Me and a Bench

Week 79

This week, I sort of spontaneously began experimenting with using one obstacle for an entire training session. The other day, that obstacle was a bench.

I was running around in the park and I was getting a little tired after conditioning so I decided to stop and play on a nearby bench. At first, I was working on simple vaults just going up and over the bench in different ways. And then I started getting more creative. I didn't realize what I was doing until I looked at the film later and showed some other friends who gave me props for creativity—one of my favorite compliments because it means I'm being open-minded and true to myself as a movement artist. 

Since Instagram (my main outlet for video sharing) only allows 15 second clips, I decided to make a video on my computer to share more of my bench training. It sounds silly, but you can really do a lot with one obstacle. Try it sometime. Find a rail, wall, curb, or bench and spend 30 seconds continuously moving up, over, and around it. Then try one minute. Then five. Then an hour. See how much you can do. Open your mind and clean those parkour goggles of yours. A lot of what I was doing was quite simple but I was having so much fun just twirling around and using the bench to inspire my movements. Okay I'm done preaching... here you go... me... and a bench...