Parkour Training Blog

When you begin Parkour, you often find yourself only thinking about training the next time you are going out to practice. You might then go to school, work or just a walk in the park, forgetting about your training completely. But what if there is a way you can practice Parkour all day, every day? Even if you’re not actually training.

My belief is that you have absolutely no excuse for not having enough time to practice, since I think we can practice every time we actually ‘do’ anything. So, how does it work?

It’s simple. Lately, I have been working on perfecting my movement, whilst doing an everyday task, such as opening the door, eating, brushing my teeth or walking around my house. This way I interact with my surroundings in a way that is constructive. It seems to create a state of heightened awareness and I feel very concentrated.

The main idea is to pay more attention than usual and maintain a state of higher awareness as to what your body is doing and where you fit in your surroundings. I believe that the concept is called ‘Zanshin’ and is used in Karate. It refers to a state of relaxed alertness. And I believe we can use this concept in Parkour as much as in Martial Arts. Because when your mind is not empty and your body isn’t relaxed, you cannot use your environment efficiently.

How can you train without training

1. Hitting a distant target with a chosen foot.

Foot placement is an easy thing to work on outside of your normal parkour sessions. The only requirement is that you are walking. In your house, to get the mail, at the mall, to your car, on a hiking trail. Anywhere. There are a couple main ways you can train foot placement no matter where you are.

Pick a distant target on the ground in the direction you are walking. Could be anything: a fallen leaf, a crack in the sidewalk, a curb on the side of a street. This target should be at least 5-10 steps in front of you. Once you have picked a target, pick with which foot you will step on it. The goal of this drill is to visually pick a target in the distance and be able to step on it with the chosen foot without any significant break, stutter, or hesitation in your stride.

You want to step on it with the front half/ball of your foot, just like you would if you needed a solid take off and jump from a certain obstacle. In order to successfully do this drill, focus on your target and make constant small adjustments in your stride to hit the target. The more you practice this, the better you will become at judging distance and strides. You will also become more efficient and accurate at hitting a specified target.

2. Using/avoiding a certain type or part on the ground.

This method can be practiced in many ways. The goal is to avoid or use only certain parts of the ground with well placed strides. This is done in a more improvisational and continuous manner than the previous method. Some ways to do this are:

-         Walking along street curbs without falling off.
-         Avoiding puddles or wet parts of the ground after a rain storm.
-         Avoiding cracks in the sidewalk.
-         Walking along lines of rocks, boulders, or posts without falling.
-         Stepping on cracks in a sidewalk or painted lines in a street or parking lot.

All of these methods are great for developing improvisation and promote balance and quick thinking. When cracks or lines are evenly spaced, you can develop step rhythms that are the same between each target. To further challenge yourself, try keeping the rhythm and hit all the targets even with the eyes closed. Closing the eyes is also a good balance challenge if walking along a curb.

3. Use street signs and corners to switch direction

This is very practical in situations where you need to change direction really fast and at high speeds. Grabbing onto a post or street sign and leveraging yourself into the corner is a fast and efficient way to switch direction. Try exercising this at low speeds first, and see how it feels and how you should grip different objects for better results.

The best way to do this, is to just walk about and whenever you need to go left or right find a subtle crack or a well placed street sign and just grab it with one hand and just spin 90 degrees to the direction you want to go. Try to grip it without using too much power or letting all your weight be transferred to it. This will only make you lose your momentum. Keep your legs evenly apart and don’t lean too much on one side, or the other. Also, don’t let go of the object until you have reached the direction you want to go, otherwise, the residual momentum will make you take a diagonal route, trip and fall.

4. Crowd running

This is one of my favorite training activities when I’m in a hurry. You have to pick a crowded street or sidewalk, preferably somewhere people are walking slowly, and raise the pace a little bit, and move among them without touching anybody. Try to be as subtle as possible and always be on the lookout for opportunities to pass through open gaps and behind people.

If done right, this exercise will improve your visual assessment and help your agility in situations where you have to run among obstacles at high speeds. The most important thing is to keep your eyes open for opportunities and never slow your pace. Try too keep a constant speed and rhythm, like the number 2 method.

Why train this way?

The benefits are numerous as they are vast. Not only will you conserve energy and be less likely to get injured while you move, you will also be improving every aspect of your Parkour, as your limbs learn to move with more precision.There is something to learn from everything we do. You would be surprised if you would just pay attention to your body from time to time.

Keep on training!