Chattanooga Parkour Freerunning

Short notice but I'll be offering a weekly pop-up outdoor class, starting this evening at the Main Terrain Art Park. The goal is to have it every Wednesday (weather permitting and day subject to change) for any and all to learn basic parkour FUNdamentals from an A.D.A.P.T. qualified parkour instructor. Bring water and a light jacket. We'll see you there! 🏃💨🍁🍂

Big shout to 'Giles Compiles' for featuring Armin Smajlović video, featuring some of Chattanooga's parkour training spots. That was certainly a treat. Much love to the Tennessee movement.

Giles Compiles Ep.15 - Tennessee, Ninjaboy & Tech Submit your videos to [email protected]! Featured Videos: Team Ibkano - Liberty Of Movement - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMuPr... Tennessee Hardco...

🎄 Hoping everyone had a very Merry Christmas this year with family and friends. Much love. 🎄

“Fitness shouldn’t be boring,” said Maniktahla, who went from avoiding the gym to going as often as he could after discovering the discipline. “It shouldn’t be something you do to tune your body and that’s it. We really believe parkour is for everybody, not just 18-year-old boys or teenagers. It’s about learning to get back in touch with your body.”
www.ourparkour.org | [email protected]

As parkour grows up, its devotees mature Teens aren’t the only ones embracing the tricks and jumps of this urban kind of gymnastics.

OurParkour in collaboration with St. Peter's Episcopal School are nearly up to 80 pairs of donated shoes for the Soles4Souls, Inc. donation drive. Huge thanks to all who have donated so far!
www.ourparkour.org | [email protected]

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive." -Dalai Lama

What values should promote globally? UNESCO want your views in this short survey

UNESCO considers sport as a way to teach young people the knowledge and skills necessary to become responsible global citizens.

The ethics and values taught in sport can play a vital role in preserving human dignity and protecting human integrity.

They’d like to find out more about your perception of sport values. Please take 2 minutes of your time to answer this survey and share your thoughts
- bit.ly/1MKseDU

Physical Education and Sport | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

A letter to coach Sam from one of my students at the 'OurParkour' enrichment program at St. Peter's Episcopal School. It's extremely rewarding to see the positive impact parkour has had on the kids at St. Peter's, watching their progression week to week and seeing them develop as well rounded athletes. This is l'art du deplacement the "art of movement".
www.ourparkour.org | [email protected]

The kids at St. Peter's Episcopal School are getting psyched for the Soles4Souls, Inc. donation drive by creating some awesome S4S's artwork! Ethan Young, head instructor for the 'OurParkour' enrichment camp at St. Peter's is a proud ambassador of Soles4Souls and happy to introduce the initiative to St. Peter's and other area schools! Because shoes are the only piece of 'equipment' that practitioners need in parkour, we want to show our support to help others in need! www.ourparkour.org | [email protected]

This morning, students shared posters to spread awareness of the Soles for Souls shoe collection next week. At St. Peter's, kids have lots of opportunities to discover the joy of serving others in our own community and around the world.

"The main barrier is perception of what we think we can or can't do. Parkour makes you face that fear...the only way to get through fear is to be exposed to it and become familiar with it, finding ways to get through it and training yourself to manage it"
www.ourparkour.org | [email protected]

Training the brain to push the body beyond its limits - CNN.com Mental training could boost athletic performance, say experts.

Part 2/3: A short story from the early days of parkour. The 15 day challenge...

The 15 days challenge: Part 2/3

At that stage David set a very simple drill for me...

As simple as a two parallel bars set up.
"Go over and under the bars, in and out, 50 times, fast and without stopping" he said. So I executed. Basically vaulting over the first one and going under the second one, then back inside over and under...As I said a very simple task in appearance.
He was there keeping the pace and making sure I was always moving, because not moving meant quitting. He increased the speed of the reps half way through and even more towards the end and kept pushing me until I reached the 50. When I stopped, something weird happened. I felt pressure on my chest and throat, I could not breathe. Something was blocked as if my throat shrank and the air could not circulate. I collapsed on the grass, covered by snow...still shirtless. It took me few minutes to recover, lying on the snow, trying to breathe normally again. I assumed (in my mind) at this stage, after the long hours from the morning, plus that incident and knowing we would have a night session later in the day, I was deserving of a rest now.

David showed a bit of compassion, congratulated me for the effort this morning (he rarely praises) and the fact that I gave all I had until I collapsed and said: "ok you're good for this morning, let's go home"! As we were walking towards my car, JUST before we reached it he said: "oh just one more thing". Bang. That's it. And the whole morning session was just turning into a nightmare now. I had no idea what he would add but the simple fact that I started to picture a shower and bed before the "one more thing" happened, was quite painful. But I did not show it. Showing weakness at this point would give him ammunition to try harder to make me quit.

He then pointed at a long line of small steps along the road at ground level. The steps were around 50cm long and 10cm with a space of about 1.5m between each of them, which went on for about 400 meters.

He added: "You will only go home once you complete that distance without falling off the steps. If you fall off one step, you start again from the beginning until you make it right".

My legs were weak, my balance and concentration gone because of the tiredness from the previous hours. He was giving me the right mental challenge at this point. All I had to do was walk in balance on those steps, for the entire distance. Any fresh day the task would have been easy. But on that day the atmosphere was different. It took me a lot effort and time. Really taking the time and being sure in between each step before I'd do a stride that I was 100% sure.
I could not afford to fall off and start again. Each stride was intense and a long moment in my mind. I was not talking nor smiling, completely immersed in the task.

Somehow after taking quite some time I made it to the end without falling once. "Now we can go home", he said, with a smile on his face. I was confused between hating the guy but also being grateful for him taking the time to share that experience with me.

Once in the car, I could barely hold the steering wheel. David looked at me and said "If this is too hard, you can quit Steph. Have a nice rest at home, some hot chocolate and croissant. And you don't have to come back tonight for the second session". I asked if he'd buy the croissant but he would not even do that he said, while laughing, so I'd rather not complain and get ready for the evening session I decided.

This anecdote reflects one side of the huge mental aspect of those 15 days. It happened near the end of week one and I was not even half way through when I discovered that I could actually stop breathing and pass out from over intense training. Good time...not. It is all about the context and the situation of course and, put out of context, a lot of those drills are way less intense. The combination of it all, and how David masters the art of making training really mental and rising in intensity, gave the challenge that mesmerising touch.

Part of the 15 days I also recall that time when David was away and could not be there with me physically delivering his daily pain so he gave me a challenge for the day. And he meant for the day. Literally. I thought not having him around would result in some sort of a break half way through the 15 days challenge. One of those silly thoughts you have when you're young...So he left me with a note and a routine to execute every hour for 12 hours. From 8am till 8pm, every new hour I had to do that combination of exercises. And of course rest in between. The note was saying:...

Part 1/3: A short story from the early days of parkour. The 15 day challenge...

The 15 days challenge: Part 1

Those who have had the chance to train with some of the founders of parkour/art du deplacement, I am sure you have stories to tell and you'll probably always remember those unique experiences.
Spending my first few years of training under David Belle I have many stories and actual physical marks on my body of those days, but if I had to tell which one was the most intense of them all it would be the "15 days" challenge.

After a couple of years of training and following his teaching, David told me that if I really wanted to push my limits and know what is an extreme, real and intense parkour training I should go for the "15 days". He told me that only after completing such experience I would really know what hardcore parkour training is and, more importantly, I would reach my limit both physically and mentally and break. That was essential and part of the teachings, he added. Without this, something would be missing and the teaching incomplete. He said he only trained one man to do the "15 days" but that person couldn't complete it. I was young, had burning fire within, lots of pride and ego, of course I wanted to do the "15 days"! Only a young ignorant imbecile would have such enthusiasm for that kind of challenge.

The "15 days" principle was fairly simple: David would lead a 15 day training "experience" for me with one goal in mind: Break me and make me give up before we reach the end of 15 days. (Oh for the record, he is good when it comes to breaking people during training).

I was basically a 24/7 student at his disposal available at any time of the day or night to execute his commands. Most times he would be outdoor with me, giving me instructions on what to do, other times he would give me written programs that I'd have to do by myself, or he could just call me anytime and ask me to do something.

So the whole experience of course would be physically demanding because I knew I would not have rest during 15 days but the most difficult part for me was to know "IT" could happen at anytime of the day or night. While I am resting, while I thought I was done for the day, he could ask, again, for one more thing. I was both excited and scared to begin the experience.
So the challenge began. Days were long, nights short and of course it was winter and freezing outside. David knew I could handle the pain of tough training so he knew his chances to break me and give up would be through a mind game. Not being a morning person, most of the first daily training sessions were starting when the sun was not even up around 5-6am. Most of my allowed resting times were interrupted with some random phone calls or text tasking me withmore challenges.

There were no real surprises in terms of content, actual techniques or drills I was asked to do. But the way it all had been put in order, how the build up was led in creating a very stressful situation was an actual piece of art. I found myself being afraid of what was coming next and when frequently during those 15 days.

I often heard the line "Hey Steph you want a croissant and have a rest?" as a joke when I travel and meet practitioners. That line comes from one of those days where David was determined to make me give up and quit.

We were in the woods in Lisses (were the 1000 drops challenge is), I had been out for quite some time doing some running, climbing drills, muscle ups and drop jumps etc...I was of course tired as on any one of those 15 days. It was cold, snow was on the floor and I was shirtless. After a sprinting session he told me we were almost done and will go home soon. At that stage David set a very simple drill for me...

"Typically, athletes are pretty in tune with their body awareness, but mindfulness training offers an opportunity to consider what's going on in your mind when you're pushed to your limits."

Can Mindfulness Training Make You a Better Athlete? A new study on BMX bikers tests this theory.