#61
The Weekend Wake Up Class

By Chris 'Blane' Rowat | posted on 21 September 2009 | 5 comments

What was I letting myself in for? There I was, committing to teaching on a Sunday morning, indefinitely.. with a British winter on the way. Who would seriously turn up to these classes? Surely it will just be me and Andy standing there on a rainy Sunday morning waiting for.. oh wait. Lots of people!

So it seems the weekend class on a Sunday has been a great success so far with the class numbers growing by the week and with a slightly longer class of two hours, it gives us plenty of time to train and kick start our Sundays with a healthy dose of Parkour. Already we've completed the cycle of locations and this coming Sunday we're heading back to Earlsfield for more of the same!

With an emphasis on improving fitness and basic techniques but aimed at all levels, the weekend class is a great opportunity to train if you find yourself too busy in the week with work or educational commitments. Veterans and beginners, boys and girls alike are welcome and will be challenged respectively.

Last Sunday saw us training at a park near Bethnal Green tube station and as usual we started the morning with a warm up and a 15-20 minute run.

Next up we worked on a route consisting first of a tricky little jump, landing with either one foot or two, followed by some balance and a precision down to a lower wall. After Andy and I were sure everyone had improved and had helped those who needed some guidance, we decided to move on to some off-ground traversing challenges and climbing drills.

With forearms burning we moved immediately on to training some wall runs, where those who were new to Parkour had a chance to work on the technique and the others were encouraged to improve their speed and control throughout the motions. Training techniques like this is always more interesting after the same muscles have been worked beforehand and this instance was no different.

With arms growing tired we switched to some plyometric leg training in the form of dynamic jumps over a series of hurdles. With 6-7 hurdles in a row, those who had good timing could jump over one and immediately bounce straight over the next, continuing until the end. Drills like this are a great way to build leg power and develop timing.

Finally we moved on to some lumbar exercises with two rails before stretching and cooling off in the Sunday afternoon sunshine.

Thanks to all who came along and continue to make Sunday mornings worth waking up for!

See you all at the next class.

Labels: Challenges, Event Coverage, Jam Reviews, Training

#69
Summer jammin...

By Tracey | posted on 27 June 2009 | 2 comments

Sunday 14th June saw the 30th Women's Jam taking place on another beautifully warm and sunny day...

Congregating in great spirits at our well known and well loved spot in Kilburn Park, instructors Annty, Andy and Tracey were present to kick-start the session with warm-up and training guidance to those that needed it. We were pleased to see new faces as well as regular practioners from the Parkour Academy! Also joining us for the day was Shi Ong - webmaster of girlparkour.com - a now well-seasoned female practitioner fully dedicated to travelling the world and spreading love and word in the female community!

Starting with core fundamental techniques, enthusiastic balance practise ensued with various challenges beginning at base level - staying in balance, working up to turns, crouches, routes, and rail precisions... It's always so cool to see confidence growing and techniques improving with a little persistence and everyone did great stuff - particularly Preetha and Tracey, both new to Parkour but gutsy and determined ;)

Moving onto a new spot and some wall-runs and cat-leaps, everyone beasted their arms and shoulders working on the endless goal of efficient upper body strength and the much coveted smooth climb-up! Again, the persistence of all the ladies present was impressive so we moved on to some nice lil cat leaps with some height to work the mind.... And the real challenges begin!!

Now your senses start to really try and tell you that this is dangerous. You look down and the ground seems so far away. What if you fall, what if you miss the wall you aim for and drop down all that way?! What if... Endless scenarios playing out in the mind trying to steal your concentration. You jump down and view your starting position from a more usual and rational place - and realise its not even very high! You see aren't going to hurt yourself and jump back up to try again. But it seems you are in a different and much higher place again! Damn! You fight back the fear, you focus only on your landing point, everything else quietens and becomes another world to your current place in time and you jump............ You land! All is well, and theres elation and applause as everyone who knows that journey so well feels your joy and joins you in your acheivement. Hell yeah! Lets do that again!!!

Everyone pushed through boundaries and fear, making some great jumps and feeling a little of that sweet airtime before you stick strangely easily to a wall - the things that makes cat-leaps probably my favorite thing in the world to do!!! (No kidding!)

Warming down, breathing deeply with focus, stretching hard-worked muscles, relaxing, giving your body some attention after a good training session... It serves us well and we leave smiling and satisfied - happy in the knowledge of todays acheivements and increased strength from some good dedicated training. Thank you to all that came for a great day!

Labels: Jam Reviews

#56
We came, we jammed, we conquered!

By Tracey | posted on 26 May 2009 | 7 comments

I’ve suspected it for a while now but now I’m absolutely sure of it… We ladies-of-the-Parkour are definitely blessed!

Checking the forecast, every day, always starting a week before and seeing only cloud, rain, crap temperatures, I never cease to be amazed when I wake up on the second Sunday of each month to see blue skies and sweet sunshine… It always makes me smile! The same was true on the morning of Sunday 10th May – the day of the 29th London Girl Jam.

Marvelling at our luck, we congregated at the wonderful playground that is Latimer, with Blane leading us in a monkey-warm-up! Continuing with some light upper body conditioning we managed to combine the push-up variations with a game of ‘dodge the parking car’ when someone decided they wanted to park where we were training! We moved, then they wanted to park where we had moved to, so we moved a little more all the while in press-up position… This went back and forth for a bit before they managed to park and we finished our exercise! (Congratulations to Emma for definitely winning the ‘dodge’ game!)

Moving across a route was next – a little balance, conquering of safe heights, a small gap to negotiate along with a cat leap, climb-up and small drop back to earth where some underbars awaited our attention… Repetition, refinement and fluid success were to follow and we moved on to our next playground…

Ropes!!! So many ropes to play on and challenge ourselves with in so many ways, working the fundamentally important level of balance in Parkour – as well as the calves and the shoulders and every SINGLE muscle of the foot and ankle! Walking back and forward, sideways, cat-balancing, precision jumps, squats and balancing at height – in a strong wind!!! All these challenges ensued on the ropes (and everyone moved just a little closer to preventing a stupid ankle sprain because of the time spent strengthening the joint). Always time well spent!

We spent the rest of the afternoon with various challenges set by each other! Routes and t

echnical challenges kept some of us busy, the beautiful sunshine kept others blissfully occupied for a bit (BUSTED Shirley!!! ;D) but the highlight was watching Nicky in the struggle (so well known to us all) to break a jump she had been fighting with during the session! Massive congratulations and respect to you for pushing aside the fear, taking a breath, quietening the mind and showing your brain and body that sometimes your spirit knows best.

Labels: Jam Reviews

#15
London Girl Jam XXII

By Tracey | posted on 16 October 2008 | 1 comments

Sunday 12th October saw the most recent of the London Girl Jams taking place in one of the prettier corners of the city. And for a more beautiful day, we could not have asked! Autumn is now in full swing here in the UK, with its amazing colours and wonderful crunchy sounds underfoot - but it seems someone forgot to tell that to the weather!!! On one of the hottest October days on record here (22°C+), we journeyed down to the green and peaceful haven of the Greenwich training grounds to see what challenges we could find…

We started the session, as is common, with a warm-up leading into some body conditioning work. We were lucky enough to be graced with the presence of Thomas Couetdic, who led the girls (and beasted us!) - and went on to make sure we were all pushing our limits in all that we did. Amongst the many challenges were distraction balancing, upper body strength double-tap drills, turn-vaults at height, route repetitions and climbing. But by far the hardest was the mental challenge of height training and fear control.

The human body is well programmed to warn us when we are in danger - but it is possible to adjust your level of tuning. To be aware of the risk, but to control the fear is what we constantly strive for in Parkour. At a two-storey height, a brick-width wall does not feel nearly as safe to stand on as it does a few feet from the ground! Add to that a few simple drills such as walking forwards, backwards, turning, squatting, leaning, closing the eyes and looking up to the blue, blue skies and it makes for some serious leg-shaking action! This is where the control really begins. To endure this fear and return your body to a comfortable level without giving in to the instinct that screams ‘GET BACK TO SAFE GROUND!!’ is the aim.

We ended the jam with a wonderful long stretching session in the sun, courtesy of Naomi Honey. Big thanks to Thomas, Naomi and all the girls for coming down - and my utmost respect and congratulations go to all of Sunday’s ladies-of-the-parkour for getting stuck in to everything, pushing boundaries, and all having a go at the height training despite the healthy levels of fear..! You guys are hardcore.

Labels: Jam Reviews

#09
Traceuses and Saiyans...

By Dan | posted on 16 August 2008 | 1 comments

The last Girls' Jam was a complete washout. And great fun.

By that I mean, this being England, it was perfect weather right up until we started and then the heavens opened and the clouds unleashed their watery challenge for the rest of the day. Did this put the assembled women off their training? Not at all. In fact, it seemed only to harden their resolve...

Thomas and I had been invited by Tracey to attend and help out with the beginners, and we were met with the welcome surprise of being joined by Cable and Blake of the Saiyan Clan - two veterans of the UK scene, with the latest female addition to their group, an enthusiastic and determined young woman named Mojo. It's always a pleasure to catch up with these guys, and we are grateful to photographer Mike who accompanied them and captured some fime images from the day.

The rain lashed down, making walls and rails treacherous at best, but the girls seemed unfazed and pushed themselves to meet Thomas' demands

for repetitions of passe-muraille and underbars. No one complained, no one hid from the training or sought shelter from the unkind elements: just as it should be. We are always pleased to see this dauntless attitude towards training in anyone, and to find it alive and strong in the female community was, in fact, no surprise. At the Academy we have come to realise that the spirit of parkour is quite safe in the hands of some of these traceuses who happily and regularly put their male counterparts to shame. Great stuff girls.

Labels: Jam Reviews