DEFYING GRAVITY

In Which I Play the Bard...

2009-03-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

A couple nights ago I was out wandering around, and i came to this one beautiful spot for a cat leap. it was completely within my abilities, but certainly not a small gap either. I paced around for a bit, wrestling with myself, and finally did it. But then I spent some time thinking about the mental progression of a leap like that, and I decided it was poetry worthy.
Now whether I'm poetry worthy or not is another question entirely...But in any case, the following is my own humble attempt to capture the emotions of that moment.

The Battle

My way is clear,
yet held by an unknown force I remain
pacing in agitation,
uncertainty? no.
This is fear.

Fear unjustified,
I make the leap and grasp the edge,
but only in my mind's eye,
it is enough.
My resolve solidified.

A battle within,
a culmination of emotion,
my heart screams for relief,
I know will come,
but only if I take the leap.

My heart beats fast,
yet within my mind a door closes,
the battle dies down,
I am one.
Alone at last...

No time left,
the ground falls away beneath,
yet all is right.
In midair, freedom,
flight beyond regret.

fear and gravity overcome,
my fingers grip the ledge,
peace at last,
the struggle over,
another battle won.

Essay

2009-03-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

So I'm taking this Martial Arts class just for kicks and giggles and for part of the midterm we had an assignment to write a paper on the Philosophy of Taoism, and this is the result of that. I decided since Parkour was founded on many Taoist principles, I would just write it on pk. Needless to say, it's a pretty low quality and highly uninteresting paper, as the nature of the assignment demanded. alas... I also borrowed much from my previous writing so it'll be somewhat repetitive.

The Tao of Parkour

In this paper I intend to interpret the ancient philosophy of Taoism as it relates to the modern discipline of Parkour. Inasmuch as my personal philosophy concerning Parkour is primarily of my own construction, built from my own experiences, and inasmuch as my philosophy of life is largely comprised of these same ideals, by offering my views of Taoism as it relates to Parkour, I will also be providing my own personal interpretation and application of the philosophy of Taoism. As with any examination such as this, the terms must first be defined. Thus I will proceed by giving a brief explanation of both philosophies—Parkour and Taoism—before I begin to draw any conclusions on the matter.

Known by some as the art of displacement, Parkour is a discipline and a philosophy that has been developed within the past thirty years, with its roots grounded in the urban cityscapes of France. At its most basic level, parkour is a physical activity practiced in an urban environment, in which the practitioner (or traceur as they are commonly called) moves from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible while overcoming any obstacles in his path. Often described as skateboarding without a skateboard, the word parkour was originally derived from Parcours du Combattant, the obstacle course based military training exercises developed by the physical educator and theorist Georges Hébert. Using movements often derived from those found in the animal kingdom, traceurs train themselves both mentally and physically to adapt to the urban environment in such a way as to move easily and fluidly past any obstruction. This goal is often accomplished to the extent that a traceur might perform seemingly inhuman feats, appearing to defy the laws the gravity. On any given day, a skilled traceur might find himself running up walls, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, or hanging by his fingertips five stories in the air. This is the physical side of Parkour. However, as one of the founding fathers of the art put it, "without philosophy, action has no meaning.” (Sebastian Foucan, Jump London) The essence of parkour is not defined by the movement, but by the philosophy behind the movement. It is this that seperates Parkour from other urban activities, because at its core, it is not an activity, but a mindset. It is not an extreme sport, but a way of life. It is here, at that core, that Parkour and Taoism intersect.

The word Tao, denotes “a power which envelops, surrounds and flows through all things, living and non-living. The Tao regulates natural processes and nourishes balance in the Universe." ("Our Beliefs," Reform Taoist Congregation at: http://www.reformtaoism.org). Tao is the driving force of nature. To live in accordance with that force will bring a person into a state of alignment with the natural order of life, which is considered to be the ultimate human ideal. A unification with this force of nature is what Taoism seeks to accomplish.

This unification embodies the first principle of Taoism; oneness. Taoism’s holistic approach calls for humans to become one with the universe. Only in uniting with nature in this way can true freedom be achieved. This precept of oneness is also fundamental to Parkour in two ways, the first to be considered will be classified as external. Acquiring a sense of external oneness means that the practitioner becomes one with his surroundings. In practicing Parkour, “you feel connected to your environment, you feel connected to your body and you feel connected to the forces at play around you and within you, and between you and your environment. You feel sort of not in control of them, but sort of half in control of them and half controlled by them. But you’re 100% there, in your environment, you can’t afford to be thinking about something else… it’s a very dynamic feeling, you feel very alive, vibrant, sort of full of power” (Dan Edwardes quoted in Angel, 2006). Gaining a profound respect and understanding of the world around him, a traceur is able to gain a full awareness of his own abilities and limitations, and as a result, he ceases to be enslaved by these things. By becoming one with his environment, he frees himself.

As the traceur develops a physical proficiency in the external realm, he also attains a sense of internal oneness. As the movements become fluid and instinctual, the traceur no longer has to think through what he will do. His thoughts and actions meld together into one unified purpose. “Activities such as parkour, place the participants body (and ‘mind’) within an experience that challenges social norms, due to its non-normal occurrence. Such activities also bring a reported sense of purpose through movement, an embodiment of intent. ‘Embodiment has as a principle characteristic the collapse of dualities between mind and body, subject and object’” (The Art of Displacement, Neill Brown).

Oneness of mind and body is also coupled with an emotional oneness. The emotional condition a person is in will have a profound affect on that person’s physical performance. The emotion most commonly experienced when practicing Parkour is probably fear. While many unexperienced Traceurs will attempt to deny or suppress their feelings of fear, this route can quickly lead to injury or worse. This is why the serious injuries are generally sustained by beginners, even though the moves they are attempting may be far less dangerous than those performed by seasoned Traceurs. Those more accomplished in the art will be quick to tell you that fear is a natural human instinct of self-preservation and that it is not something to be surpressed, but rather embraced. When a person begins to embrace his feelings of fear, he begins to understand them, and by understanding, he is set free. Many people are enslaved by fear, but learning to understand what it is, and control it, gives us the power to harness fear as a useful tool and avoid being ruled by it. Paradoxically, becoming one with your fear is the path to finding freedom over that fear. Once again, the principle of oneness is an all-important factor in Parkour.

Another one of the fundamentals of Taoism is the idea that opposing forces work in harmony with each other to maintain balance in the Universe. This concept is embodied in the Yin Yang symbol. This symbol can be understood to represent any number of different opposing forces, but in Parkour, it may be understood as the balance between hard style and soft style. This same perspective is held within many eastern martial arts systems. The soft style being the fluid, effortless movements, and the hard style, being the fast, high-impact movements. Both of these methods are essential for a traceur to move freely within his environment. Thus, balance is achieved only through the harmony of opposites. Equally important to this idea is the relationship that exists between the Traceur and the obstacle opposing him. There must exist a harmony between man and object. This is where the concept of “flow” comes into play. This is perhaps the most defining difference between seasoned practitioners and amateurs to the discipline; that smooth, natural fluidity of movement that comes only with training and experience.

The word “Tao” can be roughly translated into English as the way, or the path. This idea is inherently foundational to Parkour as both a philosophy and a physical activity. Physically speaking, a practicing Traceur must navigate a path through his environment, utilizing the most direct and natural methods to overcome whatever obstacles are in that path. This principle of finding the path easily transitions over to the philosophical side of Parkour, and it is this principle which gives Parkour its universal relevance. As human beings, we each make a series of choices and actions that will ultimately decide the path which our lives will take. The choices that we make will impact that path either for better or for worse. To walk ”the path” is to live in harmony with the natural order of things by making the choices that will allow us to fulfill our proper place in that order, and once again, become one with nature. To practice the discipline of parkour is to choose the most efficient path and learn to overcome all opposing forces in that path, whether they be physical, intellectual, or spiritual. To find this path is the ultimate goal of a traceur.

The truths revealed in Taoism are universal by nature. This is why many of the ideals found in Taoistic philosophy are also represented in Parkour. Contrary to popular belief, Parkour is not an extreme sport. It is not some passing teenage fad devised to satisfy the reckless desires of adrenaline junkies and thrill seekers wishing to prove themselves. It is a philosophy of life, a personal mode of expression, and a channel for the actualization of human potential. It is a means of conquering oneself, thus attaining freedom of movement and freedom of thought.

Dissertation

2009-03-03T11:42:00.000-08:00

This is utterly fasinating and quite brilliant... I know it's kinda long, and our attention spans are practically nonexistent these days...but read it at all cost! (Mike and Austin, this means YOU!)
The Art of Displacement

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

2009-02-17T15:51:00.000-08:00

"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

2009-02-16T20:11:00.001-08:00

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...

2009-02-02T09:16:00.000-08:00

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=)

sigh

2008-09-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

well...I was supposed to be healed months ago...doctors are dumb.
anyways...since i decided that to help mike in his endeavor to give it up, and because i keep getting my hopes up that i'll be healed soon and be able to run again, i'm simply going to put both parkour, and this blog, on hold indefinitely.

I'm giving it up.

for now...
maybe in a few months (or years?!?) my body will do what it's supposed to do and freaking heal itself. but i can't continue to wait and hope that every week brings me closer to training again. because it's just not working and having parkour constantly on my mind is just tormenting.

so...for the precious few of you who actually read this blog...
peace.

i'll be back....
...like a spine.
;)

...The Blackest of Days...

2008-08-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

An event of the most tragic nature has come to pass...

My dearest pk brother mike has given up the art, for completely understandable and unavoidable personal reasons.

My initial reaction is to use this post to be overly dramatic...so i think i will. (For best results, read with this song playing in the background;-)

I could talk about the countless close calls we've had with cops and security...I could bring up our triumphs and failures and the accompanying scars and injuries....I could talk about any number of epic urban adventures we've had this year....so many glorious memories to choose from.

But i won't. *sniff* he wouldn't have wanted it that way...If he were standing here today...I'd shake his hand, call him stupid, and punch him in his overly jacked pectorals...

Rest in peace my dear friend...we'll miss you dearly.

oh wait...you're still alive.....right.

Having written this, i find that i can't really put into words that which i want to say. It seems like such a trivial thing (It's not as if he's dead or anything for crying out loud!) so i'm making a joke out of it. yet at the same time, i find myself truly sad about it.

He was the first guy that i ever met who truly understood and shared my passion...now he has to try to kill that passion to do the right thing. I know how hard that'll be for him. such is the way of life.

But i'm now reminded of a conversation i had with Mike during a recent excursion into downtown Augusta GA. We were discussing the subject of manliness, and as i recall the conclusion was reached that one of the most manly things a guy can do, is to give up that which he loves to do that which he knows to be right.

Mike is a man.

Freerunning at it's finest...

2008-08-04T15:07:00.000-07:00

This video had some nice freerunning bits in it...Although the language is quite heavy so watch at your own discretion.
Mighty Moshin' Emo Rangers
lol. OK, well maybe I just thought it was hilarious and it had enough free running thrown in there to justify posting it on this blog.
But you gotta love that cartwheel of doom...

"Congratulations you've saved you're city! today's deathtoll was only 10,000!"

WARNING: soliloquy head...

2008-08-02T22:12:00.001-07:00

Yeah it's that time again. When I get on my soap box and spew forth a highly confusing, often random, scatter-brained train of thoughts. Good luck making any sense of it...

This is also the part where everyone starts to think i've completely gone off the deep end and joined some kind of freaky parkour cult or something. Call me weird, but I guess I just happen to enjoy finding deeper meaning in what I do than most people.

The other day, I found myself wondering why I was so dismayed when I read that UFF was announcing their hosting of a "World Freerun Championship" on September 3rd. I don't know why this would bother me, because first off, why in the world do I see competitiveness as such a bad thing?

Secondly, I know that the discipline which I seek to adhere to is not freerunning, but parkour, therefore I should not be bothered by the actions taken by those in a playing field that is not mine. But the line between parkour and freerunning will always be a little sketchy... I guess that only now have I begun to realize some of the more subtle, philosophical differentiations between the two schools of thought.

The first one which I'm dealing with here, being that of competition...

In the most widely accepted definition of freerunning it is defined as having an emphasis on aesthetics. This in itself implies that it's about flashiness, about looks, and to summon a phrase that I normally so despise... It's about showing off. The focus seems to be less internal and more on what other people think. I'm saying this not to detract from or demean all of the highly skilled athletes out there who rally under the freerun banner, but simply to make my point. The fact is, freerunning is by definition, a competitive sport. When the drive of the art is, at least partially, centered around performance, the focus in this case is generally outdoing the next guy.

This is also known as "healthy competition." I'd call it a great thing in most cases. However I see parkour as an exception to this rule.

For me, it's very easy to allow parkour to become a competitive sport in my mind. But that's something that I have to train myself not to do. I take parkour as very much of a personal thing. I'm not striving to beat everyone else.

However it is easy to get frustrated when someone else can pull off a particular move that I cannot. Taken in moderation, this can help inspire me to train harder, but to allow the fact that someone else is more advanced than I am to bother me, goes against the very meaning of true parkour: freedom.

Not simply freedom of movement, but freedom of idea. Freedom to view and experience the world through my eyes. Not someone else's. To allow myself to become frustrated and envious of another traceur's abilities, would imprison my mind and limit my creativity.

But this is MY path.

One of the greatest joys of parkour to me, is the aspect of exploration. The chance to forge my own path in a world where everyone else seems to be following the person in front of them.

I will not fall into this trap.

My mind is the enemy. The city is the battlefield. My body is my weapon of choice. (when it's not malfunctioning on me that is...:-P)

Fear, weakness, doubt, pride, laziness... I would include Competitiveness in that list as well... All the things that hinder and prevent me from reaching my full potential, these are the things which I strive against. Not against my fellow traceur. I am not running against him. To allow myself to do so would ground me.

I refuse to walk in the footsteps of another.

I wrote all this and let it sit for a couple days not knowing quite how to end it. Then I was watching I Robot and at the end, Will Smith's character put it more simply than I could've.

He said: "I think you'll have to find your way like the rest of us... ...That's what it means to be free."

That's what it means to parkour.

Wow...

2008-08-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

I just found this video and I was pretty amazed. This is old school...

Gotta love it. There truly is nothing new under the sun... and this dude is no n00b either! Even by today's standards he would be considered incredibly good.

2008-07-03T20:48:00.001-07:00

The World. My Playground.
The Streets. My Home.
The Architecture. My Inspiration.
The Fear. My Motive.
The Sweat, the Scars, the Pain. My Proof.
My Name. Traceur.

Insane Drops

2008-06-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

I can't say this video "Saut de Fond" is impressive really, more like just plain dumb/suicidal. This dudes gonna need knee replacements when he's 25 if not sooner... But this is probably the biggest drop i've ever seen...

except maybe for this one...
"Russian Parkour"
;-D

PK radio?..

2008-06-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

I found this doing some random search the other day, Parkour Radio.
Very interesting and definitely worth listening to. Especially for those of us who are stuck in their houses and can't train for extended periods of time but still need some kind of parkour fix;-)

The Prison of My Body

2008-06-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

Haha...yay for webcams;p

ah dang...

2008-06-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

well...my return visit to the sports doctor went poorly to say the least. I stayed off of my leg for the past month as best as I could...mostly... A few times I was too tempted and probably did a couple vaults and whatnot every now and then...
but overall I stayed off of it like a champion. I waited patiently and watched in helpless chagrin as my inactivity brought about ten pounds of muscle off my body... I suffered through the wretched claustrophobic feeling of being stuck in the house for week upon week...
and finally all my discipline payed off...no wait...i mean it DIDN'T pay off...
Actually, all of this to say...I'm on crutches now.
So once again...I am forced to beg clemency from anyone out there who might be reading this blog. Because I understand all too well that a blog detailing the life of a crippled traceur might possibly be the most boring, pathetic thing in the whole dang world...Guess I need to get my xbox fixed because it looks like I'll be layed up for another month at the very least.

2008-05-31T12:10:00.020-07:00

This is another exceptional video I found today by Team Tempest, a free running group from LA. The video itself is really professionally made. They show off a lot of new moves and beautiful variations that I've never seen before. Nice to see the United States finally start to make their mark on the pk community.

1:32 might be my favorite moment. Guess you'd call it a spiral kong. guh... so beautiful...I have to find a gym and get that one down.
3:54 also drool worthy. a TRIPLE kong!
bleagh... I'm sooo sick of being a gimp... I'm just praying that this downtime has been affective and i'll be able to hit the streets again soon.

Hopeful

2008-05-21T14:55:00.001-07:00

well...i'm sitting here...going stir crazy...twiddling my thumbs...not really sure why i'm even updating...i'm still broken...watching lots of videos in wistful anticipation. I'm going back to get it rechecked at the beginning of next month. pretty sure i'm a total klutz by now and won't be able to do many things without relearning them. crazy excited about the prospect of being able to use my legs without pain for once though!!
w00t.
trying to swim and stuff like that to stay in shape as much as possible. but it's hard to have discipline without any tangible reward...

I took a trip to Atlanta last week. Where I once looked and only saw a fairly trashy, ghetto city, i now see only the beauty and potential in EVERYTHING. It's huge. It's so vastly beyond Augusta or Columbia, you could go for days without ever backtracking, and i think the cops are probably less uptight there too because they have so much more to be worried about than traceurs. From this, and from being inspired by a Documentary on a pk journey to Lisses. (which is highly worth watching.) I've decided to plan on taking a "pilgrimage" to Atlanta at some point later this summer. Hopefully plan it around some decent sized meetup and get a chance to run with some of the traceurs up there. that would be uber glorious, and give me some inspiration to train my face off before then.

grrr...

2008-04-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

well please pardon my extended period of silence... i really have done no parkour whatsoever for the past few weeks. *tear* Mainly because my leg has gotten to be too painful for me to do really anything at all aside from walk on it. But on a happier note, i went to the doctor to get it checked the other day and he thinks i've got some kind of fracture. which makes me feel like less of a pansy for complaining about it for the past year:p so i gotta go get it x-rayed and then probably have to stay off of it for a couple months:( but it was cool because the doctor actually knew about parkour! which was weird for me...i'm so used to having to explain it.
But i'm really happy to finally understand what it is and that there is treatment available so i won't have to limp around like this for the rest of my life!...
so my pk training has been tragically postpwnd...i'll be substituting that with training in the gym until further notice.
poo.

Graniteville Session

2008-03-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well this is the video Mike made of the session over at the mills. Unfortunately, the quality is probably even worse than our last one. but once again, we weren't setting out to make a video, just to train. the music cuts out half way through i didn't think it was worth my time to spruce up...So all of this to say.... it's a pretty crappy video! right now we're both trying to heal from a few things, but hopefully soon we'll be putting out a real video, with like...a real camera...and real angles...and maybe even a camera man so we don't have to prop it on rocks and parking meters...lol.
and oh yeah, a couple friends of my brother are making a film up in G'Ville next month involving a pk chase sequence that they want me to do for them! so w00t.

hmmm...

2008-03-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

I went to the Y the other day and got to work on my backflip and dash vault.
yes, i am attempting backflips again. for those of you who don't know, i nailed the backflip early last summer, with no spotter, just me and grass, can you say stupid?! and naturally the third time i did it i got too excited and came down directly on my head. with all 200 lbs of me. yes... a less than ideal situation to say the least...

so after paying off my cairopractor bills i decided that i was way too tall (and injury prone) to be doing flips anyways, so i gave up free-running and devoted myself to becoming a full-fledged, anti-flipping, elitist parkour snob:p

but now i'm starting it up again...can you still say stupid??? haha.... yeah i succumbed to peer pressure...so we'll see how that goes....

update: The Blue Martini??

2008-03-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a while so I thought i'd just give a general update.

I went out late last night with Devon, Kendall and Chris Miller, we made a run through the downtown area, hit up some of my favorite spots around the Library. kendall is really getting into it, he's a really quick learner, just needs to get in shape a little. neways, he plays drums and later in the night, we passed by one of the jazz clubs he frequents and decided to go in and let him play a set. twas amazing! and completely unparkour related...but still....

me and mike made a glorious run through Graniteville SC last week. it's an old mill town, with acres and acres of abandoned factories...heavenly. simply heavenly=) unfortunately we got busted on our way back to the car! they didn't call the cops, and were pretty laid back and awesome actually. they were young once too... nothing like in Columbia... Graniteville's a great town;) got a little bit of video footage that doesn't do it justice, but i should have that up sometime soon for what it may be worth.

Overall, lately I haven't been doing much other than instructing. school has been keeping me kind of bedridden lately. plus, i'm realizing that i really need to take better care of myself. my leg is driving me insane. every single jump i make hurts. for the past few months i've just been avoiding high drops, and focusing my energy on other things, but now using it in any way, wall runs, tic tacs, cat leaps, everything involving my lower half! which is everything...
*sigh* i'm gonna start popping calcium pills...

wow. just wow...

2008-03-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

normally i wouldn't post videos like this that make me feel so very weak and pathetic, but i decided this one was worth mentioning. my gosh, this video is unlike anything i've ever seen before, some of the impressiveness of it can be attributed to good editing, but still...wow. this dude is not human...0_0
The Quest of Movement
in my humble opinion, this is consummate, definitive, parkour. as smooth and controlled as ballet, yet every movement is still unbelievably explosive and powerful.
It starts out a bit slow, but is worth the wait...

Finley Training Session

2008-03-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

Mike and I went down to Finley Park today for a couple hours to train, and we took his camera so we could critique our technique and just for kicks and giggles. it was just a photo camera, so the quality isn't all that great. nothing to impressive or anything, mainly just messing around on the rails etc, but it was a good day... no trouble with the local authorities this time;) so he threw together this video. soon we're hoping to get an actual camera and maybe a tripod so we can make a decent video, with more drops etc. but this turned out ok. try to ignore the words on the screen, his camera program wasn't very mac friendly...but what is these days...

A Tribute to the Dark Knight

2008-02-18T22:29:00.002-08:00

Without a doubt the greatest of all traceurs to walk the earth...nay, the greatest of all mortal men to walk the earth! His incalculable dexterity, stealthiness, mad ups, and all around awesome are truly an inspiration to not just the free runners among us, but to all mankind...
It is Batman that all men aspire to become, whether they realize it or not. Batman is the reason Chuck Norris wakes up screaming at night.
statistically speaking, more American males claim to have a man-crush on Christian Bale than any other actor in history. ever.
90% of men in America claim to experience goose bumps just by hearing the phrase "I am Vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman". The other 10% claims to be gay...
May the Dark Knight continue to inspire us to fight evil, jump off buildings, look awesome, and bring justice to the Gotham city that resides within each of our hearts...forever and ever Amen.

The story of how I became a ruthless criminal

2008-02-16T21:00:00.001-08:00

that's right kids, it's story time!

or rather, it's the time for me to vent about a highly annoying, but somewhat humorous situation...

once upon a time...(like this morning) me and mike, and his younger cousin went down to USC... we roamed around happily for about three solid hours... then around lunchtime, we found this parking garage, about five stories high, and it had a wall with a 3 inch ledge every 3 feet up... with mulch at the bottom, which made for both fun climbing and fun drops. but it was not to be...

for when i was about half-way up the side, i looked down and to my horror and annoyance i saw a security officer pull off the road and get out... my initial reaction was to get down as fast as possible, so i jumped but was so perturbed by the security guard's rapid approach and grim visage that i kinda freaked and screwed up the roll and rolled onto my head...

luckily any pain or embarrassment that i might have otherwise felt at that moment was forgotten as the officer began interrogating us. she was a female and thereby trying humorously hard to be intimidating and professional "take your hands out of your pockets sir." haha... not meant in any kind of sexist way...it was just funny is all...i'm sure she's a wonderful person deep down...

but as we began to try to calm her down and explain what we were doing, FOUR OTHER COP CARS PULL UP!! so now we're surrounded by i think 6 officers...ready to taser the pants off us at a moments notice... once all her "backup" arrived, the woman was a little bit more civil...
so now i began giving an explanation of parkour, selling it as a discipline and emphasizing the fact that we were training. and mike is going for the "we're just having fun and we're really good kids and not vandals and yes everything your saying is right, so please don't arrest us"=)

haha....and then the situation was worsened by the fact that we weren't even students at USC and apparently we weren't even supposed to be on campus without an escort??? what. the. poo.

so they chewed us out for a while, and took down our names and birth dates and said we were on "campus probation" and couldn't be on campus without an "escort". so now USC is closed to us... which is tragic. because it really had some of the best pk spots in the city.

guh...it's exactly this "I'm a skateboarder, arrest me!" mentality that we try so hard to avoid...and they have to go freakin out on us like that. FIVE COP CARS! it was a new experience, i've never been surrounded by five cop cars before. come on guys! surely you have something more important to do! go arrest some druggies or J-walkers or something...it's USC, everybody else is stoned and high, and they come after the innocent Bible College Students...yeah i know...way to represent. aach....whatev.

mike and i consoled ourselves afterwards by imagining how incredibly easily we could have escaped if we had wanted to...
and how! mwahaha....

ok, i have sufficiently vented...

THE END

PS: mom, if you happen to read this, it's no biggie...really...:)

PSS: on a really really ridiculously random sidenote... i also happened to scrape my stomach climbing up a rail, and it's like a perfect bar-code! haha...

Philosophy: random musings...

2008-02-10T21:18:00.000-08:00

Parkour is my drug.
It occurs to me that I've always used it as a form of escapism. When I'm training, I can leave it all behind, whatever kind of stress I happen to be under at the time, be it mental, emotional, academic, etc.

I can honestly say that even when my life seems really screwed up at the time, when I'm parkouring, i don't know it... i suppose it's because when you're hanging by your fingertips two or three stories off the ground it's hard to remember life's other struggles;-)

Essentially, parkour has allowed me to maintain my sanity on many occasions when i probably would have otherwise lost it. It gives me a chance to focus all my energy, both physically and mentally. I can lose myself in it. i can get outside of the confines of my mind. it's just me, and God, and the urban jungle...and that's how we like it.

Update: curses...

2008-02-06T21:34:00.000-08:00

Training for me has slowed down considerably, one, i strained my abs or something last night, which makes just walking challenging enough, and two, i'm taking it easy as i'm hoping against hope that my leg will somehow heal. the doctor said i needed to stay off it (parkour-wise) for 2 or 3 weeks...but right now that's impossible, after a year of training by myself, *sniff, sniff...* i've finally generated some momentum here at CIU. Mike is really taking off, which only serves to further inspire me...The ministry idea is slowly materializing, and i'm trying to pull together a training course on campus that we can run every couple days. I can't stop now. uhuh...
I forgot how much it helps to have people with you! last night we went out and i pulled off some perfect palm spins, and increased my kong distance considerably. i just wish i could take drops, but my leg hurts too much to consider that.
blast.
still excited though...
if time allows, (between writing essays etc) we're going out again tomorrow night.

Update: Downtown and Finley Park

2008-02-04T16:56:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure what you would call this, ^ some strange variation on a flag I guess. But I can probably hold it for a good 10 seconds now. Must just be practice and balance, because I don't think my upper-body strength has improved that significantly...
The past couple weeks have been excellent. A lot of guys here at school are getting into parkour, so I've been able to get downtown three or four times. Mainly we're still just wandering around looking for spots. ---> This was a pretty cool parking garage we explored, had some nice places for dismounts etc once my leg heals up. grrr... yeah, i've got shin splints in my left leg, so i'm avoiding high impact drops for a few weeks, hoping it'll heal... Got some great vaults in by the post office though-->
I trained with Mike one night, he's pretty excited about it, and he's in great enough shape from being in the military that he can easily keep pace with me, which is really nice He also has way more common sense than me, so he probably kept us from doing stuff we shouldn't be doing;-) Then last night I went down there with Caleb and Dave, did some balancing and wall runs in Finley, -->
Plus we also found the most amazing spot ever. A collection of roofs that can be reached by Jackie Jan'ing up a 20' alleyway. I really want to go back and play on it some. It had some fantastic spots to do roof jumps etc... On a side note, Chris Miller is really interested in using Parkour as a witnessing opportunity, and i've already seen its effectiveness... so we'll see how that goes. I'm also hoping to hook up with guys at USC sometime soon. w00t.

Cat leaps in Finley park

2008-02-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

Update: USC

2008-01-27T20:59:00.000-08:00

The past couple days i've been able to get down to Downtown Columbia and the USC campus, which has been glorious. what i wouldn't give to be able to go there whenever i wanted instead of just once every few weeks....i'm losing my mind, being this close to all that, and not being able to get there!

i worked on kongs mainly tonight. they've improved lately, i can clear a good 4 or 5 feet now, but they still need work, i have a hard time getting horizontal.

cat leaps are coming along great though, i finally found a spot and pulled some 180 cats on some pillars. nice to know i can do it...

Oh yeah, note to self: check the landing surface before you kong over a wall! i thought there was a sidewalk, but realized in midair that it was actually a set of stairs going down to the basement level! it could've been bad...

the calcium deposits in my left leg are becoming a terrible problem, any time i make a drop, the pain just shoots up my leg, and keeps hurting for a few hours. i'm hoping to find some vitamins or something to help this problem.

PS i got this photo (props to my sister!) published on Urban Freeflow photo of the month for the US. w00t.
http://urbanfreeflow.com/pics_of_the_month/jan2008/pics_of_the_month.htm

Philosophy

2008-01-23T10:03:00.001-08:00

I felt a need to give some explanation for this discipline that I have given my heart to. So that those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about when I say “parkour”, will have some frame of reference. And so when you see me doing weird “off the wall” (no pun intended) stuff, you’ll understand why.
(Plus I just felt like writing and figured I’d write about this. So I will now attempt to cut loose and waxeth eloquent…laugh at me if you feel so inclined...:-p

First and foremost, parkour is freedom. Freedom of movement, and freedom from some of the limitations imposed on us by society. Essentially, to practice the discipline of parkour, is to unchained your soul from the sidewalk.

The average person will stroll down the street, admiring the beauty of a city from a safe distance. A parkourist on the other hand, experiences the city on a much more intimate level. He really lives in another world entirely, he sees paths no one else sees.

For a practitioner of parkour, the city becomes far more. People use the term “concrete jungle” loosely, but that is truly what it becomes. Suddenly, a simple chain-link fence is no longer an annoying obstacle, it becomes a thrilling challenge to be met and overcome in any number of ways. Something as ordinary and commonplace as a parking garage can become the most exciting thing in the world.

If life is a chess board, then in terms of movement, the average man remains a mere pawn, moving down the row in one direction, one square at a time, or at best, a rook. A skilled parkourist however, is more in line with the queen, having the ability to move freely in any direction regardless of obstacles. A parkour practitioner relies on training and technique, coupled with primal, animal instinct to overcome these obstacles.

This is more than just an “extreme sport”. A sport can be left out on the field, or on the court. Parkour follows you everywhere you go. It’s a new means of transportation that becomes branded onto your mind, leaving you unable to view the world in the same light. Which is both a gift and a curse…

And yes, I know I should be doing something “normal” like playing football or basketball or something, but… I’m a self-proclaimed geek, and as such, am repulsed by such things. So when I discovered Parkour, I instantly fell in love with it, which is why I’ve given so much of time, effort, and blood, to this unorthodox art. Though I cannot claim to have achieved any great proficiency yet, it’s what I love.

So, when you see me randomly throwing myself off roofs, or balancing on rails, or climbing up walls, feel free to think i'm weird, or that I need a life, or just need to grow up, just please, please, please, don't think i'm just trying to "show off", (something i so despise) I'm just having fun, so just... smile and nod...and hand me a bandaid...'k?
;-)