Have you heard the term “parcours”? It sounds a lot like parkour for a reason. It is the French word for “course” and is undoubtedly the root word for the discipline, as we know it today. You might be familiar with it from the term “parcours du combattant” which is the French military obstacle-training regimen. …
Gym Visit: Origins Parkour and Athletic Facility
I’m winding down from a 5-hour drive after a quick overnight trip to Vancouver, BC, and I wanted to share some thoughts about the amazing parkour gym I visited. Most of you have probably heard of it by now, but for those of you who haven’t, Vancouver is home to the Origins Parkour and Athletic Facility. Situated on …
Thinking about opening a parkour gym? Matt Antis shares his experience.
Do you dream about opening your own parkour gym? Opening one’s own training space is a fantasy many athletes share and in the past few years a handful of entrepreneurial traceurs have successfully made the leap. Matt Antis and his wife Whitney have been the co-owners of Revolution Parkour since 2010, and they definitely know …
5 Questions: The Tim “Livewire” Shieff Interview!
British freerunner Tim “Livewire” Shieff is one of my favorite athletes. Great creativity, impressive strength, and a ton of fun to watch on video. When I hope to move better, I try to think of how Tim would do it. His talent was rewarded in 2009 when he won the Barclaycard World Freerunning Championship, and …
When to Add Weight to Pull-ups
Being able to pull yourself over an elevated bar or on top of a high wall, as with a muscle-up or a climb-up, are two fundamental parkour skills that are both predicated on serious upper body strength. And, as we all know, pull-ups are one of the best tools for gaining real-life, functional upper body …
APEX Movement Parkour Coach Certification
It’s official: I’m now a certified parkour coach through APEX Movement! I attended the certification back in March (2013) at their NorCal gym, in Concord, CA and received my credential a few months later. The process entailed 3 days of classroom instruction, as well as hands-on coaching training, and was then followed-up by a video …
Interview with Rafe Kelley, co-founder of Parkour Visions
I first met Rafe Kelley at the 2012 Seattle Parkour Summit, which was hosted by Parkour Visions. Prior to the event, my buddy Ramman Turner had told me about some of the previous seminars he had taken with him, and had impressed on me what a great instructor he was. Rafe was busy leading a class …
What I learned at my first parkour competition
So far 2013 has been quite the year for parkour events. In early February Origins Parkour and Athletic Facility held the first North American Parkour Championships in Vancouver, and in the middle of the month Tempest Academy held the Pro Takeover down in LA. I didn’t get a chance to attend or even watch either of …
Interview with Thomas Tapp
I know you’ve heard of the Tapp Brothers, so the name Thomas Tapp should already ring a bell. This friendly 23-year old lives in Hollywood and is one half of the team behind the website LearnMoreParkour.com. As a professional parkour athlete he has appeared in multiple TV commercials, trains as a stuntman, and helps to …
Parkour Injuries: 2012 Survey Results
Active people get hurt. It’s a fact of life, and it’s something that we all must confront sooner or later. Some of us can escape our training with relatively few injuries, while others seem to collect wounds and broken bones like a bad habit. Injuries often seem unavoidable. Yet, when you know what the most …