(B)East Coast Jam 2013: Part 2

Day two of the event was held at Great Falls (VA) where we had a cookout, relaxed, and did some hiking/bouldering.  I’ve been going to Great Falls since I was a little kid and I’ve always loved climbing around and playing in the woods, so it was cool for me to go and play with this new awareness of my body, natural movement and my own capabilities.  Before, I was just messing around when I jumped from rock to rock or balanced on a fallen tree.  Now, I was thinking about it in the context of my parkour training.

I realized that I’m a lot more comfortable moving out in the woods than I am in the city.  While we were hiking later in the day, we came across a fallen tree that we used to cross a big drop with nothing but rocks and dirt beneath us.  As I was balancing my way across, I did what you’re never supposed to do and I looked down.  It didn’t throw me off or send me plummeting to my death, but I did see how high we were and what was below us.  I thought to myself would I cross something this high on a narrow surface in an urban setting? I’m not sure I would.  I don’t know why but falling in the concrete jungle is a lot scarier to me than falling on the rocks and dirt.  Even at the exact same height.  I experienced the same thing with climbing.  There are lots of trees and intimidating rock faces that I would climb before I’d climb a similar challenge in the city.  Maybe I should include more nature in my training.  Or some nature at all, considering this is the first time I’ve been hiking since I started training pk.  Anyways, we had a lot of fun climbing around and finding the challenging ways to get up and over the rocks.

Back at the picnic area, people were lying in the grass, exhausted from the day before.  Meanwhile, others proved to be a never-ending ball of energy, continuously flipping and playing around.  After lying in the sun for hours and going for a mini hike, I felt lazy enough so I got up and went to watch some people play on the backyard rails they brought.  Then one of the guys turned to me and said do a flip.  Excuse me? Come on, do a flip.  I can’t do a flip out here.  I need a spot.  He then proceeded to list all of his certifications and put his hand on my back, ready to spot me.  And then he waited in that position until I was ready.  When I realized he was not going to let me walk away without flipping, I finally decided to get over my fears of flipping outside and did a tuck.  Hey, that wasn’t so bad.  He immediately went into instructor mode and started giving me pointers.  We worked on it for a few minutes until I got scared again because he was going to make me do it without a spot.  Baby steps.

As afternoon became evening and people started trickling out, I had to begin saying goodbye.  It was weird not knowing when I’d see most of them again, but there’s always next year!  I had such an amazing time this weekend training and meeting new people in the community.  I have never felt so welcome and so much a part of something before.  I loved bonding with the other pk girls.  I loved being pushed to try new things and connect with people.  I can be really shy in large groups sometimes but I never felt uncomfortable this weekend.  I was always making new friends and everyone I talked to was so nice and excited to be there.  It was really a great experience.  Thanks again to APK, The Tribe & M2 for putting on such an amazing event! Looking forward to next year!