Starting Out

I noticed something recently when my brother was talking about us going to the gym while he was hurt. He said something like this "Well I don't want to go to the gym, I can't do anything so you'll get ahead of me and I'll have to catch back up." There are a few things wrong with this statement. Number one is that you can get ahead in moves but that's not what's important (especially since it's freerunning). Number two is that everyone should go at their own pace and we seem to have this whole competition thing going on, which helps, but at the same time it is kind of messing up the whole "your own path" thing. This New Year's Eve I am having a get together at the playground I always practice at just to get people into parkour. When I thought about what we were going to do I started thinking about teaching moves. I begun to think "Well he should be good at parkour". This, I think, is a big mistake in the motives. Anyone can do parkour. Isn't there more to parkour than just the moves though? Yes, there is so much more. It is about mindset, physical ability, and then the moves. (That's in no order). These things go hand in hand if you want to become a traceur. What makes a traceur? Anyone can be a traceur. Anyone can be good at parkour if they try and since there is no team or coach to decide who is good. A traceur is much more than a few skillful moves. I remember Will and I were out training and some of our friends showed up. They started trying to do what we do. Will and I laughed at first because they aren't in great physical shape. To my surprise they actually could do some moves. I was impressed, and quite embarassed. Luckily Will could do a backflip so we beat them there. I started thinking, "well if everyone can do these moves, what makes me a traceur and not them?" Well not only do I train everyday I can, I practice overcoming obstacles physically and mentally. I build my strength and if I can't do something I work at it until I can. Persistance is a good word for a traceur. Traceurs don't let the world hold them back, they push themselves to the limit to accomplish great physical ability and in the process they are becoming mentally strong. I know a few guys who started parkour, and their very first practice they filmed themselves and uploaded it. Now, it wasn't that they filmed it that bothered me. It was that they thought it was cool. When another one of my friends did that, he did it to see how much he would improve. I think that's somewhat of a good motive. Filming overall I don't think is good for the traceur. It messes with their head and makes it a competition and everyone starts telling you, you are bad at parkour and then you get depressed and such and it just isn't worth it. I do like filming my experiences and such but I wish I wouldn't have done so many videos. Unless it is a one time thing, like the up and coming New Year mini Jam. That's enough said though. Hope you all see what I am trying to explain. Happy New Year. May your training go well.
God Bless
-Ausitn

Christmas Special Short

Thought I'd give you a little Christmas special. It's mainly flips and such but it is pretty cool. Hope you enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Break just kicked off and I am already getting some great parkour practice in. I didn't have a wrestling tournament this weekend so I hung out with will and we went out and did parkour all day. I have started working on more training and building strength. I don't have any rock walls or anything like that to work on grip, so I settled for trees. There are these trees in my back yard that are good for jumping back and forth and climbing. I tore up my hands and made them really tough. Will says I look like a monkey which is actually how I felt. Well, I didn't feel like a monkey but I was as smooth as one. I also worked on rolling on concrete. It was very painful on my hips. The next day I could barely sit in my desk. But that's a sign that they will get stronger and soon I will be able to roll no problem. Handstands are coming along steadily. The picture at the top was actually one of my better ones. Mainly because I didn't want to fall because when I did I came crashing into bushes. But it was fun. I went back to my old torn up shoes for awhile because when I use them I have to try a lot harder so I won't slip. I am forced to have perfect technique, otherwise I fail miserably. I finally am eating healthier. I went on a bad food streak but it's over now. I am getting better slowly. More progress will be posted later. MERRY CHRISTMAS and God Bless.
-Austin

Slow Down, Think, and Really Train

I recently read an article by Chris "Blane" Rowat that really changed my thought process. So many times I have used parkour as a way to look cool or expand my skills in movement for fun. But in all this I forgot what was important to me and all who train parkour seriously. Parkour isn't about show or being the best. It's not about who can do this move or that move. It's not about how quickly you can get better. I can't explain exactly what parkour is to me but I can give you and idea.

Many times I have pushed my body to hard and I've gotten hurt. Nothing that would stop my training though. But I forgot about long term effects. The injuries I'll have when I'm 40 or older. Right now David Belle is starting to get to the age where he should start hurting, well, he isn't. You want to know why? Because he trained since he was very young just learning the basics and slowly building. When I first started parkour, I did it for myself. I had a pretty boring life. Now I have something to occupy my time. Not only that but I have my escape. Everyone needs somewhere to go when they are down or just when they need time for themselves. That was my place. I would practice for hours. I wasn't very good at anything and my progression was super slow. But I loved it. It took me months to get moves that I now teach my friends in two minutes. I had to learn by myself. Trial and Error. That's how I got good. Both physically and mentally. Now I have friends that come along and are as good physically as I am in a matter of days.

The problem here is that it isn't real training. It drains your creativity. It's like taking an art class and them teaching you how to paint. They teach you how to do everything, what makes your art different from everyone else if you all paint the same? It is about your own style. If you constantly go on youtube (I do quite a bit) and search and study these guys (which is fine to a point) then you start to do it like them. You learn but you look exactly like them. That's one thing that makes the parkour world interesting, everyone is different. Everyone has something new to put out there. But when websites are giving the lists of moves for parkour and such, where is our creativity. Now everyone wants to learn the basics but it restricts them in their mind when they see that "these are all the parkour moves".

Parkour is about becoming like an animal. Smooth in all their moves. You have to be useful in life. If people are in danger, we step out and use what we know to save them. If I am going to save someone in a fire, I need to know where they are, how I am going to get there quickly, and find an efficient way out. Parkour covers a lot of that. Even something like a cat in a tree. Well I can get up there and get it out quickly so the firefighters don't have to come by and waste their time on something dumb like that. Basically what I am saying is, you have to be useful. Parkour trains people to be useful. David Belle said in an interview, when we look at a panther crossing a river we say "how beautiful" and then it jumps. But the panther isn't trying to be pretty, it's just trying to get across the water efficiently. That's how we should be. We shouldn't be all about show and does this look good to you. Well to be honest I don't care if it looks good to you. It's all about my progress, my journey. Do you think that Panther started out jumping across that river? No, he had to walk first, then run, then jump, then jump smoothly, and finally jump quickly and smoothly. It took awhile for him to get that good. He didn't walk out and do it. Even though we say he had animal instincts, he still had to learn. Humans walk, but we had to learn how to walk.

Have you ever lost a move because you got scared of that move? I have. A lot of times. I think this is a result of moving to quickly. How do we get comfortable with a move? Well to learn a kong vault I didn't just go out and do it. I took a table that was very tiny and jumped over it. Then I jumped over it with my hands, and finally tried a kong vault. As I got more comfortable I turned the table long ways and tried it. Now I am comfortable doing a kong most anywhere. I learned after working up slowly. These guys who go out and just do the moves are not learning the basics. It's like jumping into a freezing pool, you nearly freeze if you jump straight in. If you slowly work your way in then you get used to the water. I learned a wall backflip once and then I practiced it everywhere. Then soon I fell on my head. I haven't been able to do it since. I tried it with two feet because I was so ready to progress and "catch up" to the people that have been practicing for five years, and then I paid for it.

From now on my training will be very slow. I want to become a great traceur. Not just a really athletic teen. I hope this article helps others see the truth in parkour. It really helped me by just writing it. David Belle once said you should do the move, then do it well, then do it fast and well.
May you all spread the truth about parkour and the original art. It took David Belle over 15 years to get where he is, and it is taking us, what, two minutes? Those people who say we are dangerous and we are going to hurt ourselves doing parkour are right for once. If we continue the path we are going, we will get hurt.

God Bless,
Austin

My Discipline.

This world is full of complication. Most people live a life of fear and hate. They struggle everyday against problems that don’t matter. Caught up in the world and things that won’t last. Every day they are driven to the brink just because their hair isn’t how they want it or their friend turned his or her back on them. But why? Do they have nothing better to do? Well they can do whatever they want to do, but I train everyday to face these problems, mentally and physically.

One day in 2007, I sat at my computer searching for a video on youtube. I don’t know how I found it, but I came upon a video called The Real Spiderman. I thought it was awesome. At the time I just thought it was a cool video, later I figured out about another video called Russian Climbers or Russian Parkour. I researched it to see what it was all about. I don’t know what truly made me understand it but I learned quickly. I started out just jumping off my porch. I never progressed till later when my cousin remembered I showed him those videos and he found somebody who practiced it. We went downtown to try stuff and learn from each other. It was the best experience ever. I felt so free and strong. I had found something that would stick for a long time.

Since then I have progressed so much. I’ve gotten stronger physically and mentally. I can finally do the moves but I can also go through life without all the stupid problems that everyone else has normally. It feels good to have a burden shed off your back, but try taking it a step further and leaping into the sky. It’s hard to think about the things of this world that trouble you when you are three steps from jumping across a building.

But what is Parkour? Parkour isn’t just being a crazy guy trying something that no normal person would. It is about concentration, power, toughness, freedom, and much more. It’s about someone’s personal journey through life. I sometimes like to view it as a personal walk with God. When you are out by yourself, it is just you, God, and the jungle we call the world. The practice physically is making you strong for those situations you need it. The moves so you can get from point A to point B quick and efficiently. Parkour is about taking your fears and conquering them. Some physical, some mental. It doesn’t matter how you accomplish your task, just that you accomplish it the best way you can. Parkour is about discovering who you are inside. It isn’t a competition between two people, it is a competition between you and the everyday struggles life throws at you.

We see the world differently than the average person. As Kyle Clayton once said in a blog “If life is a chess board, then in terms of movement, the average man remains a mere pawn, moving down the row in one direction, one square at a time, or at best, a rook. A skilled parkourist however, is more in line with the queen, having the ability to move freely in any direction regardless of obstacles. A parkour practitioner relies on training and technique, coupled with primal, animal instinct to overcome these obstacles.” I haven’t found a better way to describe the way we look at the world.

Although not everyone knows about this sport, it is my passion. Most people would see me doing these “stunts” and laugh at me. I really could care less what others think about me. I have been laughed at time and time again for being a loser, but I won’t stop. It’s hard to understand when you are viewing it from the outside. That’s okay, no Traceur expects you to understand. If you see me practicing it around, just smile, wave, and keep going.

Mental Block

It's been awhile since I have updated those of you who still read this. Although I don't write this blog for anyone but myself in order to track progress and see what I have done 5 years from now and when I did it. Anyways I have been practicing moves and getting better at parkour. I have gotten smoother and quicker at all my moves which I was going for originally. One problem is it's wrestling season so I can't get to much done. I worked on my handstands today and I'm getting slightly better. Not much. There has been one move though that I lost and haven't been able to get back and that's the wall flip. I had it, on slanted surfaces, then I landed on my head one day and I slowly got it back. Then I landed on my head again. Now it is a never ending cycle. I lose it then get it back. I just can't get my confidence up enough to get it solidly. I noticed that it is easy to get a move but very hard to get it back once you lose it. I think when you first get it you don't realize the danger, then you get hurt trying it and then you are scared. Once the fear leaves you haven't done it in awhile and all you can do is picture yourself crashing. Well that's my problem at least. Then it is just a matter of doing it because you get in the habit of quitting before you try it. I plan to get over that fear tonight. It'll be tough but my plan is to no longer see it as a fear but more of a move I just can't do yet. If I can't do it, then I force myself to relearn it completely. I will start from step one and build up again. Can't wait to test my theory. I'm sorta pumped. Good training to all of you. (I might make a Christmas special video)

The full video

Here's the finished video just changed a lot.