What is parkour? Wikipedia says: "Parkour is a utilitarian discipline based upon the direct, successful, swift traversing of one's surrounding environment via the practical application of techniques, based around the concept of self-preservation." ...that's great, Wikipedia, way to bore people. I've heard it called "urban gymnastics". Some people like to think they are practicing running away from evil (or good!) people, like in James Bond. I prefer to think of it as turning the world into my own personal playground!
I've booked an instructor from Parkour Visions to come and give a lesson. My hope is to facilitate a safe and supportive environment for anyone who has an interest in this activity! Even if you have no experience with parkour, or if you aren't very active, you are welcome to come! Last year a friend of mine came and his only recent activity was chasing his 3 year old around a playground - he took it slow, but had a great time .
We'll meet at Freeway Park (Google Maps) at 1pm on Thursday, August 25th.
You should bring:
Comfortable sports clothing. You may want long pants/shirts to protect from concrete abrasion. (I tend not to - to warm!)
Shoes that are flexible and low to the ground (hugely padded sneakers are not the best idea).
Plenty of liquid!
A snack
Sunscreen
Lets do it! If you have any questions, toss them my way .
A few important caveats/disclaimers/etc:
You are responsible for your own comfort level and safety. I don't know first-aid, but I do know the number for 911. Act accordingly.
If you're from a foreign country, look into medical insurance! BC travel insurance will cost $18 if you ignore all of the extras, and I think it's worth the peace-of-mind at the very least.
Please print off the Parkour Visions waiver and bring it with you. They will have extras should you forget.
Bringing in an instructor costs money. I don't mind fronting the cost, or even paying for most of it - I'm organizing this for my love of self-propelled motion. However, if you want to slip me a donation when you see me I wouldn't complain .
There is now a Parkour gym/studio up in Fremont that offers classes and instruction. Maybe they'd be interested in giving some basic instruction before/during the meetup?
Innnnteresting idea, Liger. I will look into that!
Thanks Pink - I'd just feel a lot better knowing someone was around who could deal with any potential issues. Had a minor mishap last week where we had a few good people with this knowledge and it was good that we did.
I also know first-aid (i'm only 13 so don't expect an expert) but i know pretty much nothing about parkour. I probaly will come just to get some advice from people who have done before. I can also bring a first aid kit if needed (it's got a lot of stuff). Sorry for my bad grammer. I hope to see you there.
i'd LOVE to organize this again but.... i work monday through friday and get off at 5 =/ this really sucks i wanted to do this again Glad to see someone's going to make this happen again. I'm hoping to plan a Post-Pax run if anyone is interested.
Hey Nova! Good to hear from you. This was one of the highlights of my PAX last year, so I wanted to make sure it happened again . It was a totally chill afternoon, lots of cool people - as is usual at PAX .
I'm in contact with Eric Jusino of Parkour Visions and he thinks he and I will be able to organize either a formal teaching session for a little bit, and/or organize a couple apprentice/volunteer instructors.
If you are interested in a formal teaching session please write here and let me know. If I was going to do this, I would need to have a good idea of numbers. If you don't care, I'll just organize something more informal (you can let me know that as well, but I'll assume it if I don't hear from people :P).
Hmmmm now i'm considering a post pax run/bouldering session. Hopefully anyone who didn't make the parkour jam can get their athletic fix via a 4 mile run and some awesome free climbing at the mountaineers climbing wall at magnusun park.
To true, Nova. I have a good buddy who just started going to the gym this year. He's a "little" overweight...he's getting up at 5am to go 3 times a week and has been doing so for 3 months now. And I thought _I_ was hardcore!
I'm hoping that with someone with some knowledge along, we can make this a safe and wicked awesome event to start our PAX weekend with .
I don't think I'd be able to make a post-PAX event - tend to head back to Vancouver pretty quick once the redbull runs out :P
I'll go, I've got military combat medical training. So I'll pack a light kit, enough for 1 big injury and a few minor cuts and or scraps. I'll be in Seattle area for 2-3 weeks. So I'll be looking to do this a week prior to pax if your gonna be in the area.
I've got someone from Parkour Visions coming down at 1pm on the Thursday to give a lesson! Super stoked .
I'll be editing the OP with some changes shortly, but wanted to put a quick note out for those reading the last topic. This means that we'll have first aid covered, and anyone who is new to parkour, or wants to get better can have a safe and supportive place to do that.
A small matter - doing this costs some money. I don't mind fronting it, or even paying most of the cost, so long as people show up and have fun. But at the same time, if you want to slide me a donation to help defray the cost, I wouldn't say no .
I don't want to tell you the exact number, in case it scares people off ("how much of a donation does he want anyway?!"). But if 10 people gave me $10, I'd be happy. If 30 people gave me $10, I'd tell a couple people to keep their cash and enjoy the afternoon. (you may now proceed to do simple math :P).
The important part - if you can't afford anything, show up and enjoy. If you can afford $5, that's cool. If you try to give me $20, I probably won't accept it.
I'll toss you some Japanese YEN and tell you it's worth what you wanna hear. How about that? ^_^ But I see we're your going with the price, kinda funny as it's on donation. But people got to eat I guess. I fly in on the 19th, but with time changes, it's gonna be the 18th? So I'll see you running around.
A clarification - I'm by donation. The instructors have a set price. I just want people to come out and have fun, with little-to-no organization required .
(because if I started trying to cost-recover, my nerd OCD would kick in and then I'd have spreadsheets and...oooh...spreadsheets...mmm...)
This talk of money is off-topic. I don't want to talk about it anymore - the information is there.
Where is everyone from? Anyone from far out of town? Whats your parkour experience, if at all? (it's ok to say "watched Damien Walters video") (seriously, everyone go YouTube that guy, he's ridiculous). What are you most looking forward to about PAX?
For myself, I'm busing down from Vancouver, Canada for the weekend. I was doing parkour for about 6 months, 3-4 times a week before I realized that my knees weren't happy with the schedule, so I swapped it up for focusing on other things (somehow "aggressive inline" and "trampoline" are easier on the knees...go figure).
I don't know what I'm most looking forward to, but for some reason "the drive home" comes to mind. Because on the drive home, I'm exhausted and I've had a fantastic time and I'm filled with the knowledge that I've squeezed every last drop out of the weekend
I live here in Seattle. My parkour experience isn't much (I think like 4 months, maybe) . I've been practicing around my area without any real help. I hope to see a lot of stuff at PAX.
-Halo CE Remake
-Battlefield 3
-Halo 4
-Wii U
-AC Revelations
-Cosplayers
-Halo Fest
That's about all I can think of for now. The list would be a lot longer if I actually thought about what I wanted to see.
Also I would love to go to the concerts one of the nights.
I've been doing PK since late December, I would love to join you guys (if I can get a 3 day pass, which I've been trying to do on these forums since late May, lol.
I'm a fairly agile person. Since I was a kid I loved to run, jump, fall, leap, climb. I'm not one to do back-flips. More traditional, just taking shortest, funnest route, without getting hurt.
I'm Coming from Japan, Was born in the states, but moved here a few years ago to teach. So should be a great time getting to speak English more then typing it rarely on forums. Not spoken it in...4-5 years now ^_^
Was looking for a good example of my style and taste, and I much prefer David Belle. Not alot of crazy stuff that would get you killed outside a controlled area. But still fun and impressive.
I just picked up travel medical insurance from BCAA. It was $18, if you ignore all of the other bells-and-whistles that they try to throw at you. I think it's worth a little peace of mind in this case .
I think I like Damian because he started as a gymnast, and has sort of...combined a bit of pk with a bit of trampoline, which are two activities that I love. I'll check out David Belle though!
Yea I got mine as well. Always good to have some type of medical coverage. You still need some additional medic help? If not I won't bother packing my kit. But if so I'll be more then happy to tend to any minor bangs, cuts, and what ever comes up.
I arrive on the 20th. I'll be swinging by one of the parkour gyms for the week leading upto pax for some extra training and practice. If anyone else is in seattle from 20th-end of PAX let me know so we can meet up.
Been doing a little extra practice...More like I started up again..haha Seems since my last time running I've gain a bad habit of sing my left hand during the landing roll...Bad bad ju ju...But I'll solve that habit before I arrive..lol Can still jump off a single story building without issue, wall grab, so on. Sadly my area has little good spots local. But I make do! Rythos42 you still alive?
Yup, still alive somehow...but given the way I exercise, it's good to remember to check every so often...could change and I wouldn't even know it.
I haven't done a lot of parkour recently...I go running every two eeks and mix a little bit in when I see a cool terrain feature. Makes me like running more (I can't stand running...). My main activity these days is trampoline - working on perfecting my front tuck and corkscrew .
We will be meeting at a little in-the-ground fountain (photo) in the middle of the plaza, near the concrete canyon.
Our instructors name is Tyson (photo). I'm hoping to be there around 12:30 myself. I don't have a non-Facebook photo of myself, but I've got glasses, and I'll probably be wearing gray man-capris and my Vibram FiveFingers shoes - you can't miss the toe shoes!
W Well I would check in regularly, but I had a problem. I've been hiking for quite sometime. I've also haven't done parkour for a while. At least I got to check in a week before PAX started.
Can't wait for the parkour on thursday! Hope to see you all there. Oh and just to give a little info on how I look, I'm indian. I'm pretty sure that sums it up.
Tomorrow is the day! We start our PAX extravaganza with climbing and jumping so that we can have horrible eating habits and sit around until 4am playing games all day for the rest of the weekend! :P (I'm heading to the pre-PAX boardgames Thursday night in the Sheraton lobby after a shower )
There's room for 30 participants for some awesome parkouring (am I allowed to verb that?), a number which we are no where near, so if anyone is lurking and wants to show up on a whim you are welcome to do so! No experience necessary, and a very bare minimum of physical stamina and strength required!
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Thanks Pink - I'd just feel a lot better knowing someone was around who could deal with any potential issues. Had a minor mishap last week where we had a few good people with this knowledge and it was good that we did.
I'm in contact with Eric Jusino of Parkour Visions and he thinks he and I will be able to organize either a formal teaching session for a little bit, and/or organize a couple apprentice/volunteer instructors.
If you are interested in a formal teaching session please write here and let me know. If I was going to do this, I would need to have a good idea of numbers. If you don't care, I'll just organize something more informal (you can let me know that as well, but I'll assume it if I don't hear from people :P).
Flight: [X]
Lodging: [X]
Passes: [X]
Excitement: [10/10]
I'm hoping that with someone with some knowledge along, we can make this a safe and wicked awesome event to start our PAX weekend with .
I don't think I'd be able to make a post-PAX event - tend to head back to Vancouver pretty quick once the redbull runs out :P
I've got someone from Parkour Visions coming down at 1pm on the Thursday to give a lesson! Super stoked .
I'll be editing the OP with some changes shortly, but wanted to put a quick note out for those reading the last topic. This means that we'll have first aid covered, and anyone who is new to parkour, or wants to get better can have a safe and supportive place to do that.
A small matter - doing this costs some money. I don't mind fronting it, or even paying most of the cost, so long as people show up and have fun. But at the same time, if you want to slide me a donation to help defray the cost, I wouldn't say no .
I agree. I'm ready to pay to help rythos out. I mean this is helping all us and I don't want him to pay for all of it.
I don't want to tell you the exact number, in case it scares people off ("how much of a donation does he want anyway?!"). But if 10 people gave me $10, I'd be happy. If 30 people gave me $10, I'd tell a couple people to keep their cash and enjoy the afternoon. (you may now proceed to do simple math :P).
The important part - if you can't afford anything, show up and enjoy. If you can afford $5, that's cool. If you try to give me $20, I probably won't accept it.
(because if I started trying to cost-recover, my nerd OCD would kick in and then I'd have spreadsheets and...oooh...spreadsheets...mmm...)
This talk of money is off-topic. I don't want to talk about it anymore - the information is there.
Where is everyone from? Anyone from far out of town? Whats your parkour experience, if at all? (it's ok to say "watched Damien Walters video") (seriously, everyone go YouTube that guy, he's ridiculous). What are you most looking forward to about PAX?
For myself, I'm busing down from Vancouver, Canada for the weekend. I was doing parkour for about 6 months, 3-4 times a week before I realized that my knees weren't happy with the schedule, so I swapped it up for focusing on other things (somehow "aggressive inline" and "trampoline" are easier on the knees...go figure).
I don't know what I'm most looking forward to, but for some reason "the drive home" comes to mind. Because on the drive home, I'm exhausted and I've had a fantastic time and I'm filled with the knowledge that I've squeezed every last drop out of the weekend
-Halo CE Remake
-Battlefield 3
-Halo 4
-Wii U
-AC Revelations
-Cosplayers
-Halo Fest
That's about all I can think of for now. The list would be a lot longer if I actually thought about what I wanted to see.
Also I would love to go to the concerts one of the nights.
I'm Coming from Japan, Was born in the states, but moved here a few years ago to teach. So should be a great time getting to speak English more then typing it rarely on forums. Not spoken it in...4-5 years now ^_^
I think I like Damian because he started as a gymnast, and has sort of...combined a bit of pk with a bit of trampoline, which are two activities that I love. I'll check out David Belle though!
If you're interested in parkour, show up Thursday, 1pm at Freeway Park near the Urban Canyon!
I haven't done a lot of parkour recently...I go running every two eeks and mix a little bit in when I see a cool terrain feature. Makes me like running more (I can't stand running...). My main activity these days is trampoline - working on perfecting my front tuck and corkscrew .
Our instructors name is Tyson (photo). I'm hoping to be there around 12:30 myself. I don't have a non-Facebook photo of myself, but I've got glasses, and I'll probably be wearing gray man-capris and my Vibram FiveFingers shoes - you can't miss the toe shoes!
Can't wait for the parkour on thursday! Hope to see you all there. Oh and just to give a little info on how I look, I'm indian. I'm pretty sure that sums it up.
Tomorrow is the day! We start our PAX extravaganza with climbing and jumping so that we can have horrible eating habits and sit around until 4am playing games all day for the rest of the weekend! :P (I'm heading to the pre-PAX boardgames Thursday night in the Sheraton lobby after a shower )
There's room for 30 participants for some awesome parkouring (am I allowed to verb that?), a number which we are no where near, so if anyone is lurking and wants to show up on a whim you are welcome to do so! No experience necessary, and a very bare minimum of physical stamina and strength required!