Parkour From Scratch

Also known as a pk roll, judo roll or break-fall is designed to properly disperse impact whilst dealing with momentum.

The roll is a key skill to learn, because much like in life, we lose our balance. By training this movement with awareness the subconscious responds by reverting back to what it knows, creating a “wax on, wax off” effect. So the next time you are falling face first towards the ground, you may just save yourself from injury.

The first of many strength building techniques used in the parkour world. A variation of the muscle up, climb ups are used to climb up and over a wall from a cat hanging position. This technique is used extensively in Parkour and builds the necessary strength and coordination to overcome any shape wall and is an invaluable skill for any practitioner.

Also known as the wall climb, vertical wall run or wall pop is a means of running up a flat wall and grasping the top ledge of said wall. This skill is generally approached two ways, either a one step technique or two step technique. Currently the one step technique is the front runner, but theories suggest the two step could prove superior if perfectly executed. Challenge accepted?

Balance is an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady. Parkour movements are designed to find the body’s balance points in a wide variety of challenges, positions and surfaces. This week we will primarily focus on finding our balance in the upright position.

Quadrupedal movement, moving on all four limbs, is widely used in parkour as both a conditioning exercise and a practical technique for movement. The most basic form of quadrupedal movement is the reciprocating, forward-moving variation. Like all quadrupedal movements, this technique is a great full-body exercise and it develops coordination and weight-transferring skills needed for other movements. In parkour, quadrupedal movement is useful as a means to get under or through small spaces, navigate across irregular surfaces, or provide extra security and stabilization when moving at heights.

The Underbar is a movement where an individual swings their body under and often through a set of bars in a fluid and swift manner. The nature of the Underbar is very similar to that of vaulting, with emphasis on “pulling” motions, rather than the vault’s “pushing” motions. We will elaborate more on vaulting more in later weeks.

Also known as Precision Jumping, Standing Precision, or simply Pre, the Precision is a jump from one obstacle to another, whether it be a crack in the sidewalk, two ledges or even handrails. The goal of course being landing “precisely” not only onto the desired target, but also the pad or ball of the foot. It is the best building block for developing explosive jumping power, absorbing impact, releasing mental barriers and learning how your body deals with different surfaces and environments.

Also known as Cat Grab, Cat, Arm Jump or Saut De Bras is jumping from one obstacle to another landing in a Cat Hang Position, the hands gripping the top edge, holding the body up, ready to perform a Climb Up. The Cat Leap is very similar to a Precision in mechanics, but with a different goal in mind. Rather than landing on an obstacle below you, the feet make contact with a vertical surface, rebound and drop into a Cat Hang.

A Tic Tac is very similar to a Wall Run in approach with a slightly different goal in mind. A Tic Tac approaches a vertical surface at an angle (usually 45 degrees) and uses one foot to step off a surface while the other foot drives towards its target obstacle. The Tic Tac is utilized to hurdle over an obstacle, reach a unique Precision or achieve a Cat Leap.

The first vault to learn when starting Parkour is a Safety/Speed Vault. Vaulting in Parkour is simply throwing your body into an off-axis position and using your hand(s) to push your body back upright while traveling over an obstacle. In the case of the Speed Vault, the body is thrown sideways/horizontal as one hand pushes the obstacle to guide the vault through and properly land.

These two vaults are skills in and of themselves but are generally taught as progressions to learning a Dash Vault. As stand-alone skills these vaults are used to continue the direction and flow of your movement. Mostly performed when parallel to an obstacle it can be tailored to suit a wide variety of approaches and situations as power and confidence improve.

The Dash Vault is a simple and effective vault that provides new combinations of movements and creates fun new challenges in familiar spots. A version of hurdling over an obstacle but allowing both feet to pass over the obstacle with a slight lean backward using the hands to block your body back upright.

Also known as the Cat pass, a Monkey Vault variation or Saut de chat involves diving forward over an obstacle so that the body becomes horizontal, pushing off with the hands and tucking the legs, such that the body is brought back to a vertical position, ready to land.

The Reverse Vault is the final vault covered in Chapter 1. More style than practical, it is a fun vault to play around with and can be used to transfer momentum while moving forwards. It is also effective when dropping down to obstacles or over them, especially if balance has been thrown off. We will see more of this in future tutorials with different situations.

The Lache is an absolute must for today’s Parkour practitioner. The Lache is simply described as the art of releasing a bar from the front swing as opposed to the back swing. Designed to generate forward travel the Lache is always linked to other parkour skills i.e. Lache Precision, Lache Cat, etc. If a practitioner simply says “Lache,” chances are they are referring to releasing a bar and grabbing another bar without touching the ground.