Bicycle Radio NZ - Parkour and Aerobic Training

Today's episode covers:

• Why I was wearing one glove
• Why endurance is important for parkour training
• How endurance fits with the parkour philosophy
• My two main reasons for adding endurance to parkour training (a foundation for peak performance and being able to help others in my life more effectively)

Bicycle Radio NZ - Thursday, May 31st 2012 (episode 08) (right click to save)

Links from the show: 

A general overview of Long, Slow, Distance (LSD) training and how it helps high intensity activities such as parkour and crossfit

How to add endurance training into your parkour

An earlier episode on similar subject matter

If there is anything you want to hear more from me about, please post a comment or email me samhight@gmail.com  

A few ideas for the future which I've considered: reflections on my view of marriage, the importance of muscle balance and how to test for and achieve muscle balance, how I became a Christian, how I became a teacher and why I stick with it, stretching scientifically, some of the initiatives I've tried using blogging and online media, specific book reviews, how to lead a deliberate life, gay marriage again (and adoption), and more...

How Do You Listen to Your Body?

It is common these days to hear health and exercise gurus telling you to "listen to your body".  Some of them are quacks, pushing pseudo-science remedies for everyday ailments, but others have advice backed by good research and years of medical practice.  It's usually easy to tell who is good.

What I want to talk about in brief is what it means to listen to your body, and how you can do it relatively reliably.

What is listening to your body?

In short, it is the practice of self-awareness where you take note of how you feel (output) when doing certain things or changing the fuel/stimulus of your body (input).

The inputs can be things like experimenting with different diets, e.g. slow-carb, low-carb, zone, paleo, etc. and the outputs, how you listen to your body, could be noticing responses like less aches and pains, more energy to perform activities, weight loss, different thought patterns, better sporting performance, etc.

A parkour example, to illustrate a slightly different approach, is when warming up for a solo training session.  The practitioner will assess her body and how muscles, joints, and mental aspects are operating.  Am I sore anywhere?  Do I feel up for a challenge or is there a lazy kind of feeling about myself?  Then using this information, she will likely decide to train in a way which rests those areas of her body that are sore and allows her to receive the mental stimulus appropriate to the day.

How can you do it?

It's quite easy to copy this approach in a general way.  I think most people do unconsciously.  However, to add more value to the approach, getting better results from your self-experimentation, it is useful to be a little more rigorous in your method.

One way is to record your inputs and outputs with a journal.  A simple spreadsheet with three columns would suffice.  One for the input - what are you trying?  One for the output - what effect(s) did you notice?  And one for any comments or recommendations to yourself for further reflection and action.  

It is important to note that some trials should take place over a number of days, weeks, or years.  Careful research is also necessary so that you know what to expect with your trials.  And finally, it is a great idea to find others who have experimented in a similar way so that you can discuss and collaborate for further added value.  Getting others involved, sharing anything learned, that makes all the difference sometimes - that's why I write a lot of what I write, to share the joy!

A final note is that you don't have to wait to experiment with inputs and outputs.  You are already immersed in a lifestyle which is producing outputs.  See if you can list all of the aches, pains, and annoying things about your body.  These are your default outputs and the goal is to improve on these.  Sometimes our bodies have been screaming at us for years and we have not noticed!

So there it is, I hope this has cleared up a bit of confusion or brought some clarity to your thinking.  Now go forth into the world and listen to your body!

Parkour History: 3 Key Principles of My Parkour

This is the final post from my old parkour blog.  That means you will no longer be able to find that blog.  Have no fear though, everything that was there is now here.  Enjoy this last one!

October 2009
Through reading and watching interviews with some of the founders of modern movement disciplines, and in watching them move, I have arrived at a sort of philosophy or approach to my training that hangs on three concepts. I will begin by explaining my understanding of these three ideas, including their benefits to the individual who pursues them, and then I will show how they link together in my training and wider life.

It is important to be clear about something at the beginning. I believe these concepts are a part of my wider life and existed before I began training. I am certain that if I didn't do parkour these ideas would manifest themselves in some other way. However, parkour has given me a context to form these ideas together and develop them. Other movement activities and non-movement activities may also be legitimate forms of developing the same ideas, but I think parkour is one of the better ones because of the need to incorporate both body and mind into training at the more advanced stages of development.

Creativity
The bible says that man is made in the image of God. Creativity in man is considered to be one way that man shows similarity between himself and his maker. One way to describe creativity is by giving an example of a creative person. Someone who is creative is able to come up with something new out of something old or something considered as waste. As mortals, we cannot create anything physical out of nothing. So here I am considering creative use of pre-existing materials. John Britten was a creative genius who most people associate with the creation of the Britten motorcycle. Many do not know that he also built a home out of recycled materials, being creative with what he had, to reduce costs and to produce something totally unique. This was not the only amazing thing he produced with his creativity. That's another story though.

Some people think that creativity needs to have a useful purpose for it to be real. I don't think it is possible for creativity to be useless because the mind is developing its ability to think in different ways no matter what the use. Creative thinking can be applied to anything.

Parkour is a context for movement creativity. It doesn't even matter that much of the movement is discovered for the first time on a regular basis by every new practitioner that tries something they've never done before. There is almost nothing that beats the feeling of joy and elation that rises from within and fills our limbs with something wonderful as we move. This is the joy of creation in movement and can be experienced in a number of other contexts, e.g. writing, singing, playing music. It is creativity that gives energy to our training to keep it up and to push the boundaries. It is the desire to share something wonderful and new that leads to positive and fulfilling interactions with the rest of mankind. Creativity is the doorway to so much more.

Discipline
Discipline is also easier to explain with some examples. Someone who is disciplined will train regularly in a controlled and thoughtful manner. Distractions and excuses are not something that the disciplined person allows. They train hard and strive to do the best they can at whatever they apply themselves to.

Without discipline our creativity would stagnate and the boundaries of movement would come crashing in. High repetition of movement gives us the technical mastery that becomes instinctive movement as well as the physical fitness to move where, when, and how we want.

Except for a few geniuses, we must train regularly to grow and widen the boundaries of what we can do. This is a lesson that parkour teaches beginners very quickly.

Another side of discipline is developing the mental toughness to be able to push on through the discomfort of training to find the limits of our bodies. Very few people in the world will know what it means to strive against themselves and overcome, beating their body into submission. There is also the discipline of knowing when to rest so as not to over-train, which can result in injury or slow recovery and progression.

Altruism
Roughly speaking, altruism is helping others at your own expense. This expense could be in the form of time, money, even life.

In the field of parkour, traceurs often devote some time to coach and support beginners. Going beyond this, many will also look for opportunities to assist the wider community with their strength. This might be jumping at the chance to help push start a car with a flat battery, chasing down a purse snatcher, or assisting with community programs for holidays/camps/after school events.

Without the creativity and discipline that shapes a traceur, they are in much less of a position to assist others. The stronger we are, the more strength we can bring to bear on a difficult scenario. The more creative we are, the greater our range of options for applying ourselves to a problem.

Even the lowliest beginner can be altruistic by having a "give it a go" attitude that will inspire others, or by not making excuses for their weakness and instead seeking to improve from where they're currently at in their abilities.

Why are these things so important to parkour?
Lets imagine what parkour would be like without any one of these individual aspects.

First, without creativity we would not have the ability to become strong in a wide range of movements. Our "vision" would be dark and we could not see over the hill and far away to the furthest boundaries of our potential. Many people walk through life trying to fill up their day with shallow pursuits. We would be one of those, without creative insight into our own lives.

Second, without discipline we would lack the ability to fulfil our creative potential. With grandoise goals and no drive to reach them we would settle for an easy and shallow life once more. However, we would be incredibly frustrated with our lot because we would be able to see what we could've been, if only we had the discipline to make it happen.

Third, with no drive to help others we would be left to pursue our limits in total selfishness. People would only come to dislike us since we would never do anything for them. We would be reckless with other peoples' property and would likely leave a trail of destuction behind us at local training spots. Beginners would get no assistance and would be left to their own devices which would prove destructive all over again. Without the time and effort of experienced traceurs we would not have constructive communities online, and in the physical world, that build a positive and healthy segment of society, which in turn feeds this altruism into the world as a whole.

Each one of these three ideas builds into my life (and my parkour) in a necessary way. Without any one of them I would not be who I am. While they don't describe the complete me, i.e. I am more than just these three things, they are one framework to hang ideas on that would build a picture of my life. I would even go so far as to say that these three things should be a large focus in the lives of everyone in the world. Parkour is a great way for young people to approach these key concepts, and as such it should be something offered to children everywhere while they are young enough to latch on in a natural way.

Finally, these three ideas are where the simple joy in movement comes from. Expanding ourselves, growing into our ideas, sharing with others, and forming valuable relationships with communities. In all of this there is much happiness to be had!

Now its time for you to go away and think about how these ideas apply to your life.

Think hard, train hard,

Sam

History: My Response to the Barclaycard World Free Running Champs 2009

Another post from my old parkour blog that I've nearly finished shutting down. Enjoy!

From August 2009
I don't think I can respond to this event in a positive way. I've listed a few quotes from the vids (which you can view here), along with a few of my random thoughts. This is not the same as a carefully thought out response - just an instinctive response which gives you an idea of how I think. I tried to be positive where I could but it was really hard. Hopefully those of you who have met me, trained with me, and have seen how positive I normally try to be, will realise just how much of a rebuke these comments are towards this event:

On defining free running: "...fastest way from A to B, throwing in some flips and tricks to spice things up..." Nobody in the champs were trying to go from A to B in a fast way. These bozos are just piggybacking on the true roots of parkour when they say stuff like that.

"...all about freedom of expression..." How does this line up with A to B in a fast way? Is trying to please the crowd being free or is it actually just the opposite?

All about showing off to the crowd really. 8000 people, T.V. cameras. What message is this sending? Is it one that's worth supporting?

"...free running can be dangerous, so know your limits..." "...two of the first three competitors injured..." Again, what message is this sending. Sounds very confusing to me. Just a collection of phrases that sound good being thrown out to the young and impressionable crowd for their absorption and to get them hyped up. Vague philosophical foundations with no real substance. The same thing you get in religious circles from the charlatans who are just out for money. Injuries of this frequency are unheard of in elite competitive sports. Imagine losing 20% of your country's olympic team on competition day. Madness. Competition already encourages an attitude towards safety that we don't want to see in parkour, this seems much worse than that even. I wouldn't be so upset if they said it how it was, i.e. we like jumping of stuff and doing big moves that everyone can go "wow" at.

"...5 year background in break dancing before he started pk, parkour, whatever you want to call it [chuckle] - free running for this evening..." Tim is a legend. It's a shame he's involved in this. I wonder if it was rigged somehow since his good friend Damien Walters was a judge. Still a bloody talented dude though. It's probably not as far fetched as it sounds since EZ comes from a boxing background and has been known for a while for dodgy business practice.

EZ giving a reason why Blue didn't get into the final: "...he was trying to be too sensible in his approach..." Implies Blue should have been more reckless.

"...in front of 8000 people, there's a lot of pressure on them..." Definitely something we want to distance ourselves from.

"...that's what it takes - solid training..." Yeeha! But I can't help but feel that this positive message is greatly overshadowed by the hype and the meaninglessness of the rest of their propaganda.

From the German lad who got 3rd place, being asked about the crowd influence/distraction: "...as soon as I jumped, I didn't see anything more, except the obstacles..." Shot bro! He also moved one of the best and had a few more natural variations of movements.

From the winner (Livewire): "...I just wanna train every day like I've been doing..." "...be creative as possible..." "...inspire other people to open their mind..." You, sir, are a legend! This just goes to show how out of place you are at this event Tim...

An overly excited audience member by the sound of it: "...somebody tried to do a flip of the stairs and landed flat on his back..." and the response to this incident from EZ: "...start slow, stay low, take your time, be sensible..."

I'm all for some level of performance (which is necessary to inspire others) but anything that hypes people up to do stuff in a crazy way rather than inspiring them to be a better person is going too far. There is a big difference between having your mind engaged when you are inspired and getting a rush of blood to the head that blocks reasonable thought and inhibits a healthy appreciation of danger.

Interpret my Zombie Dream

The start was less relevant than the end. 

The end saw me with time on my hands to pass and wanting to go train and challenge myself (parkour) while in a strange city (which may have been a mixture of some major world cities I’ve been too). As I was looking for a place to train, I started noticing people. Some noticed me back but others did not. 

These people wore suits and expressionless faces and were tall and imposing but at the same time real enough for me to know they were real people just like me. They were in the system and they were loveless. I tried to get some of them to wake up out of their single minded, zombie like, determination to maintain their lives and their relentless onward walk.

Then I ended up with a group of people in front of me listening to me passionately telling them to LOVE!!!

Feel free to speculate about the meaning of my dream!

Dealing with the Down-side: Chronic Aches and Pains in Parkour

This post is from a parkour forum and I posted it about 6 months ago

The Problem (and Solution)
Everyone knows that we experience chronic aches and pains in parkour. It is inevitable, right? Some would even say it's a good part of the learning process.

I've found, through my experiences with training myself and others and through reading (Dr. Phil Maffetone and Thomas Kurz mostly), that it is not necessarily an inevitable part of training.

They describe the problem, in short, as having a severely undeveloped aerobic energy system.

The solution, for those who are experiencing regular interruptions to their training due to injury, is to build the aerobic energy system using really low intensity aerobic activity by monitoring using a heart rate monitor to stay in your aerobic range.

Unfortunately, parkour is almost entirely anaerobic (high intensity, short duration) and this type of training easily leads to over-training from not allowing enough recovery. Anaerobic training takes more recovery if the aerobic system is not well developed.

The Solution Isn't Practical!
Ideally, we would get beginners to spend 3 to 6 months building their aerobic base before gradually introducing them into the higher intensity parkour. Also, those who intend to train regularly for years to come will need to build an artificial "season" or seasons into their year. A couple of months each year should be devoted to building the aerobic base to avoid aches and pains. This would detract from the appeal to beginners so it doesn't seem very practical.

So, I've been learning about this in more detail lately. The results from case studies seem undeniable and I am going to embark upon an "off" season to build my aerobic base. I realise that this doesn't fit in with parkour as we know it so I'm happy to be the guinea pig and report back how the experiment goes. Maybe, if the results are good enough, others might try it too. The best motivation comes from great results.

Your Part
I'm really interested to hear from the sport-scientists and the cross-fitters among you on these issues. I seem to have some injury, even minor ones, come up every year. It's enough that I'm sick of the interruption to my routine and I want to solve it. It may not be much of an issue for the young uns though...

Over the last few years I've found that reducing the amount of work per session and having more sessions is a better way to train as recovery is better, but there is a barrier still and I think I need to reduce the intensity even more to be totally aerobic for a time.

There are a lot of factors, like how I intend to carry this out, but that will come in further discussion or you can have a read here and here or here on my blog

That was then, this is now: Having spend 6 months building my aerobic base, I have lost very little parkour strength and skill.  My immunity is much better, my recovery is insanely better (combined with fish-oil high in EPA), and I have higher energy combined with lower stress.  Well worth the experiment!

Mid Winter Blues and Reflections

The following post was taken from my old parkour blog as a part of transferring these historical articles to the new blog.  It's also a chance to reflect on some past thoughts, both in an embarrassed and a proud way at different times.  In facing any past foolishness, I can grow and remain humble.  Here it is in it's entirety.  Enjoy!


2nd July 2009
In New Zealand we are very fortunate to have fairly mild weather compared to some other parts of the world. We get mild extremes is what I mean, and in terms of parkour there is very little in the way of weather that can prevent us from training all year round. However, something which can have a negative impact on training frequency and quality of training, is the phenomenon of "mid winter blues".


The mid winter blues is a sort of mental sluggishness, depression, or inability to deal with stress. It comes about through the lack of invigorating sunshine (shorter days in winter) which see the average person going to work in the dark and returning home during twilight hours. The more regular rain and cold is also notably depressing for many people. Documented suicides increase during this time which, while not true evidence, creates a statistical link between the seasons and mental health. It is possible that due to the weather, people will get out of their homes less and will feel lonelier and more isolated because of this. Whatever the reasons, and whatever you call it, these mid winter blues are a reality for many.


So how does this affect parkour? (And how does parkour affect this?)
If we let it, our training can suffer. The mental lethargy that accompanies depression, a sort of "can't be bothered with anything", will likely put a serious dampener on our desire to train. So the amount of training will be less. It may also be hard to keep a good intensity during training because of this same reason. I find that in a group, if just a couple of people back off and lose motivation it affects the mood of everyone. Perhaps solo training is good during these times.


On the other side of the coin: any exercise will get the endorphins pumping, directly counteracting depression and low feelings. Also, if you can get out during the weekend to enjoy some goodly amounts of sun you can lift your spirits significantly and even get a bit of a mid winter tan - a healthy natural glow!


Personally, I have found the middle of winter to be very tough this time around. I've had to drop back to just 3 or 4 light trainings each week for the last couple of weeks. This is partly due to work spilling into my home life and having to take more time out of "fun" things to complete routine things like marking and report writing (the joys of being a high school teacher). This is also due to my body taking longer to recover during the colder weather - an extra day in a lot of cases which can see me training when I'm not sufficiently recovered from the previous day's training - always a bad idea. Longer recovery time generally means less training anyway. A significant part of this reduction in training though, has been due to a kind of apathy that has felt almost physical at times. However, I believe it is mostly mental. I just couldn't be bothered gathering the energy to train (which comes so easily during the light and warm days of summer!). I'm pleased to say that I wouldn't just vegetate on the couch in front of the TV during these times. I'd practise on my new drums, read/research/write, stimulate my creativity listening to some music, or engage in some other productive substitute activity.


A more personal reflection on things
I'm not sure if this state of things is inevitable, but in some ways I don't mind. Perhaps it is the solitude that I'm really craving? Apart from one semi-solo training session each week for about 45 minutes (parkour specific weights in the gym), I normally train with at least several other people. Half of my trainings are running group sessions and the other half are training amongst people of similar ability to myself. I'm thinking that I should be training parkour solo at least once a week, maybe more. The problem is not the willingness in this case, but the time. Perhaps I need to get up a couple of hours earlier to get in some solid repetition of movement - something that lacks in most other trainings lately, as people are less motivated or are only capable of a lower intensity than myself. Alternatively I could whip the whip at group trainings and try to lift the others. Sometimes this can take too much energy though, which means less to put into the movement. One encouraging thing is that I feel capable of more than I am doing now, and I will pursue more over the coming months in the build up to summer. Looking back on the previous years of training parkour, my volume and intensity is definitely consistently higher than it has ever been. Something for beginners to look forward to perhaps!


Concluding remarks
Reflect on how different external stimuli affect you and your mental and physical state. Do your best not to let the seasons affect you negatively. Use parkour to beat the mid winter blues if you can. Try talking about your feelings with someone if you like - this can be very challenging and scary, but it is worth it in the long run. Finally, have fun and look after yourself!


Train hard!


Sam

Rolling (Parkour Drop Landing)

The following post was begun on my parkour blog but left incomplete and never published.  I've copied it over and added a little bit to finish it off.  I've ended it rather more sharply than intended because I don't have in mind the original thoughts and have instead used my current thinking on rolls, combined with my physics knowledge.

The old bit:
Rolling is one of the techniques that are most commonly seen by beginners in their introduction to parkour. The skill is not particularly difficult and it is essential to learn early on for safer landings. This article will focus on the main purpose of the roll in parkour, one of the major misconceptions of how a roll decreases impact on the body, and then finish with a description of the technique for beginners to learn. More experienced practitioners may like to use this technique for developing rolls on their weak side.

What is the purpose of a roll in parkour?
While there are different uses for the roll in parkour, e.g. dive rolls, fast direction changes, etc. we are considering the roll as used during the landing of a jump. There are two main uses within this category: to help reduce horizontal momentum for a high speed landing where it is impossible to remain standing, and to reduce the forces experienced by the body when jumping/dropping from a height. Our primary consideration is the latter - reducing forces on the body when landing from a height.

Misconceptions
One obvious misconception is that a roll will save you no matter how high you drop from. More experienced traceurs often joke about being able to jump off the tenth story of a building and rolling in the landing to save themselves. While it seems pretty obvious that there are limits to the ability of a roll to reduce impact on the body, many people don't understand exactly why this is. The answer lies in the way a roll reduces impact forces on the body and what muscles in the body are engaged (and to what extent) during a roll compared to landing without a roll.


The new bit:
The other main misconception is that rolls transfer vertical momentum into horizontal momentum, and that this protects the jumper from injury.  Now, it is true that injury can be reduced, but the reasons are not to do with a vertical to horizontal transition.  Any momentum in a vertical direction must be removed by a force applied in the opposite direction.  And any momentum gained in the horizontal direction must be added by a force applied in that direction.  The vertical and horizontal are independent of each other in such analyses.


So the body experiences reaction forces in the landing which remove the vertical momentum.  The longer the force is applied, the greater the change in momentum.  Or for the same amount of momentum, the longer the force is applied, the lower the force needs to be to remove the vertical momentum.  The main reaction force is upwards from the ground and this transfers through the body's natural suspension system of joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles to halt the descent.  From the physics we know that the greater the instantaneous force, the higher the chance of breakage.  


Here's the final conclusion of all that science:
A parkour roll used in a vertical landing works because it reduces the maximum instantaneous force used to remove the vertical momentum from the drop.  The force experienced by the body is spread out over a greater time during the landing.  A roll landing allows the lander to take more time in the landing by crumpling, much the same way that a car bumper is designed to crumple to absorb momentum.  


Another way to look at it is with an egg falling onto a brick compared to an egg falling onto a foam mattress.  The brick tries to stop the egg instantly because it has no give.  The mattress slows the egg more gradually and lowers the maximum force on the egg.


So why bother rolling?  Why not just crouch on the landing?  Well, for at least three reasons.  One is that you can't crouch to bring your center of gravity as low as you can get with a roll, this means a roll is better at increasing the amount of time taken to land.  Two is that very often there is some horizontal momentum from the jump which means a roll is a more stable technique for landing.  Three is it is possible that more muscles can be recruited to spread the force out between while rolling because a greater body tension is required for the execution of the roll.


This information can inform our rolling technique.  Instead of just copying a video, you now know what to do to have the most effective roll.  You need to make your landing last as long (and as smooth) as possible to ensure the lowest possible force on your body.  This means resisting the landing from the highest point all the way down to the lowest crouch possible before rolling to continue the descent a fraction longer.


It is worth mentioning that the roll is also just smoother and allows you to regain your feet easily.  Paratroopers in past wars have used a crumple method of landing that didn't rely on getting to their feet again.  They would crumple into a sideways kind of heap like the video below (about 1 minute into the clip):

Progressing Past the Neurological Rut

Another old parkour article.  This one was special enough to make it to the Parkour Generations list of training articles.  Ever since then I've been famous ;-)

6 May 2009

One type of plateau that can occur in one's training was recently highlighted to me while I was trying to do something that I had been attempting for a number of months. Let me first describe the situation and what I did to achieve my goal, then I will give my thoughts on the process and hopefully explain better what I mean by a "neurological rut".

The challenge

I'm sure that all traceurs have progression markers that help them to gauge their progress in physical condition and skill. This could be the number of bricks of a particular wall that you can reach up to from a tic-tac/wall run, or it could be the amount of repetitions of a circuit you can do before you must reduce your speed significantly, or the number of your feet as a gauge of your precision distance.

The particular progress marker I'm considering today is the number of steps at a certain spot at Waikato Uni that I can jump up from a standing start - a sort of box jump. Well, for two years I have been hitting 5 steps with relative ease, but that sixth step has been too much of a jump (excuse the pun) for me to get too without some sort of momentum generating step prior to the jump.

The other day I was trying for 6 steps again. I was getting frustrated that I couldn't do it, even though I could really "feel" that it was possible. It occurred to me that for the last two years I had been getting used to jumping 5 steps, so I had to somehow break the instinctive leap that used to be my maximum.

I decided that, since I could get the sixth with a small step (matching my feet like a basketball "step-together-jump"), I would continue to take a step and then gradually reduce it's size. This seemed to work well, but there was too much of a mental leap between taking a small step and taking no step. So I thought of something else to try. Since the step worked well for me, I decided to keep it, but this time I tried increasing the pause once my feet came together so that eventually I would be doing a standing jump from rest. I thought that this might trick me into thinking I had momentum. After a couple of tries, and increasing the amount of time to a full 1 second (or more) pause, I got it!

After a couple of successful repetitions, a couple of failures, and a bit of listening to my body, I worked out that this method was helping me psych up and commit totally to the jump so that I would better use my maximum speed and strength. It didn't work every time but when it did I could feel the difference in the "explosion" of my muscles and in the angle of my flight path.

The Neurological RutIf you've heard the expressions "neurological pathways", "muscle memory" or something similar, you may have worked out where I'm going with this. Here's brief bit of background for those uninitiated with the terms.

When you learn a new skill, you develop links in your brain that allow you to remember and repeat the skill. Whether it is a new language, a new movement, or a new thought process, the more you practise this skill the stronger the neurological pathway gets and the more instinctive the skill becomes. As applied to physical movement, we often use the term "muscle memory" to describe the effect, though this is a bit of a misnomer since the memory is actually in your brain.

The neurological rut appears when one practises a skill enough that it becomes instinctive and then hard to break out of. Learning poor technique and not finding out that the technique is poor until years later would be one example of a neurological rut. My rut was jumping 5 steps. I had done thousands of jumps to the 5 step level over a couple of years and had not progressed because the gap between 5 and 6 steps was too much of a mental leap, even though the strength of my body had surpassed the level necessary for 6 steps some time ago. Putting it another way, my mind had grown so used to the technique of jumping 5 steps that it needed a significant effort, along with a trick or two, to break out of the neurological rut.

What can we learn?

I think my experience highlights the the importance of learning how to apply maximal effort, rather than developing muscle memory at one particular level of ability. Sometimes this neurological rut is unavoidable, as in the case of the steps, but with an increased awareness and some strategies for minimising the effects when it comes to progressing, it does not need to be a problem.

We can also see that the mind is a powerful tool, that when ignored can be a barrier to progression, but when understood (and appropriately fooled) can be a powerful ally. We must have our minds engaged in the development process.

It is also important to recognise that muscle memory is vital to learning instinctive application of skill. Without this instinct, real "flow" wouldn't be possible for example. So we shouldn't fear neurological ruts and we certainly shouldn't fear developing muscle memory. I wonder if it is possible to develop a neurological pathway that is good at overcoming neurological ruts, an adaptive skill perhaps. I'm almost certain that this can be done, but more experienced traceurs will have to comment on that I think.

A final thing to learn from this is that while your physical condition may increase, you won't know it until you have accomplished some feats that were beyond your previous level of physical ability.

Some strategies for overcoming your neurological ruts

In brief:

1. Learn how to trick your mind to your advantage
2. Visit new places with different obstacles
3. Focus on maximal application of speed and strength
4. Trust your instinctive ability when it insists that you can do something beyond what you've been able to do in the past.

To trick your mind it is important to be able to break a skill down into its basic components. You need to be able to analyse exactly what is happening in your mind, and if you are applying yourself enough. A good example of tricking the mind is a common method of speed training where the resistance of the movement is reduced to fire the muscles faster. When returning to the full resistance movement, the mind remembers the speed of firing the muscles at low resistance and reacts the same, giving a faster speed for the full resistance movement. You can also increase the resistance above normal so that you trick your brain into firing as hard as possible.

Visiting new places, or infrequently visited locations, can force you to rely more on that insistent instinct that tells you when you can complete the movement without having to measure it. You are not limited by familiar surroundings and reacting in familiar ways to those places you are used to. There is a danger to be aware of. Sometimes your brain will tell you that you can do a move, or jump a gap, when you really can't. I've been experiencing this a lot lately due to a couple of months where I've made a number of leaps forward in my physical progression. It is easy enough to get around once you are aware of it - take a second and a third look before you leap and the instinct normally rights itself. When the instinct is insistent, that's when I will try it!  I should also add that visiting new places and training with new people is a lot of fun and a great way to build the wider community spirit within parkour circles.

Taking note of your body and learning to apply maximum effort regularly will get you into good habits. Likewise, trusting your instinctive ability to know when you are ready to push the level up a notch will do the same thing. If the instinct isn't there, you might like to hold off on attempting something difficult too many times so that you don't develop the neurological pathway of failing at it.

So that's what a neurological rut is. I'm not sure if anyone has coined the term before, but many of the sport science resources I've read mention aspects of neurology as applied to sport, which means this isn't a totally uncommon area of knowledge. Consideration of neurological aspects of your training will definitely help your progression, and researching more about the brain in sport is a lot of fun. I hope this has been helpful.

Train hard!

Sam

Freedom Means Following Rules

Another post from my old parkour blog:

March 13th 2009

Every so often I hear someone talking about parkour and they say something like this, "I love parkour. It gives you the freedom to do whatever you want and to train however you feel."

This is often followed up by something like, "No rules, just parkour!"

I get a bit of a bee in my bonnet when I hear this because when you get right down to it there must be an element of following rules and sticking to boundaries to successfully practice parkour.

Let me elaborate. If you want to get good at anything (being successful at it), you must discipline yourself to practice regularly. No practice means no progression. So that means we can write at least one rule. It is the nature of any discipline that you actually discipline yourself to follow it. This is in fact an act of deliberately reducing your freedom so that you can improve.

Things don't end there (thank goodness). Like an experienced practitioner of any discipline will tell you, the real freedom comes after the thousands of hours and countless repetitions of movement and physical conditioning. Only then, when you have a good strength base and the technical movement has become instinctive, are you really free.

Even then there are limitations that exist because we are human. No amount of training can prepare you for 100 foot drops for instance. These natural laws are a barrier to complete freedom, though it could be argued that accepting our limitations brings great freedom. Know thyself!

Another limitation that is inherent in parkour comes from the altruistic side of things. We do not trespass knowingly and when security or police ask us to move on we are polite and respectful, following instructions and seeking to build good community relationships.

So what exactly do people mean by "being free" in parkour? Some are just mistaken and learn fairly quickly that you must train long and hard before taking the big drops. Others have an aspect of teenage rebellion in their attitude and want freedom to do what they want. I personally hope that it is more along the lines of breaking out of the boxes that society makes for us, and increasing our physical capacity so that we can do more than before. Something that takes into account some positive values for the good of mankind.

If we can do progressively more with our bodies and minds than before (in a positive way of course) then it can safely be said that we are increasing our freedom, and even the freedom of others.

Be strong to be free!

Sam

Just keep moving forward

Another historical post from my old parkour blog

March 11th 2009

While running a training for some students at my school, I made an important discovery/observation. Let me set the scene:

We have a covered in area at our school canteen with an upward curving roof overhead, two walls at either end with two rails in between about waist height for most students. I was running several drills to make use of these rails and to begin to work on flow (roughly speaking, flow is the linking of movements together to produce efficient, i.e. "flowing", movement).

1. The first drill was to go from one wall to the other using different methods of passing the two obstacles (the rails). This is the experimental stage when traceurs are learning how to pass the obstacles in different ways and finding out what works best for them at their level of ability and according to their body type, etc.
2. The second drill was to go there and back, doubling the number of linked movements and incorporating a change of direction at the far wall. More speed was expected also.
3. The third drill was to go there and back and there again, adding a mild endurance factor so that beginners are getting a bit tired in their movements by the time they head back for the last time. At this point the traceurs are learning what they can do when they are tired or at least when they don't have time to think of the next move, i.e. the most efficient movement over/under the obstacles. More continuous movements can be linked as traceurs become fitter so that they are pushing out of their comfort zone into tiring territory.

What I discovered during this drill was that under pressure to keep moving (from myself, not others) rather than stalling at each obstacle to reset for the next move, I was pushing on and trying to keep as much of my body moving forward as I could. I found my moves losing form and regularity in the quest for continuous movement. I would compare the feeling to being warm water trying to move downward through the path of least resistance. I say warm water because cold water doesn't seem right for some reason.

This is where the links to various martial art philosophies would naturally fit in, but I'm more interested in describing the moment so that others can "look" for it and recognise it.

So what exactly happened? I had two out of the four moves prepared in my mind. First, a lazy vault with outside leg leading, second a monkey vault that made use of the momentum developed in my first move to send me flying over the rail, touch the wall then back and into improvisation mode. A sort of speed vault into a sideways underbar with my 120kg hurtling towards the concrete and a wild (but successful) hope of my arms on the rail saving me from blunt force trauma. Touch the wall again and turn for another speed/pop vault into a shambling roll under the final rail that felt a lot smoother than it looked. The last two moves were conducted with a kind of calculated desperation yet at the same time my mind had switched off and my body was on automatic.

There are other ways of developing this automatic movement. One is by drilling moves over and over and over so that you become highly fatigued and have to concentrate to perform every minor movement properly.  Or when you are running a circuit of some kind continuously so that as you tire your movement breaks down to the most energy saving and flowing form possible. The difference between these two methods and the school training described above is that a circuit or movement drill makes use of conscious methods of movement and the goal is not speed so much as perfecting technique or building endurance.

So how to find this type of movement where you get in the zone and just keep moving forward? One way is to focus on speed over short distances, and to have a good base of fitness and movement experience. Another could be to pick a near by destination without planning a path and just go there as quick as you can. You could also go exploring in a new place with no intention of passing an obstacle more than once (you can come back later if you find something cool). This idea of a journey or adventure will help keep your interest and motivation high also. One final way could be to just run at an obstacle and see how you instinctively get over it.

I believe this way of training is essential to a traceur's continued progression and motivation. It is useful to try this sort of drill every once in a while to see how your trained moves are impacting on useful, instinctive, and efficient movement.

Happy training!

Sam

Functionality versus Display (History)

Another historical post from my old parkour blog:

March 10th 2009

Many people who come across parkour for the first time mistakenly file it under a performance or artistic display - something like an extreme sport or circus type of show for spectator edification.

My introduction to parkour was through a desire to be able to perform a back flip, amongst other things. I've never been out to show off or to impress people. Instead I like to inspire others. Unfortunately, flips are good for capturing attention, which is essential to the act of inspiring. I thought that if people could see me, a 120kg tank, performing the seemingly impossible that they could be inspired to try something difficult too, or at least become more physically active. Instead, the majority of people are more interested in seeing the spectacle and being entertained with nothing of worth feeding into their personal lives.

So the question arises: "Should I stop doing some things so that others are not mislead about the nature of parkour?" I find myself inclined to answer "No" because human nature, being what it is, will find a way to corrupt what I do anyway. I can't count the number of times people have asked me to do a flip. Admittedly some have heard that I can do a back flip and a curious, but many others see me vault or jump and make the spurious link between parkour and flips without this prior knowledge of my abilities. I can only assume this is because of various youtube videos they might have seen and the compulsion to seek out entertainment.

So what about movie stunts and display performances of parkour? My thinking is that the intention of the performance should be to inspire or demonstrate "good" parkour, including if possible the "spirit" of parkour. Performance that is purely for entertainment purposes, for the average Joe that watches TV every night of the week and does very little exercise of his own, should be avoided.

Now here is where it gets really deep and difficult. Does everyone have the capability to do good parkour? The reason this is deep and difficult is because the answering of the question is not really possible without some assumptions about life and even metaphysical considerations. I'll leave the answering of this question up to the individual but I'm interested readers comments.

Getting back to more familiar territory, when considering functionality and display we can draw parallels between the controversy that arose in the naming of disciplines. The whole, "flips are not parkour" deal. From the get go it is important to point out that many of the founders of these disciplines do not make any distinction between them. Originally the name for this type of movement was L'art du deplacement. Parkour was David Belle's term for the same thing and Free Running was an English translation of Parkour. Videos of several of the world's top practitioners and founding traceurs have appeared in public forums making this clear (check out parkour generations or search for "Stephane Vigroux interview" on youtube to find out more). Prior to these clarifications, parkour was usually described with words like discipline, efficiency, useful strength, and with regular links made to Methode Naturelle as a sort of founding discipline. Free Running was for show offs and crowd pleasers, i.e. the performance/entertainment side of things. With the news that there was no difference between parkour and free running, the global community was rapidly forced to reconsider their philosophy. Instead of having different names, we are now forced to consider the attitudes within the PK/FR/LADD community. It comes back to functionality versus display, except this time it seems there is less room for entertaining the observers. I think this is a good thing because participation in parkour is more important than merely observing.

So where does this leave those out to entertain and show off? Firstly, this is not automatically a bad thing. Entertainment is a fact of life and without show offs human based entertainment would not be possible. People are beginning to use words like acro (short for acrobatics) to describe the less efficient and less useful forms of parkour that traceurs would generally not consider to be a genuine part of the discipline. Between acro, tricking, b-boying, etc there are enough outlets for those that want to aim more towards performance. Many traceurs even practise these things to challenge themselves in different ways, though when I do this I consider it cross training and not a part of parkour. I am not the authority though, that honour is reserved for the founders.

Parkour is still notoriously difficult to define and there are still some remnants of controversy over the names used to describe this and similar activities but, regardless of this, I think we can agree that the intentions and attitudes one trains with will determine whether our discipline is a positive force in the world. If functionality is your philosophy then great! Train hard and train safe. If entertainment is your driving force then also great! Train the same but remember to do your best to send a positive and responsible message.

I hope this has clarified some things and made you think!

Sam

Where are things going in the NZ parkour scene? (History)

Another historical post

March 9th 2009:

Compared to much of the rest of the world, we have a fairly small and undeveloped parkour scene in New Zealand. That's not to say that we're not growing and developing. We are. Here are a couple of things that are developing around the country.

• This year saw the first official national parkour gathering run by Physical Graffiti in Wellington. During Waitangi weekend around 70 people (by my estimate) came from all over the country. You can read more about the gathering here.
• Local groups are getting into more regular training and are training smarter. This can be seen through the discussion of training strategies on the nzparkour.com forum and I have personally seen some great stuff at the various local trainings I've visited outside of Hamilton.
• There is a growing number of traceurs that began parkour within the last year or two who have passed through the "beginner phase". What makes this important is that they have come through without being put off by the cautions and firm words of advice about safe training from other members of the nz parkour community. Generally, to survive the social pressure this long, they have had to adapt their training according to this advice and are now promoting good parkour. It also helps that people are getting older and more independent in their training. Parkour is very attractive to teenagers and we see many come and go. The teenagers that have stuck with it are moving into their late teens and early twenties now, providing more maturity and experience to the scene.
• Various beginners sessions are being run
• Professional video productions are being released from time to time
• Groups are performing demonstrations at events

This sounds like a lot, but compared to the world scene we are just beginning. We also have fairly low numbers of people practising regularly though, as I've indicated above, this is growing steadily.

NZ Parkour Association?

The idea of a NZ parkour association of sorts has been raised from time to time over the last couple of years.  Why this hasn't happened yet is largely due to our low numbers. Recently a need has become more obvious to provide an official group to represent parkour in NZ. An organisation seems to be required who can be a contact for media to provide informed commentary on parkour related news/events, direct film makers towards traceurs who can assist with video production or stunt type of work. Inevitably tied up with media things is the need to have parkour positively promoted and faithfully represented. An authority in other words.

There are some dangers of course. Is it possible to have some sort of regulation of parkour without killing the "freedom" of the scene? Does the nzparkour.com website function as enough of an authority to meet these needs? How can an association be set up that is safe from corruption and commercialism? How do we navigate through the mess of opinions within the NZ scene while having genuine authority within such an association? Who would be involved and how is the balance of power safely guarded? All of these questions and more will need to be discussed, but it is clear to many NZ traceurs that an association is becoming more necessary. We do have the advantage of seeing what the rest of the world has already put into place. Parkour Generations, for instance, are a good model for a group that has positively promoted parkour while contributing in a useful way to their local (non-parkour) community.

It seems inevitable that parkour will be misrepresented for many years to come by the adrenaline junkies and crowd pleasers, and it seems inevitable that an association in NZ will be formed in part to combat this but also to present parkour in keeping with the French founders desires. It is only a matter of time, but whoever is involved in this process must be aware of the cautions raised and primarily the problem of doing it with the blessing of the wider parkour community without "going maverick" and wrongfully claiming authority and representation.

I look forward to seeing further growth.

Sam

A Page From (Recent) History

A little over two years ago I started my first blog about parkour.  I haven't updated it for some time so I decided to transfer those articles over here and gradually shut down that blog to reduce my divided focus.  It makes for some interesting reading.  Here is my first ever blog post:


March 8th 2009:

The Inevitable Introductory Post

After resisting the urge to start a blog about my parkour for a long time, I have now become convinced that I have something to offer in this type of forum. That alone isn't enough for me to want to take this step. I have weighed the pros and cons and decided it is time well enough spent.

The disadvantages are fairly clear:

This will take time - I am already very pressed for time in my life.

This will be a long term commitment - to continue to update and add thoughts and ideas.

I am opening myself up to further public introspection of my parkour - as much as I'm happy to do what I do and I am confident in my understanding of parkour, there is the fear of accidentally misrepresenting parkour or someone assuming I speak for a particular parkour community.

But the advantages tip the balance enough:

I now have some experience, though still very limited, that I can share to aid others in their personal parkour and community development.

As a fairly analytical person who is pretty good at interacting with people (I think so anyway), I can offer advice in a clear and relatively easy to understand form.

I am not a typical body type for parkour (think front row forward in Rugby) so I can offer support to a unique group of people.

I am one of only a few older people (I'm 28) in the NZ parkour community.

I try to travel around and train with different groups in NZ to actually meet the real people which gives me a good idea of what's actually going on.

What is my involvement in New Zealand parkour?

I started training around December 2006

I've contributed various articles and summaries of useful information that I've discovered during my progress in parkour

I'm a moderator on the www.nzparkour.com forum

I've run introductory sessions for groups of beginners who are out to give parkour a go (some groups of 25+)

I've run regular trainings for high school groups and others for over a year now

I helped to organise a 3 day (unofficial) national parkour gathering

Expect to see on this blog:

A rough outline of my training methods

Articles I've put together about training

My personal progress (goals, etc)

My thoughts and reflections about the NZ parkour community

Parkour events coming up

and more...

I hope this will be a source of useful information and an inspiring read for many. Please subscribe and provide me with feedback as it develops.

Sam