Charles’ Parkour Training Blog

“You’re pretty thin for a weight lifter..” exclaimed the border patrol agent. I smiled and calmly replied, “I guess I’m deceiving, officer.” He gave me an interesting look, paused, and turned back, a smirk coming to his thin lips. “Show me your hands.” I chuckled to myself and did as I was directed…

 

 

“Yeah…you weight lift…” was his reply. “Go on through. I hope your friend is okay.”

 

Alright, so it wasn’t really a lie I gave to the fine young gentleman that protects our nation’s borders. I was, in fact, in Canada for the weekend to “exercise” and a parkour jam could, technically, be referred to as a “seminar.” I understood how strange it would be to not only have to explain parkour to an already suspicious-by-nature federal agent, but to also be driving a vehicle not registered in mine or any immediate relative’s name. But these are the twists I must deal with in my life and I never imagined the injuries my left hand sustained this weekend would make my explanation easier when crossing the border. Sometimes things just work out…

 

This past weekend’s turmoil took place at none other than The Monkey Vault, a unique parkour gym owned by Daniel Iaboni in Toronto, Ontario. Toronto is an easy three and a half hour drive across the border from Rochester and we figured it was time to take some of the RocPK kids for an adventure. We packed our bags and set out late Friday afternoon.

 

After dealing with the border patrol grilling us to find out more about what parkour was and why we were traveling to Canada for it, as well as several wrong turns, we finally arrived at our destination. The gym was nothing at all what I expected.

 

Danno’s gym is everything you could possibly dream about when you think of a hole in the wall “gymnasium” that does it right. Upon entering, you will be hit with the sight of gymnastics, bouldering, and parkour all coming together to make a wonderful training friendly environment. Much of the bottom floor is covered in expensive gymnastics style spring flooring accompanied by a medium sized foam pit (conveniently located under the second floor balcony!). In the back is a small bouldering area that wraps its way around much of the right wall. The rest is rather undeveloped still.

 

Upstairs you’ll find a quaint, but entirely functional barbell lifting area equipped with a squat rack, pull up/dip/leg raise machine, bench station, and a GHR (as well as assorted dumbells, kettlebells, and medicine balls). Also upstairs is a full bathroom with a shower that spews nothing but Canada’s finest freezing water. I forgot to get a shot of the upstairs, so here’s Zac sleeping!

 

When I arrived, the others were already waiting patiently in a circle, eager to start moving around. We started with a dynamic core workout which looked something like this:

 

3 Rounds 10-20-30 of:

 

Reclined explosive knee raises (I’ll explain this in a later article)

V-Ups

Toe touches

Candlestick raises (explain later as well)

 

V-Ups killed me and this is the first time I have experienced abdominal DOMS in a very long time. We moved onto the lower body and began doing box jump circuits which tranistioned into tic-tac rebound training where we had to tic-tac from one wall and double leg bound to the opposite wall in as little leaps as possible. After this, Danno placed a vaulting box in our path and instructed us to tic-tac and box jump onto the box utilizing only one jump.

 

It was late and we were all tired. One by one we fell asleep inside the gym.

 

Saturday came and we woke up to the disturbing sight of parking tickets. Jesse and I grabbed a shovel and hammer respectively and began smashing away at the wall of ice that was blocking the way to safe parking. Once the situation was handled we headed off into Toronto for some quick breakfast before bouldering.

 

We spent about two hours at the rock gym and I managed, as I usually do with bouldering, to give it my all until I physically cannot grab a hold. I have an issue with obessing over bouldering problems until I have them complete and this one was particularly frustrating. I was too short to make the reach presented below and each time was required to lose my footing and jump to the next hold with my left hand. I accomplished this several times. My final attempt at completing the problem seemed promising but my strength was gone. I fell to find that the final attempt had demolished my left hand and left several, large open wounds.

 

We were met back at the gym with some younger PKTO traceurs who were already practicing and training. I joined in with the others after tending to my wounds. This part of the session was very loose and open and involved much creativity. Instead of explaining I will simply post a series of photos taken during the session.

 

 

The session was fun and exciting, but not without consequence as one of our own, Sam Owen, would come to sustain a devasting broken ankle. I hold Sam in high regard and have nothing bad to say of him as I’m sure he has learned his lesson, however, I do feel a need to reach out and express to my readers that while flips, tumbling, and tricking are fun and exciting…they are dangerous and taxing to the body and need to be assessed as such. Your body requires a lot of time to adapt to the strain you place on it and as a beginning traceur you should always take the time to step back and make sure you are not progressing faster than your body can handle.

 

 

 

“That’s a bitch of a circuit,” the mastermind of that night’s upper body pain mumbled upon completing his final round. Saturday carried on that day’s emphasis on upper body annhialation with a circuit around the gymnastics floor. This next video is Danno’s final round. Don’t judge him; This round was completed after four previous rounds and was his first try at RTO (Rings turned out) Dips.

 

 

Danno’s Monster Arm-Annhialating Circuit from Charles Moreland on Vimeo.

 

 

Jesse and I ran off into the chill Toronto air to find a feast as others slowly passed into slumber. When we returned, Graham, our wonderful EMT-trained friend, informed us that Sam’s ankle was not getting better and was probably broken. Sam needed to get to a hospital. Graham took Sam back across the border that night and left the keys in my hands. “This should be interesting…” I sighed.

 

Sunday was a rather lazy day and the rest of RocPK, minus Zac, Jesse, and myself, took off early. Not before Adam, the new recruit to the crew, beat the gym’s current pull up record, completing a not-too-shabby 23 pull ups before falling. After the crew departed, Danno jumped in our (Sam’s) car and took us to Cloud Gardens to give us a horrible teaser as to what to expect from the big Toronto jam at the end of July. I felt like a kid in a toy store…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the ride there, Danno showed us the major spots that Toronto housed, and by major spots, I mean entire blocks and entire streets of hot spots. Toronto is a traceur’s dream come true with hotspots in literally every direction you turn. It is no longer a wonder in my mind as to why this city has such a massive and thriving community.

 

 

 

With that, we said out goodbye’s and were on our way back to the parkour desert that is Rochester, NY. Toronto is simply a dream for me and the friendships made there during our short visit will surely be taken to heart. Danno’s attitude toward training is greatly inspiring and I cannot wait for July to roll around.

 

I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Danno and the PKTO traceurs we met along the way that made our adventure so exciting and beneficial. You have my greatest appreciation.

 

Charles