I am now a practitioner of a fascinating discipline called le Parkour (PK) — the art of movement — founded by David Belle.
I realise this is quite the generalization, but for simplicity’s sake, I’ve been describing PK to people I know as “obstacle-course racing throughout the city”. Of course, for serious traceurs (PK practitioners), it is much more than that. It’s pushing the limitations of your physical abilities to adapt to your surroundings as fluidly as possible. It’s self-discovery. It’s community. It’s playing. It’s hard work. It’s life. It’s fun. It’s serious. It’s addictive… and involves a lot of running. I like to say, “it’s like learning to play as efficiently as possible”.
There are a number of different vaults and rolls commonly used to get over and around obstacles. The more skill and techniques that you have at your disposal, the more options you have approaching any given challenge. I am fortunate enough to have an athletic background, playing soccer for 20+ years, which allowed me to pickup some of the more basic techniques right away, so I was able to enjoy progressing immediately. It would take longer for someone who had little-to-no athletic background but anyone who truly wanted to, could become quite good at it. And yes, it is addictive enough to push you. Of course, above all else, you should train safely and respect your body’s current abilities and limitations. You will always be pushing those limitations but a gradual safe improvement is better for you than a speedy reckless one.
I’ve been out five times now, and I really feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it. Even at this early point in my journey, I can feel that I’ve already improved my overall cardio and strength. I’ve also discovered that I can (quite easily) climb an eight-foot wall. So far, I can do a number of basic vaults (Lazy, Thief, basic Kong or Monkey, etc.), including my most recent addition to my repertoire, the Reversal.
My biggest personal obstacle is that I tend to over-think everything and this has now flowed over into my Parkour life. I tend to over-think obstacles as I come up to them (ended up running in to a few actually) which tends to be my downfall. Or fall-down as the case may be. If you are able to master techniques well enough that they become instinct you no longer think as you approach your obstacle, you react and adapt.
And this is where I hope PK takes me.
Personal progress to come.
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steelie