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...

FAMJAM 2014: International Parkour/Freerunning Jam

Traveling Ninja: Munich Edition

I am completely exhausted and my body is in desperate need of rest, but I am absolutely loving life.

Earlier this month, I spent four days in Munich for FAMJAM 2014 hosted by Free Arts of Movement (FAM). I took the train in from Paris without knowing a word of German or a single person going to the jam. And it was one of the best decisions I've made this summer.

... even if things did not always go as planned. Upon arrival Wednesday night, I attempted to figure out the trains but I soon gave up and took a taxi with a driver who spoke no English. Of course. I had written down the address but something got lost in translation because he pulled up next to an old gas station and told me we were there. No, I tried to explain, I don't think this is it... I pointed at the address again, starting to feel a bit desperate at the thought of being abandoned in a foreign city but he seemed to have a moment of clarity and took off driving again, yelling at me in German for the rest of the ride.

Somehow, we arrived at the correct street but we couldn't find the building. Luckily, I saw a young man in sweatpants. Sweatpants = parkour. English? Yes, he answered. Thank God! Where is the gym? He pointed me in the right direction and I took off running after professing my love for him for saving me from the angry taxi man.

It was quite overwhelming at first but I met a nice guy from the organization who introduced me to some other girls and coaches. Soon after I arrived, it was time for "night's rest" and I was happy to collapse on the thin mat between me and the gym floor.

Thursday was the official start of the jam. After check-in and an opening speech, we dove into workshops for the day. In the morning, I joined a group of about 10(?) girls for a "Girl Power" workshop. The workshop was led by two very talented traceuses—Daria (Russia) and Katie McDonnell (UK). We had a lot of fun jumping around and working on bar flow, specifically focusing on listening to your body and moving in a way that uses the least amount of energy. Later in the afternoon, I spent some more time playing on the bars and working on connecting movements with Thomas & Thomas (Czech Republic).

Day Two's workshops were quite different but just as fun. In the morning, I went "buildering" (which I learned is a real word... I just thought people were mis-pronouncing bouldering... awkward) with Andy Day (UK). This was a lot of fun but the bridge we were climbing was covered, I mean saturated, in spiders. The spiders scared me more than the height of the climb. Sigh.

Climbing somewhere in Munich!

The afternoon workshop was much less scary. Led by Daniel Ilabaca (UK) and some of his friends, we talked about the idea of connecting through play and experiencing the positive energy of movement. We played a few different games to warm up with some slackline thrown in, and then we tried out a really fun game as a group. All you need is a soccer ball and a vault box. For those of you who were at (B)East Coast 2014 at Great Falls (or read about it on my blog), the game was similar to our improv game of frisolleyoccer. Basically, we stood in a circle and passed the ball around but every time you touched the ball, you went over the vault box and filled in the circle somewhere else. It was a lot of fun and there were a few moments where you could really feel it— everyone was in the moment and as free as a child at play.

When there were not workshops going on, we were lying around stretching outside, playing games like add-on, challenging each other and just hanging out.

I wasn't thinking about taking photos or videos most of the time because I wanted to be in the moment and just have fun with everyone but here's a short clip of things from when I did remember to take a few videos:

I spent most of the jam by the gym but I did get to train in a really cool spot over the weekend when I stayed at the house of one of the coaches (Thank you, Nadja!)

The spot is called Red City and it is hands-down the coolest spot I have ever seen. I went with Katie and Josh and there were a few other traceurs there but it was still pretty empty so we spent a couple of hours just jumping around and climbing on the walls. It was absolutely perfect. I was in great company, the sun was shining, and the concrete jungle in front of me had endless possibilities. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Munich, go to Red City.

Me & Katie McDonnell (aka one of the coolest traceuses I know) hanging out at the Red City!

Getting ready for a precision jump @ Red City

Josh taking a break (and making weird faces) @ Red City

Climbing around @ Red City

There were traceurs, freerunners and movement artists from Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Ireland, England, Belgium, Spain, Russia, Denmark, Poland, Italy, and so many other countries. I also found a couple of Americans! I saw a kid wearing a PK Visions shirt and I was like Hey, that's in Seattle, right? and we got to talking, realizing we had a few mutual friends back in the States. Small world! The only other American I found there was Josh Yadon from Tempest Freerunning. I saw him a lot throughout the weekend and I had a lot of fun training with him and watching him move. I don't know if it was his skill or lack of fear but some of the things he was trying were crazy to me. He actually landed a gainer (it's like a back flip but you're going forwards while you do it) off a mini tramp onto a rail. Yes, landing on a rail and staying there is as difficult as you think it is. There were lots of people trying crazy tricks like this or other super powerful moves so if you ever needed to take a breather, there was plenty of cool stuff to watch!

I loved meeting all of these interesting people. Katie and I had a blast jumping around and exploring Munich together; I loved spending time with and learning from the people I met through workshops like Andy and Daniel, and the others I met randomly throughout the event like Josh, James (UK), Bryan, Jack (Ireland), Nadja, Mona (DE), Kim (Singapore), Chris (DK), and Drew from Team Storror (who were constantly being asked to apologize every time anyone climbed a roof they weren't supposed to... but they were good sports about it!)

Team Farang also stopped by for a few hours one night when we were having the Q&A with the coaches. I was sitting talking with a couple of guys and one of them said, "Oh, Pasha is here," nonchalantly. The other guy (a huge fan of Team Farang) said, "Yeah, okay..." turning around to look. He whipped his head back around and whisper-yelled, "GUYS, PASHA IS HERE." I guess he didn't believe us. Pasha came over to say hi to everyone and then this kid ran off to find the rest of the team since they were the reason he got into freerunning. It was fun to see him so excited and able to meet the people who inspire him.

It was a really great environment at this jam. It didn't matter if it was your first day out or you'd been training for ten years, if you had 1,000,000 views on YouTube or didn't know how to use a camera, everyone was equal. We all share the same parkour spirit. This is what I saw at FAMJAM. A community. A family. A group of weird and crazy-talented individuals getting together to have fun.

I learned so much in just four short days. New skills. New techniques. New ways to move. I met some amazing people. Learned new ways of seeing things and looking at the world. Got into some really interesting discussions about movement and the parkour lifestyle. And most importantly, I had the time of my life.

It's taken me so long to write about this because I've been traveling and I was having trouble finding the words for such an amazing experience. I want to share this experience with you and this is the best way I know how. To write. To pour my thoughts out onto a page (or several). And to encourage you to go out and explore the world.

Travel. Meet new people. Attend an event where you don't know anybody at all.

Workout with people from other countries and new perspectives. Connect with people.

And most importantly, play. Never stop playing.

Thanks for sticking with me for such a long post! Believe it or not I've cut this down a million times... sigh. So much to share! And so little time to write these days. Oh well... until the next adventure :)

European Girls Parkour Day 2014

Traveling Ninja: Mulhouse Edition

Day One: Group Shot @ Abandoned House
Photo: Saïmiri Parkour

This weekend, I had the pleasure of joining about 15-20 women from all over France (+ one from Switzerland!) for the third annual European Girls Parkour Day. It was a two-day event hosted by Saïmiri Parkour in Mulhouse, France with all sorts of fun, training, challenges, and delicious flammekeuche (or however you spell it)!

I got there just in time for the afternoon session on Saturday. I was a little nervous because I didn't know a single person there and my French isn't exactly perfect (I'm working on it!) but everyone was super friendly and welcoming and the nerves quickly went away. We started with a group warm up—a little follow-the-leader parkour run & some creative challenges using the scaffolding under an outdoor stage—and then we headed down to an old abandoned stone/brick house (every adventurer's paradise). The house was one of my favorite parts of the day because it was the most challenging for me both physically and mentally.

Day One: climbing around under the stage (Photo: Saïmiri Parkour)

Day One: abandoned House (Photo: Saïmiri Parkour)

The challenge was basically to climb around the entire building. It was difficult but doable, and some parts were definitely easier than others. At the end of the third wall, the grip changed a bit presenting a new challenge for me. Up until this point, it was large enough for all of your fingers, but now the grip was only wide enough for the very tips of your fingers. Slightly difficult. Especially for someone who doesn't work on grip strength very often.

At the corner of the third and fourth wall, I looked down to analyze the one-story drop to the ground. If I fell, I'd be tumbling into the bushes or on a parked car beside them. For some reason, I was completely un-phased by this. Re-directing my attention, I focused on the challenge ahead: the fourth and final wall. There were two areas between the windows that were just barely out of reach for me (see photo below). I almost considered not doing it but I had made it so close to scaling the entire house, I didn't want to give up. Realizing I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the gap if I was still holding on with my left hand, I decided to take a calculated risk. I knew if I failed, I could bail by hitting the pavement and rolling. I slid my left hand to the side of the stone square and pressed my fingertips against it rather than actually wrapping my fingertips around it. Using the force of my fingers pressed against the side, I kept my body close to the wall and slowly inched my way towards the righthand grip. I felt my fingertips against the right grip, released the left, and grabbed onto the new square in front of me. Phew. Breathe out. One more gap like this and I was back where we started. I climbed down and took a deep breath, amazed with myself. Challenge complete. What an incredible feeling!

One of the girls traversing the fourth wall (Photo: Saïmiri Parkour)

I stayed there to watch the other girls and spot in case anyone fell. Some of them took it on fearlessly and some stayed up there to help the others by placing a hand on their backs as they slid across. In the end, everyone who wanted to attempt it was able to with the help of the group. The whole weekend was like this—everyone helping each other and making sure no one was left behind. It was a great atmosphere.

After the house, we headed back to the warm-up spot where we worked on jumps and vaults, then to another spot that was great for wall runs and cool variations of tac to wall runs in the corner. I attempted a wall-run 360 but couldn't quite keep the grip. One of the Saïmiri guys joked, is that really parkour? Okay fine, so it's not very useful. But it was fun!

One more spot and then it was time to eat and rest. We had a delicious Alsatian meal of flammekueche and then we played on the slackline for a bit. We made it to bed around midnight that night... I had to use parkour to get into my bunk bed because the ladder was broken. I did half a wall climb and then slid my body into the bed like a seal. I was truly exhausted.

The next day consisted of more awesome training and traceuse bonding. We hit a few different spots with a delicious BBQ in between in the hills of Soulzmatt.

Day Two: driving in between spots--the scenery was absolutely gorgeous!
(Photo: my super fancy iPhone)

We ended the day with some balance and jumping on a bridge across the river in Mulhouse. We were having lots of fun but eventually it was time to say our goodbyes. Saïmiri gave us souvenir bags with a sandwich and a drink for the trip home which was great. There were lots of these little personal touches throughout the event. It made me feel like I was visiting a family friend, not a group of traceuses I've never met before. It was really nice to be welcomed into the community like that.

Day Two: Group Shot 

Day Two: Group Shot with our "Traceuse de France" T-Shirts :)

One of the things we talked about during the event was, "Why girls parkour?" We had a really great discussion and it was especially interesting for me to listen to the European girls share their opinions when I've had so many similar talks with people in the U.S. about this. In the end, I think the point is that it creates a community within a community. Why have different parkour associations in different cities? Why not just one giant parkour group or everyone do their own thing? Because we want to connect with people. Just like traceurs in Boston or New Orleans want to meet each other and train together, traceuses from all over the world want to connect with other traceuses. We're a minority and it's really cool to meet other people who share such a unique interest.

Day Two: group push-ups over the stairs (I'm the one with the obnoxiously bright sneakers)

Overall, it was a fantastic event. I'm so glad I was able to go. Saïmiri did a great job of organizing everything including food, housing, sweet training spots, and event t-shirts! Even though they're not fluent in English and my French isn't perfect, we were all able to communicate well enough. And to be honest, I don't think you need to speak the same language to train together. Sorry to be cheesy, but movement is truly universal.

Thank you, Saïmiri Parkour for an amazing experience! I can't wait to train with you all again someday.