Creativity is something I find extremely lacking in most novice athlete’s. It’s hard to exactly pin point what’s caused this, but I feel a general lack in knowledge about fitness as a whole had something to do with it. Often times people come up to me and ask what some good exercises they can do at home are (after explaining their relative boredom with push ups and sit ups). Push ups and sit ups have degraded into our only form of easily accessible body weight work outs.
So what happened? Where did the creativity go? This was the main premise for making the QM video found in my video reel. Zac was doing his normal elation of how awesome the QM can be, only to be confronted with the usual “BS” excuses that made up the back of my Cross Fit shirt: it’s too crappy outside, there’s not enough space in my house, I’m tired, etc.
Today I decided to get some progression going on my V-sit, fabricating a personal workout structured around a pyramid. Hanging from a bar, I would extend my legs into and L-sit and hold for a certain amount of time. The pyramid went as follows (in seconds) 3,6,9,12,15,12,9,6, and 3. These were done through much agony while hanging from a pull up bar the entire time. After incorporating the L-sit into my regular routine, I’ve seen some almost immediate physical changes.
Over the past week or so I’ve also started incorporating more skill work into my exercises – in the form of back and front levers. Seeing as most people don’t know what these are here is a decent demonstration:
Front levers are obviously the opposite. The important point that is often lost is how easy it is to work up to these skill sets. My progression consisted mainly of “playing” on the pull up bar, doing what I now know is called “skinning the cat.”
Hopefully by the time Zac’s camera comes in I’ll have a decent enough hold to demonstrate the technique and the build up exercises required to obtain the strength needed to perform one.br /br /Getting back on track, all of these exercises started out with the general thought, “what if I hold my body in this position?” Sometimes that’s all you need. There doesn’t have to be a prescribed exercise for the things you do. Walk along the walls in your house on your hands. Go up the stairs backwards. Hold your body in this position or that position. All you need is a little spark of creativity to say “Hey! Let’s try this!”
A new cross fit girls work out to add to the list of my mid-night work outs.
Mary is a lot like Cindy…but vastly different.
5 hand stand push ups
10 one legged squats (10 each leg)
15 pull ups
20 minutes – as many rounds as possible.
This was by far the hardest workout I have done to date. Hand stand push ups were done free-wall. Balance became a huge issue after only the second round and I had to resort to knocking out two presses before falling and starting over. Pull ups were hard solely because of volume involved, however the clincher came from the pistols. After the first round I could barely stop myself my falling over on the way down and form went completely out the door. I resorted to 5 pistols a leg followed by 10 air squats to scale for the missed pistols. My glutes hate me right now.
Mary was finished with 9 rounds exactly complete. Sleep ensued shortly after…who needs sleeping pills?
Recently I’ve been noticing more and more traceurs that significantly stunt their progression all for their dreams of glory and recognition. I see these traceurs show up every so often at major jams that appear to do parkour techniques with relative skill and ease, but once we ask them to run to the next spot, I always turn around and see a giant pack walking. I’m thoroughly confused by this approach to parkour training. When did parkour diminish to just flashy stunts?
Parkour is most often explained as a method to get from point A to point B in the quickest and most efficient way possible. Does this explanation solely refer to the techniques used to get over walls, rails, and other obstacles or does it also include the effort it takes to quickly and efficiently get to those obstacles?
It appears that an increasing number of traceurs out there become involved simply for the show off appeal of the discipline. It gives them publicity and recognition and makes them feel better about themselves. This is one of the more outstanding characteristics I encountered in the military which first initiated my distaste for the service.
It seems almost obvious to me that running should be a part of every traceurs training, yet is so often overlooked by so many out there. Why is this such an obstacle? I believe it is because so many of us do not understand how to run and so associate negative feelings towards the activity. An overall majority of discussion topics placed on the ‘general fitness’ boards on American Parkour involve running related injuries. It’s become more apparent to me with in these last couple months that there really isn’t too much easily accessible information regarding running and so, to counter this problem, comes this assessment to help more traceurs and others alike out there develop proper technique so as to increase the amount of training focused on running and to decrease the amount of injuries sustained.
An Approach Towards Proper Running Technique
-Charles Moreland
I often ask people around me for a nice run. The joys of running are two fold when you have a running partner and it is an easy way to help serious runners push themselves. However, up until recently, I’ve never been able to convince anyone to run with me. This problem eluded me until the ‘joys’ of winter forced me to run inside on the gym track or risk turning out like the Ice Man. Running inside is a detriment for me, however it did let me see exactly why I was having this problem. Negating two or three people, everyone had horrible running form. Everyday it was a new clunker which enlightened me as to why no one likes to run: no one knows how!
Now it is exceedingly difficult to teach someone how to run properly with just text, but I hope that this paper will be a push in the right direction for some. Running is one of the most basic of instincts and for many is a necessity for basic human development. Running was our source of safety from the dangers of prehistoric times.
Running was designed to be done barefoot. It was our own brain growth and the development of our frontal lobe that first gave someone the idea of wrapping the feet with leather to keep them warm, and later padding to help keep them safe. Over these last thousand years, shoes have now become extensions of our feet that have the ability to amplify their characteristics.
Modernism has a downfall however. Shoes from early childhood are the reason why most people have lost the ability to run. Shoes provide for a margin of error which negate the immediate bad effects from improper stride. Thus, proper form is not self developed during our childhood and through adolescence many of us lose stride. Improper stride is inefficient and directly relates to the general consensus of running being dull, a headache, and most of all, hard!
Our society as a whole is starting to understand the issue that obesity is an epidemic and it’s great to see so many new people taking to running once again. However, most of these new runners would be better off not running and finding alternate forms of exercise. Improper stride is not anatomically correct and so when it is maintained over several years, problems start to develop. The occurrence of shin splints, periostitis, vast majorities of knee and foot problems as well as back related injuries come into play.
So we understand the consequences of improper stride. How can we understand proper form? Proper form is based around efficiency of movement. You may not realize it, but every step you take follows a specific pattern that took thousands of years to develop. We evolved to better adapt to our surroundings and through this process, we evolved a method for efficiency.
I could just start diving into running mechanics, however how can we understand the mechanics of running without first understanding the mechanics of walking and why they are different? Due to the mechanics that happen while running, it is most efficient to strike in the mid-section of the foot. But why then do we not strike with the mid-section while walking? Walking is most efficiently performed when the foot follows the toe to heel path. During the initial phase of walking, the center of gravity is moved forward slightly to allow for inertia, but once a stride is achieved, the heel strikes the ground and acts as a counter-balance to keep us upright. When walking, foot strikes happen in front of the body which explains the efficiency of toe to heel movement. This action allows us to maintain steady momentum while keeping our neutral center of gravity. These mechanics explain why we can maintain a continual pace over much longer periods than we can while running. However, it also explains why we cannot walk fast.
Fast walking becomes clearly inefficient when following the rules just mentioned. Each stride is going to require a certain force to accelerate and propel the body forward to maintain momentum but due to the mechanics of walking, each push off is going to require a heel strike counter balance which will only expel and waste energy. This is why we run.
So how does running differ? Running mechanics can be broken down into steps. For the sake of simplicity, we can look at a full stride consisting of a loading and firing phase along with a foot-strike, transition, and push off phase. Other issues we’ll look at will include posture, breathing, arms, and personal mindset.
A stride begins from rest first with a shift of weight forward in the desired direction. Because we want to continually move forward, this shift in the center of gravity will not change unless we desire to change direction or increase speed. This center of gravity shift places weight on the midsection of the foot which brings up the first phase of a stride: the push off.
The push off phase is one which a vast majority of people confuse and causes the first mental obstacle in regards to running. Many people destroy the efficacy of the run by first thinking that a run is something that attempts to counter-act the forces of gravity. This causes undeveloped runners to have an up/down mentality approach towards running. This mindset causes your body to expel unnecessary energy to propel the body up against the forces of gravity and then more unneeded energy to be expelled to slow the body’s descent upon foot-strike. Push offs happen beneath the center of gravity and the body follows the path of a projectile being fired at very steep degrees. This form of running is the main reason why many people associate running with pain and work.
Up/down running is the cause of many running related injuries. Because the body is moving in an up and down manner, the hip and knee joints do not flex but rather stay straight. Because of this, there is no loading process and when the foot-strike happens, the legs must first absorb and then push off which will require greater amounts of energy. Time spent earth-bound is increased as greater forces are applied and in many cases, these forces are put on the skeletal system which leads to significant damage to skeletal structures. Looking at this from Newton’s point of view, we are accelerating an object, and stopping an object, accelerating an object, and stopping an object once again. Sounds tiring.
Running is designed to be a movement along a horizontal plane. It should be looked at with horizontal motion in mind, which is to say you are not working against gravity you are moving parallel to it. A proper stride starts with a light push off in a forward direction well behind the runners center of gravity. The body itself does not make drastic changes along the vertical plane but rather should stay low to the ground. Time spent on the ground is decreased and minimal. By looking back at Newton’s perspective, the object is in a constant state of motion. The power needed during each foot-strike to maintain this constant motion is relative to the speed at which you are moving.
While a push off is being made, the opposite leg is flexed to allow for more efficiency while moving along it’s horizontal plane, as physics tells us a shorter object will circumvent space faster than a longer one. This flexion also makes for an easy transition into the loading (cocked gun) phase. By loading the leg and preparing it while in the air, we can minimize the time needed to spend on the ground which helps us decrease the amount of velocity we will lose. A load leads to a fire and the legs extend towards to ground. Because of this process, a foot-strike should always be done in the midsection of our feet and under the center of gravity. This keeps our center of gravity forward which allows for better management between momentum and inertia. This mechanic also allows us to disperse our weight amongst three major joints in our body (the ankle, knee and hip) keeping the force centered around our musculoskeletal system and off of our skeletal and joint structures.
Posture is just as important a factor as proper stride is. A common mistake in novice runners is the tendency to lean forward at the hip, emulating the postures of elite runners they may have seen on television. What actually occurs is an illusion that makes us think they’re torsos are leaning forward. However, when looking at certain snapshots, you can see that in fact their entire body is aligned properly in a straight line leading from the firing leg, through the back and up through the head. The back is straight and the chest is out. This allows for an opening of the lungs to allow for more efficient breathing. By leaning over at the hip, you place excess amounts of stress on the lumbar vertebrae which is the main cause for most running related back injuries. You also close your chest cavity forcing your diaphram to more forcefully contract and expand with each breath. This expels energy and causes you to fatigue faster.
Arms are an extension of the torso. They serve to counter act the forces generated by leg swings to maintain proper balance. However, unless you are in a dead sprint, your arms serve no other purpose. Tensing the muscles in the arms will only cause blocky, robotic like technique which once again causes your body more unneeded stress. Arms should be loosely flexed around 90 degrees and should feel utterly relaxed. Your arm motion is not an active movement, which is to say they are not moving themselves. Arm motion is brought about by the legs and not vice versa. A good technique I follow is the two finger method, which places my thumb in between my four fingers. This supposedly helps keep the forearm relaxed.
Breathing is potentially the least accounted for mechanic that causes most novice runners discomfort. In 1971, Bowerman and Brown suggested that breathing should be synchronized and rhythmic. Twelve years later, Bramble and Carrier found that as performance levels of runners increased, so too did their reliance on rhythm and synchronization. The rhythm is important as it brings harmony between the energy demands of the stride and the process which provides it’s energy. This is a technique that requires experimentation as everyone will be slightly different. As an asthmatic, this technique alone is what spurred on my enjoyment of running. It suppressed the desire for wheezing when in conjunction with proper posture. Rhythmic breathing allowed me to optimize the oxygen I was taking in, serving as a buffer for the thirty percent scar tissue I have caused by severe asthma. As an example, during a light to moderate pace run, I inhale over the course of four strides and exhale over three. Breathing itself should feel just as relaxed as everything else regarding a run. A tense runner is an unhappy runner.
When your status as a runner increases and you become more accustomed to faster paces, a technique suggested by Thomas S. Miller, Ph.D, called belly breathing becomes increasingly useful. Belly breathing is best exemplified by pursing your lips during an exhale. The action causes your stomach muscles to tighten to push out the air. At first this technique sounds rather inefficient, however when looking closer, the push from the stomach muscles actually forces out all the carbon dioxide held with in the lungs. As your muscles relax, a vacuum is created which easily draws air into the lungs and efficiency is maintained.
By making these changes to stride and posture, one will feel much more relaxed during a run. The run becomes more fluid and efficient which brings with it more levels of enjoyment. A run is exhilarating and dynamic; It becomes something that makes you feel energized, rather than something that brings thoughts of pain and toil. Running should be looked at as a pleasure; something soothing, fluid and relaxing. With this mindset comes enjoyment!
To better understand these elements of running, hopefully some visual examples can better solidify their interpretation.
Here you can see the period just before contact is made for the foot-strike phase. As you can see, the leg is already extending towards the ground to fire and make for a quick transition. The opposite leg is flexed to allow for more efficient movement along the same axis while also being prepared for the firing foot-strike and transition phase. The left foot is on a gradual decline and is everted slightly to ensure contact in the midsection of the foot.
Here demonstrates posture. The back is up and the chest is out. Despite this I could probably even modify this slightly and straighten out the line that is being made from the firing leg through my torso by leaning forward just slightly more. Elbows are flexed but relaxed, being guided by the motion generated by my lower body. My head is up and looking forward, not haunched over or sagging.
When looking at the previous photo compared to this one you can see the horizontal element coming into play. The static horizontal made by the fence serves as a reference to show how my vertical position changes from push off to mid stride. The change is insignificant and only a couple of inches. This demonstrates a more “rock skipping†type stride rather than an “up/down†technique which is inefficient and causes excessive fatigue.
These are not demonstrations of perfect technique though. Perfection takes years of dedication and hard work to achieve and serves as a demonstration of utter beauty. The best possible example I could ever give is Hicham El Guerrouj’s world record setting mile run in 1999. Watch closely their technique. These are elite runners and they make it look so effortless! They do not huff and puff and they never haunch over. They appear to be in complete harmony as they fluidly fly across the track. There is no better demonstration of proper form.
The technique required for proper form revolves around proper condition of the ankle stabilizers. I’m a big advocate for barefoot running, however until strength is gained, no serious or extended running should be performed without shoes. Light barefoot jogging I found beneficial to serve as a guideline similar in concept to rolling on concrete when learning how to roll. Learning should always be done on soft surfaces with an occasional concrete roll to gauge performance. So too should you practice with shoes and slowly work your way towards workouts involving some form of barefoot jogging.
Regardless whether you do or do not wear shoes, strength of the ankle stabilizers will help you maintain proper stride and help you avoid such injuries mentioned previously in this paper. There are some very simple ways to condition your ankle stabilizers to safely and effectively handle such loads of stress if you are a beginning runner. Lose the shoes and socks and do some of these walking drills that take no more than 5 minutes everyday:
-Walking on the edges of the feet
-Walking on the inside of the feet (Note: this involves a very slight lift of the outer toes)
-Walking with toes facing in
-Walking with toes facing out
-Walking on the heel of the foot (Note: if there is no soft surface around, put your shoes back on)
In conclusion, running is a learned skill that sadly has lost priority in our modern age. Many people misjudge it’s role in effectively maintaining a healthy state of being throughout our lives. Because running is no longer pushed at young ages, and because more and more kids end up with shoes on their feet at younger and younger toddler years, we never acquire the condition needed to provide as a base for proper running technique throughout our lives.
As stride efficiency increases, so too does our enjoyment of it’s performance. It is a tool we can use to center our thoughts and for some is a method of personal meditation. This form of running is one that leaves you invigorated and refreshed looking forward to the day or the tasks that lie ahead. Running is not something to be loathed but embraced and all it takes is a little knowledge, some motivation, and dedication. Soon you’ll be finding yourself running faster and for longer with out ever noticing it!
Summary -
-Running is movement along a horizontal plane, not up and down!
-Center of gravity should always be forward
-Strides should make very light “fwap, fwap, fwap†sounds NEVER loud CLUNKS!
-Foot-strikes, transitions and push off should happen very quickly, try to spend as less time as you can on the ground
-You should always land on the mid-section of the foot. This allows utilization of all three lower body joints
-Back should be straight and your chest should be out
-Arms should be loosely held at 90 degrees and should be very relaxed
-Look forward! Not at the ground. There’s a lot to look forward to ahead
-Breathing should be in rhythm and synchronized with your strides. It too should feel relaxed and easy no matter what obstacles you may have (asthma or equivalent)
-Run outside! There’s a lot to enjoy!
-Don’t listen to music while running. Get in tune with your body and focus on breathing and strides. Let it sink in
-A running partner is always a great way to have fun while pushing yourself
-Last but not least, it’s never a bad idea to SMILE!!
Sources -
Bakoulis, Gordon. Getting Real About Running. New York. Ballantine Publishing Group, 2002.
Broer, Marion R. Ph.D. Efficiency of Human Movement. Philadelphia. W. B. Saunders Company, 1960.
Miller, Thomas S, PhD. Programed to Run. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2002.
Morris, Rick. “Running Form for Distance Runners.” Running Planet. March 15, 2008 http: com=”" training=”" html=”"
Angie was tonight, yet another Cross Fit girls routine. This one involves 100 pull ups, 100 push ups, 100 sit ups and 100 air squats consecutively for time. Break down went as follows:
100 pull ups – 10 minutes (I figured I’d pace myself to 10 a minute)
100 push ups – 5 minutes
100 sit ups – 4 minutes
100 air squats – 3 minutes
—————————–
22 minutes and roughly 14 seconds
I feel I could have pushed myself more, however form means quite a bit for me. All in all a decent addition to my daily work out. Class work has kept me from getting more than 5 hours of sleep each night this week and prevented me from my bouldering work out. Tomorrow should prove otherwise as a healthy break in my hectic schedule.
I see my rather spontaneous characteristic one of my more favorable personality traits. It serves to keep my life interesting.
Last night I came home from a long day at the studio and from tae kwon do with the impression I would get some of my lab work done for an 8am class the next day. After a usual perusing of the forums and a quick email check, I headed downstairs to grab my lab manual and begin my work. At this point I look up at the muscle up bar I have installed in my stairwell and immediately decide to knock out five pull ups. Looking at my cell phone, seeing the numbers 11:40 flashing in my eyes, I figure it’s all too perfect and drop down to begin my wonderful Cindy.
Cindy is a Cross Fit designed workout which involves five pull ups, ten push ups and fifteen air squats. These sets put together make up one round, and the goal is to do as many rounds as possible in twenty minutes.
Ten minutes later I had completed eleven rounds and was entirely exhausted. I threw my phone away, determined to finish at least 16 rounds before again looking at the time. It was around round fifteen where I knowingly turned off my thoughts and entered my meditation zone – a state of consciousness I learned how to do last year during my sprint three milers every morning for my Army workouts. I have no real recollection from round fifteen to nineteen; my eyes were closed most of the time.
After dropping from nineteen I forced myself to check the time to make sure I hadn’t gone over. Realizing I had one minute left, I closed my eyes again and attempted the final twentieth round. I dropped after five push ups and used the remaining thirty seconds to finish the last five that for some reason just would not go.
Letting the time go I dropped to the floor and laid there for about three minutes. Looking back up I found my lab manual sitting on the floor in front me.
I enjoyed my decision which was later re-affirmed due to my 8am class being instructed by a personal trainer with a masters degree who did not understand the role creatine phosphate played in the process of fabricating ATP. In my eyes, I did my homework.
Recently I’ve been confronted more and more with the ideals of modernism. I have no problems with these confrontations as I made it a driving point in my late teens to become a more understanding person. However some days I just can’t help but wonder where we as a society are going. Modernism itself was not a horrible step for us as a people. In many ways our lives have become better because of it and people ‘can’ live healthier and longer than ever before in history. What makes me worry is the negativism that has found it’s way, ever increasingly, into our culture. The most prominent of which being that which affects our ego as a whole.
This change has been easy to trace through time. More people than ever are denouncing faith views in exchange for that which is solely human. This is not to suggest that faith in any religion is the end all be all, but to simply provide as an example. Most, if not all, faiths believe in something greater than that which we are. They serve to ground us and keep us “human.”
This growth in ego is something I have become more frustrated with every day. Every day it is a new human developed solution to solve problems caused by humanity. The invention of the automobile was a great step in the right direction for us. This invention is one which helped make our world just the slightest bit smaller and allowed us more forms of freedom. But what has this done? The train and the car has only spurred on the comings of more revolutionary ideas. We don’t have to walk from New York to Virginia…so why should we tax ourselves with walking up stairs? Why should we tax ourselves walking anywhere? And with these questions came solutions to further the comfort of our lives: escalators, elevators, and moving pathways.
Comfort drives innovation, but what has comfort done for us? The American people are now the most obese society. We spend and eat the most and also spend the most on diet related products. Why is this? It saddens me to think that most of our society has become so entrenched in the comforts of modernism that they have forgotten about our roots.
So what has comfort made life for these people? Comfort has defined how we view every day situations. We see physical activity as a chore of the past and anything not in the spirit of comfort something that must be despised. Every day life has now become loathsome! People ever more are no longer seeing solutions, but instead see an onslaught of problems.br /I am asked on a daily frequency why it is I practice parkour. Why do I feel the need to be different? I present you with this story:
“There was once a beloved king whose castle was on a high hill, overlooking his shire. He was so popular that the nearby townspeople sent him gifts daily, and his birthday celebration was enjoyed throughout the kingdom. The people loved him for his renowned wisdom and fair judgments.
One day, tragedy struck the town. The water supply was polluted, and every man, woman, and child went insane. Only the king, who had a private spring, was spared.
Soon after the tragedy, the mad townspeople began speaking of how the king was acting “strangely” and how his judgments were poor and his wisdom a sham. Many even went so far as to say the king had gone crazy. His popularity soon vanished. No longer did the people bring him gifts or celebrate his birthday.
The lonely king, high on the hill, had no company at all. One day he decided to leave the hill and pay a visit to the town. It was a warm day, and so he drank from the village fountain.
That night there was a great celebration. The people rejoiced, for their beloved king had ‘regained his sanity.’”
What happens when populations become polluted? Today I was confronted with an ad that at first glance seemed like a very beneficial publicity spot for parkour. The ad was for an upcoming “fitness” website that needed someone to advertise. This seemed like a great local way to get our sport some publicity. However this thought immediately vanished when I decided to check out his “fitness” website. The website itself was a website based on every lie, cheat, and fabrication the “fitness” industry had comprised to keep the population in their never ending cycle of illusion. Every problem had a pill solution and every fact was backed on faulty “scientific” research. I understand now why I am brought aside so often and asked to explain my theories. Our society has come to see our primal roots as crazy and insane and the benefits of physical activity have been meticulously chained up and hid all for the pursuit of the almighty dollar.
The problems caused by human innovations which only keep us sitting longer and exercising less have all been “solved” by more human solutions. Here is a pill for that, a product for this, use this machine for that, machine for this, machine, machine, machine! It is no longer socially accepted to workout outside a gym. “Why are you running outside?” I get asked. “There are treadmills with TV’s to watch inside.” Why do I move my body the way I do? Why don’t I just go inside the gym and use a workout machine? Many people fought hard a couple hundred years ago to disassociate the word human with machine. Charles Dickens would be displeased.
There was recently a discussion about the philosophies that usually accompany parkour. While some may only see this as another thrill seeking sport for youths trying to rebel against the ways of their previous generation, many of us see this different. Parkour is a feeling of nostalgia. We strive to find our roots and attempt to recognize that which makes us human. We see the joys and perks in taking the long and hard way. We see activity as a joy that was once there before our water was polluted.
This is why I run outside. I was made to run outside. Have things changed in the last couple thousand years? Sure. I’m not running to catch my prey and I’m not running for fear of danger. However just like any cultural tradition, we cannot forget who we are or where we came from. The profiteering fitness industry may want you to think different, but hopefully with a little time and some effort, our water can once again become kingly.
It would be enough to post this video and leave it. This video represents many of the fundamental philosophies parkour has established: the atmosphere is realistic yet creative, the training involved is more than monumental, and most importantly, the movement is flawless. This is parkour. It is free, fluid and creative which Oleg takes and expands to bring concept to visualization. Simply put he has mastered the rail. But I feel he did much more than that.
My first encounter with parkour was online when I stumbled across one of his earlier videos labeled “Dvinsk Clan.” Back in those days I watched Oleg perform mind boggling feats of acrobatic ability and instantly associated that with what parkour was. He inspired me.
What happens in this fourteen-ish minute long display of parkour beauty is something I find almost more enjoyable than witnessing a human being perform a 360 corkscrew underbar five feet in the air with complete control. I was able to play witness to Oleg’s personal development as a traceur. This to me is the most influencing factor in these random videos people post all over the internet and it’s a shame there isn’t more.
Oleg as an artist brought together many different characteristics with his latest video and for many they are lost. The most prevalent of criticisms (a minority amongst all the awe) is the filming of the video. Oleg is a nationally known traceur, obviously he should have no problem getting a professional camera crew. 3Run and Urban Freeflow do this constantly, but why?
3Run has turned itself into a commercialized organization. Their videos commercially don’t sell anything but their crew. They are an expert gang of freerunners and thus obviously require a professional camera crew. However, for me, I hope no one who takes this sport to an expert level ever forgets where parkour started. Parkour doesn’t sell anything and it isn’t about crews and logos. This is the leading fact why I picture this handycam-esque quality video genius. There was no budget for this piece. It was simply the public playground, the handycam, and Oleg himself.
Commercialization is a necessary evil (in my eyes) for parkour. It gets the name out there because this is a movement of sorts. We have found something that inspires personal development and movement and for those of us that have found it, we can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to have some form of participation. K Swiss tours and commercial spots on television are great to help this out, but it also makes it harder for newcomers to understand where it is we started.
If you took up parkour for the fame and fortune, then I grant you the best of luck. I genuinely hope you live a long and wealthy life. To me I feel parkour is much more unique and requires a certain outlook on life. By all means go ahead and become wealthy as you wish. As for Oleg and I and all the other unsung traceurs out there who do this simply for sheer love of the movement, hopefully we will find and experience harmony. I think with this demonstration Oleg has already achieved that. I hope everyone is inspired enough by this to follow the footsteps of him and others alike.
This past week, before the start of the new Spring quarter here, I stayed at my roommate Zac Cohn’s house down in Maryland. I had previously planned on spending this week in France with my family, however after much debate, ended up canceling the trip to finance gymnastics lessons. I’m more than pleased that I did make this move…
Maryland is potentially one of the largest active communities for Parkour I have seen yet. Each day we were confronted with another activity. Most collegiate students find themselves making an excursion to some exotic place and hammering themselves to oblivion and back. I spent my break training everyday in constant states of varying soreness.
In total we hit up Primal Fitness twice (www.primal-fitness.com), jammed locally four or five times, and rested with Zac’s friends and family for maybe only two or three days.
Winter training obviously stroke a note and I saw some tremendous gains in both technique and strength right away. I was able to tackle multiple techniques ranging from double kongs to kong to precisions and from aerials to wallflips. It was an amazing insight to what I was to look forward to this summer season. Everything here just seemed to click and connect. There was no sign of the anxiety from last year, something which plagued me to great extent. My comfort level with my own self has grown increasingly over the winter months.
This feeling of comfort was giant step for me on my road to development. This quality in traceurs is rare amongst beginners and at it’s worst levels can stop one from practicing altogether. Dissatisfaction with my own abilities used to inhibit my participation in groups with more experience and sadly probably kept me from learning and progressing faster than I have (regardless of how fast I currently am developing). The satisfaction of knowing I am on the right path is more than elating at this moment.
Sadly this dream had to see and end and we left as “bad” weather decided to head in to the area. It was 65 degrees and sunny most of my stay. We caught our plane and 50 minutes later Rochester gave us a grand “welcome back,” gracing us with 30 mph winds and nearly 2 feet of snow. Slightly depressed, but somewhat glad to see home again, we walked into our apartment. I’ll have to wait a few more weeks before once again sharing my love of movement with the outdoors, but I am more than thankful for the wonderful feeling of progress Maryland gave me so early in the year.
The start of something new. The start of something good.
This is the blog of Charles Moreland – chadmanx. This blog is not here for entertainment value but for those of you that do find your way here perhaps you will learn something. This blog is here for my own personal reasons first. It is a place for me to collect my thoughts and trace my progression in my discipline of choice, parkour.
My name is Charles Moreland and I am a 20 year old Fine Arts studio major at the Rochester Institute of Technology. I’ve been a practicing martial artist since the age of five specializing in Tae Kwon Do while having other roots in hapkido, aikido, judo, and tai chi. I participate in other activities as well which include slacklining, bouldering, and cross fit.
The posts that follow are to archive the events that occur in my day to day life and the growth that will take place because of them.
