France. Sarcelles. Birthplace of the Art of Displacement. That's where we began last week's training days with the Yamakasi founders Chau Belle-Dinh and Yann Hnautra and several of the Majestic Force team. And what a place - an incredible forest carved in two by an enormous wall, surrounded by trim-trail training obstacles perfect for movement training. Here the spirit of the discipline was born before it moved to Evry and Lisses in the city, and it's easy to see why.

Thomas, Stephane, Johann, Forrest and I were spending the week with Chau and Yann to work on a number of aspects of the ADAPT Certification Programme, in particular the interest from the French press and the birth of the ADD Academy classes. More cameras were on site in the hands of Kiell and Julie Angel, also present to shoot various projects over the few days. Before all of that, however, it was back to basics in the forest of Sarcelles. Quadrupedie, traversing, climb-ups, drops, passement, precision, jump conditioning, and plenty of running in between. The basics. Great stuff.

Different backgrounds all of these guys have, different ways of moving and training, but it is clear that everyone of them comes from the same school: the school of suffering! They all seek the harder path, the more challenging drill, the trickier jump. They all seek to find the limits of their endurance and push them back a little further each time. Simply training among such individuals is always inspirational, and these few days were no exception. Later that day was the inaugural class for the ADD Youth Academy, with 30 or so under 12s being put through their paces by some of the most experienced teachers of the art in the world. Destined to be a success, this was a real pleasure to see finally come to pass.

The next day saw us in Evry for more of the same, working on stair conditioning, movement routes led by Thomas, upper body work, and hanging traverses around a sharp-edged pavillion... leaving even the hardest-handed nursing torn calluses and blisters. Following that was a photo shoot with Kiell, an example of the results of which can be seen above. Blessed with great sunshine and incredibly talented guys, plus a fine photographer, some amazing shots came to life over the course of the afternoon. Later still was another training session at the famous cathedral of Evry, with some great skills on display and Julie Angel on hand to capture it all (just wait for the edit!). That evening saw myself, Johann, Yann and Chau with some of the team giving a 2-hour radio talk on all aspects of the discipline and the creation of ADAPT. In true Yamakasi style, this show mainly consisted of chaos and laughter and no respect whatsoever for convention. The host took it in stride... but then with 10 fairly large guys in his studio, maybe he didn't have a lot of choice. What's important is that the message got across. Somehow.

Though I had to leave the next morning for London, the project continued with another shoot with Julie Angel and another Academy class, plus an interview with Laurent Piemontesi. And more training. And that's the point, I think: the training. Behind it all, beyond it all, is just hard training - from where everything started, in Sarcelles, Evry and Lisses, to where it still resides today in the practice of every committed individual around the world.

Thanks to the entire Majestic Force team for showing us such a great few days, and we look forward to seeing them all in December for Rendezvous 3. For more training.

Labels: Event Coverage

I have recently returned from holiday, in April and August of this year I was lucky enough to visit New York and then Los Angeles respectively. While parkour was not the reason for these trips I couldn't go all that way and not at least check out some of the areas. So I made contact with some of the guys in each location with the aim to be able to spend at least one day with them so I could not only see the different places these traceurs train but also so I could see the differences in other pk communities outside of London. Now while I didn't really have much of an idea what these places were like before hand I was able to leave having seen some cool areas and met some cool people that I hope to visit again one day.

I would like to use this as a way for me to say a big thank-you both to all the NYPK guys and all the PKCali guys (and girls) who showed me round their spots, allowed me to come train with them and were genuinely friendly and helpful people. This got me to thinking that while the online image of the pk community is sometimes perceived as continuous message board arguments over slight differences and little details, the reality is a much nicer place where even a complete stranger can find a friendly and most importantly open and helpful environment which im grateful to be a part of. Hopefully I'll be able to visit even more places in the future and meet up and learn from even more of you guys!

Labels: Event Coverage