[Blane]Frequently Asked Questions

[News-Bot 147]

Frequently Asked Questions

Author: Chris 'Blane' Rowat

Quite often I receive emails asking questions about Parkour or my training and I wish I had as much time to answer them all as I used to.

It's becoming harder to keep up with them as this blog grows and I get less free time so I've had to think of some kind of alternative that I hope will take care of some of the more frequently asked questions. All of the following questions are ones I've been asked recently in emails or private messages and a couple I've added from older messages that I thought might be interesting to talk about.

I'll update this as necessary and if there is anything you'd like me to add then feel free to mention it. There will be a link on the right hand menu to the FAQ too, to make it easier to navigate to as more posts are added.

+Who are you?

My name is Chris Rowat, I was born in 1986 and I've been practicing Parkour since 2003.

+What is this blog all about?

This blog is a way for me to record and share my experiences in Parkour. It started off as a personal way for me to log my progress and to keep a few friends up to date with what I was doing and gradually grew to include articles and other things that I hope might help other people with their training. I plan to expand it further to include more useful content as time goes by.

+What is Parkour and why do you do it?

Parkour is a method of training your mind and body to quickly find ways of overcoming physical obstacles in a safe and efficient manner. The skills learned through the discipline can then be put to use in a range of circumstances, from aiding you in simple daily tasks to the more extreme possibilities of needing to escape from danger or reach and rescue someone in need of help. It is a pursuit to become strong in every sense of the word in order for the individual to become more useful to themselves and the people around them.

We are each given an amazing tool that is the human body and can choose to do with it whatever we wish but I feel an overwhelming obligation to use mine to better the lives of the people I care about and I feel this can best be achieved by practicing Parkour.

+What did you do before Parkour?

I used to play various team sports such as football and basketball and generally enjoyed being active. I began training in Shotokan Karate at about 13 years of age because I wanted to learn how to defend myself and I continued this for four years before stopping to dedicate more time to Parkour.

+How did you discover Parkour and when did you begin training?

My first experience of Parkour was seeing the BBC advert known as Rush Hour, featuring David Belle. It immediately sparked my interest but at the time I had limited Internet access and couldn't find any further information about it or what this athlete was doing. I later read a short article about Parkour in a magazine and it gave the impression that this was something that only a few people could do. Knowing I had no way of going to France to see these guys and learn something, I forgot about it. I later saw a trailer for a documentary called Jump London and realised that this was the same thing I had seen before. I watched the documentary and knew that this is what I had been searching for through my years of sports and martial arts. I believed that this might be something I could do after all, so began my training the next day.

+What are your personal training goals?

My long term physical goal is simply to continue on the same path of increasing my strength and to improve my technical skills. But for me, the mental aspect is something that I find more interesting than the physical. Will is everything and with the right mindset I feel I can achieve anything, even things that at first might seem impossible. I feel there is no point in having a strong body if I haven't trained my mind to use it to its potential. If I'm too scared to act in a dangerous situation then all of my physical training will be useless so I try to continually challenge my mind and do things that scare me.

+How do you approach physical training and conditioning?

My goal with physical training is to increase my strength, speed, power, cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance and flexibility. I try to be intelligent in my approach. I choose exercises that will have a direct positive impact on my ability to move and supplementary exercises to maintain muscular balance, prevent injury and protect my body.

Regular training of your entire body will help to strengthen and protect all of the muscles, joints and bones from the impacts and stresses found in Parkour. My physical preparation and maintenance amounts to over half of my total time spent training.

+Is weight training suitable for Parkour?

Your body does not know what a dumbbell is. It simply responds to stresses on the muscles by rebuilding them to be stronger, to prevent them from as much damage during similar exercises in the future. So lifting weights is absolutely a good way to build muscle and increase strength and endurance.

I find the problem with weightlifting is that it can be difficult to directly judge how much the gains in strength and endurance are going to affect your movements.

With bodyweight exercises (which can be modified as you progress to become increasingly difficult), you are always working with your body and can feel your progression in a more natural manner, there is more regular feedback.

Doing squats with a heavy weight will doubtless improve my leg strength, but I wouldn't know how much further I could jump with this increase in strength, whereas if I'm training my legs with jump repetition I can see and feel the results directly as I increase the distance I can jump.

A lot of athletes use weights successfully but I prefer to train in the way that I do and have had great results from this so far.

+Can you describe a typical week of training for you?

Not easily! At the moment I tend to have one dedicated upper body training session and one lower body session per week. Whether they consist of traditional exercises, more sport specific repetitions or a mix of the two, I try to improvise and find new ways to challenge myself. I often just go out with the goal of pushing and pulling in different ways, using various methods for a certain amount of time or sometimes until I'm too tired to continue. It depends on my specific goals for the session.

I train abs/core/lower back around three times per week and go running for 20-30 minutes (changing speeds throughout) three times per week and spend the rest of my time training technically. I usually finish technical sessions with a little bit of additional conditioning too. I tend to take one day off from training per week to rest and relax.

My training methods are constantly changing and evolving and I experiment a lot to see what works best for me. I read to learn more about the body and retain the things that I find useful whilst discarding the rest and keep looking. Over time I've built up a method of training that suits me but this is an ongoing and organic process that must constantly be updated to ensure I continue to progress.

+What equipment do you make use of?

Mainly just some comfortable clothes that I don't mind getting dirty or torn and some running shoes. It is a common misunderstanding that you need special or expensive footwear to practice Parkour but this couldn't be further from the truth. Many people train without any shoes at all and whilst I prefer to use them most of the time, the ones I use are nothing special.

I recommend trying to find a pair that is comfortably within your budget, bearing in mind they are unlikely to last you a long time. I always look for shoes with good shock absorption, especially in the front half, some ankle support, a decent and durable rubber on the sole that offers a fair amount of grip even in the wettest conditions, and most importantly a light shoe, there is nothing worse than feeling weighed down by your footwear. Usually I wear Kalenjis (£10 per pair!) or Nike Darts (around £30). If money isn't an issue at all then I might recommend trying something from the Inov-8 range as they also make good shoes for training.

I also use a few additional pieces of equipment that I find help me with physical development, the two most valuable being a 10kg weighted vest and a 5 metre climbing rope.

+How do you stay motivated to train through difficult times?

When I'm tired or when it's wet and cold outside, or if I have other things on my mind, training can sometimes seem less appealing. At times like this I remind myself of my goals and think about the other people in my life that might need me to be stronger than I am right now. This train of thought alone drives me to go outside and improve regardless of what the circumstances are.

If you constantly ask yourself why you are training and answer them honestly, you can prioritise it appropriately and dedicate the necessary amount of time to it.

+How has Parkour affected other areas of your life?

Parkour has had a huge influence in shaping who I am and my life today. It has made me a healthier, more confident person and introduced me to many great people, some of whom have since become my closest friends. The travelling, the camaraderie and the feeling of being part of something positive is rewarding and it's a really exciting thing to be a part of.

There is another side to the story though.

Parkour demands a lot of you and you quickly begin to realise just what you would need to sacrifice to reach a good level. It begins to affect everything in your life from your diet, to how much free time you have, your relationships with your family and friends and like anything worthwhile it takes a huge amount of time, hard work and dedication to excel in.

I carry the calloused hands of a coalminer twice my age and live with almost constant muscular pain from some part of my body healing from a training session. The blood lost over the years would feed a small nation of vampires and I spend a lot of time explaining that bruise, this scar, or some hole in my leg. When I think about everything I've given so far and look ahead at what I'm going to need to do to get to where I want to be, it's not a pretty outlook, but one that is worthwhile, rewarding and a LOT of fun at times. The good points outweigh the bad!

+Does Parkour help you to deal with problems in other areas of your life?

Yes, when you think about some of the obstacles you've overcome and the process you used to do that, you begin to treat other problems in the same way. They are no longer met with panic or dread - you just begin to look for ways to overcome them. You think of how you managed to bring yourself to jump so far from a wobbling wet rail to a far off branch and realise that this problem in comparison is not so bad at all. If you stop and think about it, break it down and analyse it rationally, you can come up with a solution to this too and move past it in a similar way.

+Does your training change in the winter?

Yes. Not so much my methods but there are additional things that become important in the winter. I spend more time warming up, double check any surfaces I'm working with for moisture or ice and since it's darker I know my depth perception will be altered and I need to compensate for that. I don't have an interest in training in gyms, even when it gets cold, wet or generally unpleasant outside. There is always a way to train and in the winter, even the smallest, simplest things are suddenly great challenges for you to face. Use it to your advantage, realise that if you can do this jump now when it is so difficult, you will learn more than if you wait until it's easy.

Sometimes I think that I would prefer to live somewhere where the weather is hot and dry for most of the year but the truth is I don't. Parkour is a discipline that revolves around facing obstacles and finding ways to overcome them and I can think of no greater obstacle than a harsh winter!

+Who or what inspires you?

I'm inspired by a variety of sources and can relate to a lot of other athletes, disciplines and sports. Even a short sentence I read or hear can spark my imagination and help to fuel a training session. Music can be inspiring and interviews or advice from professional sportsmen often give me ideas.

In Parkour, I'm inspired by other practitioners, particularly the original French traceurs who I thank for their hard work and dedication throughout the years, without their efforts I wouldn't be doing what I do today.

Less experienced practitioners often inspire me too, anyone who shows a lot of passion for what they do and works hard to achieve their goals has my immediate admiration and respect.

+What advice would you give to someone wanting to improve their Parkour?

Regardless of what level you are at, the two main pieces of advice I would give to anyone wanting to improve their Parkour is:

1. -Avoid injuries.
   -Find something difficult and repeat it until it is easy.
   

They sound simple but can be expanded on. To avoid injuries, you need to be careful and focused at all times, know your limits, condition your body to protect yourself and listen to your body when it needs to stop and rest.

Finding something difficult and repeating it until it's easy applies to almost everything. Whether it's a new jump that is on your limit or a certain number of pushup repetitions, confront what you find difficult and work on it until you find it easy. Then find something new! This ensures you're always pushing yourself to improve at everything and should help you to avoid plateaus. Once anything becomes easy then it's time to find a new challenge to stop your training becoming stale and boring.

There are no shortcuts I'm afraid, just keep training hard and try to improve a little each time you go outside and the rest will take care of itself.

+Why do you make videos?

I enjoy making videos and sharing ideas with people. It was video that inspired me to begin training so I value the power of that and if someone sees a video of mine and likes it then they might want to find out more or tell their friends about it. Either way I hope it helps the growth of Parkour and if other people make videos too then we can all share ideas, training locations and methods.

+Why do you not practice flips or acrobatics?

I'd rather spend my time training other things. These things look good and seem like fun but I'm not doing this to impress people. I have a goal of learning how to move as safely, efficiently and as quickly as possible over obstacles and to me, acrobatics just add unnecessary dangers to that.

I have every respect for people who train really hard and practice acrobatics but to me it's a completely different activity.

In the same way that a lion wouldn't consider adding any unnecessary flair or danger to crossing a fast-flowing river, I try to find challenging jumps, obstacles and routes that force me to face my fears and push my limits using just the most basic of techniques.

+What is your opinion on the differences between Parkour, Freerunning, L'art du deplacement and the politics that are so often argued over?

I try not to get involved with or think about these things too often. They all stemmed from the same place, the same people and essentially they are all very similar, with slightly different ideas behind them depending on who you ask.

I know what it is that I want to do now and have my own goals and ways of getting there, so whether someone else calls that Parkour, Freerunning or L'art du deplacement is not important to me. I personally train in a way that I believe is very close to what Parkour was intended to be when it was developed, and yes, I call it Parkour, but the name is not important to me, only that I continue towards my goals.

The real issue I have problems with is when people do reckless things that can then influence other people to think that is what it is we all do. We do not do stunts, daredevil jumps or jackass pranks and that is not Parkour.

-Blane

Read more...

Source: Power Is Nothing Without Control

[TOM 4.366]

1 lvl up!