from across the country to talk about science and technology together and also get hurt together the same day.
Another time we were wandering through Decatur with a group, and there was a fairly risky climb up a gate onto the second floor of a car parking garage. I climbed it and so did the (very) experienced local in our group, Max. We had just fallen victim to one of the foremost rules of parkour, don’t go from A to B if you can’t go from B to A the same way. The group left us as we wandered this parking garage (thinking they were coming up through the bottom). After they didn’t show up for a while and we were done exploring, Max noticed them on the top of an entirely different parking garage across a large pavilion and a street. I looked at Max and said, “A to B?” He nodded and we both took off. Down the ramps and through gaps and over railings until we got to ground level, we sprinted towards the road. Each one covered one side of the road and gave the other a signal that it was clear. Once across the road there was another wide opening of flat ground approaching the entrance of the other parking complex. We sprinted through it and then we split of. Max vaulted a low wall to continue from the bottom while I placed one foot high on the outside wall and sprung up to the second floor, my hands barely grasping the ledge. Up and over the steel cable fence, I saw Max sliding through a gap between levels. He started climbing up through the center so I followed suit. We climbed the narrow vertical corridor until we reached the rest of our comrades at the top.
That is where a traceur goes, anytime he trains anywhere. There is one place he stays even though he is constantly moving, inside his own mind. There may be a 20 foot fall on one side or the other, but that should not enter inside the traceur’s comfort zone. Foot and hand placement remain the same, whether on flat ground, scaling a vertical wall, or taking a large fall. We drill these movements into perfection so the only thing we have to think about is the quiet of our own consciousness.
The way we see things and the places we go are dynamic. Our mindset is the result of our training and discipline, and it is what allows us to adapt and evolve. Few sane people are comfortable knowing they’re a slip up away from serious injury, but it’s the tangible and intangible places we train that allow us this freedom. At the end of the day the training can be summed up in one question: “Was I free?”
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
He's Back!
I know this guy, right? He’s been having a pretty rough time lately so I’ve been keeping my eye on him, ya’know? I was just lookin’ out for the kid. Well today was completely different! I hear him shout loudly, “Oh man am I feeling good!”.
He still seems to be pretty sore, exhausted, stressed, perpetually coughing, and sick with a brutal ear infection that makes chewing food really difficult for him. So I’m quite confused as to why he seems to be feeling so good. It must have something to do with him getting back into that strange jumpy-thingy he used to do all the time.
This winter seems to have been quite a long one for him. I'm not really sure why, but maybe it's because he doesn’t like the cold very much. Although, if I had to guess why he wasn’t feeling to good it would be because he has been so inactive for so long.
Around two days ago he finally went outside and jumped on things. It looked a little silly but I still don’t think I can do it. That’s one thing about this guy, right, he is very fit and determined to be good at his little thing. To be honest it looked to me like he was just dicking around, but what would I know.
I don’t know much about this sport, but I know he didn’t warm up very much. Maybe he was just so happy to be outside again that he forgot. He climbed a wall near a building of sorts and jumped off it a little. It was methodical though. I found it strange. I noticed what he did next though, tricks! These were pretty cool, but he didn’t do much variation. It seemed like he just kept doing the same ones over and over. He then walked up to this overhang and climbed it. When he got to the top he simply lay down and enjoyed the sun.
Overall, it seemed like good day for him.
Original - Guess Who's Back
He still seems to be pretty sore, exhausted, stressed, perpetually coughing, and sick with a brutal ear infection that makes chewing food really difficult for him. So I’m quite confused as to why he seems to be feeling so good. It must have something to do with him getting back into that strange jumpy-thingy he used to do all the time.
This winter seems to have been quite a long one for him. I'm not really sure why, but maybe it's because he doesn’t like the cold very much. Although, if I had to guess why he wasn’t feeling to good it would be because he has been so inactive for so long.
Around two days ago he finally went outside and jumped on things. It looked a little silly but I still don’t think I can do it. That’s one thing about this guy, right, he is very fit and determined to be good at his little thing. To be honest it looked to me like he was just dicking around, but what would I know.
I don’t know much about this sport, but I know he didn’t warm up very much. Maybe he was just so happy to be outside again that he forgot. He climbed a wall near a building of sorts and jumped off it a little. It was methodical though. I found it strange. I noticed what he did next though, tricks! These were pretty cool, but he didn’t do much variation. It seemed like he just kept doing the same ones over and over. He then walked up to this overhang and climbed it. When he got to the top he simply lay down and enjoyed the sun.
Overall, it seemed like good day for him.
Original - Guess Who's Back
A New Angle on "Who"
An interesting examination of a person’s character is found in the way he examines, and accepts his own flaws. Many of us feel that on many levels we are unflawed, but a period of introspection reveals true character. In an abstract way Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of this: “Without love, benevolence becomes egotism.” When examined, this quote relates very closely to what introspection actually is. Take a look a the things in life, even the good and find all the selfish desire, wrath, and pride.
To have an objective standpoint on ones own morals and ambitions is a very true test of bias, one I would imagine everyone fails at some point in their lives. So a person who examines his or her own faults is walking a path to a form of enlightenment. An individual can easily be far too vague with faults that all people have to some extent. However, you can't expect someone to divulge every one of their secrets to an anonymous crowd. Accurate or not, it remains an interesting test.
To be overly distrusting is a fault that many have, yet hardly realize. These people avoid engagement with others for fear of being let down. Distrust bordering on paranoia harms relationships with friends and family and can lead to depressive states. Faith is beneficial to a person’s state of mind if they can coexist with it. Faith is not blindness nor ignorance, but a different perspective and it takes work to uphold the new viewpoint.
Sometimes we must examine and accept our own issues before we can find a solution for them.
Original - Who
To have an objective standpoint on ones own morals and ambitions is a very true test of bias, one I would imagine everyone fails at some point in their lives. So a person who examines his or her own faults is walking a path to a form of enlightenment. An individual can easily be far too vague with faults that all people have to some extent. However, you can't expect someone to divulge every one of their secrets to an anonymous crowd. Accurate or not, it remains an interesting test.
To be overly distrusting is a fault that many have, yet hardly realize. These people avoid engagement with others for fear of being let down. Distrust bordering on paranoia harms relationships with friends and family and can lead to depressive states. Faith is beneficial to a person’s state of mind if they can coexist with it. Faith is not blindness nor ignorance, but a different perspective and it takes work to uphold the new viewpoint.
Sometimes we must examine and accept our own issues before we can find a solution for them.
Original - Who
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Gym training this weekend!
Unlike the last time I was there I fully plan to remain focused and drill certain movements. Far to often when I go to the gym, I do so many different things that I get better at none of them. I'm going to try very hard to buvkle down and become familiar with moves that I can perform outside of the gym so my training isn't wasted.
I want to work on aerials and sideflips as a high priority followed by round offs, back handsprings, and gainers. Aerials are basically cartwheels with no hands that rely on rotational momentum generated by a kicking leg. Sideflips are how they sound, a fully tucked flip over a sideways axis. Gainers are backflips thrown while moving forward.
I have the power and understanding required to do these techniques, but I lack the confidence to try them outside. I am thoroughly excited to train at the gym again this weekend because for me, it is a huge release.
Unfortunately, all the mats and soft floors won't stop my from crashing back to reality when I get back and have piles and piles of work to do. Such is life.
In non-parkour related news: my Computer Science project is immensely tough. I work in a team that is working with a group of higher level students. We are basically helping to build and implement part of their system, and I feel way over my head.
In fact, everything I've done in that class has been incredibly difficult for me. I'm not really sure why it's so hard though. Maybe it has something to do with the material being taught terribly first semester.
Anyway, those are my pleasures and frustrations.
Unlike the last time I was there I fully plan to remain focused and drill certain movements. Far to often when I go to the gym, I do so many different things that I get better at none of them. I'm going to try very hard to buvkle down and become familiar with moves that I can perform outside of the gym so my training isn't wasted.
I want to work on aerials and sideflips as a high priority followed by round offs, back handsprings, and gainers. Aerials are basically cartwheels with no hands that rely on rotational momentum generated by a kicking leg. Sideflips are how they sound, a fully tucked flip over a sideways axis. Gainers are backflips thrown while moving forward.
I have the power and understanding required to do these techniques, but I lack the confidence to try them outside. I am thoroughly excited to train at the gym again this weekend because for me, it is a huge release.
Unfortunately, all the mats and soft floors won't stop my from crashing back to reality when I get back and have piles and piles of work to do. Such is life.
In non-parkour related news: my Computer Science project is immensely tough. I work in a team that is working with a group of higher level students. We are basically helping to build and implement part of their system, and I feel way over my head.
In fact, everything I've done in that class has been incredibly difficult for me. I'm not really sure why it's so hard though. Maybe it has something to do with the material being taught terribly first semester.
Anyway, those are my pleasures and frustrations.
Friday, April 2, 2010
I'm proud of myself this week. I feel like I have worked very hard, both in my academic life and in my personal life. I've had a bunch of school work, but that can be said for anyone towards the end of the last semester in college. It's crazy how much time it takes up though. I am actually using more time in college for school than I was in high school with 6 classes giving out mandatory homework a day, band practices and football games, parkour training, and having a social life. It's crazy, but not all that surprising I guess. I knew I'd have to work hard, but I figured that would be to learn the concepts which was how it was last semester. Instead, I'm working hard so I can do arbitrary homework.
I'm my training life, however, things are going great. I should let my body rest though, because I can feel it start to break down. The parkour training at SPSU has become a little more regular and a lot more intense. Now, I have incorporated distance running, sprints, Quadrupedal Movement (QM), vaults and passments, and ad hoc techniques that are rarely practiced into just the warm up! I get a better total body work out outside using only my body than any of the guys pumping iron in the weight room. I'm not saying weight training is bad, but to see what I mean, do QM for 10-20 meters. You work muscles you didn't know existed.
I'm currently working on planche progressions and they are going well. Though I must admit, it's hard to progress on an upper body exercise when your arms are dead tired from two training days in a row. For anyone wondering, a planche is where you support your entire body weight on your hands in a pushup position. A planche looks like this:
Straddle Planche
A Good Video on Progression
As you can see, they are extraordinarily difficult. I hope I will be able to get straddle planches by the end of this coming summer.
Speaking of parkour, my parkour community decided to have a little fun yesterday (April Fool's). One of the guys on Overflux (our forum) posted that his knees were in too much pain from parkour and that he had to stop. I wished him well along with a few others and then his training partner started attacking him for always whining and not training and yada yada. It became a big s###storm (or rather the illusion of one) and I made a post that can be summed up like this: "wtf?". After posting I immediately realized what the date was and replied saying: "At least no one "hacked" the site, dicks :p" (Referencing the previous years April Fool's Joke). All in all it was a great day.
More Awesome Videos:
Natural Method - MovNat
Poetry In Motion
Tapp Brothers
I'm my training life, however, things are going great. I should let my body rest though, because I can feel it start to break down. The parkour training at SPSU has become a little more regular and a lot more intense. Now, I have incorporated distance running, sprints, Quadrupedal Movement (QM), vaults and passments, and ad hoc techniques that are rarely practiced into just the warm up! I get a better total body work out outside using only my body than any of the guys pumping iron in the weight room. I'm not saying weight training is bad, but to see what I mean, do QM for 10-20 meters. You work muscles you didn't know existed.
I'm currently working on planche progressions and they are going well. Though I must admit, it's hard to progress on an upper body exercise when your arms are dead tired from two training days in a row. For anyone wondering, a planche is where you support your entire body weight on your hands in a pushup position. A planche looks like this:
Straddle Planche
A Good Video on Progression
As you can see, they are extraordinarily difficult. I hope I will be able to get straddle planches by the end of this coming summer.
Speaking of parkour, my parkour community decided to have a little fun yesterday (April Fool's). One of the guys on Overflux (our forum) posted that his knees were in too much pain from parkour and that he had to stop. I wished him well along with a few others and then his training partner started attacking him for always whining and not training and yada yada. It became a big s###storm (or rather the illusion of one) and I made a post that can be summed up like this: "wtf?". After posting I immediately realized what the date was and replied saying: "At least no one "hacked" the site, dicks :p" (Referencing the previous years April Fool's Joke). All in all it was a great day.
More Awesome Videos:
Natural Method - MovNat
Poetry In Motion
Tapp Brothers
Thursday, April 1, 2010
SEGA Gym Day Saturday, March 27
Where to start? The gymnastics gym was great! It has been so long for me, especially since the last time I was there I received an injury that caused me to nearly bite through my bottom lip. I was attempting a wall front flip and did it but I landed while still tucked and the force of impact shoved my knees into my face. Well this time was different. I had no busted lips, ankle sprains, knee irritations, or ripped callouses. I was rockin'.
We got there and there was a Capoeira Demo Team there along with some trickers and a small group of parkour people. I introduced myself and my group that included my girlfriend and my roommate. I warmed up with dynamic kicks, stretches, and some rolling to get my blood flowing and immediately jumped in to the activities starting with some parkour vaults and quickly moving on to tricks into the foam pit.
Shortly after some more guys within the parkour community showed up and again I introduced everyone. Periodically more and more people would flow in and soon we had a large group of talented, fearless acrobats. Personally, I threw a bunch of new moves that I never thought I'd learn, or land. One of which is a flashy spin using only the hands of a vertical surface.
My girlfriend and roommate both tried their first backflips, a friend from school tried (and landed) his first wallspins and wallflips. I witnessed many amazing moves and techniques and even got to teach my personal method of retaining balance and precision jumping (jumping for one small, thin object to another).
At 6:30 we left out of the gym and got another guy to go have lunch/dinner with us at one of our traditional spots, Moe's Southwest Grill. We were HUNGRY so the food didn't last long, but we stayed in there for almost two hours talking about parkour and science and travel and all sorts of great things. That is one thing you can always rely on the parkour community for: quirky, but intelligent conversation. Many traceurs have extensive travel experience and generally love to move about and roam and explore so hearing about their times on road trips, or out of the country is always fun.
The next three days I was amazingly sore. For an entire day I didn't leave the room because of how hard I was going at the gym, but it was worth it.
To see some of these moves and fun gym times:
3Run
And for some AMAZING freerunning:
Tapp Brothers
We got there and there was a Capoeira Demo Team there along with some trickers and a small group of parkour people. I introduced myself and my group that included my girlfriend and my roommate. I warmed up with dynamic kicks, stretches, and some rolling to get my blood flowing and immediately jumped in to the activities starting with some parkour vaults and quickly moving on to tricks into the foam pit.
Shortly after some more guys within the parkour community showed up and again I introduced everyone. Periodically more and more people would flow in and soon we had a large group of talented, fearless acrobats. Personally, I threw a bunch of new moves that I never thought I'd learn, or land. One of which is a flashy spin using only the hands of a vertical surface.
My girlfriend and roommate both tried their first backflips, a friend from school tried (and landed) his first wallspins and wallflips. I witnessed many amazing moves and techniques and even got to teach my personal method of retaining balance and precision jumping (jumping for one small, thin object to another).
At 6:30 we left out of the gym and got another guy to go have lunch/dinner with us at one of our traditional spots, Moe's Southwest Grill. We were HUNGRY so the food didn't last long, but we stayed in there for almost two hours talking about parkour and science and travel and all sorts of great things. That is one thing you can always rely on the parkour community for: quirky, but intelligent conversation. Many traceurs have extensive travel experience and generally love to move about and roam and explore so hearing about their times on road trips, or out of the country is always fun.
The next three days I was amazingly sore. For an entire day I didn't leave the room because of how hard I was going at the gym, but it was worth it.
To see some of these moves and fun gym times:
3Run
And for some AMAZING freerunning:
Tapp Brothers
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