callun.contendunt

Parkour UK Update – May/June 2023

27th June 2023 by callun.contendunt

Welcome to Parkour UK’s update for the months of May & June 2023. Take a look at some of the news that has happened within the organisation over the last few months.

Saying Goodbye

In May & June, we said goodbye to a few members of the Parkour UK staff team.

Kieran, who worked in our Membership Lead role, has left Parkour UK after an exciting work opportunity opened up for him.

Kieran previously worked in our workforce role and has been a valuable member of Parkour UK ever since he started.

Thank you for all your hard work over the years, Kieran. We wish you and your business the best of luck in the future!

In June, we also said goodbye to Chris Grant, Parkour UK’s head of development, who is taking a career break to focus on being a new parent

Chris has played a key role in the growth of Parkour UK over the last 2 and 1⁄2 years and we would like to thank Chris for his dedication, hard work, and positive impact on the parkour community.

We wish Kieran and Chris the best of luck in the future

Our Level 2 Summer Intake

In early June, we ran our summer cohort for our Level 2 coaching qualification. This started with the online section of the course, which went really well. Their face-to-face section of the course starts in July.

We’ve had a number of questions and inquiries over the last few months regarding our Level 2 coaching qualification.

If you’re looking for more information on the course, you can check out the podcast episode we did below.

UK Coaching Week 2023

In early June, Parkour UK celebrated UK Coaching Week, organised by UK Coaching.

UK Coaching Week this year had a focus on “Duty of Care”.

During this week, we put together an article (Read Here) where we celebrated a handful of the amazing coaches seen within the parkour community.

We think it’s crucially important to highlight the positive work that parkour coaches are doing to support individuals within their communities, and UK Coaching Week is a brilliant way for us to do this.

This follows our attendance at the UK Coaching Awards back in December of 2022, where 3 parkour coaches were nominated as finalists in the “Change a Life”, “Coaching Podcast of the Year” and “Young Coach” awards.

Parkour UK at the UK Coaching Awards in December 2022

Action Sports Gathering – Sheffield

In late May, Callun and Simon visited Sheffield for the Action Sports Gathering, organised by UK Sport.

We were joined by other sports, including Skateboard GB, GB Snowsport, British Bobsleigh and Skeleton, British Cycling, & GB Climbing.

This led to some amazing discussions with those organisations, including their competitive coaching pathways and experience in the Olympics.

We also told stories about how Parkour is unique as a sport, addressing some of the misconceptions about parkour being a high-risk sport, and what we are doing as a National Governing Body to serve, elevate, and add value to the Parkour community.

A huge thank you to everyone involved at UK Sport for making this happen, and we are looking forward to the next one!

Our Second Podcast Recording

Not long after the Action Sports Gathering, Callun and Simon met again in Brighton to record our next batch of podcasts.

This round of podcasts covers everything you need to know about starting your parkour coaching journey and includes information about how to get your coaching hours signed off.

These podcasts will be coming soon to YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

You can check out our latest episode below. How can Parkour UK help you?

Women’s Engagement Project – Isla Ramsay

Isla Ramsay – Shot by JMS Films

In June, our first piece from the Women’s Engagement Project was uploaded to our YouTube channel.

This piece follows the journey of Isla Ramsay, who recently took part in our Level 1 Parkour UK Coaching qualification.

It was an absolute pleasure to visit Isla Ramsay in Glasgow for the first of many video projects to promote female participation in parkour, and encourage more women to take up space and be part of this wonderful community.

Thank you to Johnstone Macpherson-Stewart for filming and editing the video. https://www.jmsfilms.com/

Women’s International Parkour Weekend Takeover

We would like to say a huge thank you to Katie McDonnell, who hosted a takeover on the Parkour UK Instagram account during the Women’s International Parkour Weekend, hosted by Parkour Generations.

Katie attended and gave insight into the event, which included speaking to a number of different participants from all over the world and sharing their stories on our Instagram story.

The takeover was a huge success, and it is something that we would love to do more of in the future.

If you would like Parkour UK to cover your event, please reach out to us. A member of our team will be able to organise a visit or have someone do an Instagram story takeover on our account to document the event.

Further Event Coverage

As well as Katie running our Instagram during the WIPW, we also have been highlighting a number of competitions and work that has been going on within the parkour community.

Our recent long-form written content includes a post-interview with Generic Parkour, who hosted the Liverpool Takeover back in April, and a conversation with Queer Parkour, who are working within our community to create a safe space for individuals and communities who identify as LGTBQIA+ within parkour.

You can read both of those articles by following the links below.

Generic Parkour – The Liverpool Takeover

Queer Parkour – Creating Safe Spaces within Our Community

Further Learning & CPD Development for Parkour Coaches

We understand that there is a demand among parkour coaches to have the opportunity to further learn and develop their coaching skills.

Caroline, a member of our workforce support team, is in the early stages of developing some further learning courses for parkour coaches. This is something that we will be working closely with the community, and we encourage current parkour coaches, and those who are thinking of becoming coaches in the future, to get involved and have a discussion with us regarding this, so we can further add value to the parkour community.

Upcoming Webinars for Parkour Coaches

We are currently in the process of planning some upcoming webinars regarding our Level 1 Parkour UK Assistant Coaching course.

These webinars will run around 6 weeks before the courses are due to start, and we will be looking to run one of these before our Bedford Level 1 course.

Keep your eyes peeled on our social media to find out when this is, and have your questions ready!

Parkour UK Monthly Update – April 2023

9th May 2023 by callun.contendunt

The year is flying by! The first quarter of the year is done, and we have some exciting updates to bring you following some of the work we did in April.

Our Visit to Member Organisations:

In April, Callun spent some time visiting Powerhouse Parkour, one of our member organisations, in Epsom.

Callun was there to sign off some of their Level 1 coaching hours, whilst also engaging in conversations with the Powerhouse team to learn a little bit more about their parkour coaching.

A full article will be up on the website soon.

Over the next few months, Callun will be focusing on trying to get to as many of our member organisations as he can, in order to highlight the amazing work that members of our community are doing.

Callun will be in touch with our members soon, but if you have an immediate story you would like us to share, do not hesitate to reach out to us!

Competition Season!

The competition season has kicked off!

With summer approaching, we’ve already seen street competitions starting to take place as the weather gets warmer!

In April, we saw the Liverpool Takeover (Read More Here) and Manchester Takeover competitions, both looked incredibly fun and successful.

MORE EVENTS!

Other events in May include:

Women / ENBY Jam (By the time this article is published, this event has happened!)
Street Media Social V1 – 20th/21st May
Coventry Jam – 27th May
Women’s International Parkour Weekend – 13th/14th May

We’re always looking for new events to attend and share with the parkour community.

With our team expanding, Parkour UK will try to attend as many parkour events as possible. If you have an event coming up and would like us to attend, don’t hesitate to send us a message!

Women’s Engagement Project

In last month’s update, we spoke about Lynn taking a trip to Glasgow to shoot our first women’s engagement project piece.

We’ve seen the first draft, and it’s incredible! It will be the first of many women’s engagement pieces to come.

The project will be released soon.

REMINDER FOR LEARNERS – PAST AND PRESENT

We would like to remind all learners who have taken their Level 1 and Level 2 Parkour Coaching Qualifications to please get their hours signed off as soon as possible!

If you have any questions, please get in touch with our workforce team.

Simon: simon.vardy@parkour.uk

Caroline: caroline.ness@parkour.uk

Level 2 Parkour UK Coaching Qualification

There isn’t long left to book the summer assessment day for our Level 2 Parkour Coaching Qualification.

Bookings close in just under two weeks’ time, make sure you book quickly!

Book The Assessment Day Here

UK Coaching Week 2023

Towards the end of April and the beginning of May, UK Coaching announced their daily themes for UK Coaching Week 2023.

You may remember Parkour UK attended the UK Coaching Awards in Leeds in December after three parkour coaches that we nominated became finalists in their categories.

It’s important to use these events to truly showcase and highlight all the work that parkour coaches are doing.

This year, UK Coaching Week runs from 5th June – 11th June, with the theme being “Duty of Care”.

The mission of UK Coaching Week 2023 is to educate people about the critical role of Duty to Care in coaching and its impact on the nation’s health and well-being.

Parkour UK aims to highlight as many parkour coaches as possible who fit the following criteria for the week.

Monday 5th June: Duty of Care – The foundation of great coaching.

Tuesday 6th June: Physical Wellbeing – Encouraging physical activity, healthy habits, and recovery to prevent illness and injury.

Wednesday 7th June: Inclusion – Tailoring delivery to a wide range of audiences and how you engage and empower people to keep them involved.

Thursday 8th June: Diversity – Providing equality of opportunity without discrimination.

Friday 9th June: Safeguarding – Protecting people from harmful practices in sport and physical activity.

Saturday 10th June: Mental Health and Wellbeing – Supporting psychological and emotional well-being.

Sunday 12th June: Safe to Practice – Ensuring participant safety and working within the scope of practice.

If you know a parkour coach/coaches or a coaching organisation that fit one or more of the categories listed above, please get in touch with us so we can highlight all the amazing work done by coaches within the parkour community.

You can find out more about UK Coaching Week by following the link here.

We aim to update the parkour community on the work that we are doing each month. If you liked this post, or want to reach out to us with anything you would like us to talk about, then you can do so by following any of the social links below!

Queer Parkour – Creating Safe Spaces within Our Community

24th April 2023 by callun.contendunt

Queer Parkour is a community-focused group, fronted by 4 members of the parkour, art du deplacement, and freerunning community who identify as LGBTQIA+.

Their four leads are dotted across the UK (and the world!), and they’re working to build a community, give a voice, and improve accessibility and experience for the LGBTQIA+ community in Parkour, Art du Deplacement, and Freerunning.

The four individuals who started Queer Parkour are Jia Wei @officialjiawei (he/she/they, Cardiff and team TOFU Parkour, Malaysia), Louiseanne @louiseannewong (she/they, team Esprit Concrete, London), Amy @dallex_ (she/her, Manchester) and Kel @kelglaister (she/her, Melbourne in Motion, Australia).

I arranged a call with the Queer Parkour group to learn a little bit more about their goals and ambitions.

The call was super insightful, I learned a lot from it, and seeing a proactive group of individuals want to make a change is super inspiring.

You can read more about Queer Parkour, and the conversation I had with them below!

Callun: What is this project, and how did the 4 of you come together to make this happen?

Louiseanne: I met Jia Wei online first actually, at Esprit Concrete’s Zoom Yamak Style Training during lockdown. Shahman from the Singapore parkour community linked us and we started chatting. We realised we both identified as part of the LGTBQIA+ community, and talked about how a lot of people in the world pronounce our names wrong, and it is indeed basics like names and pronouns that help people feel seen. So Jia Wei approached me with an idea – how about a community group that’s a centralised hub for queer people who do parkour, art du deplacement (ADD), and freerunning?

There are small chat rooms and groups on Facebook and Instagram (like ‘parqueer’ and ‘trans & nb pk pride🏳️‍🌈’), as social media can be a hub for people to chat, but there doesn’t seem to be a bigger hub for people to go to within our community with national policies and whatnot. So we thought, why can’t we do something about that?

We know some LGBTQIA+ people who do PK/ADD/FR around the world, and some seem ‘singular’. Why don’t we form something together to support these singular people which ultimately means the queer community? If we felt alone in our various pasts, then other queer people might feel alone too.

Jia Wei: It felt like there was a load of small, mini-groups, without substantial structure like a union. There doesn’t seem to be a unified community in which we could support each other, like the other way round to organisations recognising Pride campaigns, trans visibility days, etc. So with our Queer Parkour group, we are slowly building an agenda that creates support, for example, LGBTQIA+ awareness training and EDI policy specific to PK/ADD/FR, partnerships with LGBTQIA+ charities, etc.

Kel: It’s starting as a small community group, with the idea of expanding into regions and worldwide. I moderate the Women’s channel of Parkour Earth, and Mish (NZ) moderates the LGBTQ+ channel there. We’ve started building connections with the Australian Parkour Association and Aotearoa New Zealand, and knowing the United States Parkour Association (USPK) has already started making a change with their recent Trans Inclusion Policy for Parkour competitions (click here), we are keen to collaborate as we grow.

We want to start the hub in the UK, but we want to eventually empower communities worldwide. Parkour, Art du Deplacement, and Freerunning are all-inclusive disciplines, and nobody is alone in this. We come together, we train together, and start and finish together like how the Yamakasi founders began.

Louiseanne: We started combining our knowledge and lived experience on what hasn’t worked well so far in the Queer community for us 4, what we’ve heard from fellow friends in the community, and these motivated us to shape our values. For instance, Amy has a lot of insight in terms of the competition side of things and her experience, and we would love to translate this into an inclusion policy recognised in the UK, seeking support from governing bodies like Parkour UK and USPK. Basically putting lessons learned from our lived experience onto a legit bit of paper and making a change that way.

Callun: Am I right in thinking you have something going on with Fluidity Freerun at the moment?

Jia Wei: I run the Cardiff community group (Queer Parkour Instagram), we just started back in April, but interest has really been picking up. We’ve been collaborating with Fluidity and now we have a bespoke membership with them!

Weekly, we get about 10 people, there are regulars and there are new members. Our latest session had 5 new people come in, and there are regular inquiries coming in. Cardiff has a really proactive community, there are Queer skate communities and Queer football clubs, and now the LGBT+ Sports Network Wales has also invited us to join as well, so things are picking up in the Cardiff area.

Fluidity said that once we have enough people, we will be able to run bespoke LGBT+ sessions, and we are liaising with a traceur named Jake Hurley, who has done some outdoor sessions together with us. We always train in Fluidity, and it is nice to offer our members opportunities to train outside to utilise skills learned in the gym!

You can see the community feel in our photos on Instagram @queerparkourcardiff, all the smiling faces, some who are incredibly new to Parkour. We’re all coming together to learn a new thing. It’s a baby which came out of the four of us’ discussion, that will slowly branch out to different areas.

Queer Parkour Cardiff jam at Fluidity Freerun, April. Photo by Jia Wei Lee.

Callun: What Does The Membership with Fluidity Freerun Entail?

Jia Wei: I sought out opinions from the Queer community first, and then I found out that we actually had a substantial amount of people interested in starting a Queer Parkour community in Cardiff. So I started liaising with Otis Larkins, the Operations Manager of Fluidity Freerun Academy. Because a lot of our members are asylum seekers and refugees, and we’re very intersectional (trans, neurodivergent, disabled, etc.), lots really wanted to learn and try parkour – we reached out to Otis to see if we could have a bespoke parkour membership, that can give these people a chance to try parkour at an affordable rate.

Otis then curated this membership for us that includes 8 hours of either open sessions, “Funky Fridays” which is a creative movement class, and soon – bespoke LGBT+ sessions specialised for the group. You can choose to join any session you want, and it’s affordable for all members. It’s an inclusive way for those who might want to join Parkour, but it might be too expensive for them, so it allows them to come and experience parkour and find community there. It’s worked for us really well so far.

It’s early stages, but you can really see the community and the friendships growing. I live to see this, where people of kindred spirits come together, train, and strive together.

Callun: Is this something you can see other gyms adapting? As it develops, would you work with other gyms to create a similar sort of thing?

Jia Wei: That’s one of the things that Queer Parkour wants to do. As well as being a community hub, we want to have resources that are able to inform teams and gyms to help them be more inclusive. We don’t want to just be there to exist as something that just runs events once or twice a year. We want to be able to support the community to its fullest. That’s why we are taking it slow and steady, to make sure we are able to know exactly what documents we want to draft, what infrastructures already exist and what is lacking, and which organisations share similar visions so we collaborate with them and make this something that can be as sustainable and drive itself for the long run.

Amy: I want to take this to a place where it serves a purpose. An infrastructure that allows different avenues for diverse members to have a safe space, including policy routes and a hub that the community can go to when faced with discrimination. At the moment, it seems that no one is held accountable when discrimination happens at events and there is no support for either party, it sucks. I do feel like there needs to be somewhere you can go to, and that they have your back in that sense. Having small community groups isn’t enough. What happens if you’re excluded, or challenged away from these groups? Where do you go from there? It will be cool to have some involvement with that. I’d also love to branch out, like finding funding to help people afford trainers/shoes for parkour. It will enable them to participate in the sport that way.

Having an infrastructure can support many other avenues too like Parkour-related jobs, such as an athlete. What if you’re discriminated against on set? What support do you have? Having something like this in place would be great.

Louiseanne: I echo that. We want to take the time to do our field research. How many of these small communities are there, and can we chat with them? It might be a tall order but it’s essential for inclusion no? Find out what this region’s community saying, what is that community saying, etc. When things go big, they tend to go general which has pros and cons, especially when being a queer person your lived experience is so personal. We want to minimise people feeling left out, so we want to engage with individual communities.

Amy: Some things that we want to implement may not necessarily be right, and some people may not agree with it. Their input is important, as they could potentially bring something greater to this that we previously overlooked. I think it would be wrong to jump straight into it, without speaking to the people/community it affects.

Louiseanne: Yeah, speaking to the people, for the people. As much as it is about empowering people to integrate into a group, it is also about encouraging the group to provide a more inclusive environment. I vouch for the values Esprit Concrete stands for. Take their annual event (pre-covid) Les Dames du Mouvement for example. Their aim is to open up a safe space for everybody regardless of their background, experience, gender, identity, age, faith, etc, encouraging all to come together. Representation matters, true integration takes time and effort but is not impossible.

Esprit Concrete Les dames du Mouvement event 2019 photo by Joanna Markiewicz

Amy: It’s the perfect way to go. In Manchester, we have the Proud Trust. I don’t know if they branch out elsewhere, but they’re a big LGBT+ group in Manchester. I’ve always wanted to offer parkour sessions with people like that, but this is why it’s such a big thing to take it at a steady pace and not rush things for Queer Parkour. This is important, especially when it comes to the legality side of things. There’s big stuff planned, but it wouldn’t be fair to jump straight into that.

Louiseanne: Starting from finding out what’s already happening, asking people who attend jams/ events/ city takeover / structured classes / open gym sessions/competitions, like the upcoming Manchester Women’s and Enby jam run by Amy, about what they would like to see in the future, how are they currently being supported as a queer person, and what’s missing for them.

Manchester Women’s and NB Jam 2023 design by Amy Harcourt.

Following the call with the Queer Parkour group, we discussed the next steps, and what Parkour UK can do to help.

Parkour UK is working with Queer Parkour to get some information and guidance on our website with useful resources, links, and helplines for the queer parkour community. This can be expected to go live on the website soon.

If you enjoyed this article, why not share it on social media?

Fancy getting in touch with a story? You can follow and reach out to us on any of the social media links below! We would love to hear from you!

The Liverpool Takeover – Reflections from Generic Parkour

24th April 2023 by callun.contendunt

In the middle of April, a relatively small group of parkour practitioners from Liverpool ran the Liverpool Takeover event, a parkour street competition with a number of challenges based around their city.

Generic Parkour, from Liverpool, hosted a 2-day street training competition, the type that has grown increasingly popular over the last few years.

Takeover events are when an individual or group from the parkour community spends some time compiling a list of challenges in their city. Parkour practitioners will then descend onto the city, trying to complete as many challenges as possible in a set time frame (Typically a day or two.)

We’ve seen these styles of competitions grow over the last few years, with the competitions happening also in Sheffield, Manchester, and York.

I jumped on a call with Matthew from Generic Parkour to ask him some questions about the Liverpool takeover. What went well, and what could be improved for next time?

How Did It Go? How was the Liverpool Takeover?

“It went far better than we could have ever expected to be honest. For our first event, having 11 people competing was more than we could ever wish for really.”

Generic Parkour had developed their own website for the Liverpool takeover, with the aim of updating the scores in real-time, as well as having a comprehensive map of all the challenges.

“With it being a two-day event, Instagram stories are deleted after 24 hours. If you miss a video, someone’s clip isn’t getting marked. People might forget to upload, or the uploads fail. The website aimed to make it easier for people to upload clips, keep track of what they uploaded, and know what challenges they may need to go back and do again.

We had a tracking feature on the website that worked similarly to Google Maps. This showed you where you were in correlation to the challenges. On the day of the takeover, this sadly stopped working. We’ve got that working now.”

Was that a traffic problem?

“No, it was a bug. When it went public, a piece of the code got deleted. We’ve sorted it now, thankfully, but that was frustrating.

Sean’s dad does website development, Martin works in a game design company, and I am a graphic designer, so we just tried to build it. Martin has a server at his house, which we hosted it on. We’ve now upgraded that server to a nicer one so that alleviates the issues of running it.”

Why Liverpool?

“Generic Parkour is me (Matthew), Martin, Keira, and Sean. Liverpool used to be booming a few years ago, but it’s slowly started dying off… It used to be really big. A takeover was the best way to try and bring parkour back to the area.”

What could you of done better?

“We missed out on the spectator feature. Instagram was great for that sort of thing because people who follow you can track your progress.

What we’re working on right now is putting a spectator page in. It will have the athlete’s name and the challenges they’ve completed. You’ll be able to click the athlete’s name and see what challenges they have completed. It will tell you how many are left, and how many are done.

With Sean and I being the front runners, being in the parkour community for years, we aren’t really known. I don’t post anything. We don’t have a huge social presence.”

What went well?

“The designs we did for the posts helped establish us a bit more. A lot of people saw the graphics, and they thought we were a much bigger brand than we were. It got a lot of people interested.”

What about the event being a two-day takeover? Was that a benefit or a hindrance?

“The main issue was, it’s Liverpool. It’s quite far for the Southern athletes to come up to Liverpool. My thought has always been, if you’re travelling somewhere to do parkour that isn’t local to you, one day doesn’t cut it. You’ll spend £100 on a train ticket, 3 hours to get there, 3 hours to get back. You’ll be there for 6 hours for training tops. With it being a 2-day event, you can go and enjoy yourself a bit more. It makes it a little more worth the money.

We had planned accommodation at the Airborn Academy, but insurance-wise, we weren’t able to do it this time around. Hopefully, next time.”

Were you happy with the turnout? Would you like to of seen more people?

“For our first event, the number was amazing. It was the first event we tried to organise, and it went considerably well. We started this towards the end of last year. I would have loved to of seen more people (Like the Sheffield or York takeovers) because it means there is more money in the prize pot, which entices more people to compete.

With there being 11 people, we all branched off into little groups and really got to know the people who were there. We were there with Ed, Tay, the Sheffield lot, and more. It was essentially a mini session, everyone was pushing everyone, which was great to see.”

How many challenges did you have? Were they all done? Or are there some outstanding ones?

“There were 100, with 20/30 challenges that weren’t hit. Ed Scott (The Winner) was pushing so hard but didn’t get them all done. A good bit of feedback we received was to diversify some of the challenges a little more too. That’s why events like this are great. They bring a fresh set of eyes to the spots. As the organisers, we have a similar training style. With everyone coming down, it allows us to gain some feedback to make the next event even better.

There’s scope to develop in the future. There are probably around 400 challenges that we could realistically put in now. It will add diversification, so everyone who trains can have something to do. People see different things at the spot. Having two sets of eyes VS twenty sets of eyes makes all the difference. “

Straight after the event, you asked for feedback. That’s awesome to see. You’re really trying to make this competition stand out, and gaining feedback to make it better for the next time around straight away shows that you’re willing to really work on this to keep it developing in the future.

“Most of the people who came had never trained Liverpool at all. 10 years ago, it was a hot spot. There have been these staple cities before that used to be hubs for parkour, over the last few years, these cities that were huge 10 years ago have slowly dropped off the map.”

When’s the next one? What are the next steps?

“We thought about doing one over the summer, but we’re now going to be doing something different, with another takeover next year.

This summer, we have something unique coming. We’ve had our takeover, and now we want to build on that.

Something we are working on adding to the website is the option to organise and host your own takeover in your city. You can input your information (photos, locations, categories, etc) and our website will generate the takeover map for you.

We also want to add a sponsorship page. Brands can click on a takeover, and enter their details and what they’re wanting to donate to these takeover competitions. It makes a central hub for all takeovers. It breaks down the process easier for people to organise a takeover, as these kinds of events are super stressful to organise.”

Following the conversation with Matthew, we took to Instagram to ask the community for their thoughts on the new wave of takeover competitions that seem to be popping up more frequently in cities across the UK.

There was a general community consensus that visiting places you’ve never trained before, and seeing well-known cities get levelled up was a huge positive for these takeover events (The vast majority of them have happened in well-known cities for parkour, like Sheffield & Manchester).

In the UK, a lot of the competitions happen indoors at parkour gyms and facilities, so having a street-styled competition in the UK, similar to what you see in countries like the Netherlands is a real positive step for the sport in the UK.

Tay, who competed in the Liverpool Takeover, said;

“I love the city element. You get to travel to multiple spots, and it has a real feeling, unlike gym training. It’s a truer representation of how I train. I never had gyms. I learned all my flips and jumps on grass or concrete.”
Tay

With the summer approaching, we can expect to see many more takeover events popping up. The Manchester takeover took place a few weeks ago, and the Sheffield one is fast approaching this summer.

We would love to get to some of these events. Let us know if you are hosting a takeover event, and we will be sure to get a member of our team there. You can get in touch with us through any of the links below!

The Do’s and Don’ts of Outdoor Training! – Getting Started With Parkour

24th April 2023 by callun.contendunt

Parkour has been growing over the years, attracting an increasing number of practitioners from all walks of life.

But as with any sport or discipline, it comes with its own set of rules and etiquette that should be followed to ensure safety, respect, and success.

In this “Getting Started with Parkour” article, we’ll discuss parkour training etiquette, and how to be responsible and safe when training outdoors, as well as being a great ambassador for the sport!

Before we get started, it’s worth discussing where parkour is typically practiced.

Parkour is primarily practiced outdoors, as well as in parkour facilities (gyms), or gymnastic halls.

This article is going to mainly focus on training outdoors, however, these rules can (and should!) be applied to indoor facilities (like parkour gyms and gymnastic halls!).

When selecting an outdoor training location there are a variety of factors that will not only enhance your experience and keep you safe but will also help grow Parkour/Freerunning as a community, sport, and activity that can be enjoyed and understood by everyone.

Respect The Space & Stay Safe!

Parkour is all about movement and exploration, but it’s important to remember that we are guests in the spaces where we train. Whether it’s a public park, a private gym, or any outdoor location, we must always respect the space and the people around us. This means not damaging property, not leaving or dropping litter, and being mindful of noise levels, especially in residential areas.

Parkour, like all other sports, can also be dangerous if not practiced safely and responsibly. Always be aware of your surroundings, and don’t attempt moves that are beyond your skill level or physical abilities.

To keep safe:

Always check the surfaces you are moving on, to ensure they are stable and appropriate for your movements and your level of experience. Check that the structures you are using are weight-bearing and can withstand the impacts you may expose them to.

It is beneficial for everyone if you train in spaces that are welcoming and open to Parkour/Freerunning.

Consider the members of the public who may be affected in some way by your training, for example;

Are there residents nearby who may be disturbed?
Will you be obstructing highly crowded areas?
Are there young children nearby who may be influenced by your actions?

Be aware of the context of where you are training and you are far more likely to have an undisturbed session that will lead to improvements in your ability and a more enjoyable training session overall.

We’ve also outlined some more parkour training tips below!

Start Small, and Progress Gradually!

Parkour is a challenging discipline. It’s important to start small and progress gradually to avoid injuries and frustration. Don’t try to perform advanced moves before mastering the fundamentals, and don’t push yourself beyond your limits. Take your time to learn the fundamentals, and gradually increase the difficulty of your training.

Be Aware of Your Surroundings

This point is one from our community and builds from one of the points above.

When training, it is important to be aware of your surroundings.

As mentioned above, this includes residents nearby who may be disturbed, obstruction of highly crowded areas, and young children who may be influenced by what you’re doing.

You will also need to be aware when it comes to the people you’re training with.

It’s important to take notice of the other people you are out training with, especially at big jams or events. When you’re looking at a jump or a challenge, it’s important to make sure that the run-up or landing point is not in the way of someone else doing a challenge.

This will also keep everyone safe, making sure no one collides with one another, or gets in each other’s way, enabling a more productive and safe training session.

Noise Levels

It can be very tempting and easy to get amped up when trying a challenge. Whether this is listening to music through a speaker, or celebrating yourself or a friend completing a challenge that you/they have been looking at for ages.

Remember, be respectful of other people in the area. Try not to play music too loud in places that are crowded or have a large amount of footfall. Also, if in residential areas, it is important to be respectful of the residents, keeping loud noise to a minimum.

You should totally celebrate your wins, but just remember that there will be other people in the area too!

Embrace the Community

It’s fairly unusual to a lot of people why lifestyle sports use the term “community”.

Lifestyle sports is a term used for sports like parkour, surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding that recognises a commitment to not only the activity itself but also an accompanying lifestyle.

This means that the involvement in the sport stretches far beyond just participating in it!

Parkour is often considered a lifestyle sport because it is more than just a physical activity or sport. It requires a combination of physical and mental training, as well as emphasising personal development and self-improvement.

Beyond the physical aspect, parkour also emphasises mental and emotional development. People who practice parkour are encouraged to push their limits and confront their fears, which can lead to increased self-confidence and a sense of personal achievement. Additionally, parkour has a strong community aspect, with many practitioners forming close-knit groups that support and encourage each other.

It’s also worth checking out our previous articles, “How To Find a Parkour Community” and “What To Expect at Your First Jam”

Parkour is a community, and it’s important to be respectful and supportive of each other. It’s important to be mindful of other practitioners and their training needs. Everyone progresses at a different rate, and your experience could help other people progress!

Offer help and advice to other practitioners, and be willing to learn from them as well, but remember to keep it appropriate. Before offering any help or advice, be sure to engage in a conversation with people and introduce yourself. Although your help and support can be with the best intentions, it can sometimes confuse or overwhelm people who are training, so make sure the situation is appropriate before you offer any help and advice.

Most importantly, be respectful of each other’s differences and backgrounds.

Our community has also come forward to say “Ask questions. We’re a friendly community who are always looking to answer questions, whether you practice parkour or not.”

York Takeover 2022 – Community Organised Event

Leave Every Conversation Better Than How It Started

Parkour is still incredibly new. Some people could still be unaware of what the sport is.

When training parkour, you could potentially be moved on or asked to leave a spot, or have some people approach you asking what you are doing.

In these situations, it’s crucial to never go on the offensive. Not only will this ruin your relationship with the spot, making it more challenging to train there in the future, but it also paints the sport in a negative light.

Open a dialogue with these people, and explain to them what you are doing and what Parkour is.

Parkour UK Members, Team Reality, have worked hard in their community to challenge the public’s perception of Parkour

My Personal Experience

I am going to give you two examples from my own personal experience when training outside.

Please remember, that this is my own experience, and every situation is different.

I live and train in a market town called Horsham. This is a town that has a typically older residential population and is seen as one town where people go to live when they retire.

Horsham has a varying mix of spots, the vast majority of which are in public spaces.

One day, I had an elderly women approach me, saying “You will break your neck one day” – Instead of brushing off the comment, or snapping with a comment back, I climbed down off of the wall and asked, “What makes you think that?”

What ended up happening was we had a fifteen-minute conversation about how she didn’t quite understand what I was doing, or why I was doing it. I explained to her that I haven’t just gone up on the wall to randomly throw myself off and hope for the best, but it was actually the result of years of training and practice. I also explained the benefits I find from training for both my mental and physical health. The conversation ended, and we both went on our way.

The second, again in Horsham, we were getting moved on from a spot by security. It was one of those first encounter situations. The first time we had been moved on, and the first time the security had to deal with something like this.

Although a bit of a tense situation at first, I started speaking to the security guard about it. I wanted to know what caused the tension when he first left the building.

What he explained to me was that there was a bit of an issue with vandalism going on near and around the building, and he thought that was the reason we were there.

Again, this is where we had a conversation regarding the situation. I explained to him what we were actually doing, and he explained what he saw from his point of view.

We still had to leave the spot, we understood he was just doing his job, but he said he would speak to his management, as the space we were in “wasn’t being used for anything.” – We have a pretty good relationship with that spot now.

In summary, if the situation allows you to do so, take the opportunity to speak to people and teach them about what you’re doing. In some situations, it’s the unknown nature that worries people, not the activity itself!

Conclusion

In conclusion, when training outdoors, there is a number of ways that we can be responsible, respectful, and supportive of each other, as well as respecting our environment, and the people around us.

By following these guidelines, we can create safe and positive training environments that encourage growth, exploration, and self-improvement.

Remember to respect the space, start small and progress gradually, practice safety, respect noise levels, and be respectful and supportive of each other.

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Parkour UK Monthly Update – March 2023

12th April 2023 by callun.contendunt

March was a busy month for all of us at Parkour UK. Here is our monthly update for March 2023.

All Hands Meeting – Sheffield

In March, the majority of the Parkour UK team met for our quarterly all-hands meeting in Sheffield.

During our time in Sheffield, our team had the opportunity to deliver a presentation on the various projects that they are working on. This included:

Lynn – Women’s Engagement
Simon – The Level 2 CIMPSA Accreditation
Caroline – Disability in Sports
Kieran – Parkour UK Memberships
Callun – Long form & Written Content

On the Wednesday of our all hands meeting, we also had the pleasure of speaking to Keith Oddy from KO Child Protection Services about safeguarding within parkour. It was an incredibly insightful conversation, and we are incredibly grateful for Keith’s time with us!

Women’s Engagement Project

Earlier in the month, Lynn visited Glasgow to shoot our first piece for our Women’s Engagement Project.

With our projects, we want to try and support the parkour community. This includes working with film makers and photographers. In this case, we worked with Johnston Macpherson-Stewart, who shot the video at Movement Park, Glasgow.

The full video will be released soon!

Isla and Johnstone shooting the Women’s Engagement Project

Parkour UK Brand Membership

Our Membership lead, Kieran, has been in contact with a number of parkour clothing brands recently, as he works on building out our membership offerings for the parkour participants and the community.

We’re looking to get as many parkour brands involved as possible to offer benefits to our individual members and member organisations.

If you haven’t received an email from Kieran and would like your parkour clothing brand to be involved, make sure you reach out by sending him an email to the following address, kieran.wylde@parkour.uk.

Level 2 Qualification CIMPSA Accreditation

Recently, our Workforce team has been in the process of submitting our recently redeveloped Level 2 coaching qualification for CIMPSA accreditation.

CIMPSA is the professional development body for the UK’s sport and physical activity sector, committed to supporting, developing, and enabling professionals and organisations to succeed and, as a result, inspire our nation to become more active.

“Currently, we are finalising the CIMSPA mapping, which means that we are working to ensure that our course can align with all the CIMSPA Professional Standards for the role of a coach (there are around 265 standards to map to). “
Simon – Our Workforce Lead

Simon will be submitting a copy of this mapping to 1st4sport this week who will double check, feedback and, once checked, we’ll submit it to CIMSPA for assessment by the end of the month.

Barring any adjustments we have to make this will then mean that our summer intake will then also be CIMSPA accredited as well as 1st4sport.

Level 1 – Cardiff

Our next Parkour UK Level 1 Assistant Coaching Course is taking place at the Fluidity Freerun Academy in Cardiff.

The course costs £375.00, and if you have any questions or inquiries, make sure you reach out to us by emailing info@parkour.uk

Click the button below to book your slot!

Book Here

Level 2 Summer Intake

Our Level 2 summer intake starts on June 5th! Bookings are still open, and we recommend booking on as soon as you can!

**REMEMBER** Payment plans are available for our Level 2 coaching qualification. You can find out more about our payment plans by following the link here.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read our monthly update. If you have an upcoming event, competition, or jam, or have anything you would like featured in a future Parkour UK post, make sure you reach out to us on our social platforms, @parkouruk.

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