#40Building Confidence
By Tracey | posted on 27 April 2009 | 4 comments
I have been inspired recently by a number of women who have contacted me wondering if Parkour is for them. Some of those have blown me away: made me smile and laugh out loud at their evident passion for learning the discipline! Learning to move with stealth, grace and efficiency, and becoming strong are the aims and it seems there is not a shortage of women who would really like to give Parkour a go. This post is, in short, a message to all of you to say DO it!!!
I have seen the female Parkour community grow from strength to strength, with hugely inspirational strong, beautiful and resolute women in London and all over the world forming an ever-growing network of regularly practising traceuses. These girls are breaking fears and boundaries, training alongside the guys in a combination of the sheer joy and excitement that Parkour brings, and proof that Parkour most definitely is for women too. And importantly, (most of) these people did not start out as supermen or superwomen!
There are many reasons why people hesitate (men and women alike). But the beauty of Parkour is that everyone trains at their PERSONAL level. Whatever your level of fitness, strength or build, you begin at your base level and work on it. It is not a competition. Do not concern yourself by thinking you are not strong or fit enough to learn Parkour – they are things to work on rather than being a starting requirement! For women particularly the strength aspect can be particularly daunting but still, all it takes is practise (and a little determination). Training always pays off, and man it feels good when it does!!
If you are now thinking to yourself Yeah ok, I’m gonna try! – that’s awesome hahaha! ;D My work here is done! But really, get outside and try some simple things. Take some headphones to block out the world if it makes it easier! There’s no need to set high expectations, just go out and play for a bit, enjoy and learn a little more about yourself. If you’re short on ideas, start with a light warm-up of the joints and muscles, maybe move on to a short run (grass to lessen the impact on the body) – keep it light and don’t push yourself to exhaustion to start with! Try moving over a few low obstacles in combination focusing on soft landings and fluid unbroken motion rather than speed or flash moves. Try hanging on a wall in a cat leap position and then move onto trying to pull yourself up. If something seems too hard or scary work on it for a full 15 minutes minimum before letting yourself give up – it will become more comfortable, suddenly achievable or better next time from the work you have put in. Be proud of accomplishing each training session, with the knowledge that every bit of effort is building more strength to make everything you want to accomplish both easier and safer.
One last note. For those already practising, think to encourage and support female beginners to get involved. All beginners! And the more encouragement the better! Consider that it can be a little daunting for women when they’re surrounded by butch guys pulling awesome moves! Sometimes people just need a little push to find the strength and confidence they need. Help to build the confidence of those around you always.
Labels: Psychology
About the Author : Tracey4 Comments:
Nice work, Tracey. Great photos too. :)
By 
Kiell, at
8:34 am, April 27, 2009
They were taken by Mark Madeo, USA. http://www.markmadeo.com/
Nice pic of Laura there! http://heartonsleeve-parkour.blogspot.com/
By 
Shi, at
1:25 pm, April 27, 2009
Beautiful ! Love to you shiny person...x
By , at
1:17 pm, April 30, 2009
great i think is good that female practise too, but the bad thing is thay maybe they feel unconforable when they only train with boys
great topic, thanks
BALAMS PARKOUR, SAN LUIS POTOSI MEXICO
By 3D Guy, at
9:37 pm, May 22, 2009
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