Charles’ Parkour Training Blog

The one armed handstand has been a goal of mine for quite some time now. After becoming rather proficient in it last year, I developed a right shoulder over-use injury affecting my levator muscle. Since addressing the issue, I am slowly coming back and have regained my one armed handstand.

It is not the prettiest nor the longest and I still have a long ways to go before I am satisfied, however I wanted to make a post to mark my current progression.

One Armed Handstand progress from Charles Moreland on Vimeo.

I’m still sure that my legs are my limiting factor here. The weight on my shoulder is easy to handle and the stress on my right arm is minimal. My left leg is currently slightly more flexible than my right and causes my hip to torque out of alignment. Also, although it is hard to tell in this video, I tend to lose my straight lower back ~2 seconds into any OAHS.

After I achieve a solid 10 second I will feel comfortable enough to write a thorough tutorial for this movement.

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Parkour Visions is the NPO created and run by Tyson Cecka. Formerly known as the Pacific Northwest Parkour Association, Parkour Visions has been an incredibly useful tool in spreading parkour in a very mature and serious light.

Just the other day Tyson applied for the NAU grant that will surely give the NPO the boost it needs to expand and reach more in the community. Follow this link, register, and rate Tyson!

Here’s a short clip:

http://www.seattleiam.com/videos/0b2f6eb44291

Welcome Rochestarians!

Today Zac Cohn and I were invited by RNews’ Virginia Butler to do an interview regarding parkour. The piece was a great success and I want to thank Virginia for her welcoming and supportive attitude to our passion.

Sadly, most of the people I know don’t have a DVR nor do they watch TV so I had to settle for my D90. Apologies for the horrible quality!

RNews Interview – compress 2 from Charles Moreland on Vimeo.

For those that do not know:

Beginner’s Parkour Workshop in Rochester, NY – March 28th

Rochester Parkour is planning our second Beginner’s Parkour workshop. This is a free introduction, designed to inform and educate anyone interested in practicing Parkour. It’s targeted towards beginners, but we encourage more experienced members of the community to come as well.

We will be covering the basics of Parkour, including an introduction to proper conditioning, landings and precision jumps, quadrupedal movement, and basic vaulting. Rochester Parkour also emphasizes an importance on safety and slow, progressive training methodologies in all of our events and training sessions.

We encourage anyone interested in Parkour to attend. Whether it’s your first time out, or you’re already an experienced traceur, you’re sure to learn something – or at least have a good time!

Who can come: Anyone! Males or females of any age. Parents feel free to bring your kids. Kids, feel free to bring your parents!

Who is hosting: The event is being run by Zachary Cohn, one of the most experienced traceurs in the state. He is a member of the APK Alliance, a national group sponsored by American Parkour. He will be assisted by Charles Moreland and Jeff Whalley, two experienced and dedicated traceurs.

What: Workshop designed to teach beginners the fundamentals of Parkour training, while emphasizing safety and progression.

Where: The big field above the Ice Rink at Manhattan Square Park: 353 Court St. Rochester, New York, 14607.

When: March 28th, 2:30-4:00pm

Why: To learn about Parkour and to have a great time!

How much: This event is absolutely free! We will be selling Rochester Parkour T-shirts for $10 – all T-shirt sale proceeds will go toward building equipment (vaulting boxes, precision trainers) and our Spring trip to New York City (to be announced).

What you should bring: Bring comfortable clothing and layers. We can’t control the weather, and we will be outside! Bring comfortable but athletic shoes (sneakers, running shoes, skater shoes, etc). If you haven’t already filled out and turned in a waiver, please print out and fill out this waiver and bring it with you.

Most importantly, bring a positive attitude and the expectation of having a great time!!

For more information, email info@rochesterparkour.com.

Charles

“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

 

Small workout on rings last night in place of my usual morning workout:

Warm Up -

30 second upper straight arm support
10 normal dips
10 half BW pullups

Work Out -

3×5 RTO dips (these never seem to get easy…)
1 minute pseudo-adv tuck planche 12 reps
1 minute adv tuck front lever 5 reps 
3×3 false grip pull ups

OAHS practice – New progression! Finally made the jump from two finger assist to one finger. I’ll probably video this soon. My progress on the new program has been fast, but not without consequence. Experiencing some slight wrist soreness on my right hand. I’m going to have to wrap it and let it sit for a few days.

I was actually extremely impressed with my strength in the advanced tuck front lever position. My first hold was somewhere along the lines of 15 seconds. My pull into FL I can stop statically for about 2-3 seconds now and my straddle is only around 6-7 seconds. I’ll be training my adv tuck more often until my straddle or jackknife variant becomes stronger.

Video soon of my OAHS progress.

• download david bowie hunky dory

Warm up -

     2×30sec RTO support hold (rings)
     2×20sec  floor handstand
     2×5 pullups
     2×5 dips

Workout -

     4×5 Bulgarian Rows
     4×5 Bulgarian Push ups (RTO)    
     25min Shoulder stand practice (longest hold 8sec, jump into position)
     1min L-sit 
     3min Adv tuck FL ~17 reps
     1min Tuck planche  ~5 reps     
     2min Adv tuck BL ~ 8 reps     
     1min Straddle-L  ~5 reps (needs a lot of        work) 

Cooldown

     20 minutes intense mobility stretching of the hip, torso, and shoulder girdle

A new issue I found relevant to bring to the table this month is the concept of solo training. I feel almost spoiled by the fact that since the beginning of my training and becoming a traceur I have been surrounded by a wonderful group of friends that I train with on a day by day basis. However, it is important to note that solo training has two very distinct facets that can either hinder or speed your progress.

Thankfully (or not, depending on how you look at the situation) I started parkour right from the get go with a dedicated group of people. I can only imagine that this played a major factor in my speedy obsession with parkour and my level of enjoyment during training sessions. Training was always fun and exhilirating.

The outcome of my own situation is the reason why I decided to bring this topic to light this month. Despite my level of skill and my calm personality, I have yet to look back at a solo training session where I have not felt anxious, nervous, or generally awkward. I hesitate to say that this is the experience of everyone, but rather imply that this might be something that needs more emphasis in a traceurs training in the future.

Parkour is expanding exponentially and everywhere more and more rock solid communities are forming of dedicated and casual traceurs alike who schedule events, training sessions, workshops, and other fun get-togethers. And while this is absolutely wonderful to see, change is change and we need to look back and assess how this new sort of environment will affect newer traceurs.

For many of us that began our conquest for ultimate self-control many years ago, or began in a lesser developed parkour region, solo training is simply the only way to go. In many ways this pathway is beneficial. Parkour trained solo becomes an immensely personal sort of experience that allows the trainee to become deeply intuitive to their body. They make progress at their own desired speed and as a result become more comfortable with themselves. Mentally, a traceur who began training alone values the concept of training, in general, at a higher intrinsic level.

While the previous paragraph looks rather perfect, solo training can also be a detriment. By having to begin your training on your own, your progression and safety are completely and totally on your own terms, and for some, those fine lines of what is safe and what is effective are not there or not fully developed. This can cause speedbumps in your progress as a traceur and may even foster into injuries or worse.

Training in a group or at jam-like settings is a truly exciting experience I hope everyone who is reading this has or plans on experiencing. By entering your training with a group of traceurs, you have already boosted your initial knowledge base simply by associating yourself with others who are more experienced. The training you do in this setting is often guided by the group, who then become one acting unit in furthering progression and knowledge of parkour.

However, because the following is true, often times one becomes too wrapped up in the community and can no longer effectively function solo. Creativity flow becomes harder to find on your own, without the input of your piers, and your progression while solo starts to slow down dramatically. The community becomes a crutch that you lean on. An extreme case, but a detriment no less that everyone needs to know and understand.

So what does this all mean and what the hell am I getting at? To finally tie all of this back in, I have been noticing a strong logical trend that accompanies the growth parkour is experiencing today. Parkour training can be accomplished several ways and can be done either solo or with a group. It is important for each one of us to realize that either end of the spectrum is an extreme and by associating oneself solely in one end of the spectrum you are limiting and hindering your growth as a traceur.

This is all to say that as communities become more and more established and continue to become larger, solo training is going to be something that all traceurs (mostly newer ones, though) need to consciously incorporate into their normal routine, or simply accept the fact that they are choosing to limit their growth as a traceur or traceuse.

If you don’t like it, get out there and start getting creative to make it enjoyable and productive. Maybe incorporate music, games, make up challenges for yourself, or just go out and explore on your own. This month, I want everyone to make it a solid effort to get out there and have at least one truly effective and special solo training session. And not only that, but also work to make solo training an important equal to the training you do with your community or friends. Make solo training a staple in your routine as are the jams and classes many of us have become so fond of.

Happy Training,

Charles Moreland

Every Sunday is my routinely scheduled gymnastics workout, although I do try to get some work done after I’m done coaching the boys throughout the week. 

Warm Up -

Gymnastics Style warmup (A detailed article on my gymnastics warm up will be written up and published here soon).

Workout -

10 minutes Pirouette work (on floor)

OAHS (Right hand)
- 5×12seconds 2 finger assist

OAHS (Left hand)
-5×8seconds  4 finger assist 

Straddle Press HS (straight arm slow negative)
-5×3 going as slow as possible

15 minutes mushroom circle practice

Upper support PBars
-3×4 Swing to planche/stall 
-10 underbar swings to upper support
-Tried a handstand, scared the crap out of me 

Handstand hold for time
-31 seconds – 24 seconds (People got bored of watching me and started kicking me  >:[  )

For instructional purpose I have some videos. My OAHS is extremely solid although this shot doesn’t quite grab it (You’ll see me attempt to switch to 1 finger). The two finger hold I can solidly hold for over 15 seconds. Still trying to make the transition from 2 to 1 finger:

OAHS 2 finger assist from Charles Moreland on Vimeo.

This is where I need help. I know I have the strength to extend my lower back slowly. I think it may just be a flexibility issue or a shoulder weakness considering how far I need to lean to get myself down. Any help is appreciated:

Slow straight arm straddle press negative from Charles Moreland on Vimeo.oregon – out of the woods download