Time Out... Kind Of

Week 9: Vacation
Family trip to the tropics could not come at a better time.  I was more than willing to drag my exhausted, haven't-seen-the-sun-in-days, post-finals self to the airport Saturday morning so I could meet up with the rest of my family where palm trees sway in the island breeze and the water is the same temperature as the warm salty air.  After a few days I already felt more relaxed and rejuvenated.  Which meant I had the energy to be active again! I'm alive! I realize the whole point of vacation is to relax and be lazy, but I don't really understand this concept.  Relax.  I am all for lying on the beach and soaking up the sun, but I have to balance it out with some activities.

Like any normal person would, as soon as I knew where I was going I googled that location with the word parkour to see if I could find any hotspots or groups on the island.  Bingo.  I immediately found a Facebook page for the local parkour & freerunning team.  I sent them a message introducing myself and letting them know I was coming and they responded with some info about open gym where I could join them.

Going to open gym the other night was so much fun and exactly what I needed.  Not only was I psyched about the  equipment (they train in a local gymnastics center) and the spring floor, but it was also a great atmosphere.  Just a bunch of kids hanging out, jamming to some serious dubstep & house music while pulling out tricks that made my eyes widen a bit.  I paid the $10 entry fee, stretched out and then nervously stepped over to the tumbling floor.  It's been about 3 years since I've been on a spring floor so I was both ecstatic at the thought of it, and nervous because it's been 3 years.  Tumbling on a spring floor is very different than a hard surface, as you might guess.  The rebound you can get from a spring floor is extremely powerful compared with regular mats, grass or any other surface.

I got my confidence back, to say the least.  I pulled out tricks I had no idea I could still do.  Standing tucks.  Round-off layouts.  Aerials.  Enough handsprings to make me dizzy.  Where did all of this come from?! I was beyond excited.  It felt amazing to tumble like that again, and to feel comfortable just flipping around.

It's very strange to train by yourself without an instructor watching your every move and telling you you're ready.  I'm so used to having a leader of some sort tell me which tricks to train and give me progressions and training ideas.  Now, I have to be more self-aware and decide for myself when I'm ready to try something.  I find it easier to trust someone else.  I suppose it's because my instructor is a trained professional whose sole purpose is to tell me I'm ready for my next skill.  On the other hand, what do I know?

Apparently, I don't give myself enough credit.  I was nervous to try my round-off tuck at the gym, and then I ended the night throwing round-off layouts with a rebound.  I was even more nervous to try my standing tuck and almost asked someone for a spot but then I thought you know what, I know I can do this.  And I know that worst case, I'll land on my hands and knees.  And then I just did it.  I trusted myself, I threw it, I landed it.  Bam.  Take that, world.  I was on such a natural high.  Even while the freerunning team was throwing crazy tricks while I was doodling with my single trick passes, I still felt amazing.

The guys were awesome.  Crazy tumblers pulling out double this and that, flip after flip after flip, twists, kicks, fulls, corks... my head was spinning.  Might have also been the heavy bass and being in the sun all day, but they were definitely making me dizzy.

After getting my confidence back with my tumbling abilities, I did some conditioning in the corner and climbed the rope a few times.  Then I met the rest of the guys and chatted for a minute.  The gym was closing up so we agreed to try to meet up later this week to train outside together.