I am announcing a week in advance so that I can get as many RSVP's as possible. Halloween is just one week from tomorrow, and this years should be amazing, as I am hosting Ridgewood's first Halloween Parkour Jam and Manhunt. The Parkour session and fun will take place first, until it gets dark enough for manhunt to begin. Schedule is as follows:
AFTERSCHOOL FRIDAY- Those of you wishing to attend the Parkour session and loads of food meet at my house after school, sometime between 3 and 4 30. We may be leaving my house shortly after 4 30 for some parkour fun in other areas around town, however this isn't set in stone yet. Anyone coming to my house bring whatever food and candy you like, as well as a costume if you want.
Whether we leave the house or not, everyone wanting to participate in manhunt must meet at our set location at 8 pm, and the game will begin when everyone is there and ready to play, and goes on until whenever. The meet location will be chosen soon and I will update shortly with that along with other information.
As many people in the area don't do parkour, this jam is going to be much more based on the manhunt and fun rather than the parkour itself. However, those of you wishing to participate in or learn some parkour and freerunning should try to show up to my house early!
If you are in, just comment me here or on facebook, AIM, or via my cell. (201 663 0906) My cell is currently not taking calls right now for whatever reason but texts still work fine.
Hope to see you for some intense halloween parkour and manhunt....you don't want to miss out xD
Trick or treat.
-Nick
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Revelation
This post probably won't be too different from the previous one...I've just had a lot on my mind lately, a lot of down moments...what can I say, hard times.
I consulted my doctor about my Osgood Slaughter's, and the outlook was actually great. I have stopped growing, except for the possibility mini-spurt sometime in the future, so the 'disease' in my knees is sure to be on its way out the door, as long as I rest and don't cause the problem to flare up again. This means 6-8 weeks of rest, along with R.I.C.E, stretching, rolling out the thigh muscles, and closer to the end of the rest period, conditioning. However, an issue came across my mind....If I'm inactive in most precisions, jumps, and all flips (not really worried bout those flips though hah), for 6-8 weeks with Rendezvous III coming up, won't I lack greatly both in strength and skill in those areas when the meet takes place?
I took a bit to think about that question and others relating to it, and I've made some decisions. First off, I decided that although a FULL rest of 6-8 weeks may be necessary, I'm not taking it now, but I am still resting! Confusing I know. The Rendezvous is two months away, 8 weeks. If I completely rest, my knees might have little to no pain anymore, but I'm sure they WILL end up in pain again, heading right back into such heavy training right after such a period of inactivity. Rehab and recovery is a slow process.
Instead, I'm going to watch how my body feels each and every day, noting the levels of pain, discomfort, and stiffess. Saturdays will be the one day of the week that I work on precisions, as long as my knees are feeling up to it. Note, these will not be big precisions, just smaller ones working on accuracy and sticking the landing. Sunday, as it is most of the time, will be my full rest day, consisting only of a warm up and some stretching, plus of course RICE-ing.
During the week, I work whatever is feeling ready, excluding flips and anything involving any heavy impacts with my knees. For example, Monday I may decide to work on upper body technique such as traversing in cat position, climb ups, cat walking, and many other variations of those few and others I come up with. Tuesday I may decide to do some light flow, focusing on touch, stealth, and efficiency, all while paying careful attention to how my legs are feeling. Wednesday I may spend the day working on my core and leg strengthening exercises, Thursday could be a different variation of mondays workout, instead working on Laches, or in a rural fashion using the trees to create some incredible workouts and new ways to move. Friday....you get the idea.
Each and everyday I will stretch, ice, and observe my knees, as well as massage and roll out my thighs to loosen any tightness, one of the main causes of Osgood's. Another daily routine is rail balance, something I've become quite avid at, probably resulting from the addiction I have to practicing it, along with the new 12 foot rail I've assembled in my yard =]
Sticking to this plan, I think my knees will not only be in less pain, but I will still see great progress in many other areas, maintaining my preparation for Rendezvous III. The full 6-8 weeks of rest will take place upon my return, as it will be a cold, snowy winter by then. Although this was a description of what my life and training is like at the moment, it is meant to inspire ideas and help others in similar situations. Generally, I think the deeper message of this post is as follows:
Life is decorated with many opportunities, many chances to become great and succeed. However, the journey to the top is never easy. There will always be another wall to climb, another obstacle to overcome, but as long as you're willing to put in the needed effort, as long as you allow yourself to adapt to change, mastery is yours. No matter what the challenge, never give up. Every single goal is attainable for each and every one of us. Respect your body, because it is the only one you have, and make it last to the very end.
Thank you to all my inspirations, and to all that have helped me on my journey as a Traceur.
-Nick
I consulted my doctor about my Osgood Slaughter's, and the outlook was actually great. I have stopped growing, except for the possibility mini-spurt sometime in the future, so the 'disease' in my knees is sure to be on its way out the door, as long as I rest and don't cause the problem to flare up again. This means 6-8 weeks of rest, along with R.I.C.E, stretching, rolling out the thigh muscles, and closer to the end of the rest period, conditioning. However, an issue came across my mind....If I'm inactive in most precisions, jumps, and all flips (not really worried bout those flips though hah), for 6-8 weeks with Rendezvous III coming up, won't I lack greatly both in strength and skill in those areas when the meet takes place?
I took a bit to think about that question and others relating to it, and I've made some decisions. First off, I decided that although a FULL rest of 6-8 weeks may be necessary, I'm not taking it now, but I am still resting! Confusing I know. The Rendezvous is two months away, 8 weeks. If I completely rest, my knees might have little to no pain anymore, but I'm sure they WILL end up in pain again, heading right back into such heavy training right after such a period of inactivity. Rehab and recovery is a slow process.
Instead, I'm going to watch how my body feels each and every day, noting the levels of pain, discomfort, and stiffess. Saturdays will be the one day of the week that I work on precisions, as long as my knees are feeling up to it. Note, these will not be big precisions, just smaller ones working on accuracy and sticking the landing. Sunday, as it is most of the time, will be my full rest day, consisting only of a warm up and some stretching, plus of course RICE-ing.
During the week, I work whatever is feeling ready, excluding flips and anything involving any heavy impacts with my knees. For example, Monday I may decide to work on upper body technique such as traversing in cat position, climb ups, cat walking, and many other variations of those few and others I come up with. Tuesday I may decide to do some light flow, focusing on touch, stealth, and efficiency, all while paying careful attention to how my legs are feeling. Wednesday I may spend the day working on my core and leg strengthening exercises, Thursday could be a different variation of mondays workout, instead working on Laches, or in a rural fashion using the trees to create some incredible workouts and new ways to move. Friday....you get the idea.
Each and everyday I will stretch, ice, and observe my knees, as well as massage and roll out my thighs to loosen any tightness, one of the main causes of Osgood's. Another daily routine is rail balance, something I've become quite avid at, probably resulting from the addiction I have to practicing it, along with the new 12 foot rail I've assembled in my yard =]
Sticking to this plan, I think my knees will not only be in less pain, but I will still see great progress in many other areas, maintaining my preparation for Rendezvous III. The full 6-8 weeks of rest will take place upon my return, as it will be a cold, snowy winter by then. Although this was a description of what my life and training is like at the moment, it is meant to inspire ideas and help others in similar situations. Generally, I think the deeper message of this post is as follows:
Life is decorated with many opportunities, many chances to become great and succeed. However, the journey to the top is never easy. There will always be another wall to climb, another obstacle to overcome, but as long as you're willing to put in the needed effort, as long as you allow yourself to adapt to change, mastery is yours. No matter what the challenge, never give up. Every single goal is attainable for each and every one of us. Respect your body, because it is the only one you have, and make it last to the very end.
Thank you to all my inspirations, and to all that have helped me on my journey as a Traceur.
-Nick
Friday, October 10, 2008
Thoughts
It's been a little while since my last post, and things have been going well. Unfortunately, however, I'm starting to feel some pain in my knees again, reason being I've had Osgood Slaughter's since I was 12. On a good note, it is not parkour related, but I'm sure any precisions I do may make it worse. Luckily, it's a disease that almost 80% of active male teenagers get and is almost never permanent. It has been on my mind lately, especially with Rendezvous III approaching, and these are my thoughts:
Weaknesses- I took a very good look into my training and payed close attention to what is lacking...things that I don't practice often, movements that aren't efficient or are too slow, and came upon a few findings.
- My climb ups from cat grab positions are weak and slow, and lack needed power.
- Traversing in cat grab position is difficult and lacks efficiency.
All in all, much of what I need to work on involves my forearm strength and grip, which has certainly grown incredibly in the past 2 years, but needs to improve.
Rail Balance- Although I've always had decent balance when it came to rails, I realized that I rarely ever practiced it in my training. About a month ago, it became a daily routine of mine, and I even built a rail from some wood and a 12' metal pole I found laying around at the local school. My rail balance and cat balance has improved incredibly, and about 2 weeks ago I walked a full 22 minutes without falling once. Quite a personal achievment! These are some of the skills I practice:
- Walking the rail, pivoting at each end
- Walking the rail, squat pivoting at each end
- Standing on balls of feet, full squat down, hold, and come back up
- Squat walking
- High/low cat walking, cat walking with push-ups
These techniques are amazing for improving not only balance, but are also great for the muscles in the legs, ankles and feet. Mentally, this training is essential from building your focus and concentration.
Listening To My Body- This is may be the most important aspect of training properly. Way too many people are falling victim to overuse injuries just because they ignore what their body is telling them. I've definitely payed close attention here, realizing how important is. Listening to your body is the number one rule stressed by the elite Traceurs, yet so many people avoid doing so! Or maybe don't know how...?
- Because of the Osgood's in my knee, I try to keep precisions small and to a minimum, right now only practiced once a week, twice at the most.
- Flat feet have caused terrible shin splints in the past, an experience i don't want to have again. I've made sure to rest my legs when they are tires or sore, conditioning them whenever they are not, and stretching daily. Now going a full year without a sign of them =]
- Your body doesn't really 'know' what days are, does it? I don't think so. I avoid the whole "Arms on these days, legs on the others" routine, and instead work on what is feeling ready and strong.
- Another important aspect, give 100% on training days, and allow time for rest. If I'm going to train my arms one day, I will give every bit of my body and mind to my arms that day. If it is technique, I will repeat it as needed until I feel satisfied with its flow, efficiency and power, striving to mperfect every movement I set out to do.
Focusing on my upper body weaknesses as well as my rail balance will allow me to progress greatly without straining my knees.
Also, I've decided that after returning from the Rendezvous, I will take a break from all heavy leg/impact training completely for a minimum of 4-6 weeks. No jumps, no precisions, no flips, no vaults, no heavy conditioning until my knees are fully healed. It will be a cold, snowy winter anyway, and will give me a chance to really focus on my balance and weaknesses in my upper body. It's common sense, anyway: a) continue training and live with the pain, and possibly have to stop permanently in a couple years, or b) take a little while off during to the winter to take care of my pain, and continue to practice for many years to come. Obvious choice to me!
To Be and To Last.
-Nick
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Weekend Training
Just an update, havn't been on the blog in a few days.
The four day weekend has come to an end, and I enjoyed it for the most part. I got a lot of training in, from upper and lower body conditioning, to precisions, to rail balance and laches. The pain my muscles are in at the moment really tell the story =P Time for some rest! Kind of unnavoidable, considering I happened to catch quite the nasty cold toward the end of the weekend. Seems to be getting better though.
So, I decided to give some rain-training a try throughout Saturday and Sunday, because it rained literally the entire 48 hours. I didn't want those two days to go to waste though, so I tested my skills on the wet, slippery surfaces. It definitely took some extra concentration, especially with rail balance, but after some time my body and mind began to adapt. I think it is really important to train yourself in all different sorts of weather conditions so that your body and mind can handle them with ease....I mean, Parkour is about efficiency and the ability to move in and adapt to your surroundings, right? Yes. So training in all different surroundings (in this case, weather conditions), will keep your body ready for anything that's thrown at it!
Monday I took off as a rest day to allow my body to heal a bit from the past few days of training, but as soon as Tuesday came along, I was right back into it. My body was feeling great and I was eager to try some new things. These proved to be very very good additions to my training.
I went straight to the school playground and began creating any type of conditioning exercise I could imagine....using bars, rails, poles, rope....the entire playground, every part of it. I tried to traverse in the most ridiculous ways possible, attempting to give my body something a little more foreign to work with. The exercises I came up with happened to be really difficult, and worked some muscles that I never even knew existed. This was not only a one time thing either...this weekend I'm heading to town to try to come up with some other ridiculous ideas using whatever is available to me there. This is not only a great way to work different muscles and add more variety to training, but it's also an incredible exercise for the mind. It forces you to think "out of the box", and create unique ways of moving in any given environment. Looking at your surroundings in such uncommon ways enables you to test new skills and make the best of even the most simple, barren areas. I think this is a very important asset to any Traceur's Parkour training regimen.
Well, that's all for now...time to give my body some rest so that I can take on the upcoming weekend xD I will post about what comes of it.
Train hard, Train safe.
-Nick
The four day weekend has come to an end, and I enjoyed it for the most part. I got a lot of training in, from upper and lower body conditioning, to precisions, to rail balance and laches. The pain my muscles are in at the moment really tell the story =P Time for some rest! Kind of unnavoidable, considering I happened to catch quite the nasty cold toward the end of the weekend. Seems to be getting better though.
So, I decided to give some rain-training a try throughout Saturday and Sunday, because it rained literally the entire 48 hours. I didn't want those two days to go to waste though, so I tested my skills on the wet, slippery surfaces. It definitely took some extra concentration, especially with rail balance, but after some time my body and mind began to adapt. I think it is really important to train yourself in all different sorts of weather conditions so that your body and mind can handle them with ease....I mean, Parkour is about efficiency and the ability to move in and adapt to your surroundings, right? Yes. So training in all different surroundings (in this case, weather conditions), will keep your body ready for anything that's thrown at it!
Monday I took off as a rest day to allow my body to heal a bit from the past few days of training, but as soon as Tuesday came along, I was right back into it. My body was feeling great and I was eager to try some new things. These proved to be very very good additions to my training.
I went straight to the school playground and began creating any type of conditioning exercise I could imagine....using bars, rails, poles, rope....the entire playground, every part of it. I tried to traverse in the most ridiculous ways possible, attempting to give my body something a little more foreign to work with. The exercises I came up with happened to be really difficult, and worked some muscles that I never even knew existed. This was not only a one time thing either...this weekend I'm heading to town to try to come up with some other ridiculous ideas using whatever is available to me there. This is not only a great way to work different muscles and add more variety to training, but it's also an incredible exercise for the mind. It forces you to think "out of the box", and create unique ways of moving in any given environment. Looking at your surroundings in such uncommon ways enables you to test new skills and make the best of even the most simple, barren areas. I think this is a very important asset to any Traceur's Parkour training regimen.
Well, that's all for now...time to give my body some rest so that I can take on the upcoming weekend xD I will post about what comes of it.
Train hard, Train safe.
-Nick
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