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