Anyone free run/practice parkour?

[A790]

Free running is something that has always interested me (or, at least it has since I first discovered it several years ago). Unfortunately, I was never in a position where I was able to dedicate significant amounts of time to actually giving it a shot.

So, in the spirit of meeting my goals, I've decided to really make a go of it. I just registered www.calgaryfreerunning.com (http://www.calgaryfreerunning.com) and am going to set something up. Something real. Something where I have accountability. Ideally, a small community of enthusiasts, newbies, experts, and the curious would form.

Last year I tackled roller blading. The year before I tackled the computer chair (sigh). This yea it's going to be free running.

Anyone else in?

[psi_klops]

I did something like this a few years ago. They had a gymnastics gym (spring floor, foam pit etc.) and they allowed you to do drop in Freestyle work. It was awesome.
If you can pull something together I would be interested.

[Cozmanator]

Hey, I currently work as a web designer for the BEST Parkour place in Calgary, there really nice people and its growing fast. If you want more info man, shoot me a PM.

You can meet lots of people that are genuine passionate bout it. Its like full indoor gym, etc... its really a really cool place, and they keep getting new stuff.

[potatopineapple]

http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/190746/The-Office-Parkour.html

[Barking_Spidre]

I actually do practice parkour/free running right now. A gym opened up in south calgary, right by chinook called No Limits AFC (http://www.nolimitsafc.com/). The guys who run/operate/teach there are awesome, tons of fun.

Anyways, I haven't been on an actual run outside yet, because well, I just started training this winter. I'd love a beyond meet run/jam! Count me in.

How new/experienced are you? Maybe we can go to the AFC gym one day and play around.

[A790]

Originally posted by Barking_Spidre
I actually do practice parkour/free running right now. A gym opened up in south calgary, right by chinook called No Limits AFC ("http://www.nolimitsafc.com/"). The guys who run/operate/teach there are awesome, tons of fun.

Anyways, I haven't been on an actual run outside yet, because well, I just started training this winter. I'd love a beyond meet run/jam! Count me in.

How new/experienced are you? Maybe we can go to the AFC gym one day and play around.
Hey man that sounds awesome! I haven't checked out the AFC gym yet, but I'd like to. I'm a total parkour noob, but I've been training my cardio/stamina for a few months solid now and am in decent shape.

[taemo]

0 experience but something I've always wanted to do as well.

If I'm back in shape in 1-2 months then you can count me in.

so there's a gym in calgary that specializes in parkouring?
PM please Cozmanator

[Cozmanator]

Hey, No Limits AFC is the place! Im really good friends with the owners, and can probably workout some sort beyond discount for beyond members. Maybe there would be a way to make a sticky and see, Im sure lots of people would be up for trying something like this.

@ taemo ill be sending you the details!

[Barking_Spidre]

Originally posted by A790

Hey man that sounds awesome! I haven't checked out the AFC gym yet, but I'd like to. I'm a total parkour noob, but I've been training my cardio/stamina for a few months solid now and am in decent shape.

I'm not sure when they start, but I know that they do parkour level 1 courses, which is about 6 weeks long, and 2 classes a week, and they teach you from the ground up, starting with rolls(for safety) then we ended up doing front flips and wall spins in the last week or 2. They just filled their 2 classes that started a couple weeks ago, so maybe in 3-4 weeks the new one will be starting? Not 100% on that.

Everyone there is awesome, super easy to make friends with. I'm sure once summer hits, they'll be doing jams all the time.

[thrasher22]

I used to be pretty into tricking/parkour but gainers started to kill my knee.

Check out the gymnastics gym at u of c on tuesdays or thursdays, they have an open drop-in night. Its a good place to practice rolls, flips or wall flips and full of people who'll show you how.

[King Banana]

I think it would be fun to get into as a hobby, but lots of risk of injury being that the outdoor stuff involves no safety gear or padding.

Especially when a 200+lb guy is doing these stunts, the spills in your case would be epic as gravity is not really on your side.

[A790]

Originally posted by King Banana
I think it would be fun to get into as a hobby, but lots of risk of injury being that the outdoor stuff involves no safety gear or padding.

Especially when a 200+lb guy is doing these stunts, the spills in your case would be epic as gravity is not really on your side.
If I hit the floor I'll be back for more. It's all about the experience :)

But I agree... Gravity > Me.

[Xamim]

One of the instructors at the No Limits gym is a buddy of mine, Jim. He tried to get me into it a few times, but I just didn't have time to keep going to the gym every week after school. Now I wish I would have stuck with it. Total blast when I actually did go.

[Spoons]

2N6G0OFpmIE

Had too...

[natejj]

http://www.nolimitsafc.com/index.html - There website

Some videos of my brother and his friends

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8CqPP0yEpW4

[King Banana]

It kinda just looks like sloppy gymnastics?
I think you could learn a lot more valuable skills through taking a gymnastics class.

The first video looks like they just took their gymnastics flips out of the gym and onto hard ground.
I happen to know first hand how much harder and more punishing the urban ground is compared to gym mats.

Looks like it requires a ton of in gym training, years even of training before you would want to go out and do it outside the gym.

Even then it's a totally different learning curve, you won't have spring boards, mini tramps or spring floors to get any shock absorption.

Unless you learn really quickly how to land on solid ground from 5+ feet in the air you will end up with really bad foot/leg injuries.

It looks kinda cool, but I would prefer doing these things in a gym with the spring floors and the mats, this will allow you to do more impressive moves more safely.

For me, I would rather fail a backflip or a wall flip in a gym and bounce off the mat than hop off a brick wall and hurt myself.

But as long as you have an employer that doesn't mind having an employee with chronic injuries week after week...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQheje0XhWw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6AoHBAWErg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC2tuxmCP3g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcazRsQuD_8

Youtube shows mainly kids that do this stuff, and they strike me as the same type of kids that would shoot fireworks at each others balls.
Product of the 'jackass' generation?

[Spoons]

Originally posted by King Banana
It kinda just looks like sloppy gymnastics?
I think you could learn a lot more valuable skills through taking a gymnastics class.

The first video looks like they just took their gymnastics flips out of the gym and onto hard ground.
I happen to know first hand how much harder and more punishing the urban ground is compared to gym mats.

Looks like it requires a ton of in gym training, years even of training before you would want to go out and do it outside the gym.

Even then it's a totally different learning curve, you won't have spring boards, mini tramps or spring floors to get any shock absorption.

Unless you learn really quickly how to land on solid ground from 5+ feet in the air you will end up with really bad foot/leg injuries.

It looks kinda cool, but I would prefer doing these things in a gym with the spring floors and the mats, this will allow you to do more impressive moves more safely.

For me, I would rather fail a backflip or a wall flip in a gym and bounce off the mat than hop off a brick wall and hurt myself.

But as long as you have an employer that doesn't mind having an employee with chronic injuries week after week...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQheje0XhWw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6AoHBAWErg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC2tuxmCP3g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcazRsQuD_8

Youtube shows mainly kids that do this stuff, and they strike me as the same type of kids that would shoot fireworks at each others balls.
Product of the 'jackass' generation?

You realize that many of these people have learned gymnastics in a gym and just passed it on to the street, and altered certain things for the street?

[GOnSHO]

Originally posted by King Banana
It kinda just looks like sloppy gymnastics?
I think you could learn a lot more valuable skills through taking a gymnastics class.

The first video looks like they just took their gymnastics flips out of the gym and onto hard ground.
I happen to know first hand how much harder and more punishing the urban ground is compared to gym mats.

Looks like it requires a ton of in gym training, years even of training before you would want to go out and do it outside the gym.

Even then it's a totally different learning curve, you won't have spring boards, mini tramps or spring floors to get any shock absorption.

Unless you learn really quickly how to land on solid ground from 5+ feet in the air you will end up with really bad foot/leg injuries.

It looks kinda cool, but I would prefer doing these things in a gym with the spring floors and the mats, this will allow you to do more impressive moves more safely.

For me, I would rather fail a backflip or a wall flip in a gym and bounce off the mat than hop off a brick wall and hurt myself.

But as long as you have an employer that doesn't mind having an employee with chronic injuries week after week...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQheje0XhWw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6AoHBAWErg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC2tuxmCP3g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcazRsQuD_8

Youtube shows mainly kids that do this stuff, and they strike me as the same type of kids that would shoot fireworks at each others balls.
Product of the 'jackass' generation?

you're an idiot.. :confused:

[King Banana]

Originally posted by Spoons


You realize that many of these people have learned gymnastics in a gym and just passed it on to the street, and altered certain things for the street?

That's exactly what I said:


The first video looks like they just took their gymnastics flips out of the gym and onto hard ground.

So yes, I do realize that.

[Barking_Spidre]

Originally posted by King Banana
It kinda just looks like sloppy gymnastics?
I think you could learn a lot more valuable skills through taking a gymnastics class.

The first video looks like they just took their gymnastics flips out of the gym and onto hard ground.
I happen to know first hand how much harder and more punishing the urban ground is compared to gym mats.

Looks like it requires a ton of in gym training, years even of training before you would want to go out and do it outside the gym.

Even then it's a totally different learning curve, you won't have spring boards, mini tramps or spring floors to get any shock absorption.

Unless you learn really quickly how to land on solid ground from 5+ feet in the air you will end up with really bad foot/leg injuries.

It looks kinda cool, but I would prefer doing these things in a gym with the spring floors and the mats, this will allow you to do more impressive moves more safely.

For me, I would rather fail a backflip or a wall flip in a gym and bounce off the mat than hop off a brick wall and hurt myself.

But as long as you have an employer that doesn't mind having an employee with chronic injuries week after week...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQheje0XhWw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6AoHBAWErg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC2tuxmCP3g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcazRsQuD_8

Youtube shows mainly kids that do this stuff, and they strike me as the same type of kids that would shoot fireworks at each others balls.
Product of the 'jackass' generation?

So much obvious in this post, hahaha. Of course you start off in the gym. I mean, you could teach yourself outside, but that's when you'd start to get hurt alot. I'm not sure if I'd go as far as calling parkour an extreme sport, free running, probably. But as in any "extreme sport" or high risk of injury sport, you practice somewhere where you won't get hurt too bad and you can learn. I heard F1 drivers just hop into their car as soon as they get their drivers licenses. Is this true? :nut:

As for falling 5 feet onto solid ground, were you ever a kid? I used to jump off 7-8 foot tall fences after climbing into, well, ANYONES backyard. I turned out just fine, and it's only gotten easier as I've gotten older.

The first thing I learned in my parkour course were rolls, front, back and side. The basic technique after you land your jump, or trick or anything, to reduce pressure and impact on your joints.

You could stay and do parkour/free running in the gym for as long as you want, but for me, that'd get pretty boring. There's only so many scenarios you can create in the gym. Oh a wall tac to a kong, double kong over the same 2 boxes, etc etc, where as going to parks/downtown calgary, there's limitless things you can find to parkour. Architecture is your friend in this sport!

Going from the gym to outside will prove a challenge for me, I'm sure, but I'm excited for it, I have to find a way to push myself into doing it outside. My biggest road block right now, is my standing back tuck. I can do it on the springy mats, but not the floor itself. I practice them on thursdays at the UofC Gymnastics center. It's all in my head too, and I know it is! :banghead:

[King Banana]

Yeah, no, I think it goes without saying that I have no experience as a 'parkour' and these are just observations.

I have nothing against free running, but to me it sounds like it is not only dangerous, but there are no safety gear.

Hockey players know how to absorb a check but they still wear tons of gear. That's my logic.

GOnSHO - Take a deep breath and relax a bit, no reason to start with personal attacks.

I've done gymnastics indoors with full padding and mats and safety equipment and I am sore for 2 weeks after only a 3 hours session.
Can't imagine landing on solid ground or falling and putting a railing into my back.

[KKY]

I would love to do a parktour photo shoot for beyonders. PM me if anyone is interested. :thumbsup:

[Barking_Spidre]

Originally posted by KKY
I would love to do a parktour photo shoot for beyonders. PM me if anyone is interested. :thumbsup:

That would be awesome! Let's get beyond training! :thumbsup:

[4doorj]

I totally want to try this out!!!
What do they charge for this?

I wonder if I could fit it into my schedule.
Always busy at the gym.

I've been dying to learn how to do a back flip. Tried searching adult gymnastic's classes in calgary but can't find anything. Only drop in's. But I need someone to show me how to do it which is why I would love to take a class.

[Cozmanator]

Originally posted by 4doorj
I totally want to try this out!!!
What do they charge for this?

I wonder if I could fit it into my schedule.
Always busy at the gym.

I've been dying to learn how to do a back flip. Tried searching adult gymnastic's classes in calgary but can't find anything. Only drop in's. But I need someone to show me how to do it which is why I would love to take a class.


$215 for a level. Although I talked today, and im positive I can get a discount if we can at least get a group of 5 people from beyond hopefully more. It would really be cool to do this stuff and talk bout cars.

[psi_klops]

I'd be interested. Can you find out some pricing

[Criticull]

This would be sick. More deets on pricing, schedules?

[Barking_Spidre]

I guess I posted this in the wrong area, but here's a post I made yesterday.
http://forums.beyond.ca/st/296696/want-to-try-parkour-look-no-further/

Hey guys and girls of beyond.

In regards to the previous parkour/free running thread, I took it upon myself to talk to the owner of the parkour gym I go to.

We came up with the idea, of a 2 hour "feeler" class on a saturday, for around $20 each. We'd go over all the basics. The saturday we're thinking of is March 20th, 4pm to 6 pm. The date is not set in stone so don't worry if it doesn't fit your schedule. We can work something out!

Summer is just around the corner, now's the time to practice and get into it! The community around the gym is super friendly and helpful, it's like a little family. Maybe we could get some beyond parkour runs going this summer.

Does this sound interesting to anyone? Reply here or send me a PM if you'd be down to give it a shot, or if you have any questions.

Hope to hear from you!

[Barking_Spidre]

Originally posted by 4doorj
I totally want to try this out!!!
What do they charge for this?

I wonder if I could fit it into my schedule.
Always busy at the gym.

I've been dying to learn how to do a back flip. Tried searching adult gymnastic's classes in calgary but can't find anything. Only drop in's. But I need someone to show me how to do it which is why I would love to take a class.

I'm currently in the process of teaching myself to backflip, I've pretty much got it. I go to the UofC Gymnastics gym on thursdays. It's 10 bucks for a drop in, for about an hour and a bit, it's a great place to learn. And lots of parkour people are there on thursdays.

Sorry for the double post.

[King Banana]

I cringe when I see full grown adults try to learn backflips.
It's really hard to watch a 180+lb guy start tossing his body in the air upside down.

haha.
It's one of those things that pays to have learned as a kid when the you aren't twice the weight of the person teaching/spotting you.

There is probably harness' and foam pits to learn backflips for big guys but I wouldn't wanna be around when they try.

Scary stuff, the first time you attempt to learn a blackflip just make sure you video tape it.

[Barking_Spidre]

Originally posted by King Banana
I cringe when I see full grown adults try to learn backflips.
It's really hard to watch a 180+lb guy start tossing his body in the air upside down.

haha.
It's one of those things that pays to have learned as a kid when the you aren't twice the weight of the person teaching/spotting you.

There is probably harness' and foam pits to learn backflips for big guys but I wouldn't wanna be around when they try.

Scary stuff, the first time you attempt to learn a blackflip just make sure you video tape it.

Hahaha, 2 guys from the gym first tried it on solid ground at the gym, not into the foam pit at the gymnastics gym. Man, was it ever funny. :rofl:
I've only tried once on solid ground, not doing that again until I get some more practice in hahaha.

[4doorj]

Originally posted by Barking_Spidre

We came up with the idea, of a 2 hour "feeler" class on a saturday, for around $20 each. We'd go over all the basics. The saturday we're thinking of is March 20th, 4pm to 6 pm. The date is not set in stone so don't worry if it doesn't fit your schedule. We can work something out!

!
This sounds good, if it works around my schedule I would love to try that out.


Originally posted by Barking_Spidre


I'm currently in the process of teaching myself to backflip, I've pretty much got it. I go to the UofC Gymnastics gym on thursdays. It's 10 bucks for a drop in, for about an hour and a bit, it's a great place to learn. And lots of parkour people are there on thursdays.

Sorry for the double post.
That sounds fun, unfortunately I do boxing on thursdays.

[A790]

Originally posted by Barking_Spidre
I guess I posted this in the wrong area, but here's a post I made yesterday.
http://forums.beyond.ca/st/296696/want-to-try-parkour-look-no-further/

Hey guys and girls of beyond.

In regards to the previous parkour/free running thread, I took it upon myself to talk to the owner of the parkour gym I go to.

We came up with the idea, of a 2 hour "feeler" class on a saturday, for around $20 each. We'd go over all the basics. The saturday we're thinking of is March 20th, 4pm to 6 pm. The date is not set in stone so don't worry if it doesn't fit your schedule. We can work something out!

Summer is just around the corner, now's the time to practice and get into it! The community around the gym is super friendly and helpful, it's like a little family. Maybe we could get some beyond parkour runs going this summer.

Does this sound interesting to anyone? Reply here or send me a PM if you'd be down to give it a shot, or if you have any questions.

Hope to hear from you!
I'm down!

[Parkour_Jimbo]

Hey Guys,

My name is Jim, and I'm the head parkour instructor at No Limits AFC, Calgary's first and only indoor parkour facility.

Some of you have expressed interest in classes or workshops, if you are still interested please send me an email and I'll give you all the details. Our website is www.nolimitsafc.com for all the gym information, we also have a more general site for the Calgary parkour scene at: www.areyoureadytorun.com we have a forum up on there with a ton of information. With summer on it's way, we'll be hosting outdoor jams, the details of which will be posted up on the forums.

To address some concerns about parkour that have been posted here:

Safety:
It is completely natural to see someone practicing and think they are bound to hurt themselves. Many of the movements we undertake are fairly intense, and if you're not used to seeing them they can look very dangerous. In over 4 years, with over 100 practicioners the worst injury I know of from parkour here in Calgary has been a mild concussion. Like it has been mentioned, no one starts with the high flying amazing movements, you start small and work your way up. You wouldn't expect a child to be able to navigate a staircase on their first attempt. You need to progress at a pace that you are comfortable with. The epic things come later, after years of training.

Safety Gear:
While it is true that most runners abstain from protective gear (though if you wish to use protective gear that's perfectly acceptable), that does not make the sport any more dangerous. Yes, you have padding for hockey and football etc, but these sports you are getting considerable more impact from. In parkour, you very rarely come into a situation where you need any protective gear, and when it happens you've usually spent time training how to fall properly. 99% of the time you will land on your feet, and you've trained how to minimize damage on that other 1%
If you take any highschool football team you have probably around 30 people per team, if not more. These teams play probably once a week against another team of equal size. During a week of highschool football, it's likely that there will be at least one concussion, and probably at least one broken bone. So much so that they usually have an ambulance stationed at the games just in case.
Yes, there is a risk involved in parkour, but it is an educated risk. You have prepared for the scenarios, and have trained your body to take certain impacts to protect yourself. You need protective padding in certain sports because you have an unpredicatable opponent in other humans. In practicing parkour you have no opponent. The enviroment is static, unchanging and predictable. And when you bail, as we all enevitablly do, you've trained yourself to minimize damage.


I myself, am over 6 feet, and over 180lbs. I am more than capeable of a variety of flips and acrobatics. Some movements such as backflips will not be taught to you untill you are ready to try them, but the beginner movements we teach are acecssable to everyone and anyone. We've taught 8 year olds and 40+ year olds. Men, women, kids, big, or small, it doesn't matter. Everyone is able to some parkour, and the more you train the more you realise that you are capable of more than you had thought.

I'm sorry for the lengthy rant, but this is an attitude that is unfortunately all too common in our society. With training you are more than capable of this stuff. In fact you are capable of things considerably more advanced than what you may think, all it takes is a lot of practice, and a lot of confidence (both of which we can help you with) All you need to do is take the first step and try it out. It's easy to make an uninformed decision based on a few misinformed opinons, but try it out for yourself and then decide.

If you are interested in classes, or drop-in, or just want to check us please visit the website, or feel free to send me an email.

Cheers,

Jim


P.S. One of the thoughts we've always kicked around is involving vehicles in parkour. There are a variety of movements that can be done over, around, and through vehicles, and it seems like you guys might be interested in that aspect. Just a thought.

[KRyn]

This guy is fucking crazy!
cNvJy0zoXOY

[broken_legs]

^^^ Sweet video! my fave is when he flies backwards through the matting window in the gym!



Just a random comment, but has anyone considered going to the Talisman Center and practicing flipping off the 1-3m spring boards?

How about the 5m platform?

We used to do this all the time in highschool, it's how we 'trained' or got stoked for snowboarding and it helped my spacial orientation whilst airborne so many ways. Just a suggestion as water seems to be pretty forgiving.

ie I'd rather land a triple back flip off the 3m spring into a pool then on my head on a trampoline :)


EDIT:
To anyone whos still into this Parkour stuff:

Is this the type of sport you would recommend to someone whos torn his ACL and ACL/MCL? Seems like a lot of plant and pivot which makes me cringe :nut:

[riceeater]

i was high once and stopped in at esso and the guy at the counter randomly started talking about him doing parkour and exercising for it and i nearly pissed myself laughing at him :nut:

[duaner]

Just bumping this thread because I came across this video--decent song and little Parkour action:

Lmf5AqSGZ8Q

Sucks...why do I fail at embedding? Is it something I'm doing?

[shin0bi]

NECROPOST!!!!

Who is still doing Parkour / Freerunning? Hell, I probably know you guys in real life, or been at jams with you.

No Limits AFC is great, especially if you're inclined to take a class, or desire some official training.

If you're looking to just come to a gym facility and train on your own, then Stampede City Gymnastics offers adult drop-in nights. It's a much much larger facility, and open gym starts at 8:15 pm on weekdays, so there's no kids around, and no lineups or fighting for equipment.
http://www.stampedecitygym.com (The site doesn't really give a lot of details on the drop-in, but it's got contact info if you wanna learn more)

The Calgary scene is small, so its cool to see Beyonders are into it. (I wish I'd found this post last year).

[project240]

I've always thought this stuff was pretty cool. I wish my ankles weren't fucked up, because I'd love to try learn a few things.

[scboss]

1fouvwilGWc

if im ever in cali this is where im headed

[max_boost]

Wow this is awesome. I must have been under a rock but I want to give this a shot.

Anyone take the Saturday Noon to 1:30pm Parkour Fundamentals class?

A bit confused with their pricing schedule, is it possible to just pay for that one class to see if you like it? Want to drag a few friends into it.

[bigbadboss101]

These guys look really fleet footed. An average joe like us probably wouldn't know how to start or what to do in a place like that.

[scboss]

I did some research and the cater to beginners. Prob be in the foam pit 99% of the time

[max_boost]

Alright beyond noob meet anyone? Haha

[shin0bi]

Originally posted by warcaster
I did some research and the cater to beginners. Prob be in the foam pit 99% of the time

Unfortunately, No Limits A.F.C doesn't have a foam pit for training. You'll have to make friends with the crash mats. But those are really forgiving, and the floors are padded, so you'd actually have to have a pretty catastrophic bail to do any serious injuries.

If you DO want foam pits to train in, Stampede City Gym just off Barlow is ideal.
They offer adult drop-in for $10 on Thursdays and Saturdays. A number of free-runners will go there to train from time to time, though they don't have any classes that cater to the sport.

The Calgary parkour community is small, and extremely friendly/open to newcomers. It's part of the reason I've stuck with my training.

[JfuckinC]

http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k497/animalsbeingdicks/abd-172.gif

Barkour anyone?

(saw this on animalsbeingdicks.com lol)