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Le Parkour: Getting Started
Valkun
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
During a recent meditation it occured to me that I have never participated in dangerous and andrenaline enducing sports/activities and it would leave me unfulfilled as a person if I do not at least get a taste of such.
Back in December some may remember a breakup thread I had created (back when I was ThrawnDS) and have since taken a drastic change in my personality and outlook on life. One of these alterations is a rekindled interest in reforming my body into its utmost best, therefore Parkour and related disciplines seem like a natural solution to my earlier realization.
Doing a great deal of DDR for cardio has already built up my stamina to far above my average peers and I've always taken the most direct path from destination to destination, short of jumping over walls and such. Any experienced traceurs(uses) have any helpful advice for starting?
I have some friends who would probably be willing to train with me at the same time but learning from professionals might not be bad either. So any help locating resources in the Las Vegas, Nevada area would be appreciated as well.
TLDR: Sites and advice for a complete neophyte to Parkour?
Back in December some may remember a breakup thread I had created (back when I was ThrawnDS) and have since taken a drastic change in my personality and outlook on life. One of these alterations is a rekindled interest in reforming my body into its utmost best, therefore Parkour and related disciplines seem like a natural solution to my earlier realization.
Doing a great deal of DDR for cardio has already built up my stamina to far above my average peers and I've always taken the most direct path from destination to destination, short of jumping over walls and such. Any experienced traceurs(uses) have any helpful advice for starting?
I have some friends who would probably be willing to train with me at the same time but learning from professionals might not be bad either. So any help locating resources in the Las Vegas, Nevada area would be appreciated as well.
TLDR: Sites and advice for a complete neophyte to Parkour?
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If you can get into some tumbling or gymnastics, you probably want to get comfortable doing that before you start jumping off large objects. If you can't find a gym that teaches twenty something males (as opposed to fifth graders), some Judo classes can teach you how to do rolling falls correctly.
A rock climbing wall might not be a bad idea either, so you can learn the basics of climbing in a safe environment.
Stamina shouldn't be an issue but my upper body strength might, I'm not weak but some of the vaults and climbs I've seen done look like they require incredible might.
You might ask if you can go to that ninja class just to practice falling on their mats.
^The very very basics of what to do. Practice your rolls constantly until you can do them without hesitation or compromise. The first time you try to land normally, when you should have rolled, you will know and feel it, and have very little doubt.
Right. I'm not le parkour or a free runner, but I do have occasion to run a lot, and throw myself over walls, so I have a little experience and I understand how devilishly difficult what those guys actually do is.
One, I'm sorry, I know dancing can be taxing, obviously I don't know you and may be wrong, but this is on a different level from 'DDR stamina'. Don't overestimate your physical ability if you are coming from a period of inactivity. I certainly did when I got it in my head to go for a very tough military regiment. Took me a long hard slog to get fit enough (talking years), largely because I quickly injured myself early on due to: overestimating ability.
Two, taking a direct path somewhere is a similar philosophy, not physical aptitude. This is a very physical sport / art (or whatever they want to call it). It's hard. You are also right, some of the moves take gymnast-style strength. You don't have this, trust me. But first things first.
If you want a rough test of parkour ability:
If you can do that comfortably, you might be at a base level to start considering parkour. I've actually made that easier for you - it's not meant to have any rest period at all. I can do the above, do a lot of exercise, have decent upper body strength; and I'm pretty sure parkour, if I could do it at all, would destroy me very fast.
If you can't do the above, you need to get fit before you consider attempting parkour, because like you said, it's dangerous, and if you aren't fit enough, you will hurt yourself. Focus on bodyweight circuit training like the above, running, and sprinting.
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Here is a typical run of parkour, wih demonstration of typical workouts:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tYPQQ70X1FI
Notice how many times this man almost dies.
It's applicability is limited to gymnastics competitions. As long as he realizes this, people* probably won't have a problem with it.
Check out http://www.bullshido.net/ for more info on martial arts, applicability of it, and the bullshit that see revolves around it.
That said, try rock climbing. My friend does, and he can grab the top of a doorframe, and do pullups. It's great to improve all-around strength as well as teach you proper grips.
Or stealing shit and then running from the police.
If you believe that doing DDR has built your cardio vascular fitness up to the levels required to perform one of the most intensive physical activities currently practised, you are at a level of self delusion that is incompatable with a sport where overestimating your own abilities will get you killed.
I can do that right now, and I don't pay $100 a month for lessons from some guy who made his own instructor certification in powerpoint.
You know all those cool videos of people doing parkour on youtube? For a contrast, try and find the video of the guy who misjudged a jump, bounced off a wall and landed on his neck. He died during the third major operation required to keep him alive.
Dude... that isn't a "typical workout"... first they are good, have been training for years and doing this for video.
More then likely a typical "workout" for this type of stuff would be hours of wind sprints, a lot of core work (abs, obs) and lots of gymnastics in a SAFE practice environment (ie. on foam).
This would be like saying a "typical workout" for a football player is the super bowl.
I don't know much about this sport, but pretty sure they don't start noobies off with jumping 2 story buildings. "Ok... since this is your first day and you're way out of shape we're going to have you jump off that wall, slide down the stair case then leap to that building"
To the orignal poster:
don't try any of those fancy moves your first time out (or your 100th time out). The majority of this sport is going to be spent either A) Doing wind sprints (to build speed, power and performance)
Secondly, no offense, but just cause your good at DDR, doesn't mean your in shape in any way shape or form... no pun. Get in shape first... cross train and do it for a good 4 hours a day to start with. If you don't like running your ass off you're probably not going to like this sport., cause that's what you're going to have to do if you want to be any good at it.
After your in shape then go to a professional gymnastics and have him/her train you in a safe way.
If the OP thinks he's going to be ready to do parkour fitness wise because he's geat at DDR he has another think coming.
Watch any video of parkour and you'll see all those guys are ripped and skinny.
Honestly, it's silly to start training for parkour before you're physically fit to do so and I'm assuming the OP doesn't have access to a gym with mats and stuff to practice the stuff but even if he doesn it doesn't matter so much because you can still hurt yourself really bad. If he wants to learn parkour he needs to get himself in shape and then find someone that knows what he/she is doing and who is willing to coach and observe, spot, and work through the motions.
It's fun to think you can learn this crap yourself, but if unless you want an injury you need to find a trainer.
I used to take gymnastics and it's amazing how little control you really have over your body until you start training. And in sports like this and gymnastics, control is everything.
You don't want to find out the hard way that you didn't have enough control.
Another thing to consider is if you go about learning it yourself the chances of hurting yourself increases dramatically, and when you hurt yourself fear gets introduced, even if it's subconciously. In sports like this, it's fundamental that you give 100% and don't hold back or hesistate - you will hurt yourself if you don't commit to the action.
Having done tumbling in gymnastics I cannot stress how important it is to have a coach that knows how to do the moves and also knows safe exercises you can do to perfect the moves in a safe environment. My coach, a russian guy from the USSR, could tumble on concrete because his form was perfect.
I've known people who "taught themselves" how to tumble, but if they did that shit on concrete they'd kill themselves. Proper form and knowledge of body mechanics along with the actualy control is everything.
A coach will also teach you what to do if "shit happens" - recovery falls, etc. Knowing that would have saved that kid's life. Watch that video, he's just falling. There's so much he could be doing to ensure he doesn't fall on his kneck but he doesn't know how to do any of that, probably because he's a kid like you out there doing this cause it's cool.
If you can't find a Parkour coach take gymnastics, it'll prepare you for it and you'll learn how to feel your body. Make sure you find a good coach because there are quite a few crappy ones out there.
Okay, I have a question about that.
Are there places where guys in their mid-twenties who've never done gymnastics before can actually go and take gymnastics lessons?
I always thought it would be a cool thing to do, but it seemed like something you had to start doing as a small child, and the people still doing it at my age are all at the end of their NCAA/olympic careers.
Just visit your local gyms. I'd think that if the instructor is teaching adult classes he's going to be better than just one that teaches just kids anyways.
Anyways, I've been to several gyms and most of them had an adult program, they're just very small generally, which is good for you.
Be prepared for being the subject of gay jokes if you do tumbling, though. Nothing gay about it, but I did get a lot of comments from friends. The feeling of control you have after a few months of doing this stuff is truly amazing - I never felt better than when I was doing it. I wanna do it again, I just don't have the cash. Unfortunately, it's also very easy to seriously hurt yourself. If you're doing it right you'll be fine, but one major screw up on some advanced shit and you could be looking at snapped tendons/torn muscles and other way painful shit.
And if at all possible, I'll try to find experts in my area but my searches have yet turned up nothing in that regard.
Edit: The gym on campus probably has matted areas someplace but I haven't really explored the whole complex.
Edit 2: Irregardless of whether "ninjitsu" is a valid martial art or not, it doesn't change the fact that he can teach me to do basic rolls, I'm not really sure what your point was, Mr. Tube.
A better video of a Traceur Training. Notice how he's not jumping four stories above the ground? Although I'm amazed at his ability to control momentum, especially the ones where he jumps directly in front of walls without hitting them.
Man, I was just going to say this. I'm training for Officer Candidate School in the Army National Guard and police academy. These are happening in two years and I'm still pushing to get in the total amount of training in (mostly for OCS). Doing DDR and having above average stamina then an average american is not going to prep you for parkour. It is extremely demanding. What they do requires a total amount of confidence and faith in their bodies. These are guys who have zero fat on them. We had a guy in my city who was trying to jump between buildings and fucking died. He was a parkourist.
No "guy who knows martial artist" will properly teach you either. You need serious instruction on landing and doing rolls. Just practicing isn't going to cut it. When I was doing my martial arts (only for two years so very limited) we practiced that all the time and it was still very, very tough to do properly. You need to enroll in a very good martial arts course or a gymnastics course where these guys know what they are doing and have double-digit years of experience. Those youtube videos are videos of guys who have been doing gymnastics/martial arts for many many years.
Plus these are not really big guys doing this. I'm 6'1'', I'd suck at it. These are small, skinny guys with really low mass doing these things.
I'd recommend doing cross-country running (cross-country is really good for increasing stamina) for four or five months, just to properly get in shape. Hit the gym and work on full body workouts (do like Mark Ripptoe's workouts) and enroll in a really good martial arts/gymnastic class.
You are not going to teach yourself this stuff. That's just stupid to even assume that.
Very good advice. Judo is a great way to learn falling and tumbling, as it's mostly about throwing opponents. I'm going to be taking Judo this next semester, I'd highly recommend doing this.
If you check the internet or local listings I'm sure that you can find a local parkour "club", they tend to adopt newbies but you really have to have the willingness to work--the guys that are serious about this train for up to 5 hours a day. If you're really just kinda interested, and you want to teach yourself (no joke here)...youtube has a lot of videos that'll teach you various moves. I started out watching to youtube videos, I go to a school in Boston and we have a club that does it on campus, but there's also several little groups around Boston where they take it seriously.
don't try anything outside and on pavement yet. When I was first learning things, I was doing it in a gym, with mats and padding--what you're going to have to work on the most is your depth perception, and jumping.
If you want to start working on your vertical jump, just practice indoors jumping upwards towards a set target and touching it. You'll also have to be able to hurdle things.
Seriously, Youtube has a lot of videos and "tutorials" check those out and look for listings of a local club--Las Vegas I'm sure is going to have some.
Running isn't just cardio like ddr or a stationary bike. Most of the muscles in a run are rarely used day to day. Once you do this for about a week you slowly ramp it up until you can run the whole 20. Then it opens up, and you begin to train with specific goals, speed endurance etc. But start slow. Learn to run, which is absolutely something you need to do.
If you are a non-athlete, but in shape, find an athlete to build a program for you. Just get a good 3 months of running in with weight training. Then maybe see a guy about some tumbling.
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Also take into account the "average American" is not in good shape. Even if you can do a marathon session of DDR for 30 or more minutes, you're probably not ready for parkour.
Solidaritus is talking out his arse. That is not a good representation of parkour in any way, shape or form. The Dvinsk clan do very dodgy freerunning, and that vid is not a "typical" parkour run. It is an extremely dangerous freerunning vid, and most practicioners of parkour won't attempt anything similar until they have completed years of training or are being paid for media work.
95% of parkour training is at ground level. Train upper body strength by ascending and descending trees using only your arms, vault small walls at speed, balance on handrails, do small precision jumps on the gutter. Do distance runs, sprints, and most of all learn how to do a basic commando/martial arts roll to disperse force upon landing.
Review your diet as well. Eat organic, save the carbs for the morning and protein for the night. Also, know how to stretch and warm up/down.
The Parkourpedia that the Australian Parkour Association compiled could be of use to you as well.
http://www.parkourpedia.com/
PM me any questions you have, I teach parkour classes in Melbourne every week to kids and adults.
What an awesome idea to add to a workout routine. That'd be great to do with some cross-country running. I'm adding that to my routine. Fun and really, really good training.
Come to Alaska and give classes, that'd be awesome. Parkourists are awesome.
Just curious, how tall/big are most parkourists? If you had say a tall soldier that was heavy due to lots of muscle mass, would he make a good parkourists? Seems like most duders are skinny, short guys with little mass (but very good builds).
I was curious about builds too - because I'm decently tall, about 6'3 or so, and I think that puts me at somewhat of a disadvantage.
I really enjoyed freerunning when I was younger, before I ever knew what exactly it was, or what it was called, but now that I'm older and uh, significantly taller, I'm not sure how much maneuverability I'll have.
most of all, most of all
someone said true love was dead
but i'm bound to fall
bound to fall for you
oh what can i do
Dude.. . the "average" American gets winded walking up 10 stairs and also the "average" American is grossly over weight. That's like saying you do math better then the "average" mentally disabled kid cause you play D&D and know how to add 12 to a d20 roll.
Edit: simplefit.org
Start there.
Come back when you can do Level 8 Day 3 under 10 minutes.
Edit 2:
Seriously, drop the DDR and get into some real training.
Note: Playing hours of DDR does not qualify you to do back flips off buildings.
I've been into parkour for about 2 years now, and let me tell you: It's extraordinarily physical, and can be extremely dangerous (atleast with the higher level moves). Don't jump into anything that you're not prepared for.
I would start by working into a hefty running routine, and possibly even a low-scale (don't bulk up, you need good flexibility) weight training program. Once you are in decent shape, start practicing the standards, like landing properly (be sure to bend the knees when landing!), dismounting (but use a low to the ground object at first), and vaulting. As you get more confident, start working on more and more movements and begin adding height.
Remember, don't ever do it completely alone. If you fall and injure yourself, you'll want someone there to help you. And don't ever do anything you aren't completely sure you can handle. Some of the more complex movements can be potentially lethal if executed incorrectly, especially at significant heights.
Some websites:
http://www.parkourstyle.com/
http://parkour.net/index.php
http://www.dailymotion.com/tag/parkour
Not note: Parkour has nothing to do with backflips off buildings. Or even backflips.
Parkour - Developed by French soldiers in Vietnam based on the principles on Herbertism, and later popularised and developed upon by David Belle, parkour is an art/discipline focused on moving quickly, efficiently and with a purpose.
Traceurs and traceuse (male and female practitioners of parkour) train to make their body useful in all situations. To overcome obstacles ranging from simple railings to large gaps and drops both quickly and in safety. True parkour is practiced with a goal in mind - possibly to escape attackers, or even in a rescue situation. Parkour is not about risk-taking or daredevil stunts, but rather focus, discipline and humility. As it is focused on efficiency, movements such as flips and spins are not part of parkour.
Quoted from parkour.net - "An art to help you pass any obstacle; to go from point A to point B using only the possibilities of the human body."
Quoted from Cali meets David Belle, on parkour.net - "At the physical end, Parkour is getting over all the obstacles in your path as you would in an emergency situation. You want to move in such a way, with any movement, that will help you gain the most ground on someone/something as if escaping from someone/something or chasing toward someone/something. Also, wherever you go, you must be able to get back. If you go from A to B, you need to be able to get back from B to A. You don't need to do the same "move," but just get back."
You may want to go through these workouts to start building the necessary strength for Parkour:
http://www.pkaus.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=275
http://www.pkaus.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2707
Yes it does. You have no idea what you are talking about and as such have no way to determine whether or not he does. GET AN INSTRUCTOR. LISTENING TO YOUR POSSIBLY IDIOTIC (ninjitsu) FRIEND WILL GET YOU HURT, EVEN DOING BASIC TUMBLES.
Do NOT learn to roll/fall from your Ninjitsu friend. I can almost gaurantee that what he is learning is utter bullshit.
Right mate, tough love time. Personally, I wasn't assuming you were an idiot because you are on the internet. I was assuming you were an idiot because you demonstrate absolutely zero understanding of what is required for the challenge you set yourself. Also might have something to do with your choosing this challenge in 'a recent meditation', after a breakup, specifically want to seek out danger, and have chosen an extremely difficult, highly skilled sport/art, in which you are totally unskilled, and seem to have no significant athletic experience.
For some reason, that sets off warning bells. :roll:
Let me restate something: most people have been pointing out, correctly, that you need the stamina and fitness of professional runners / sprinters. First things first.
I've seen a lot of kids with this idea or mindset, except aiming for the military. Only one of these that I have ever met made it, and only because 1) he was a bloody tenacious bugger and surprised us by working effing hard, and 2) he got a serious dose of realism and humility drilled into him. Like I said, I overestimated my ability when I started such things, many people do: what matters is how you react when you realise you are climbing a mountain instead of a mound. I applaud your ambition, but if you actually want to do this instead of just dream about it, wake up to the fact it's going to be very, very hard.
If you are smart, you will cut the rolling eyes I-think-I-know-what-I'm-doing attitude, accept that you know bugger all, listen to some of the good advice on here, start out with fitness basics (not 'probably weeks of rolling'), put the hard work in, and be ready for a long slog to get where you want.
I'm not going to argue with you, cause i don't care - but most videos of Parkour has some idiot trying to do black flips... just because it's not in the official definition doesn't mean these kids don't try it .
I understand your point, but you have to also understand we're the country that has both "Wrestling" and "WWF". Trust me, given enough time someone is going to pick up Parkour with little understanding of it and is going to try to do a backflip off a building .... oh, wait.. right.
Maybe his neck will be less broken if we tell him that his backflip wasn't "true" Parkour?
I don't care what you what to call it.... but my point still stands: Playing hours of DDR does not qualify you to do back flips off buildings. [regardless if that is considered "true" Parkour or not]
You need strength in every part of your body. Especially your core.
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=508031
As I said earlier, Judo is probably your best way to learn tumbling and how to take falls properly, short of a gymnastic class. Judo will probably be cheaper and more available however. You can take classes at a Judo class in your university for free, in most cases.
Things I understand:
1. Training for even basic parkour moves (vaulting, wall jumping, etc) will take a great deal of physical strength and conditioning. I am willing to train for months while working on basic manuevers.
2. There is danger involved, I understand that and am willing to take responsibility for any repercussions.
3. I am willing to put in the work involved because I am a motivated individual with extra time to spare and an incredible desire to further myself physically.
4. My physical fitness level, I am fully aware of my limits. Again, I'm the only one who can judge my ability and it's development.
5. Conquering fear and getting to know your body are parts of parkour, as I get better I'll develop these skills.
Things people are assuming:
1. That I consider DDR to be adequate endurance training for this activity, I do not. I was merely trying to give an idea of my current physical condition, not state that I had the endurance of Achilles and wouldn't need training. Please do not make assumptions about what kind of state my body is in, because you're talking out of your ass if you do. I am fully aware of how strong the various parts of my body are, how long I can run, how far I can jump, what I am capable of. If you really must know, I play about 50 minutes straight doing nothing but 8 to 9 foot songs. I also do comprehensive weight lifting and yoga for stretching. My upper body is what I train the most anyways, and striving to be able to do wall tap + vaults is a great motivator.
2. That I will be planning to jump from building to building five stories above the ground on day 1. Platantly false, I will spend as long as it takes drilling basic maneuvers in a relatively safe location until it becomes second nature to me.
Now, I would like to point out how idiotic some of the replies have been with an example:
"Hi, I would like to play football, I'm not in too horrible of shape and would like some advice on how I can get started? My coworkers are starting a touch league and I don't want to be too horrible at it."
"What?! Football?! Are you insane? Look at this video, do you see how big these guys are? If you're not 6'5 and 300 pounds, you're going to get yourself seriously hurt trying to play. These guys spend years of training before they were able to get to that level. You're delusional if you think you're ready to play one of the most physically demanding and dangerous sports in the world. What they don't show is how some guy broke his collar bone when he got tackled, people die playing this sport."
When I start out, if I can only sprint 100 meters over a park playground, then that's where I'll start and I'll build up from there. I wasn't aware there was some rule where any parkour run required you to run 14 miles across town over dense urban landscape. That may be the goal, but it's not where you have to start.
For everyone who's provided helpful links to techniques, videos, and useful training advice I'd like to thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for. For everyone else, stop making assumptions about who I am, what I want, my motivation, or anything else. Either provide advice on how do basic techniques and training or get out, I don't care about your naysaying and put downs.