by steelie -

A Parkour Poem…

Free Hands
by steelie

Now, here's a little story
about why I haven't been there.
It holds a little PK lesson,
which is why I thought I'd share.

This tale of absenteeism,
begins en route to work.
Between my car and office,
a certain trap did lurk.

I try to trace each morning
to keep the senses ready.
But on this faithful morning,
me, sadly, not so steady.

I ran along a three-foot wall
as many times before,
and when I reached the end
I jumped and tried to soar.

So, here began the problem with
the bag on my left shoulder,
the strap across my body,
the right hand gripped to hold 'er.

I landed, let's say, oddly,
and as gravity will tell,
I tried to save the ship my friends
but yup, I tripped and fell.

I've been here many times before
and dove and tucked and rolled.
Although I had full trust in me,
Right Hand would not un-hold.

So, onto my right shoulder
my weight came crashing down,
Right Hand could not prevent
the awful crunching sound.

And now I've missed three weeks,
I still might be a while.
Thankfully, nothing's broken
So I can't help but smile.

I learned a priceless lesson
to help my zig and zag,
Now when I practice Parkour,
I skip the shoulder-bag.

Yes, now I have a backpack,
I runs, I jumps, I lands.
Now here's the moral boys and girls:
"Free-runners need free hands".

:^)

I hope to be out again soon.
Save me a spot. Cheers.

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by steelie -

PPP 2006-03-20…

Overall, I pushed myself a lot harder than usual this weekend. I'm getting much better at certain vaults and I learned the reverse Lazy. I've also increased my wall-climbing to 9' 4.5"… I'm pretty sure I can go higher, I've just got to find a higher place to climb 🙂

More later.
—
steelie

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by steelie -

Personal Parkour Progress (PPP)…

Well, I figure if I'm going to keep a proper journal of my PK progress I should probably take inventory of the the skills I have accumulated to date. This way I have something to measure my progress against. I realise that some of this is going to be repetitive from my 2006-03-07 entry, but I intend to use this one as my starting point.

As of today I can do the following moves: Lazy, Thief, basic Kong or Monkey, King Kong over short distances [new], Reversal, the basic Cat Leap, and I've also done a 180° cat leap. I’ve also discovered that I can (quite easily) climb a 9' 1" wall (I measured it a few days ago).

A fun little side-note: I get two paid fifteen minute breaks where I work and I have started to PK instead of going for a coffee/tea. It wakes me up and it's much healthier.

More PPP to come… going out tomorrow 😀
—
steelie

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by steelie -

le Parkour journal…

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.
—
steelie

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