The snow is melting away at last, and some warm weather is finally moving in. Although it's still February, it's certainly nice to get a glimpse of the weather that's moving in. I have many goals, many new ideas, and many plans ahead of me this new year, but I am already having a tough time.
My right ankle has mostly healed after a torn ligament put me out for about 2 months, and is finally just about ready for action. However, with my luck, that has to be put on hold. Even though I have not done any type of impact training besides a few toe hops, I woke up two days ago with terrible pain in my left ankle, the one i did not injure. I have no thought about the cause, and my schools' trainer doesn't have an answer, but says my flat feet probably play a role, since I spend my time at home barefoot, and my time out of the house wearing highly-supported shoes with orthodics. It's really been making me feel down lately, causing me to worry about my future training, and worry about losing my ability to practice all together. As extreme as that is, I couldn't help but think about it.
My first year in parkour, my flat feet had played a huge role in my getting shin splints. I didn't know anything about them, other than they were an overuse injury and that they hurt like hell. I was so in to my training though, that I couldn't give myself more than a few days to rest. "Ah, it's been 4 days and my shins feel a little better! this must mean I'm all healed up! Time for more Parkour!" Later that day, I walk into the house limping in pain, questioning what I did wrong, and if these shin splints would ever go away.
I took the time to look up every bit of information I possibly could find about the injury, talked to my doctor, asked my friends from the track team, and learned exactly how to deal with them. I leanred to recondition my legs and make them stronger and more resilient than ever, and as of this day, I havn't had shin splints once in over 2 and a half years. I learned that the body you have is the body you will always have, and that nobody is superman. Injuries are a part of life, and are actually great learning tools, although painful ones at times.
So, even though I have been feeling a bit down on myself, I will continue to stay motivated by keeping my mind positive and focused on my goals. I will learn everything I can about the injuries I have, using them as learning tools, so that later on I can handle them, and teach others how to do the same.
-Nick
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Reconditioning
Hey guys, this is only going to be a quick update, havn't posted in a couple weeks, so just kinda letting ya know where I'm at.
Found out that my ankle sprain was a partial tear in my ligament, and will need another month or so of rest and reconditioning until it is back to 100%....but there's definitely no rush there at all. Have to say, it is a bit frustrating not being able to work on any type of jumping or vaulting =/ Guess I'm lucky that we are getting our loads of snow now heh.
My knees have been doing very very well, a little bit of slight pain or some discomfort here and there, but never anything debilitating anymore. I'm now in the proccess of reconditiong them, and will slowly progress into more impact-type training over the next 1-2 months.
As of right now, my reconditioning scedule is pretty much as follows:
Monday: Stationary cycle after school 25-30 minutes, varying speed/intensity-Leg Press 2 footed, Leg Press single footed-Leg Extensions-Hamstring curls-20 minute stretch/cool down
Wednesday: Stat. Cycle 20-25 minutes, varying speed/intensity-Bodyweight Squats and Squat Holds-Side Lunge Holds-Pistols both sides-20 minute stretch/cool down
Friday: Stat. Cycle 25-30 mins, varying speed/intensity-Walking Squats-Forwards/Backwards Lunges-Leg Extensions-Hamstring Curls Single Leg-20 minute stretch/cool down
On top of this, of course, I do plenty of core and upper body conditioning, but I just felt I needed to lay this out for myself and also in case anyone else wanted to check it out. Also, exercises may vary according to how my legs are feeling that day...but that's the basic layout! Saturday and Sunday I usually rest my legs and experiment with tons of core and upper body conditioning, and as of right now I can't really take any days for technical training becuase of my ankle =/
This workout regime has really helped strengthen my legs a lot, and helped to reduce the pain in my knees by a ton. Can't wait to be back at 100% xD
-Nick
Found out that my ankle sprain was a partial tear in my ligament, and will need another month or so of rest and reconditioning until it is back to 100%....but there's definitely no rush there at all. Have to say, it is a bit frustrating not being able to work on any type of jumping or vaulting =/ Guess I'm lucky that we are getting our loads of snow now heh.
My knees have been doing very very well, a little bit of slight pain or some discomfort here and there, but never anything debilitating anymore. I'm now in the proccess of reconditiong them, and will slowly progress into more impact-type training over the next 1-2 months.
As of right now, my reconditioning scedule is pretty much as follows:
Monday: Stationary cycle after school 25-30 minutes, varying speed/intensity-Leg Press 2 footed, Leg Press single footed-Leg Extensions-Hamstring curls-20 minute stretch/cool down
Wednesday: Stat. Cycle 20-25 minutes, varying speed/intensity-Bodyweight Squats and Squat Holds-Side Lunge Holds-Pistols both sides-20 minute stretch/cool down
Friday: Stat. Cycle 25-30 mins, varying speed/intensity-Walking Squats-Forwards/Backwards Lunges-Leg Extensions-Hamstring Curls Single Leg-20 minute stretch/cool down
On top of this, of course, I do plenty of core and upper body conditioning, but I just felt I needed to lay this out for myself and also in case anyone else wanted to check it out. Also, exercises may vary according to how my legs are feeling that day...but that's the basic layout! Saturday and Sunday I usually rest my legs and experiment with tons of core and upper body conditioning, and as of right now I can't really take any days for technical training becuase of my ankle =/
This workout regime has really helped strengthen my legs a lot, and helped to reduce the pain in my knees by a ton. Can't wait to be back at 100% xD
-Nick
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Unity and Spirit
Hey guys, before the next post I just wanted to thank PKG and APK for putting my blog up on their sites for others to view...I'll make sure I keep posting and keep everyone updated with my travels, trainings, and experiences!
The holidays have past, with the exception of new years in a few days, and I've been spending a good amount of time looking back on my experience at Rendezvous. Although I still have a good amount of thinking and discovering left to do, I want to share some of my lessons and realizations that I've come upon through training with the best.
The first, and in my opinion most important concept I've stumbled upon is the idea of training the spirit, and the importance behind it when it comes to Parkour. Most people begin their training thinking about big drops, huge laches, crazy flips, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, being super-humanly strong, but don't take into mind what it truly takes to get there, as well as what it really means. Sorry if this is a bit confusing, it's kind of weird putting it into words xP
When these trainees (myself included) actually realized what it takes to become such an efficient traceur-all the conditioning, repetition, time and effort-it's a bit intimidating, even to someone who enjoys intense workouts. But, throughout the hours of training, sweat, and sore muscles, I noticed that it's not about being the best, it's not about rushing, it's not about training until failure...it's about challenging yourself to push a little harder than you did a minute ago, it's about understanding your environment and your body/mind/spirit's relation to it, and it's also about helping one another do the same...because we're all a community...a unity. Also, it's about understanding why you train-your motives and reasons, if any at all.
*One thing I continually noticed was the constant smile on each member of Yamakasi's faces...Yann, Chau, and the four students they brought with them. They continually reminded us to smile, even when our mouths would rather open to yell in pain, even when sweat poured from our faces. And each time I smiled, I understood. And each time I smiled, I felt stronger. With this understanding of the spirit in Parkour, my training has become more efficient, my movements more powerful, and my mind more clear.
Finally, I really learned to become more in tune with my surroundings, considering them to be more a part of me than separate "stuff". Everything I see, everything I interact with, becomes a part of me and my movement. Whether it's a vision in my mind, or an actuality during my training, I feel like it is then a part of me, a part of how I move and live. Curbs have become the edge of buildings hundreds of feet in the air during my daily jogs on them....everything becomes another opportunity to dream, train, live, and better myself mentally, physically, and spiritually. I believe the reason that monkeys can move so gracefully and flawlessly through the trees hundreds of feet in the air, besides the fact that they are monkeys, is because they are their environment...they don't separate or differentiate themselves from whats around them. They just climb, swing, and leap without thought. This is the true spirit of parkour, or at least a chunk of it-to just flow, become one with what is around you-and therefore become one with yourself.
It's very philosophic, but that's my understanding....and I think every Traceur should give this some thought. What is your understanding of spirit in parkour? Why do you train? Are we so separate from what is around us? And how does one's answer to this correspond to one's movement? Just some questions to ponder!
Thanks for reading, and I'll post more soon. Happy holidays and happy training!
-Nick
SMILE =D
The holidays have past, with the exception of new years in a few days, and I've been spending a good amount of time looking back on my experience at Rendezvous. Although I still have a good amount of thinking and discovering left to do, I want to share some of my lessons and realizations that I've come upon through training with the best.
The first, and in my opinion most important concept I've stumbled upon is the idea of training the spirit, and the importance behind it when it comes to Parkour. Most people begin their training thinking about big drops, huge laches, crazy flips, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, being super-humanly strong, but don't take into mind what it truly takes to get there, as well as what it really means. Sorry if this is a bit confusing, it's kind of weird putting it into words xP
When these trainees (myself included) actually realized what it takes to become such an efficient traceur-all the conditioning, repetition, time and effort-it's a bit intimidating, even to someone who enjoys intense workouts. But, throughout the hours of training, sweat, and sore muscles, I noticed that it's not about being the best, it's not about rushing, it's not about training until failure...it's about challenging yourself to push a little harder than you did a minute ago, it's about understanding your environment and your body/mind/spirit's relation to it, and it's also about helping one another do the same...because we're all a community...a unity. Also, it's about understanding why you train-your motives and reasons, if any at all.
*One thing I continually noticed was the constant smile on each member of Yamakasi's faces...Yann, Chau, and the four students they brought with them. They continually reminded us to smile, even when our mouths would rather open to yell in pain, even when sweat poured from our faces. And each time I smiled, I understood. And each time I smiled, I felt stronger. With this understanding of the spirit in Parkour, my training has become more efficient, my movements more powerful, and my mind more clear.
Finally, I really learned to become more in tune with my surroundings, considering them to be more a part of me than separate "stuff". Everything I see, everything I interact with, becomes a part of me and my movement. Whether it's a vision in my mind, or an actuality during my training, I feel like it is then a part of me, a part of how I move and live. Curbs have become the edge of buildings hundreds of feet in the air during my daily jogs on them....everything becomes another opportunity to dream, train, live, and better myself mentally, physically, and spiritually. I believe the reason that monkeys can move so gracefully and flawlessly through the trees hundreds of feet in the air, besides the fact that they are monkeys, is because they are their environment...they don't separate or differentiate themselves from whats around them. They just climb, swing, and leap without thought. This is the true spirit of parkour, or at least a chunk of it-to just flow, become one with what is around you-and therefore become one with yourself.
It's very philosophic, but that's my understanding....and I think every Traceur should give this some thought. What is your understanding of spirit in parkour? Why do you train? Are we so separate from what is around us? And how does one's answer to this correspond to one's movement? Just some questions to ponder!
Thanks for reading, and I'll post more soon. Happy holidays and happy training!
-Nick
SMILE =D
Thursday, December 18, 2008
A Trip to Remember--Rendezvous3
Waking up on the morning of day 1 of the Rendezvous gathering, I was full of energy and adrenaline, dissapointed yet happy that the forecast was rain all day. Left the hotel, walked across the bridge, found the Traceurs and waited in the cold and wet for training to begin. Entered Queen Elizabeth Hall, got my wristband, met some new people, and training began. Jog to the top, warm up on the roof, quadripedie through the puddles, and a pretty tough upper body warm up. Split to groups, set out for stations, Parkour with the best took off.
Vaulting, sliding, jumping, bench to bench, we each found our own path from one end of the area to the other, learning to be aware of our bodies head to toe. Precisions and tic tacs off the walls and benches, fast and slow, low and high, long and short. I was learning more about why I move, how I move, how I can be more aware of my movement without really thinking about it. Lunch followed, time for some rest and refueling, and then back to more training. Intense warm up Yamakasi style in the parking garage, bouncing forwards, backwards, circles, one foot, two feet, in a crouch position, calve raises, spins, high jumps and more. Followed were handstand holds, vault combinations, quadripedie forwards and backwards, up and down stairs, on wet, slippery rails. Wall runs, climb ups, traversing in cat and combining it all. Flow, precision, roll, climb up, drop, leap, land, vault, land, and repeat...ending with a race around the center. I was tired and sore, but satisfied and pumped for the next day.
Sunday I got to Academy Sport in Westminster a bit early, waited around for a while, and set out with everyone for a 25 minute jog....forwards, backwards, and side shuffling both sides. Came back indoors, shoes off, and more Yamakasi style warming up, bouncing and sprinting in place till my legs were on fire. Quadripedie around the room, and a difficult upper body warm up to finish it off. I sprained my ankle at the first station unfortunately (thank you Tyson for the icepacks, ha), but it partly ended up being good, in a way, believe it or not. I took the time to talk to Forrest for a good while about my injury and past ones, as well as becoming a teacher and other future goals I have. The conversation was a great one, and one I really needed, and I thank Forrest for every moment of it. Following was time for video and pictures, talking to others, and continuing with some upper body training. We finished with a great cool down, and it was done. It was a trip well worth taking, and one I will never forget. Thank yous go out to everyone! Can't wait for next years =]
To be, and to last.
-Nick
Vaulting, sliding, jumping, bench to bench, we each found our own path from one end of the area to the other, learning to be aware of our bodies head to toe. Precisions and tic tacs off the walls and benches, fast and slow, low and high, long and short. I was learning more about why I move, how I move, how I can be more aware of my movement without really thinking about it. Lunch followed, time for some rest and refueling, and then back to more training. Intense warm up Yamakasi style in the parking garage, bouncing forwards, backwards, circles, one foot, two feet, in a crouch position, calve raises, spins, high jumps and more. Followed were handstand holds, vault combinations, quadripedie forwards and backwards, up and down stairs, on wet, slippery rails. Wall runs, climb ups, traversing in cat and combining it all. Flow, precision, roll, climb up, drop, leap, land, vault, land, and repeat...ending with a race around the center. I was tired and sore, but satisfied and pumped for the next day.
Sunday I got to Academy Sport in Westminster a bit early, waited around for a while, and set out with everyone for a 25 minute jog....forwards, backwards, and side shuffling both sides. Came back indoors, shoes off, and more Yamakasi style warming up, bouncing and sprinting in place till my legs were on fire. Quadripedie around the room, and a difficult upper body warm up to finish it off. I sprained my ankle at the first station unfortunately (thank you Tyson for the icepacks, ha), but it partly ended up being good, in a way, believe it or not. I took the time to talk to Forrest for a good while about my injury and past ones, as well as becoming a teacher and other future goals I have. The conversation was a great one, and one I really needed, and I thank Forrest for every moment of it. Following was time for video and pictures, talking to others, and continuing with some upper body training. We finished with a great cool down, and it was done. It was a trip well worth taking, and one I will never forget. Thank yous go out to everyone! Can't wait for next years =]
To be, and to last.
-Nick
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Trip To London-Departure
Wow, it' been close to a month since my last post...guess I've been a bit busy!
Well, the time has finally come, Rendezvous 3 is this weekend, and I am pumped out of my mind! My flight for London leaves at 6: 50 this evening, and should land sometime around 6 or 7 am London time. I have been waiting 3 years now to not only meet the guys who first inspired me to move, but to train with and learn from them. It's really an honor! I've got my brand new HD camcorder with me for pics and video, although I'm sure I won't be using it too much xP
My knees are feeling a good amount better, still a little sore here and there, but not so that they will stop me from giving my full effort. I don't know when I'm coming back overseas, so this is an opportunity I can not miss. I'm hoping to meet other Traceurs from around the world, and hoping to learn and share knowledge with everyone there. The plan is basically as follows:
Fly out, land Thursday morning, head out for some sight seeing, get used to the new area. Friday, check out some spots, probably a bit more sight seeing, and maybe check out a PKG academy class. Rendezvous begins with outdoor training saturday, indoor sunday, both about 6 hours. Monday maybe another academy class, and Tuesday some more parkour and sight seeing. Sounds like quite the trip =]
Time for me to finish up my last bit of packing and lunch, my ride to the airport arrives in about 2 hours. I'll post about the trip when I get back!
Thanks all, happy training.
-Nick
Well, the time has finally come, Rendezvous 3 is this weekend, and I am pumped out of my mind! My flight for London leaves at 6: 50 this evening, and should land sometime around 6 or 7 am London time. I have been waiting 3 years now to not only meet the guys who first inspired me to move, but to train with and learn from them. It's really an honor! I've got my brand new HD camcorder with me for pics and video, although I'm sure I won't be using it too much xP
My knees are feeling a good amount better, still a little sore here and there, but not so that they will stop me from giving my full effort. I don't know when I'm coming back overseas, so this is an opportunity I can not miss. I'm hoping to meet other Traceurs from around the world, and hoping to learn and share knowledge with everyone there. The plan is basically as follows:
Fly out, land Thursday morning, head out for some sight seeing, get used to the new area. Friday, check out some spots, probably a bit more sight seeing, and maybe check out a PKG academy class. Rendezvous begins with outdoor training saturday, indoor sunday, both about 6 hours. Monday maybe another academy class, and Tuesday some more parkour and sight seeing. Sounds like quite the trip =]
Time for me to finish up my last bit of packing and lunch, my ride to the airport arrives in about 2 hours. I'll post about the trip when I get back!
Thanks all, happy training.
-Nick
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Parkour - Passion or Obsession?
Earlier this week, I was walking along the road looking at my high school field, watching the varsity football players pummel eachother over and over. It had me thinking about the fact that they practice 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, have a game on the weekend plus a mini practice before that, then are encouraged to run every morning and lift weights when not at practice. A little much, no? And the coaches wonder why we have 6+ players out with ruptures or tears, and many more suffering from overuse injuries like stress fractures and shin splints. At that moment, I caught myself thinking about...myself. Am I any different than those players? Other than the fact that I technically am my own coach, no. I am not any different. And that needs change.
Before my discovery of Parkour 3 years ago, I was a dedicated practitioner of Kung Fu, practicing anywhere from 2-6 hours a day, everyday of the week (well, any chance that I got). I was already suffering from pain in my knees due to Osgood Schlatter's, but pretty much ignored the problem and continued on with my training. I eventually did visit a doctor, but did not put much of the information he gave me to practice. I just thought that they would heal eventually.
I had about a year gap between my stopping of Kung-Fu and my discovery of Parkour. In that time I was just another wandering teenage soul, with no goals or motives whatsoever. Parkour changed that completely, and it was if I had started anew....practicing everyday, hours a day...precisions, vaults, laches, jumps, drops, climbing...everything there is. This was it, my path, my way. I had (and still have) a passion for Parkour that is unmatchable, a passion so strong I didn't even know it was possible. I dealt with the plateau's, the shin splints, the knee pain....but didn't take proper steps to recover. And now, I sit here today posting on the subject of parkour with pain in my wrist and both knees, wondering where I went wrong.
The 'epiphany' I had earlier in the week during my walk made me wonder if my Parkour had turned into an obsession rather than passion. Not only is this my problem, but a global problem when relating to sports, in this case Parkour. We see so many beginners walk away because of knee injuries, shoulder injuries, wrist injuries, stress fractures, ruptures....these people are failing to see that 'going big' is for the pros, the guys who have been training for 10 or 20+ years! They are in too big a rush, and forget that it takes years of conditioning, followed by repitition of small jumps w/ conditioning, then gradually increasing those jumps and intensity of the conditioning, before even attempting leaps off of 12 foot high roofs!
And then there are those like me, who understand that 'going big' is going nowhere, but end up injuring themselves in the slow, gradual process of getting there because they are over focused on certain areas. Because my knees are healing, I've been working my upper body, challenging myself with a variety of movements, and working on things like laches, muscle ups, and cat traversing. Yet, I failed to implement the concept of proper rest, and ended up with overuse pain lasting for 3 days so far in my wrist. My constant need to move overpowered my self-discipline. Instead of working on, for example, laches and muscle ups on day 1, cat traversing and climb ups on day 2, handstands on day 3, I should've allowed more time for rest. Say, day 1 laches and muscle ups, day 2 core, day 3 ankles and lower legs, day 4 cat traversing/varieties, day 5 rest....so on.
I suppose I was not as good as I thought I was when it comes to listening to the body, but hey, I'm getting better. Mastery takes time.
I think the idea to get out here is that, although everyone has heard it.....THERE IS NO RUSH! I train everyday, grades drop in school, lose time to hang with friends, less time home with the family, overuse injuries popping up everywhere....I'm going to be 18 in two weeks. Not 25. Not 30. Not 40 or 50. Eighteen....I have a long road ahead of me, and so do all the other adolescent Traceurs out there wishing to become masters of movement. What we need to do is focus on the now, and not so much on the future. Get what needs to be done done, spend time with your friends and family....and you can still train 4 or 5 days a week, because in the beginning, with so much going on in other areas of life, everyday might just be too much for right now. Let this continue to be a passion that takes you somewhere great, not an obsession that tears you down. Our bodies can not yet handle what David Belle's can, what Stephane Vigroux's can, what the Yamaksi's can, but with time, patience, training, and respect for your body, our bodies may just be able to handle more. This is how I will view my training and practice from now on. I understand my motives aren't in showing off or in doing the biggest moves, but instead are in bettering my body, mind, and spirit. I want to reach the top and go beyond, I want to move without pain, restriction, or questioning. I want to be free, and teach others who wish to walk the path. To me, Parkour is a passion, not an obsession, game, or hobby. What is it to you?
"I train iron palm for 12 years, and I break bricks. Five bricks, ten bricks, no problem. You train iron palm half a year. You break your hand." -My master from past years xD
An obvious, but often ignored piece of the truth. Take it instead as someone such as Belle himself saying something along the lines of:
"I train Parkour for 18 years. 10 foot roof, 15 foot roof, everyday, no problem. You train Parkour 1 year. You break your legs."
Respect your body. Patience and time are two of the most powerful warriors.
-Nick
Before my discovery of Parkour 3 years ago, I was a dedicated practitioner of Kung Fu, practicing anywhere from 2-6 hours a day, everyday of the week (well, any chance that I got). I was already suffering from pain in my knees due to Osgood Schlatter's, but pretty much ignored the problem and continued on with my training. I eventually did visit a doctor, but did not put much of the information he gave me to practice. I just thought that they would heal eventually.
I had about a year gap between my stopping of Kung-Fu and my discovery of Parkour. In that time I was just another wandering teenage soul, with no goals or motives whatsoever. Parkour changed that completely, and it was if I had started anew....practicing everyday, hours a day...precisions, vaults, laches, jumps, drops, climbing...everything there is. This was it, my path, my way. I had (and still have) a passion for Parkour that is unmatchable, a passion so strong I didn't even know it was possible. I dealt with the plateau's, the shin splints, the knee pain....but didn't take proper steps to recover. And now, I sit here today posting on the subject of parkour with pain in my wrist and both knees, wondering where I went wrong.
The 'epiphany' I had earlier in the week during my walk made me wonder if my Parkour had turned into an obsession rather than passion. Not only is this my problem, but a global problem when relating to sports, in this case Parkour. We see so many beginners walk away because of knee injuries, shoulder injuries, wrist injuries, stress fractures, ruptures....these people are failing to see that 'going big' is for the pros, the guys who have been training for 10 or 20+ years! They are in too big a rush, and forget that it takes years of conditioning, followed by repitition of small jumps w/ conditioning, then gradually increasing those jumps and intensity of the conditioning, before even attempting leaps off of 12 foot high roofs!
And then there are those like me, who understand that 'going big' is going nowhere, but end up injuring themselves in the slow, gradual process of getting there because they are over focused on certain areas. Because my knees are healing, I've been working my upper body, challenging myself with a variety of movements, and working on things like laches, muscle ups, and cat traversing. Yet, I failed to implement the concept of proper rest, and ended up with overuse pain lasting for 3 days so far in my wrist. My constant need to move overpowered my self-discipline. Instead of working on, for example, laches and muscle ups on day 1, cat traversing and climb ups on day 2, handstands on day 3, I should've allowed more time for rest. Say, day 1 laches and muscle ups, day 2 core, day 3 ankles and lower legs, day 4 cat traversing/varieties, day 5 rest....so on.
I suppose I was not as good as I thought I was when it comes to listening to the body, but hey, I'm getting better. Mastery takes time.
I think the idea to get out here is that, although everyone has heard it.....THERE IS NO RUSH! I train everyday, grades drop in school, lose time to hang with friends, less time home with the family, overuse injuries popping up everywhere....I'm going to be 18 in two weeks. Not 25. Not 30. Not 40 or 50. Eighteen....I have a long road ahead of me, and so do all the other adolescent Traceurs out there wishing to become masters of movement. What we need to do is focus on the now, and not so much on the future. Get what needs to be done done, spend time with your friends and family....and you can still train 4 or 5 days a week, because in the beginning, with so much going on in other areas of life, everyday might just be too much for right now. Let this continue to be a passion that takes you somewhere great, not an obsession that tears you down. Our bodies can not yet handle what David Belle's can, what Stephane Vigroux's can, what the Yamaksi's can, but with time, patience, training, and respect for your body, our bodies may just be able to handle more. This is how I will view my training and practice from now on. I understand my motives aren't in showing off or in doing the biggest moves, but instead are in bettering my body, mind, and spirit. I want to reach the top and go beyond, I want to move without pain, restriction, or questioning. I want to be free, and teach others who wish to walk the path. To me, Parkour is a passion, not an obsession, game, or hobby. What is it to you?
"I train iron palm for 12 years, and I break bricks. Five bricks, ten bricks, no problem. You train iron palm half a year. You break your hand." -My master from past years xD
An obvious, but often ignored piece of the truth. Take it instead as someone such as Belle himself saying something along the lines of:
"I train Parkour for 18 years. 10 foot roof, 15 foot roof, everyday, no problem. You train Parkour 1 year. You break your legs."
Respect your body. Patience and time are two of the most powerful warriors.
-Nick
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A Quick Update
Just a short post, updating on how things are going, where things stand and such.
There's been lots of stress in other areas in my life, like friends, family issues...school...just a big load of crap thats been burdening me for a little while now. Luckily, rather than the stress hurting my training, it's the training and Parkour that has been helping the stress.
Although I have been quite tired lately, probably resulting from the things listed above, I've actually been training more often, really any chance I get. I've kept up a very healthy diet, and try to balance out my strength training with my technique training. Good news is my knees have been doing better lately....not yet able to say they are doing a lot better just because of lack of healing time. However, the pain has been at a low, and some days are worse than others. Still, no terrible pain whatsoever lately. To keep on this track, I've been doing good amounts of leg conditioning whenever my legs are feeling up to it and pain is at a minimum, usually turns out about 3 times a week. I do a warm up and stretching session everyday though to loosen up the muscles around there.
I've been seeing much more progression in other areas lately as well, especially in my cat-work, i.e. traversing in cat position, cat holds, climb ups, and also muscle ups. My Laches are better than ever, and I know longer get any shin splint-like pain in my forearms, which I used to get often and would last a good 2 to 3 weeks. My mental attitude while training and practicing is much more meditative, calm, and focused, and I am really learning to be fully aware of my body at all times, almost like I have eyes on every hair follicle. A little deep, but a somewhat good analogy xD
I am able to control and overcome fear like never before, and I have also been putting much attention to teaching, something that I've hoped I would do since I started nearly 3 years ago. Of course I do not have the expertise of the masters, but I feel confident and ready to teach the basics of the discipline to beginners who want to try it out. Not only is it fun, but I get a lot out of it too, learning how different people work in different ways, and how progression is much slower for some than it is for others.
One last note, just for the fun of it I've been working on some random things like one handed handstands, windmills and flares, and planches. I got continuous mills down, nearly two flares, and can hold a fully parallel straddle planche for 3 seconds. Tough stuff! As for the one handed handstand, it is a goal of mine to hold it for 25 seconds. I just started a little over a week ago, and can hold it for almost 5 seconds (press up to wide leg handstand, tilt to one side, lift opposite hand, balance and start timer). I'll update with my progression =]
That's it for now, just a short update.
Happy Training!
-Nick
There's been lots of stress in other areas in my life, like friends, family issues...school...just a big load of crap thats been burdening me for a little while now. Luckily, rather than the stress hurting my training, it's the training and Parkour that has been helping the stress.
Although I have been quite tired lately, probably resulting from the things listed above, I've actually been training more often, really any chance I get. I've kept up a very healthy diet, and try to balance out my strength training with my technique training. Good news is my knees have been doing better lately....not yet able to say they are doing a lot better just because of lack of healing time. However, the pain has been at a low, and some days are worse than others. Still, no terrible pain whatsoever lately. To keep on this track, I've been doing good amounts of leg conditioning whenever my legs are feeling up to it and pain is at a minimum, usually turns out about 3 times a week. I do a warm up and stretching session everyday though to loosen up the muscles around there.
I've been seeing much more progression in other areas lately as well, especially in my cat-work, i.e. traversing in cat position, cat holds, climb ups, and also muscle ups. My Laches are better than ever, and I know longer get any shin splint-like pain in my forearms, which I used to get often and would last a good 2 to 3 weeks. My mental attitude while training and practicing is much more meditative, calm, and focused, and I am really learning to be fully aware of my body at all times, almost like I have eyes on every hair follicle. A little deep, but a somewhat good analogy xD
I am able to control and overcome fear like never before, and I have also been putting much attention to teaching, something that I've hoped I would do since I started nearly 3 years ago. Of course I do not have the expertise of the masters, but I feel confident and ready to teach the basics of the discipline to beginners who want to try it out. Not only is it fun, but I get a lot out of it too, learning how different people work in different ways, and how progression is much slower for some than it is for others.
One last note, just for the fun of it I've been working on some random things like one handed handstands, windmills and flares, and planches. I got continuous mills down, nearly two flares, and can hold a fully parallel straddle planche for 3 seconds. Tough stuff! As for the one handed handstand, it is a goal of mine to hold it for 25 seconds. I just started a little over a week ago, and can hold it for almost 5 seconds (press up to wide leg handstand, tilt to one side, lift opposite hand, balance and start timer). I'll update with my progression =]
That's it for now, just a short update.
Happy Training!
-Nick
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