As part of my New Year's Resolution to mix up my athletic activities, I checked out a Parkour club in Santa Monica on Saturday. For those unfamiliar with the sport of Parkour, check out the following video:
Assuming someone actually stuck with my humble blog instead of searching for more videos of the like, I'll continue. Three days after the fact, I can still feel the three hours of leaping with some intensity. The most basic introduction to Parkour worked muscle groups I didn't even know I had, finger muscles, for instance. But what a workout.
By way of introduction, I and the other three newbies had to practice our kongs, or cat jumps. This introduction consisted of us running cat style across the grass. I don't mean scuttling around on all fours. I mean friggin' Sabertooth.
In any case, I never thought my body could move that way without strings; in many ways, it still can't. Nonetheless, this is one of the most essential moves to Parkour, especially when it comes to vaulting. One of the main elements to a kong (and one of the parts I had the most difficulty accomplishing) is the positioning of the legs inside the span of the arms, whereas I'm accustomed to the opposite. I was hesitant to try the technique while vaulting and instead opted for the side vault. It'll be something to work up to.
Shortly thereafter came the jumps, my favorite part. The most important part of the jump, I very quickly learned, is the landing, and boy, is there ever more to landing than just staying on your feet. It's all about moving with the impact to absorb it as much as possible, or to roll it. I hit it like a board, and I had to sit out for a bit. Nonetheless, I got the hang of some basic precision jumps (from sidewalk to low railing), and I absolutely loved the Tic Tacs, where we would use the momentum from leaping onto a stone obelisk to vault onto the upper stairs by the Santa Monica Pier. I won't lie that the excited tourists with their cameras did a bit for my ego, even though they were all focused on the advanced traceurs.
Honestly, taking into consideration the past few years of minimal-impact activity and the potential for injury jumping back into high-impact activity, I don't know how deeply I'll be able to delve into Parkour. Will I be able to do any of the flips? Will I dare? I think it may take a few years, but the other question is, will I have that kind of time and motivation? We will see. I had fun, the workout was great, and there is potential for a friend base. Next weekend is rain, but the weekend after, I may try it out again.
Assuming someone actually stuck with my humble blog instead of searching for more videos of the like, I'll continue. Three days after the fact, I can still feel the three hours of leaping with some intensity. The most basic introduction to Parkour worked muscle groups I didn't even know I had, finger muscles, for instance. But what a workout.
By way of introduction, I and the other three newbies had to practice our kongs, or cat jumps. This introduction consisted of us running cat style across the grass. I don't mean scuttling around on all fours. I mean friggin' Sabertooth.
In any case, I never thought my body could move that way without strings; in many ways, it still can't. Nonetheless, this is one of the most essential moves to Parkour, especially when it comes to vaulting. One of the main elements to a kong (and one of the parts I had the most difficulty accomplishing) is the positioning of the legs inside the span of the arms, whereas I'm accustomed to the opposite. I was hesitant to try the technique while vaulting and instead opted for the side vault. It'll be something to work up to.
Shortly thereafter came the jumps, my favorite part. The most important part of the jump, I very quickly learned, is the landing, and boy, is there ever more to landing than just staying on your feet. It's all about moving with the impact to absorb it as much as possible, or to roll it. I hit it like a board, and I had to sit out for a bit. Nonetheless, I got the hang of some basic precision jumps (from sidewalk to low railing), and I absolutely loved the Tic Tacs, where we would use the momentum from leaping onto a stone obelisk to vault onto the upper stairs by the Santa Monica Pier. I won't lie that the excited tourists with their cameras did a bit for my ego, even though they were all focused on the advanced traceurs.
Honestly, taking into consideration the past few years of minimal-impact activity and the potential for injury jumping back into high-impact activity, I don't know how deeply I'll be able to delve into Parkour. Will I be able to do any of the flips? Will I dare? I think it may take a few years, but the other question is, will I have that kind of time and motivation? We will see. I had fun, the workout was great, and there is potential for a friend base. Next weekend is rain, but the weekend after, I may try it out again.
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