Kurt is Leaving September 19 - October 6

WHERE I'M GOING
This Friday, September 19th, I am on my way to Boston to partake in several days of glorious bleeding, sweating, and quite possibly even crying... but guaranteed laughing as well. What's in Boston? I'll be participating in the A.D.A.P.T. Level 2 certification course delivered by Parkour Generations and Parkour Generations Americas... the next step in my journey to take over the world! Just kidding. Taking the course is more of a personal challenge for me than anything else and it will be nice to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones. It is known as officially the hardest physical certification in Europe (if not the world).

HOW TO REACH ME
While I'm gone (I return Monday, October 6th), Gerardo will be at the helm of things! I'll still be accessible via the internet (email, Facebook) but I will likely be at the computer much less than I usually am, if at all some days. As for the phone - I will be as terrible at answering calls as I have always been.

CONTACTING GERARDO
Gerardo does not have a phone at this point in time, so your best method of contact will be email. SIGN UP FOR YOUR CLASSES ahead of time and re-check the schedule for cancellations before you head to the class!

THE EFFECTS ON THE CLASS SCHEDULE
Saturday's classes at Goose Island CrossFit (formerly "VIE Custom Fitness") are the only classes that will not be running while I am gone. This is because Gerardo teaches at the Actors Gymnasium on Saturday afternoons, and as much as I'd like it to be possible, he cannot be in two places at one time (we tried, he is too slow). Apologies to those who were signed up for this Saturday, it had slipped my mind to take care of this on the schedule until I was writing this email! Speaking of changes to the schedule, look for a new class or two on the schedule in coming weeks! Once we move indoors, the schedule will likely need to have some adjustments made again, so keep an eye on it.

GIRLS JAM (SEP 27TH)
Angela Martin is running the upcoming Girls Jam and will be assisted by Jessy Hernandez and Brian Reyes.

QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions about how things will work while I am gone, please do not hesitate to email me (because soon you may not get a response for a while!).

Thank you, see you all soon!

Kurt Gowan
Founder

ADAPT Certifications

Next month, we are hosting the first ever ADAPT Level 1 certification course here in Chicago (the first in Illinois as well).

Some disagree with certifications in Parkour, but the ADAPT coaching certification is important in this discipline. Not because we seek approval from others. Not because we are "better" than anyone else. But because we appreciate the original values and spirit of the discipline and hope to carry those on through what we do. Because we seek to improve as not only coaches who teach others in these disciplines, but as practitioners ourselves, and as human beings. It is a way to not only learn more about yourself (as a coach, as a practitioner and in general), but to learn more about how Parkour, Freerunning, and ADD all started. To understand what reasons it was started for. To understand how it has changed, why it has changed, and how we can keep those values and the spirit passed down from the founders alive and well for years to come.

The ADAPT network of coaches is perhaps the strongest network of coaches of Parkour around the world. It is a global effort spanning numerous countries and it continues to grow each year. The certification course is quite difficult, the Parkour Generations coaches who deliver the course make sure that you earn your certification through plenty of hard work... blood, sweat, and tears even.

It is important that we have coaches around the globe that take this discipline seriously (by that, I don't mean that they are super strict!), because it is a serious discipline with serious repercussions if practiced incorrectly. This discipline can be practiced safely by anyone, something that many people do not realize when they are exposed to much of the footage shared on YouTube or in the mass media. This is why we need coaches who stay true to the discipline. So that we do not end up leaving out those who could greatly benefit from the training we offer.

Keep Calm and...

So here's my day real quick: woke up two hours after my alarm was supposed to wake me (because I'm a beast at sleeping, not because I'm bad at waking up...), rushed to get ready and leave the house. Stepped outside to see that it snowed again and was still snowing, so I had to brush off my car and I knew traffic was going to take forever. I didn't want to be late to the school workshops today, but I still wanted to go to the gym to dismantle equipment and pack it into my car before I headed over there. The GPS was saying I'd make it... so I took the risk.

I went to the gym, dismantled all the metal rails and put them in the car. Next I picked up one of the smaller vault boxes and carried it down the stairs and was headed out the door with it. I was holding the box up with one arm and pushing the door open with the other. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my left hand. I looked over at my hand immediately, and realized there was a BEE on my palm. It had stung me. I yelled out a nice word in pain (use your imagination for that one) and flung the bee to the ground. I had actually seen that same bee on Monday night when I dropped off this smaller vault box at the gym. When I saw it, I thought "that's weird, they should all be dead...oh well" and let it bee (har har). My mistake I guess.

So I put the box into the car, put some snow on my hand right away and continued. I got in the car, rolled the window down and started to drive with my hand hanging out the window (it was probably about 15 degrees out withOUT the windchill while I was driving on the highway). I connected my phone to the stereo to put my music on. I set it to shuffle. The first song that comes on: "We Swarm" by The Glitch Mob. I laughed out loud for a little while. You gots good jokes, life... good jokes!

I kept my hand numb out the window for most of the 35-minute drive to the school in Riverside. I arrived there without any problems, carried the equipment in, and started setting up. The classes were pretty hectic, those kids had a ton of energy and quite a few of them didn't know how to deal with it! The vast majority ended up doing really well though, and learned a handful of movements. Oddly enough, in a K-5 school, the 1st graders were the best behaved!

Lunchtime rolled around. Kids started pouring into the gym, apparently that's where some of them spend their lunch period to eat (there are benches/ledges along the walls). One of them who had asked about getting my autograph before during the class came up to me and said he had paper now (I asked him to get paper and a pen when he asked me during the class, because I didn't have any). I dug a pen out of my bag and wrote something down for him real quick. Other kids saw this go down and immediately a huge line was formed. Some of them hadn't even taken the class with me yet, but the other kids had told them who I was. I wrote each kid a personalized message with their name (which I asked each of them, and made sure the spelling was correct) and my "autograph" (weird to say that). I handed out business cards to some of them (my business cards are more like trading cards with a photo covering one entire side, and there were about 12 different photos). My 30 or so cards that I had with me all disappeared fast. So that was half of my lunch period!!

I headed to a Jimmy John's that the staff told me was nearby. When I got to it, I began to turn into their odd entrance for their parking lot - at which point I realized there was a pole I needed to avoid on the right side of my car (I was turning right into the lot). So I made sure to avoid that pole... then realized I hadn't made sure to avoid the BUILDING on the other side of the car. I smashed up the front left of the car a little bit (just cosmetic, cracks/dents in the fiberglass). I actually laughed at myself again, backed up and pulled into a spot.

From there the day didn't get any more interesting really. I had more classes after lunch and before I knew it, the day was over. I saw a lot of the kids as I was heading out of the school with equipment and they were all saying bye and thank you and telling me stories. Kids are great!

So, to recap, I woke up two hours late (which was still 6:00am), drove probably around 200 miles today, packed and unpacked equipment from the car twice, got stung by a bee in the middle of a snowy winter, and drove my car straight into a building... and all of this happened for a workshop that I was doing for free (this particular school didn't have any sort of budget for this sort of thing). My favorite part - I was able to keep a good mood throughout the day.

The point of this blog? I believe that part of one's training should be keeping a positive attitude, and to not take life too seriously! Sometimes bad things will happen. It is up to us to find a way to get through them. Keep calm and train the mind. :)

TMS Workshops

This past Monday and Tuesday, I had the wonderful opportunity to step into a school and take over SIX entire PE classes for 6th graders throughout the day. The school is Thomas Middle School in Arlington Heights, and I almost cannot begin to explain how awesome the experience was! Of course, I was there to introduce them to parkour - something many of the kids had heard of before, but almost none of them had tried or been correctly exposed to!

It took some time to get my foot in the door here. PE teacher Mr. Craig discovered me through the Parkour Ways Facebook page, having seen a post I made about wanting to get into more schools and putting together more workshop events. He ran it past his principal who, at first, was hesitant about idea because he was under the impression (as most are nowadays, can't blame him!) that parkour is about dangerous, silly tricks (not his words by the way).

It took a while for Mr. Craig to convince the principal, Mr. Kaye, to consider the idea. Once he did though, we set up a meeting to discuss what parkour actually is and after I confidently explained this to him, we continued the conversation to talk about what I could do with the kids! Mr. Kaye was then quite excited to bring the workshops to the kids and have them exposed to this wonderful discipline. Some weeks went by and more discussions were had, and eventually we had picked our dates!

Teaching these workshops was one of the best feelings I've ever had. Honestly, it was just down-right amazing. Some of you already know that I've done workshops with a school before, and most of you also know that I've taught countless kids now through my classes, but being IN the school made it so much different. It was like the school believed in me and what I do so much that they were welcoming me inside, and it was official.

I've completely changed from the kid who made trouble in school, didn't apply himself to anything, and didn't think he'd ever turn out to be anything. It was an eye-opener being on the other side of things, sitting and standing with the teachers, and it was really nice to be on the kids' side simultaneously, bringing them something fun and new that they were excited about.

I got to share a very brief version of my story with the kids at the end of day 2. I explained to them that I got into parkour without any prior background in any sports, martial arts, gymnastics, or even having taken any sort of formal fitness classes (aside from the PE classes I had at my own schools, which I cannot say did as well a job as Mr. Craig is doing with his kids...). I let them know and made sure they understood that parkour is for anyone, of any age, shape, or size.

I was a little tougher on the kids through day 1. The warm-up was more difficult, utilizing quadrupedal movement and my student-favorite "rest position" in between the variations. During the warm-up, I touched on subjects that are very important to me. The first thing I made sure I squeezed into the day was that parkour was not meant to be dangerous. Quite the contrary actually. Parkour (and even freerunning, which some are also confused about) is meant to be safe and the risks involved are meant to be taken in a managed fashion. I used my now-typical reference to the "flips and crazy tricks you see on YouTube or in the movies" and added a quick note that "it's not about jumping off of roofs either" to make a point that this was not what parkour is all about, and that it is not necessarily the goal of our training to be able to do these things.

As always, the warm-up was a way for me to open up their eyes to the fact that our training is difficult, and that it is a discipline. I did not completely exhaust the kids, though of course some had more trouble than others. I made sure with each class to take some moments to explain to them one of the main concepts or ideas behind the training: being strong to be useful. I elaborated and told them that "we want to be strong so that we can use that strength for a good reason... not just to lift heavier objects or to jump further, it's not about the numbers. We want to be stronger so that we can help other people."

During each of the quadrupedal movement blocks of the warm-ups, I specifically chose one of the variations and instructed the kids that they were going to "stay together" on this one. I was emphasizing the notion that we are doing this to be stronger, and another very important concept behind the training that I shared aloud with every class: "nobody is better than anybody." Kids these days, especially the athletic ones, need to understand that just because they can jump higher, run faster, throw a ball further, or whatever it is that they may do "better" than others, doesn't make them better than anyone else. I joined them for this chosen variation of the quadrupedal movement, so did Mr. Craig (who also participated in many other parts of the warm-ups, and I admire and applaud him for his participation!), and we moved as a group instead of as individuals. The kids, of which I had up to 25 at a time, were told to make sure they were paying attention to the rest of the group each time they took a step with this variation of the movement. If they got too far ahead of the group, they were to rejoin us in what was one big, wide line of wonderful people. They were also told that we would not leave anyone behind, and we didn't. Once in a while I'd stop moving and wait to see if the kids would notice. At first, they would keep going for a few steps and then take notice. Once we reached the center of the gym, they were paying much more attention to the others and were staying together even moreso.

During one of the classes, I also felt the need to talk to the kids about one of the other very important aspects of parkour: the spirit of "never giving up". One student in particular was having a very difficult time with the quadrupedal movement, and had actually burst into tears while still completing the exercise. This student was not giving up, though, and I could tell she had that fight in her that could really do something amazing in the future. I got down and helped this student finish crossing the gym on all-fours while the other kids watched and waited in the "rest position" (it is not a rest, for those of you who have not seen my classes). Once the student was back with the others, I paused the session (they still remained in "rest position") while I talked to them again.

"Another important thing about parkour is that you never give up", I told them. "Life is hard. Life is not easy. If you are thinking life will be easy for you, I can tell you right now that you are wrong." I was on the verge of tears myself as I explained this to these sixth-graders, thinking about the things that I've been through over the years and how many of these will go through similar things, maybe even worse. I thought about my mom, who died of cancer in 2010; she was and is one of the biggest reasons and inspirations for me to do what I am doing with my life now.

"Life can get very tough, extremely hard sometimes. We need to be strong, to never give up."

After the warm-ups we moved on to working on cat leaps and the kids were able to really enjoy trying something fun and exciting to them. They all listened attentively to my instructions as I broke the movement down for them and gave them new things to focus on as they tried the jumps. Toward the end, we also worked on traversing in the cat position and most of the kids also took a crack at climbing up from the cat position into what is commonly referred to as a "top-off" (arms straight, hands on the top of the wall, feet dangling), before trying to skillfully climb back down into the cat position.

Day two was much more lighthearted and playful. The warm-up was still challenging of course! But we worked on a few more creative movements and I got to show the kids some more advanced movements that they could aspire to work up to. At the end, we took these wonderful group shots that you've seen spread through this post. To see the rest of the photos, check out the album on the gallery page here.

Response to Response

In response to my post "A Very Important Discussion" and Stephane's blog "The SPLIT", Chad Zwadlo of Fight or Flight Academy in Minnesota had this to say: https://chadzwadlo.wordpress.com/2013/11/15/response-to-the-split/

First Chad, let me say that my article was in no way directed at you, your community, or your operations. If you took it that way, then maybe you aren't confident in the way you are doing things yourself. I know that your movements are great, and that you can teach movements. And don't get me wrong, you're absolutely right that I have not been to your gym or any of your classes, so I'm not pointing a finger. I just don't understand how you took it as a finger pointed at you, when it was not.

For you to tell me that I am "not teaching them to understand" is offensive to me. I make my best efforts to get these kids to understand what it's really about. Hence my avoiding teaching them flips all together. Neglecting them? I am not neglecting them in any way, shape, or form. The problem is the media and the "practitioners" who allow them and things like Red Bull to come into the picture and completely misconstrue what we do. The problem is the people who just throw trick after trick and post it on YouTube to get views, and then call it parkour or freerunning. No matter how long someone has been training or how many years they've spent off-camera, it doesn't negate their effects on the public's views of the discipline when they do this sort of thing NOW. It's just as much one's responsibility to stay on track and properly represent the discipline as it is everyone else's. If you can't do that, then don't call it parkour or freerunning, because it wouldn't be those things.

I don't hate indoor training. I have no problem with gyms. As I said to you in my comment on Facebook about this, indoor gyms are an unfortunate necessity in our country that is so concerned about liability and lawsuits. What I DON'T like is the fancy gyms that are set up in order to make money, to satisfy investors, to sell products and use the money to make bigger videos filled with even more tricks and to sell more products. This is not parkour or freerunning; there is no spirit in doing these things.

I teach in gyms, too. I don't own a gym, let alone a parkour-specific gym, but I have my equipment and it's used indoors just like yours (except where it can be used outdoors at one of the gyms). "Don't judge based on what you think you've seen on YouTube" - if that's the only thing you've given us to go by, then that is your fault, not ours. I have spent the past 12 years in poverty and I can't always afford to go places. If you don't want us to judge you based on what you put out there, then don't put it out there...

I don't want there to be bad blood between us. I really liked the time we got to spend together at the Ninja Warrior event. But I don't appreciate the way you turned this around and pointed the blame at me/us. I noticed that when you posted this on Facebook you said you tend to write without thinking first, so I'm hoping some of it was just that! Or maybe my writing was not well-enough written to avoid this misunderstanding, too.

To finish this off, I don't have a problem with what you do or how you do it. It's your life, after all. But for people to take something that is defined as a discipline and make it something entirely different (or even with completely opposite goal) and to taint it to the point that the original values are almost unknown or non-existent, is not right. Call it something else if you want to do it differently (that is not directed specifically at you, but to everyone who has that opposite goal).

Thank you for responding!

Financial Hardships

FINANCIAL HARDSHIP: It has been a big part of my life and it is something I have come to understand well. I want my classes and services to be available to anyone who may need them. Art du déplacement can CHANGE LIVES and that's exactly what I'm setting out to do with my teaching, with Parkour Ways.

To all current, prospective, and future students: if you're in a state of financial hardship, feel free to reach out to me and I will work with you. I teach this for a LIVING, not to make MONEY. I'm not in the business of ripping people off or getting rich. I want to help others.

You can send me an email to kurt@ParkourWays.com to inquire about this. Please be honest about your situation and what you can afford, as I too am in a state of financial hardship and have been for the past 12 years.

NBC's "1st Look"

Tonight I had the pleasure of shooting a segment for NBC's new lifestyle/travel show with host Audrina Patridge (MTV's The Hills, Dancing with the Stars). The episode won't air for another couple of months (around January, I was told), but I'm very excited to see it all put together! Audrina joined me and a few of my adult students outdoors in the cool evening for a beginner's look into what parkour is and is all about! She was excited to get started and learn more about the discipline, and it was great to see that genuine interest in what I do and teach from her. She's a great girl!

As with every class or event I teach, we started with a warm-up. I think Audrina quickly realized that this was going to be a bit tougher than she expected! After the warm-up, we moved to some other areas and started showing her some of the movement training that we do with our beginners. We started simple with balance, walking on a rail. Audrina tackled that one quite well, showed great control in her steps and really had her mind on what she was doing as she moved down the rail. Next, I took her over to a wall and a rail to show her the Safety Vault. She picked this one up pretty fast and was moving over those obstacles in no time!

The NBC team had quite a few questions about parkour for myself, Travis Tetting (a fellow instructor from Wisconsin Parkour who came down to help with the segment) and a few of my students, too. I can't wait to see the finished product! See what else we did and the rest of what Audrina tried in January on NBC!

Spreading Reach

Lattof YMCA in Des Plaines, Thomas Middle School in Arlington Heights, the new 32 Forty community center in Bridgeport... I'm very busy setting up classes and workshops all over the place!

This one will be big: I had a meeting at the Chicago Waldorf School this morning. We're rolling things forward to get me teaching a legitimate parkour/Art du Déplacement class to their high school kids during their school day. If we can't make that happen, we will push forward to make it an extra-curricular activity option!

My next scheduled meeting is with the Munster, Indiana Parks Department. I look forward to figuring out how and where I can provide my classes to the Munster area through their recreational program.

Do you want parkour/ADD classes somewhere? Shoot us an email with your suggestions and information to: contact@ParkourWays.com

Trip to Québec

Here are a few photos from the last day of our trip to Québec this past week. We taught two Art du Déplacement classes for ADD Québec while we were there. It was an amazing group of people, we really enjoyed working with them and the students were wonderful to be with as well. There is a ton of great spirit here! The photos are from our climb up to the top of Mont Sainte Anne on August 30th, 2013:

The Way Forward

This is an amazing documentary and I definitely recommend that you make the time to watch this through. The quick film (49 minutes) touches on very many aspects of parkour that I think a lot of people should think about and learn about.

At the start of the video they briefly discuss what parkour is, how it got started, and other common things. Martin Svenselius of Parkour Academy Stockholm did a wonderful job of explaining things. The documentary also includes some insight into the minds of those who are running organizations that teach parkour. Martin explains that he would much rather be able to do what he does without money involved, but that it just isn't possible now.

Chris Rowat of Parkour Generations also makes an appearance in the film, discussing many issues including getting paid for instructing parkour, competitions in parkour and sponsorships. If you want to know how I feel about those subjects, watch the film and listen to Chris' words. I wholeheartedly agree with everything that he had to say!

Enjoy!

LaSalle Language Academy Parkour Workshops

Both classes of sixth graders (32 kids in each class) at LaSalle Language Academy in Chicago will be skipping class (with teachers and parents, of course) to join me for a one-hour mid-week parkour workshop (outdoors and away from the school) for three weeks - starting next Thursday, April 18, 2013.

Teachers have already started prepping the students with videos and other materials. Very excited to get these kids introduced to the discipline.

LaSalle sixth graders... get ready to work harder than you ever imagined you could or would during school hours. ;)

I'm excited to work with LaSalle Language Academy, especially after reading their mission statement:

"The LaSalle Language Academy community will create an environment that inspires in every child a love of learning, global understanding and respect for the uniqueness of each individual. LaSalle will develop graduates who are life-long, resourceful learners, and reflective, contributing citizens of the world."

Being a globally growing discipline, parkour definitely inspires one to learn about their body, their mind, their role in society and the world, and about other communities and cultures across the planet. Some of the common mottoes in parkour, "Être fort pour être utile" ("Be Strong to Be Useful", adopted from Georges Hébert) and "Être et Durer" ("To Be and To Last") seem to align perfectly with the Academy's desire to create those life-long, contributing citizens.

Would you like Parkour Ways to come to your school or facility and put on some workshops? Send an email to kurt@parkourways.com with your inquiries.

A Message

Inspired

There’s a certain “essence” that I'm going for when I instruct, and I'm very happy to hear that it's showing. Big thanks to my new student Beck Anstee for inspiring this post, through a message she sent to me via Facebook. Beck found my classes through our Ninja Warrior Games (http://www.UrbanNinjaProject.com) event that she attended with her daughters and has since attended 3 classes and brought her 2 daughters to a class as well.

In her message, Beck had inquired about the philosophy of parkour and was unsure if she was making "more of it than there is". In fact, I believe she has come to a better understanding of the discipline than most at their beginner stage in training. She went on to compliment my methods of instruction and the classes as a whole, and I was extremely satisfied by her message. Enough to write back a rather large response.

Confirming

Here was my response to Beck’s message:

“You are not making more of it than there is. On my website I mention that I don't just teach a catalog of movements. If that was all there was to parkour, I probably wouldn't still be doing it after these years. It is definitely part of the philosophy to tune in with your environment and other people. Parkour is about a few simple points, but those points branch deeper to so many levels it's almost impossible to understand without getting into the discipline yourself:

Knowing Your Self - No matter what we do, we are always doing it alone. I don't mean that in a negative way. Everything we do is a decision of our own; every choice we make is made by us. When you're training, even with 100 people by your side, your training is still up to you. Nobody can really know what you're feeling inside at any given moment, the challenges you're facing or the thoughts running through your mind while you're staring down a jump.

Becoming Stronger - I think many (if not all) of the people who stick to training parkour have at least one thing in common: we always want to do/be better. When I say becoming strong, I don't just mean being able to lift 100lbs instead of 80lbs, or being able to do 100 pushups versus 50. The strength you find and build in parkour is in the mind as well. We use the skills we've developed through movement and apply them to all sorts of situations: problem solving, fear management, teamwork, leadership, compassion, confidence, self-expression, imagination and creativity. Yes, the physical strength of course can be carried into other goals and objectives or situations in life. But every bit of parkour should include the mind. If you're not using your mind, you're simply not training parkour.

Use That Knowledge and Strength for Good - "Be strong to be useful." This is one of the phrases that have been carried down from the founders and others that have followed in their footsteps. The word "Yamakasi", the name the founders gave their group, is an African Lingala word that means "strong man, strong spirit." To them it meant "strong body, strong mind, strong spirit." It was all about strength when they developed the discipline and their name. "We start together, we finish together!" is another phrase you will hear around the Parkour Generations team and the Yamakasi at their events. We want to be strong for a reason. Not just to lift heavier things, not just to impress others or to be "cool" - but to show others what they, what WE as human beings, are capable of. Especially nowadays with technology taking over everyone's lives; we've lost the ability to use our bodies and the will or respect to take care of them. There is a spirit in parkour that is just too difficult to explain. That spirit is about taking care of others and our environments just as much as it is about taking care of your own self.

Make It Last - "To be and to last." This is another phrase common to the founders, Parkour Generations, and those who have followed them. Parkour is an ongoing discipline. It is not a fad, it is not meant to be a workout or diet that you commit to for 6 months only to fall back into your "regular" life. There are those who train to go the biggest and hardest that they can, trying to pull off the biggest, flashiest tricks or movements. Despite anything that television, movies, any other media or anybody ever tells you - it is NOT an extreme sport, it is NOT about competition... and it never will be.

There are a limitless number of other branches to the discipline. Parkour is a never-ending and always-changing lifestyle - a journey without a destination. It is unique to each individual, just as our bodies and minds are.

Thank you for that message. It was really great to get confirmation that my instruction carries those core values! I'm going to share this on the Parkour Ways blog.”

Wrap

I really like where Beck is headed, and I want to give her recognition for being incredibly involved in my classes in such a short amount of time. She continues to seek knowledge of the discipline on what seems to be a daily basis, sharing what she learns with others (including her nephew, Nick, whom she brought with her to a class last weekend!).

For the first time ever last weekend, I “assigned” some of my students a bit of homework. Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t paperwork or an essay! All I asked of the students in that class was that they go out and work on their balance somewhere, at some point during the week. That was all.

Just a few hours later, I saw that Beck had posted a few videos on Facebook showing that she not only did the balance assignment, but also tried a few other new things! Absolutely awesome.

Beck has discovered a love for parkour. “I love it. It's a very natural progression for me. It's almost permission to be myself”, she says. ""Parkour is for everyone and contagious. I am seeing a variety of age and skill levels come into Parkour Ways and couldn't be more pleased."

Your Homework

Now, I have homework for my readers. If you haven't already, watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOYpHLHg6io

Additionally, I want you to poke around the Parkour Generations site (www.ParkourGenerations.com) and read some of the articles they have up. Not any one in particular. Just poke around at what catches your eye.

Lastly, I want you to read this recent blog on the topic of the way parkour is being spread and misconstrued, written by Parkour Generations coach Chris "Blane" Rowat:

http://blane-parkour.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-call-to-arms.html

Thanks for reading. Keep training everyone!