I don’t run away from a challenge because I’m afraid. Instead, I run towards it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.
~ Nadia Comăneci
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Trample it beneath your feet →
Patience is the master key →
Patience is the master key to every situation. One must have sympathy for everything, surrender to everything, but at the same time remain patient and forbearing… There is no such thing as bending or breaking. It’s a question only of overcoming, which begins with overcoming oneself. That cannot be avoided. To abandon that path is always to break in pieces. One must patiently accept everything and let it grow within oneself. The barriers of the fear-ridden I can only be broken by love. One must, in the dead leaves that rustle around one, already see the young fresh green of spring, compose oneself in patience, and wait. Patience is the only true foundation on which to make one’s dreams come true.
~ Franz Kafka from, Kafka on Love and Patience – The Marginalian
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Patience with myself is a huge hurdle. I’m my own worst critic. One critical comment from me, and I crumble. I regularly beat myself down and out with negativity, self-doubt and unreasonable expectations.
New mantra: Patience is the master key. Patience.
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Grand Canyon →
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Breaking the bookshelf →
Read all the books! Gee… about a hundred books on my to-read pile, where should this one go now that the pre-order wait is finally over?!
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Courage →
Courage is only an accumulation of small steps.
~ unknown
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Yes you can →
Hello there! Welcome!
This post is where I’ve dumped a bunch of things intended to convince YOU that you really can do Parkour.
Why do I think you can do Parkour? Because, basically, everything the general public has heard about Parkour is wrong. You could totally do Parkour because…
I’m too old, over-weight, out of shape…
I did it, so can you.
I simply mean that when I started, I was very over-weight (BMI well over 30, definitely “obese”), very out of shape, and I was just over 40 years old. That combination is probably “worse off” than most people who end up reading this.
However, if you are older, in worse shape, or fatter than that, I do still think you can do it . . .
Do you think you can improve yourself?
Parkour is about improving yourself through challenge. So whatever is challenging for you, that’s going to be your practice. Maybe for you, it’s a warmup and then start working on some shoulder strength, but you spend a majority of the time watching class so you’re not over-exherting yourself. Maybe it’s a long talk about nutrition and diet (generally what you eat, not a specific diet fad) combined with your initial Parkour efforts.
What about that crazy stuff on TouYube?
It is NOT about big jumps! Why does everyone see the EXTREME movements, and then assume ALL Parkour has to be like that?
You can drive a car without getting into auto racing. You can do a cart wheel without being an Olympic gymnast. You can go for a jog without running a marathon. You can practice Parkour without jumping between roof-tops across an alley!
There’s nothing wrong with the extremes (in the “ultimate level of performance” sense) in any of those activities, but those extremes are NOT representative of the average activity of “driving”, “cart wheeling”, “running” or “Parkour”.
And anyway, here’s a link to my all-time favorite video of some Parkour. I think it’s spectacular, but not in the “huge jumps”, “extreme movement” sense: Julie Angel’s, Movement of Three (2’33”) Movement of Three – YouTube
But I’m a woman…
The answer is still: Yes. Yes you can.
I do understand that there are issues (not just in Parkour) that only women face. But those issues are either societal norms, or other bullshit caused by men. That has nothing to do with Parkour per se. (It’s about men. Actually it’s about boys. Real men don’t pull misogynistic crap.)
HOWEVER, do not take my word about anything regarding the woman’s point of view. Instead, go read this:
«http://www.risingtraceuse.com/2015/03/5-thoughts-that-keep-women-from-trying.html»
And the question almost no one asks…
How do I figure out where and with whom to train?
This is ACTUALLY the hard part. It’s always the same: finding the right coach is mission critical. And you have to perfom this most-important step BEFORE you know much about the thing you want to learn.
So here’s how you do it: You find the nearest place/people/group that purports to teach the thing. You go there. You put your “vibe radar” on and you don’t go back if anything weirds you out. If anything is high pressure (“Jump this! NOW!”, “Sign up for a year! NOW!”) then you back away slowly, and never return. They should be welcoming, intelligent and you should feel supported by most (if not literally) everyone in the class.
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Grand Canyon →
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7230: I surrender →
I surrendered yesterday with a heavy heart.
Since July 20th, 2015, it has been a long year of ups and downs. I’ve made some massive improvements in strength, and form, for the activities I’d chosen. But I still have much work left to do — both in terms of the number of reps left before the 10,000 goal, and in terms of the quality of the activities I had hoped to reach along the way.
A few weeks ago, I started a sprint to the finish. In an attempt to make the 10,000 goal within the dwindling days, I would need to do approximately 200 reps of everything every-other-day for several weeks. I started using a resistance band to ease the strain on my shoulder during the pull-ups, but even that was not enough to preserve my shoulder. This past weekend, at a Parkour event in Boston, it became painfully(!) clear that my shoulder injury was returning.
I have a Parkour trip planned in August, and I must begin that with my shoulder at 100%. I am forced to choose between a good shoulder for my trip, or the remaining 2770 pull-ups. I am choosing my shoulder.
Now, I find I have to write the “wrap this series up” post sooner than expected. So, what have I learned?
Anyone can put a challenge in front of themselves that they are unable to do. How well do you know what you are capable of? How well do you know how to make yourself capable of more. I train to know who I am and how I can improve.
~ Jesse Danger
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This 10k project is the largest challenge that I can ever recall attempting. It is the only thing I’ve ever tried to accomplish which spanned the course of one entire year. It was ambitious, huge and has taught me a lot about my ability to stay motivated over a long time frame. (Pro tip: I suck at staying motivated.) I learned (or refined) several new skills involving daily and weekly planning of workouts, planning for road-blocks (winter weather, holidays, trips) and recovering from injury.
It is certainly not the first thing at which I’ve failed. It is certainly not the last thing at which I’ll fail.
Perhaps one day I will do it again and make the goal. But for now, I have other things to do.
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Change simply is →
Change is neither good nor bad. It simply is.
~ Don Draper, in Mad Men (“Love Among the Ruins”), (s3e2, 2009 TV series)
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This kid →
This guy still remembers how to play! I’ve been in this bus terminal countless times and I’ve never thought to play with this rail gap. He’s got the foot-hook sorted already! #notadulting
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