Quotation: for the times when i got nothin' to say...

"Without philosophy, action has no meaning.”- Sebastian Foucan

"Down there we know, the streets we know, but up here? Nobody's been here." -David Belle

"Everything was invented when somebody was alone.”- Sebastian Foucan

"All these people here, they come and they want me to do big things, expect me to do big drops so they can sell pictures, put it on their websites, whatever. But what is my motivation then? I could do this jump once and maybe get hurt, but even if I don't get hurt what is the point right here, right now? To make these people happy? If my family was over there and needed me, I wouldn't even hesitate. I would do it for them and that's who I train and do these things for." I'm not a monkey, I can't be treated like one. I don't understand how people want to put themselves into great risk for money. I've trained so long and hard for myself, to save people, to protect my family... People get into Parkour now just train in order to do risks for media, I just can't understand why they would do so. That was never the goal of Parkour." -David Belle

"You can find the way by yourself naturally, you just need a guide to tell you to be careful, to not do this to impress people, just follow your instincts."- Sebastian Foucan

I really want to train right now.

but it's 40 degrees outside.

and i ain't doin' dat...

So I'm just gonna do lots of push ups and spiff up the blog a little instead.

and that's all i got...

guess who's back...

Yesterday I went out and trained for the first time in months.

It was beautiful.

I honestly thought it would be horrible to go after all this time, being so out of shape and out of practice. But it was far from that. I decided to begin by getting back to the basics. I just went and found a four foot high wall and began vaulting. I spent almost an hour on that little wall, practicing kongs, dashes and lazy vaults mainly.

I was completely alone on top of a parking garage. There was no pressure to perform, no expectations to live up to. just me and the wall. I knew my physical limitations and stayed well within them, and thus survived the day injury free...for once.

I then went on to work on my balance with some rails, and then moved on to some more complicated things such as cats and cranes.

It was simple... and flawless.

My moves where by no means flawless obviously, but my mindset was. I felt that feeling of oneness that I have not felt in such a long time. I was so perfectly focused and attuned to my surroundings. Everything felt right.

The more I consider the philosophy of parkour, the more I come to view it as nothing less than a martial art. Unlike other disciplines or "sports", parkour is a mindset, a philosophy that can be most accurately compared to eastern martial arts systems.

For a while, I disagreed with David Belle on his view that it is better to train by yourself. I only saw that training with others increases one's will to succeed. But I now completely agree with him. Training in groups has its advantages, but it eliminates the personal reflection aspect, and to a certain extent, it eliminates the very freedom that defines parkour.

I can't express how good it felt to train again.

For a while I feared my parkour days had come to an inglorious ending, what with my nonhealing injuries (or ninja-ries as i prefer to think of them) I had completely squelched my desire to train, to the point that I could walk down a sidewalk with naught but a wistful glance into the past. I lost the vision entirely. I stopped seeing the paths.

That was somewhat terrifying.

So nice to know I've still got it=)