You miss me??

Even though there is literally maybe one person who has even glanced at this blog, I still feel as though I should type up what's going on in order to keep up with my training when I look back and track it. What's going on now? Well just about everything you can imagine. I've been training by myself for a long time now. My brother is at college so I have a lot of time to kill....a lot of time. So I killed about five hours today by going out and practicing. Even though it was raining. It didn't bother me. And I had some fantastic spills. In fact I have pictures to go along with my description of it...but no video :(. So the first one began with a very large jump I'm making to a cat leap. It's gonna be intense when I get it...but anyways. It's a lonnnng jump, especially when everything is wet. So here is the jump. Hope you can see it well. It's from the brown steps to the rock wall. It's pretty long...but totally possible. So anyways I tried it a few times coming up short because I was scared to go super fast because of the rain. So the last time I decided to go for it. I may be bad at math...but here we go...
(Rain x objects) + Slippery shoes= Slip? Well I guess I decided to take my chances anyways. So I went for it, and my foot slipped all the way across the stairs and I basically levitated parallel to the ground half way there then came down on my hands and knees...it was pretty cool. The second crash was much worse but ten times funnier and I really wish I had it on film but I don't so I am super sorry. But anyways. I was randomly doing front handsprings for fun. I don't know why, probably because I'm working on a legit video with my best moves on it (shhhhh....) it's totally a secret. But I was trying everything I could. So I did it and landed it twice. So the last time I tried I bailed. But it was the coolest bail I could've done... I did a 180 twist in the air (I was kinda pumped) but since I changed the momentum, my feet missed the ground and landed on my back. It was so cool I didn't even care that it hurt. It was so funny. I laughed for a few seconds hoping the girls on the tennis court hadn't seen it. I don't think they did. But this is what the jump looked like. And if you look closely you can see my body outline...but not really. The dark spots are from my constant landings. But it was a very high front handspring. But I've been working on a lot. Done some new parkour moves and new freerunning stuff. I've gotten way better at my handstands. I can walk down stairs and finally stay in one spot for awhile. It's been going well and I'm a lot stronger now in my shoulders. I've just started getting more serious about it. I love it! Practicing everyday feels good. And I'm in better shape because of it. But to get in good shape you have to keep moving. I have a new mindset on how to do it also. If I see something that's possible, I try it. I stopped saying, "maybe another day". I started pushing the limits, but still staying safe. I finally learned that bailing doesn't hurt. Which I think is do to wrestling and having to learn how to land correctly in any situation. So I guess that doesn't apply to everyone. I bailed on a backflip one time because I was tired. It didn't hurt but it scared me at the time. I haven't bailed on one of those in awhile, but it's understandable, I mean everyone falls sometimes. Even the best, like Cane Armitage's new video Adrenaline. Great video. But I am filming a new video to keep you updated on my training. Should be good. I am really looking forward to filming it because I finally have a lot of new things to put in it. So hope to put that out soon. Catch up with yall later.

My Old Promo

Found my old promo video and I think it's randomly really cool. Check it..

Aw Yes, Back to the Ole Days

Well, parkour has finally kicked back in. Especially since I can drive now. I have been able to go more places and do more parkour. Mike and Scott came down so we got to go downtown again! I was really pumped. I was just trying some new things. So the day started off pretty well overall. We went to the river and did parkour on the rocks. That in fact was really good exercise! I would never have thought. We got pretty tired doing it too. I was sweating really hard and doing jumps I would have never tried before. I may get some footage later on to show what we did, but it was pretty extreme. Mike screwed up his ankle on a jump but he'll be okay. So after our river raid we headed downtown again. Aw yes, down town, full of memories. So many good parkour spots. So yeah, we began at the museum and went behind it to a decent spot. It was pretty fun and got some good practice in. Next we proceeded to go to the library and park. We got out and headed to the famous parking garage. We did a few little jumps on the way up. Mike was a little too weak to go all the way up jumping across. So then we got to the top. Mike showed us his skill jumping over the top as always, then we decided to work our way up. I really wanted to do it, but there was a guy on top sitting in a car watching. Plus, it's quite frightening although easily make-able. So we tried it over the stairs so if we did in fact mess up, it'd only be a four foot fall. So Scott got it easy and so did I. So after a little while I got quite suspicious with the guy in the truck. He ended up driving down, but I could still hear his car. Something was wrong. We saw a cop parked across the street at a bank. That was too close for us. So we started going down the stairs. We got to the third level and there was that truck again. Weird dude. So we walked one more level down, and there was the cop. Watching us from his car as we walked down the stairs. What do you do? Well we did some parkour and got out of the garage and kept walking. We weren't doing anything super bad anyways so I wasn't too worried. So Mike went to the car while Scott and I went up the sidewalk. As we reached about half way we saw him pull our way out of the garage. Uh-0h. So Scott and I continued to walk and joke as if nothing was wrong. Right as we hit the sidewalk turned, he pulled out in front of us and jumped out of his car. "Two things boys, number one: I could take you both to jail for trespassing. Secondly:..." And I don't quite remember what he said. But the rest of the conversation sounded a bit like this.

Cop: "How old are yall?"
Austin: "I'm 15"
Cop: "Do you have any identification?"
Austin: "No sir."
Scott: "Well, I.."
Austin: (Interrupting) "Not with us."
Cop: "Where are yall going?"
Austin: "Just walking around."
Cop: "Yall were up in the garage jumping the gap."
Austin: "We were doing what is called Parkour, do you know what that is?"
Cop: (Blankly stares at me)
Austin: "Okay, no, I guess not."
Cop: "Yall need to stay off government property is that clear?"
Austin: "Yes sir, I'm so sorry."
Cop: "If you see your little buddy you need to tell him too."
Austin: "Yes sir, and I'm really sorry. It won't happen again. Promise."
(Cop races off to go find Mike but clearly goes the wrong way.)

Scott and I decided not to go to the car just yet. There were more cops around and if they followed us and found Mike it wouldn't be good. The fact that we are young got us out of trouble, and he had no way to prove it was us. Not that they would really do anything. Taking us to jail would do nothing. And besides, they can't even prove we did anything. And even if they did, the judge would totally think we were wasting his time. "These boys were jumping the parking garage gap." Yeah, that'll get a big fine. Not. People are to over dramatic. I can't believe someone would resort to calling the cops. Lame. Anyways, Scott and I went to Finley park and walked around then meet up with Mike and left. Went to Chick-Fil-A and got some food. Went home. Later that day we were watching parkour videos and decided to go to the ascot park during a light rain shower. It was eventful and good. And then our day was basically over. Aw, good times good times. Well, it's back to the good ole days.

Lost Passion Restored.

I finally got my passion for parkour back again. I've been so busy all I have been able to do is go to the gym and do flips. But now I'm back on the horse! I will be posting a lot more soon! I have stuff to do today. So here's my video.

Real Training.

I took a break from posting videos after my recent one year video. I am now just training. I stopped a lot of the flipping, although I did a lot on spring break, and I have worked a lot on strength. I have made much strength improvements. I can now walk all around on my hands and even do a push up without a wall. This was big for me. Other than that I have nothing big to report. I have just been working pretty hard. I finally went to the park today. It was exciting to get back out there, especially with the nice weather! Well hope everyone else's training is going well, I'll report back when I get something more informative to say.

God Bless,

Austin

Previous Poetry

Well, I had this sitting on my night stand for over 3 months. Thought I'd put it on since Kyle did one, so I don't feel completely gay I wrote this.

Leap of Faith

My thoughts echo in my head
"You can do this" I said,
The fear strapped me to the floor
"Only other way down is that door"

I glanced over the edge
Not far from the other ledge
Taking a deep breath I began to pace
I knelt down and tightened my lace

"3...2...1"
And I went off like a gun
My feet barely touched the ground
Then there was no sound

My breath was held tight
I had won the mental fight
rolling out from the sky
I burst out with a sigh

Looking back at where I'd once been
I could see the men
Their smiling faces
had gotten me to these places

Once so far away
were now here to stay
here and now
we traceurs take our bow.

Beautiful Day For Pondering!

Well, with the lovely weather outside (and me being stuck in a classroom) I began thinking about parkour. Now my thoughts went pretty deep into many things but there was one that really stuck out to me. I was shown this video of David Belle falling and it showed me the true side of parkour and how it is all about falling and getting back up and so on (just watch this to understand DAVID BELLE FALL). So anyways I began pondering about failing to do something right in parkour and screwing up. As I thought about this, I began to think about all the moves I would try when I got back to the gym and when my mouth healed. (Wisdom teeth surgery). One move came to mind that I thought would be incredibly challenging to me. (Inward Wall Flip) But then I thought about how I would accomplish it. Well, it is so simple. Trial and Error. How do you learn a move? Practicing it over and over till you get it. When I began learning front flips, it took me at least two tries to even get a decent one. But each time I got closer and closer. I fell and it hurt, but that is how I taught myself. So in all this thinking, I got an idea (wow, an idea while thinking!). Well people often think parkour is so easy and anyone can do it. I decided I'm going to make a video all about my mistakes and attempts. Next time I go to try a move, I'm going to film it. I want to show everyone that I make mistakes. This is another way of conquering fear. I must confront it head on to beat fear. You can't ambush fear, he can always hear you breathing behind the door. If you approach fear head on, then he is useless. He can do nothing to hurt you. Then it is all about physical ability. Why do people mess up on a wall back flip? Because they are super scared. A wall flip isn't hard. It is pretty much easier than a normal backflip. So why can no one do it? It is all about fear and trusting that you will make it! So in order to make this video I want to be in the right mind set! I want to walk up to that wall or that mat and say "I don't know if I can do this move, but I'm willing to find out." That is the parkour mindset. Being able to say "Let's do it." Instead of, "Here goes nothing" because that never ends well. (Normally with a scream and a broken leg). The movie will be called "Attempts", and I suggest you watch it when I'm finished. Hopefully I'll inspire many to try all the moves they have never tried. Failing isn't a bad thing. It is when you close your mind to moves when things will go down hill for you. Open your mind, clear your head, and go for it! All the moves will be something I've never done before, making it completely original and for a good purpose. Good training to all of you!

Insight without Wisdom.

Well, I got my wisdom teeth out. I'm not able to get out of the house for exercise and it is eating me alive. I can't eat hard foods. Which in turn makes me feel as if all my muscles are going to deteriorate because I had a super hard work out the day before surgery so I have no protein to build them back up! It is quite annoying. I have been watching tv and parkour videos all day to keep my mind off....parkour. Dang. Such a genius plan if I do say so myself. I really want to get back to the gym. I'm willing to try anything now. When you don't get to practice for awhile I realized you get better. All the bad habits you learned previously are forgotten so everything is spot on. Well I thought I'd let you share in my suffering, sorry. So I will hopefully get back in the urban jungle soon. But, before I go I must share something I found out about flips. Often people say flips are dumb and a waste of time. I beg to differ. Isn't parkour all about overcoming fears and seeing the world differently? All about getting your body to be agile and in shape. Well if that's true, why is everybody so anti-flip. A flip is a useful tool when needed a smooth exit or entry to a lower altitude. Sometimes it's much faster and sometimes even safer due to less impact. Flips can become the ultimate fear in one's journey and when you learn how to do it, You accomplish a huge mental freedom. It is something that I have used to get a stronger core, and my balance and "sixth sense" has improved greatly. Any failure a lot of times leads to injury. But not when you are always in control. Flips teach great control. So in conclusion I say flips are useful and a great way to teach agility! Good training to all of you!

Off The Sidewalk (Personal) Video

I took more footage from a recent training session and finished my own personal video. Here it is, but if you want to watch it in High-Def please go to youtube.

Rough Draft Video

Well here is my one year video rough draft. We plan on getting some better footage for the finished but tell me what you think of this one!

One Year Down, A lifetime to go.

Well, my one year anniversary came and went. It was a great day. Mike and I went to new spots downtown (movie coming later when we get more footage). It was a good day. I am getting better at parkour slowly. As I reviewed my footage, I noticed my moves were no longer smooth. There was a ton of fear in me, and I was going to fast on moves that don't require speed. So I learned a parkour lesson today. I decided not to play soccer. I am going straight to more parkour training. It'll be hard to do this in between school and studying but I'll find time. I have found new spots (no not new playgrounds but good joke!). So, after this weekend (which I have lower state wrestling) I will be done with wrestling so I won't be wrestling anymore and I'll take a break from that for awhile. Let my body rebuild itself so I'll be stronger. I need to improve my eating habits though. Ice cream, cookies, cake, and so many other things have become daily desserts. I get a lot of excercise so I work it off. But I still need to cut it out. I think I'll limit myself to two desserts a week. Good? Good. This will help me not stunt my growth and get my body in better shape. I also have been slacking off on weekends. I can't start practicing (maybe Sunday) but it may be a day of rest for me. (Since the Lord does command it....) Kyle is also back into parkour so he will HOPEFULLY keep us updated with that (hint..hint..) haha. I can't continue just reading my blog. I gotta see other people's progress. I still have yet to go to the playground to practice. It has become nothing now. Kind of depressing. But I will keep going. I have to travel a bit more if I want to get a good safe practice in. But it is all part of the journey. The journey to become physically and mentally stronger. I will be making my one year video quite soon, I was trying to get it done to quickly and ran out of time to put it out there on the one year day. That's okay though. It will be a lot better since I am waiting a bit. Kyle recently mentioned practicing alone and I agree that it is a lot better. I got a lot better a long time ago by practicing alone. It was all day everyday. Now I will do that more often. Or at least not associate for awhile if I go with anyone. I felt awkward doing moves in front of Mike. (My own cousin and I feel awkward, lame) So I didn't reach my full potential. I am actually finding great parkour music that I listen to while training. When you listen to music it focuses your mind on something else and puts you in rhythm. This truly helps you when overcoming fear. My method is listen and repeat the move about 10 times. Take out the headphones, concentrate and execute it again. Otherwise you can only do it with the music. Use different songs to or you get to into a pattern with the song and it is unatural without the song. This is a very useful training method for those who aren't about peace with nature and stuff. I like either focusing on my physical ability and concentrating, thinking about my walk with the Lord, or complete rythm focused. That's about all I have as far is today's updates. Hope all your training is going well! God Bless.
-Austin

Repetition and Practice

I was just watching a bit of my clips from the summer trainings. I noticed I really was fluent when I did my moves. Now, whenever I practice it seems like I just do the move. I think practicing rolling and such is boring. But when I watch these clips I realize how important it is when you do parkour. So check these out and see what you think. Remember I wasn't as good as I am now move-wise but just watch the things I do.

Back to the Basics

Well, Feb. 16, 2008 is when I first started doing parkour for real. Feb. 17, 2008 is when I began this blog. In a few days I will go back to the places that I started at many months ago. Back to the beginning where it all started. Back to the basics. In order to keep my foundations of parkour I must remember where I started and constantly remind myself or I will lose my way. So this weekend I plan on filming my one year review video and I think I will call it "Progress" instead of Breeze. It makes more sense. So get ready!!

"Breeze"

Well it's almost time I release my one year celebration of my blog!! I've been waiting for this forever. I've always wanted to say I've been doing parkour for a year. I've come up with the title of my movie. It's called breeze (if you didn't guess by the title of this blog). Wonder why? Well the breeze on a hot summer day cools you off and is very peaceful, it flows around bars, walls, and roofs without a flaw. You can't stop wind. I just like the idea of flowing like the breeze. Besides it is a "cool" word. Hahahah that's punny. Sorry. Had to say it. Anyways, I will be making this in honor of my one year parkour anniversary. Parkour and Freerun training has been put on halt till after my wrestling season. My friend George (our teams best wrestler) got hurt while doing a aerial and was out for awhile. It scared my coaches and they banned us from doing "stupid stuff" during wrestling season. I would normally be very upset about this but wrestling is a great workout and makes you in great shape. After that I'm doing soccer. That should get my legs stronger and get me in good running shape. It is all physical training that I really needed. David Belle spends a lot of his time training his body. That's basically what I'm doing. Just in a different way. So when I get back to training, I'll be in crazy shape. I should be back at the gym training freerunning very very soon. I really like freerunning although I used to be against it. It teaches great body control and really makes you overcome your fears. Parkour should kick back up right after that though. So it'll be great training the next year or parkour. Hope training is going well for everyone else!!

-Austin

Everyday Struggles of a Traceur

Traceurs. They train themselves everyday for challenges. Day after day they fight against their instincts to do the impossible. Fear is the enemy and they will battle to the death. These things are just part of the Traceurs journey. Without these things he wouldn't be a real Traceur. There is one thing though that many Traceurs go through that is incredibly annoying and is just another part of parkour. The Law. Everyday Traceurs are stopped and questioned by authorities. "What are you boys doing up there?" or "HEY! Come back here!". It is probably one of the most run into problems of a Traceur. It is inevitable. You can't avoid the cops. You can't avoid the people who don't understand the discipline that call the cops, and you can't avoid spots you will get in trouble if you were caught.
Now before I go on I must remember to say that Traceurs are nothing like skate boarders. In that I mean that they aren't out to cause mischief. They aren't rebels against the world. In fact Traceurs look down on those who rebel against society. Spray paint the walls because they can't stand being "held back by the man". Well Traceurs don't do that stuff. It isn't a Traceurs goal and it hopefully never will be a goal of anyone. So in saying that I must now say, we Traceurs can't stand being caught by anyone and being forced to leave a spot. It's like a parent telling a child that he can't play on the swing set because it's to dangerous. (Trespassing is a different story).
The cops always say "We are keeping you safe." but in reality, if someone was in danger (kidnapping or someone running from the cops) then I think Traceurs could be a bit useful. Cops are bound by rules and are weighed down by loads of gear. Traceurs on the other hand are always ready. Somebody takes the stairs, well, we shoot up the wall and cut them off at the top. They jump to another wall, well, we jump past them and catch them. We train day after day to do these things. It is part of the fun. How cool would it be for Traceurs to be in the paper for catching a theif or saving a person. I mean come on! That is what we strive to do.
The real point of this whole story is, that I've run into a problem. My playground. The beloved playground that has helped me learn so much by just sitting there and being an obstacle. Well, it may have to be put on hold. Here's the story behind it. I used to play tennis. For two years or so when I was a tad bit younger. I was starting to get better eventually. I started to get at my prime. I was getting lessons from a guy. He was a great coach and a decent tennis player. He made me the player that I was in the day. Well I got better but it was football season and in the opening game I missed a tackle, flew out of bounds and broke my arm. My tennis days were over. I never again took lessons or played another match. I didn't care though, I wasn't a tennis man. So recently I have been practicing a ton by myself at the playground and with friends. I kept seeing my old tennis coach on the tennis courts which were over the playground. They were up a small hill. Not far at all. Maybe a twenty second walk max. So anyways my old coach had been seeing me down at the playground. He didn't know it was me. I noticed that he was very suspicious of us. I would occasionally see him pacing around the edge of the playground fence behind the trees (creepy I know) and I didn't know what he was doing. I didn't care much, what was he to say " Stop playing on the playground?" Well a big surprise happened today when I got home. (Remember my neighborhood is very strict and has no tolerance towards anything. It is a bunch of stuck up rich people and I'll be honest, it's no fun. I like the neighborhood and the kids but some people can be a real pain in the nose if you get my drift.) My mom had gotten a call from this guy about the tennis court. It had been vandalized. Someone puts little holes all over it. Big sad face for me. This guy thinks I am some bad kid and now might think I'm the wrong doer. He doesn't know who I am or that he was talking to the very mom of the boy on the playground. (My advantage). He begun talking about a few very suspicious boys on the playground who "shouldn't be there". (Yeah. Whatever. I am the reason that playground even has a footprint on it.) So my mom explained that I do stuff at the playground. "Well it couldn't be him, I taught him and he is a good kid." (As if what I'm doing on the playground is wrong, although the top age is supposed to be 12. My bad. You could say I've got the heart of a kid seeking movement through a playground.) So my mom still said it could be me. "No, no, this kid is about 5'10 and has a shaved head. Uh oh. I just shaved my head, but I'm 5'8. Good guess at the height though. My mom said no more. She didn't tell him it was me. "Well if I see him down there again I'll ask him what business does he have on the playground." At this point I was almost laughing. "Well sir, I take part in a sport called parkour, also known as freerunning in a more common used word. I seek movement on this playground." How do you respond to that? I don't know but he said he may call the cops if he sees those meddling kids again. Well I sure as heck can out run him. But I want to respect my mom. So I have to wait til no one is around to do parkour. Shame. A kid can't play on a playground. Well that's the news for today in this new year. Hope all your trainings are going well. Best of luck to you this 2009. God bless.
-Austin (Shadow Knight)

Goals for 2009

I feel like if I set goals for myself, I will have a better chance of accomplishing things. So this year I am making a little list for myself so that I can achieve bigger and better things. The first two months will be a little slow since I have to finish wrestling season but after that it should pick up. I may take a tumbling class or something to make sure I get all the practice and training I can. I am putting them in steps so when I have them down pat I can move on. So with that said, here's my goals.

Conditioning Training
*Sprint/Jog- 2 Min Sprint/ 1 Min jog - 30 Minutes Total Every Other day.
*Push ups- 50 a day
*Wall Push ups- 20 a Day
*Sit ups- 50 then go right into 3 Minutes of 6 Inches
*Pull Ups- Work on each day and build up to 25 in one go.
*Curl Ups- " "
*When practicing keep moving no matter what.

Nutrition Goals
*Eat Healthily.
*One dessert every other day

Move Goals

Step 1
*Wall flip solid
*Round off back handspring
*Kick the moon

Step 2
*Back handspring to back tuck
*Gainer off something

Step 3
*Round off-back hand spring-back tuck
*Full off something
*Corkscrew

Step 4
*Review all steps

Step 5
*Get solid tumbling (series moves)

Step 6
*Perfect Moves & have all outside

Step 7
*Create new goals

Along with all those goals I want to practice parkour everyday and get better and more fluent. This will be tough putting myself on a schedule but it's just adding a little structure to something out of control as of right now. As my friends cousin said, I need to be tamed because I'm here then I'm there and I do whatever I feel like with no structure.