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Welcome friends, So here we are in the position of waving goodbye to yet another year. It’s definitely been an interesting one.
ez@urbanfreeflow.com www.facebook.com/ezstyla www.urbanfreeflow.com www.facebook.com/urbanfreeflow www.twitter.com/urbanfreeflow www.youtube.com/glyphmedia
As far as this magazine goes, we’ve racked up plenty of airmiles during our travels and have been blessed to have met many amazing people along the way. This year we’ve reached out to Mexico, Austria, Sweden, China, Germany, Russia, France, Denmark and Latvia but we’re still only scratching the surface, as there are still so many more locations that we’re itching to hit. Once we roll over into 2011, we’ll be doing our best to step on the gas and provide much more spotlight attention for a wide variety of athletes, teams and scenes. When you travel, you really do get a sense of how big the World really is and how small we all are in the grand scheme of things. For all of us involved in this huge PK/FR community, we need to realise how lucky we are to have the the power of the internet at our disposal to help bring us all together. With just a few taps on the keyboard you can plug into a global community that is packed to the brim with content. Sure, there’s some shit out there but on the whole, the positives far outweigh the negatives. Before I get all sentimental and start sobbing (as if), I just want to say a big thank you. I’ve said it before and I’ll reiterate now....here at UF, we really are so appreciative of the continued support we receive from everyone. For as long as we’re able to hustle, I promise that we’ll keep on keeping on.... Wherever you are in the World right now, we wish you all the best for Christmas but before you get stuck into the festive spirit, please spare a thought for Matin Mesbah, a member of our community from Iran, who was involved in a fatal car accident just before his 20th birthday. R.I.P.
We Multiply.... Ez (Editor) UF ad athlete: Chima Akenzua www.youtube.com/chimaxeno Photographer: Ez
JUMP MAGA
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AZINE # 10
Adrian Gojnovci (Kosovo) www.youtube.com/m5parkourks Photographer: Endrit Osmani
Matty Mallett (England) www.youtube.com/mattymallett01 Photographer: Ez
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MEXICO RT NACIONAL
Every year during the first few days of December, Mexico City receives a lot of traceurs, from different parts of Mexico with one goal in mind, To be a part of the Reunión Nacional de Traceurs” (The National Jam). This means 2 days of meetings to learn/teach something about parkour and to make new friends. But of course the most important thing is always to have fun. This Jam was organised by Urban Runners which was founded by Daer Sanchez and two of its members, Rocko ‘Raspados’ Rovira and
Eduardo ‘Sweet’ Chavez , who are all also a representatives of Urban Freeflow’s ‘UF All Star’ Team. The site chosen this year for this Jam was the the Skate Park ‘La Fuente’ which is located in the eastern part of the city on the grounds of “Ciudad Deportiva” (Sport City). This Sport City has 2.5 acres with free access and you can practice all kinds of sports there. Since two years ago Urban Runners have been inviting well known international traceurs to
Mexico to take part in the event. It provides the Mexican Parkour community with the opportunity to share and learn something about them. These invitations are now becoming a tradition for the National Jam held in México City. This year the specially invited international guests were UF All Star athlete, Sascha ‘Cionn’ Hauser from Austria and Jason Paul from Germany. For us, it was amazing to have these guys with us at the Jam because they had a lot of experience to share with everyone.
The RT Nacional is the biggest event in the Mexican calendar and attracts many practitioners each year Photographer: Josefo Robledo
Oscar ‘Frix’ Frias wasted no time in getting stuck into the obstacles. Photographer: Humberto Bermúdez
During the Jam they helped to coach the rookies in order to improve their skills and their movements. This helped a lot of the rookies to be more motivated to continue their training and to better understand the philosophy of Parkour. This gathering showed us that now the annual event is turning out to be a fully international one, because aside from our German and Austrian guests, we were blessed to have the attendance of an American traceur, Michael Mees, who is a member of the SF Parkour
group based in San Francisco, California. It was a real pleasure to welcome him. The first day of the Jam started around 9 o’clock, when the first block of traceurs started to arrive at the skate park. Usually this first group is made up of the people who don’t live in México City or in the suburbs. The time for the jam to officially start was 10am and when it did, the warm up was taken by Frix and Dudek. Frix started with some exercises for the joints and then Dudek continued by putting in some push-ups,
sits ups and some cardio drills in order so get everyone ready for all the jumping. After this, all the people were divided into teams and distributed to all the 7 spots of the skate park. The general idea was to session for about fifteen minutes in one spot doing all kind of movements and tricks and after that they would move to another spot. The training of the first block ended by 1pm, this meant that they were training for almost 3 hours, and all participants in attendance showed great levels of strength and stamina during
Ebodio can’t believe that it’s Jason Paul and freaks out. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to hug him or rob him Photographer: Humberto Bermúdez
all this time. But the most important thing of all was that they were very happy to be mixing and moving with their peers. After this we had a break for lunch, relax and also laugh and joke around together. Then out of nowhere Jason and Sascha started to imitate (in Spanish) the voices of the subway vendors by taking some of the T-shirts designed by Frodo (Urban Runners member) that were on sale. The funniest part was that only Jason was using his limited knowledge of Spanish in a
coherent way and Sascha was just mumbling like a fool. By 3pm the second block of participants were ready to start their first day of the Jam, so again Frix started with the warm up exercises for the joints but he was now joined by Armand, who helped him with the other warm up exercises to prepared them for the hard work that was yet to come. Again the people were divided into groups and each group spent fifteen minutes in each spot before they moved onto another spot to session all the other areas.
By 6pm in the evening the first day of the Jam ended. Everybody was very tired but also very happy and anxious to attend the following day for the conference to be given by Sascha and Jason. After that they would be able to enjoy the session of freestyle training. The second day of the Jam started with the conference where all the participants were able to ask Sascha and Jason tlots of hings about them and their experiences in Parkour. It started at 10am and ended at almost around 12pm.
UF All Star athlete, Sascha ‘Cionn’ Hauser (centre) took a more chilled out approach and kicked back with Huron and Bruno Photographer: Humberto Bermúdez
With so many people being present, the obstacles were in heavy use. Here we see an alternative bit of Urban Treeflow Photographer: Josefo Robledo
Kong to cat from UF All Star athlete, Rocko ‘Raspados’ Rovira Photographer: Humberto Bermúdez
Event organiser and leader of the Raspados Army, Daer Sanchez, finds time to fly Photographer: Humberto BermĂşdez
Everybody present was very attentive to the answers given by the guys. After this conference it was time for some gifts from the sponsors, like caps, Tee shirts and some sweatbands that were given away to all the traceurs. Then it was time to jump like crazy because this is when the freestyle open training session started. It was similar to the previous day in the way everyone formed a line to wait their turn to pass trough the obstacles. The only difference this time was that they could stay in the same spot for as long as they liked.
Typically during the second day of these jams, people felt more secure and start being more creative in their movements. In this case, they all began to session hard and this saw some awesome tricks and jumps being pulled, that amazed everybody. It was a spot made up of two tall boxes and a small ramp, where Rocko, Frix, Sascha, Daer and Jason were trying to do a kong to cat leap and kong to precision. Rocko was the first one that almost achieved the kong to precision, and after him Jason tried the same combo and he did it. Also during this day Josefo took advantage
of the fact that everyone was in the zone and enjoying the free training. So filmed everything in order to make an official event video of the jam. During this part of the Jam I was content with taking pictures, recording some video clips and joking around with everybody there. I even found time to put the camera aside and did a little bit of training with all the guys myself. But as usual everything that has a beginning also has and end and this great day drew to an end by 6.30 in the evening. Everybody was very tired but very happy because
Cionn pauses for a moment while he tries to figure out how to spell his name in Spanish Photographer: Josefo Robledo
Jason Paul helps a female practitioner to experience the sense of flight Photographer: Humberto BermĂşdez
they had a great weekend at an awesome event.
encourage more girls to get involved.
In summary this Jam was a very successful one, because the organisation for this year had improve massively compared to the previous one. Also, the number of participants taking part was much higher than last year and this made the atmosphere really special. Another thing to point out is that more females were participating and this was so refreshing to see. Those who were there last year had improved their level massively and their enthusiasm will hopefully
We´re already looking forward to next year’s Jam and plan to make it even better than this one. We are hoping to be able to invite more international guests to experience what Mexico has to offer and to help give our community an upward push and promote our healthy lifestyle to a wider audience. We’d like to say thank you to Sascha ‘Cionn’ Hauser and Jason Paul for bringing their positivity, experience and friendship. We’d like to thank everyone who attended and
An3, Cionn and Dash compare the size of their erm.....biceps Photographer: Humberto Bermúdez
contributed towards making it such a special event. There really are so many individuals to say thanks to and I’ll try to list a few in a minute, but my parting message is quite simply to say that EVERYONE is welcome to come to Mexico and taste a piece of our amazing community. We love meeting new people and we have some great spots to train at. We will promise to introduce everyone to the way of the Raspados which will change the way you look at life forever. Peace out.
Armando TreviĂąo busts out a few feet away from the refreshment area. This guy has got his hustle locked down. Photographer: Humberto BermĂşdez
Beto Raspados, Cionn and Alex Zamora kick back after an amazing 2 days. Photographer: Humberto BermĂşdez
Thanks to all the guides at the event: Andres ‘An3’ Lucio (An3) - Balams Parkour Daniel ‘Danee’ Marmolejo Daer Sánchez - Urban Runners/Urban Freeflow Mauricio ‘Mau’ López - Street Tracers Emmanuel ‘Speedy’ Duarte - Daizuke Tania ‘Ixek’ Sánchez - Urban Runners Yair ‘Yayo’ Rodríguez Luis ‘Dash’ Hernández - Urban Runners Gabriel ‘Frodo’ Mendoza - Urban Runners Rodrigo ‘Rocko’ Rovira - Urban Runners/Urban Freeflow Eduardo ‘Sweet’ Chávez- Urban Runners/Urban Freeflow Israel ‘Doc’ Castro - Atmospheric Vibration Leopoldo ‘Polo’ Galindo - Atmospheric Vibration Oscar ‘Frix’ Frías - Traceur Project Daniel ‘Dudek’ Becerra - Traceur Project Armand Álvarez - Traceur Project Sergio ‘Wid’ Eriksen - 1Power Bardo ‘Baron Samedi’ Almanza Sergio ‘Mono Mayor’ Castillo Rodolfo ‘Rho’ Navarrete Miguel ‘Mike’ Hernández - Free Tracers Felipe Olivares - Free Tracers Jorge ‘Eroke’ Gallegos - Urban Runners Luis ‘Enigma’ Guillen - Alfa 7 Essential web links: Urban Runners: www.urbanrunners.net Josefo Robledo (Photographer) www.flickr.com/photos/joseforobledo Humberto Bermúdez (Photographer) www.flickr.com/photos/betoxt
Stella: Surveying the urban environment Photographer: Daniel ‘Adrenaline’ Girondeaud
P
ink is where it’s at this month with Stella PK, the founder and president of Pink Parkour, a new organisation set up to cater for female practitioners in France. Having already touched base with Stella during the Session Internationale (Paris) event we staged in the summer, we had intended to hook up again earlier to do this piece but other projects kept getting in the way. Eventually we agreed to risk doing it in the winter and with snow being predicted for the weekend we were there, it really was a touch and go situation. Luckily, we were gifted with a clear day and even though it was bitterly cold, we met for a catch up at Bercy during a group training session....
Hi Stella, full name please? Stella: My full name is Stella Durand. From where? Stella: Born and raised in Paris Which part of Paris is called home? Stella: I live in the 10th District. How young old you right now? Stella: I’m 22 years old. Still just a baby then. Stella: Yeah <laughs>. How long have you been a Parkour practitioner? Stella: I have been practising the art of Parkour for 5 years. Where did you first see Parkour? Stella: I saw it in the first District 13 movie. And what led to you actually practising? Stella: I had a friend who was already practising. He said that I should come to watch him train, so I did and after this I began too. What was it about Parkour that appealed to you so much? Stella: Quite simply the sense of freedom it gives. When you began, did you step up with a background in any other sport? Stella: Yes, I used to do gymnastics and I was also a swimmer. Has your gymnastics background helped you with your Parkour? Stella: In the physical side, yes. But apart from that, not so much. Is this because of the rigid nature of gymnastics in the sense that you have to break old habits? Stella: Yes, gymnastics is very strict and the way you have to
move is very particular. I didn’t like this aspect so much. So let’s go back to your first training session. How was it and what did you do? Stella: <laughs> I tried to run up a wall but it was very hard. With a little help from my friend I found that I could do it. Was your friend also at beginner level? Stella: Yes and in the beginning we trained a lot together but after a while I met many more people and we started to train in a bigger group with more experienced people. With guys they can rely on physical strength to power through certain moves. Having a slighter frame, did you find any techniques particularly difficult to learn?
“I have been practising the art of Parkour for 5 years”
Stella: I like the lazy vault and the dash vault. With the lazy vault I like this because it can be done at speed and looks effortless. And your least favourite technique? Stella: The kong vault <laughs>. Have you been unlucky enough to suffer any injuries during your 5 years in Parkour? Stella: Sadly, yes. I have had a wrist injury and right now I have a tendon problem in my achilles area that I cannot shake. Has this been frustrating to deal with? Stella: Yes, it has caused me many problems and I’ve had this for 10 months now so I can only train very lightly. Ouch, I’m sure that everyone reading this will understand what you’re going through. Ok, when you do train, do you move with the guys? Stella: Yes it is a benefit but also it is good to take the time to train with just the girls.
Stella: For me, the kong vault and cat leap were very difficult. Anything where arm strength is needed, presents a real challenge. Especially when you are just a beginner.
Do you ever watch the guys move and see them doing things that you wish you were able to do? Stella: Yeah, mainly the big vaults where strength is used.
Are you able to do kong vaults now? Stella: Not so well. This is an area I need to work on and I’m really trying to improve my technique, so I repeat it a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot! <laughs>
Seeing as you don’t possess the raw power of your male counterparts, how do you adapt your game to overcome obstacles? Stella: Us girls need to work more on technique, fluidity and sense of touch.
How often to you train? Stella: I train 3 times per week for 2 to 3 hours per session. Right now my life is very busy with studying and I also work, so finding time to train is sometimes difficult. Out of all the techniques in your repertoire, which is your fave?
Are there any females currently in the scene who you look to as having a good combination of the above? Stella: Liv from the UK has a good level but I don’t know if she is still active? There is another girl from the UK called Hollie that I like and Kat from
Stella: Lazy vault (one of her favourite techs) Photographer: Ez
During a typical mixed session at Bercy led by Stellaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s boyfriend Thomas Bencteux Photographer: Ez
Stella: Warming up on a stair set at Bercy Photographer: Ez
Mexico has a really good level. Oh, and there’s Silex from Canada who is really good.
Parkour? Stella: Simple, to federate and motivate.
Can you please tell us a little bit about the organisation you’ve recently set up called Pink Parkour? Stella: This was set up to help develop female Parkour in France. We will stage monthly training sessions and help to motivate more girls to take part.
Nice. How many girls are involved right now? Stella: About 10 of us are directly involved right now and we meet up to train each month. There are also many other girls wanting to get involved.
Is the organisation open to females regardless of where they are in the world, or is it exclusive to French practitioners? Stella: Yes our Facebook page is open to everyone but for training, it is impossible for us to do it outside of France right now. I was referring more to your page being receptive to female visitors from all around the world as a central hook up place to share knowledge, post pictures and videos. Stella: Ah, yes. Everybody is welcome but for this year I think it is more important to build the foundations so the focus is more on France now. Why did you choose ‘Pink Parkour’ name? Stella: <laughs> Pink Parkour is fun and representative of females. I hear you but most teenagers are going to think of one thing when the word ‘Pink’ is mentioned. Was the double entendre intentional? Stella: NO!!!! <laughs> Ok understood. To clear up any confusion though, it’s nothing to do with lesbian power either, is it? Stella: No!! It is very different <laughs>. Ok joking aside, what are the main ambitions of Pink
Why do you think that there aren’t that many girls involved in Parkour compared to the amount of guys? Stella: Maybe from the outside, Parkour appears to be a dangerous sport but anyone who hasn’t actually tried it will always have that opinion. I think more girls need to try it first. I think that they will be pleasantly surprised. When I was here in the
“I think it is very important for Pink Parkour to have a Facebook presence” summer I noticed that your group is a really tight knit one. Does that friendship extend outside of training together? Stella: Yes, we often socialise together too. Talking about the social networking side of things, how important is the internet to you? Stella: Well Facebook is where our community is based and for me, I think it is the main meeting place for practitioners of tomorrow. I think it is very important for Pink Parkour to have a Facebook presence.
right now but maybe soon we will set one up. Right now Parkour is obviously a lifestyle choice for you but do you have any aspirations to become a professional? Stella: For me, to develop Parkour is the most important thing. Right now there are many associations and groups in France but I don’t know if the community really wants to develop, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to turn what is my hobby into a professional thing? Would you like to if you could? Stella: Yeah, sure. I did do a photography project once for Nikon with Gravity Style. Since setting up Pink Parkour, have you been contacted by many people from around the world? Stella: The interest in the page has been really good but my personal Facebook profile is not set to be open to everyone, so if you search for my name you won’t be able to find it to message me. Isn’t that a bit redundant? If you want to develop, you need to either open up or appoint some moderators. Stella: <laughs> Yes I understand. I think I need to change the settings. Your boyfriend Thomas, trains with you too, right? Stella: Yes, he helped me set up Pink Parkour and he’s also an instructor. Did you guys meet through Parkour? Stella: Yes <smiling>.
Any plans to launch a fully fledged Pink Parkour website? Stella: Maybe as things progress.
How long has Thomas been doing Parkour? Stella: I think he’s been doing it for 6 or 7 years.
How about Youtube? Stella: We don’t have a channel
Does he actively encourage you with your training?
Stella: Mid-Precision Photographer: Daniel â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Adrenalineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Girondeaud
Stella: Yes he supports me but we’ve been together for 9 months and I’ve been injured for 10 months, so he hasn’t ever seen me train at 100%. Right now it’s getting cold here in Paris. Do you ever find it hard to motivate yourself to train during the winter? Stella: Sometimes. It’s really hard to motivate the other girls in the winter but I think it’s a good time because you get to see the ones who are really dedicated. These are the ones who will be here in the summer too and the ones who will improve the most. How about you? Stella: Yeah it’s hard but when I began training it was in the winter so I’ve been through it. I think as a practitioner it is really important to train through all the seasons. Do you ever get tempted to train inside? Stella: I train indoors and outside. When I train inside I do so with Charles and Malik from Gravity Style. Are you taking part in any other sport right now to supplement your Parkour training? Stella: Nothing, it’s just Parkour. Do you eat healthily? Stella: No <laughs> it is very complicated because I’m very busy with work and studying and can’t always find time to prepare something healthy to eat. I do try though <laughs>. Paris has a selection of great spots to train at. Which is your favourite? Stella: La Defense because there is so much to do in one small area. It is also perfect for both beginners and the advanced. Are you well travelled? Stella: Yes but none of it was for
Parkour. I hope to start travelling more for Parkour related projects soon. If you could go to any country in the world to train, where would it be? Stella: England for sure and maybe Germany too. Is it frustrating for you being French to see that even though Parkour started in France, it isn’t a major player in the scene as far as established communities are concerned? Stella: Yes it is very frustrating. In France we have a mentality problem where a lot of people have closed minds. In the past, the vibe was really negative but I have to say that from my own personal
“In France we have a mentality problem where a lot of people have closed minds” experiences here, it seems to be getting much better. The new breed of practitioner seems much more receptive to there being a community that exists outside of France. In the old days, there were too many people who wanted to keep everything guarded and it backfired because communities sprung up and developed without them. Stella: Sadly that is true. I hope that one day everyone can work together and not be so closed off from sharing and learning. Have you ever been to Lisses to pay homage to the birth place? Stella: I’ve been 2 or 3 times. The first time was so cool but the others not so much, because the police have started arresting people and are stopping anyone from jumping about. It’s a very complicated situation there now.
What’s your vision of Parkour in 5 years time, do you think it will continue to grow? Stella: Yes because it isn’t ‘in’ to do Parkour. It’s a healthy lifestyle and more and more people will want to get involved. What is your opinion of Freerunning? Stella: I like it but for me, Parkour is the way. If I’m really honest, I’m afraid to do acrobatics outside. It scares me. What is your view on the politics involved in Parkour? Stella: It’s too restrictive but I think it will change for the better eventually. What kind of music is on your iPod right now? Stella: I listen to all kinds of music so it’s a mix of everything. Favourite brands? Stella: For sports I like Adidas because my father is able to get discounts on their clothing and I like their range of colours. For fashion, I don’t have a favourite. Being a female, I’m guessing you have a fond affection for shoes. If you do, does this apply to your trainers and if yes, how many pairs do you have? Stella: <laughs> No I only have 4 pairs. Disappointing! Ok, any hobbies like watching films or reading? Stella: I like films but cannot think of a favourite. For reading I like fantasy stuff like Harry Potter. Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you had to spend a week in solitary confinement but could take 3 items with you, what would you take? Stella: Definitely my iPod. Erm……I’d also take my trainers and a book. Do you have any role models in your life outside of Parkour?
Stella: Executing a cat leap at the Bercy skate park Photographer: Ez
Stella: Confidence drills across a small gap at height Photographer: Daniel â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Adrenalineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Girondeaud
Stella: My parents because they are both strong people. Do they support you doing Parkour? Stella: My mother doesn’t like so much that I do Parkour. She’s like “Look at that, you’re injured again” <laughs>. My dad is ok about it though. Do you consider yourself to be patriotic? Stella: No. What do you like about France then? Stella: I like the baguettes <laughs>. What do you hate about France? Stella: I hate the politics. In general we are too close minded and just make things more complicated for ourselves when we don’t need to. Between the English and French there has always been a rivalry and we take every opportunity to poke fun at you. For instance, the English say that the French are experts in surrendering. Do you think that because you are so good at running away from conflict, it helps with your Parkour too? Stella: <laughs hysterically> Ooooh! I don’t know? In France we call you English people ‘Ros Beef’. I know the term but in your own words, explain the meaning? Stella: I don’t know and don’t care <laughs>. It has something to do with the English always eating beef. Have you actually been to the UK before? Stella: Not yet but I will come for sure. When you do, let me know and we’ll make sure we provide you with a nice welcome <laughs>. Do you think that you will still be doing Parkour in 5 or 10
years from now? Stella: To be honest, I’m not sure but I hope so. If I have no injuries, I will for sure. Any message for girls reading this that might want to start training? Stella: A simple message. Just get up and do it. Before we wrap things up, what does Stella PK think of Stella PK? Stella: I think she needs to be a little bit more motivated <laughs>. Thanks Stella, we’ll be back again for sure when the weather is better. I really admire what you guys have got going on here and I look forward to seeing Pink Parkour develop. Stella: Thanks Ez, you’re welcome anytime.
Pink Parkour: Sisters are doing it for themselves Photographer: Daniel â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Adrenalineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Girondeaud
Checkout the Pink Parkour site: www.facebook.com/pages/Pink-Parkour/177515712264066
Tom Foot (England) Photographer: Kai Taylor
sleep is more than just time to dream by Sean Lerwill www.commandoconditioning.com To be a good PK/FR practitioner you have to do a few key things: train, eat, drink and SLEEP! Training comes naturally, that’s what we do - I don’t need to press the fact, without training and without practice we cannot improve, we get stale and we eventually give up. We all drink, we get thirsty and so we drink. If you don’t, your body slows down, you can’t concentrate and eventually you will collapse, but thats another article. Eat, without food you’ll have no energy to train and your muscles will have no building blocks to repair. Again, this is another article. However, whether due to work, partying or general lifestyle, we all seem to neglect sleep at some point. We tend to think sleep is expendable and that it can be caught up on. The fact of the matter is it isn’t and it can never be caught up on. Incredibly, studies indicate that if you sleep more you WILL get leaner, regenerate faster and most importantly, you will adapt and become better and faster (depending on your training regime of course). With sleep, simply put, the more we put into it (without going over the top) the more we get out of it. In short, the more rest (sleep) we get, the more productive our bodies are in all areas. Just like getting thirsty (once you’re thirsty, you are already dehydrated - you must drink before that, little and often), if you are yawning, feel tired and think you didn’t sleep enough last night, you’re right, and it’s already too late! It can be worth thinking of sleep as a drug that will boost your ability to be the best Traceur/Freerunner you can be. Get at least 8 hours of this ‘drug’ a night and you will rise above your competition who are scraping by on a measly 6 hours or less. Ensuring you get the most of your sleep time: 1. The body produces melatonin naturally and it is critical for sleep to occur. This only occurs in the dark, therefore it is important to make your bedroom as dark as possible. It may be necessary to black out the room with blinds or curtains or even wear an eye mask. Anything to stop light creeping in. 2. Surprisingly, any electronic lights or signals excite the body which impact on sleep patterns, this includes anything which gives off electrical signals like mobile phones, TVs, computers and even LED alarm clocks. To improve your sleep, simply remove them all. 3. Ensure the environment is as quiet as possible. If necessary, wear ear plugs, this will ensure you are not disturbed in the night and kept awake. 4.Sleep temperature is also imperative, interestingly, the body alters temperature just prior to falling asleep so getting hot or cold before sleep is disruptive. Comfort is the aim of the game - if you are cold buy a warmer duvet, if you are hot, remove items of clothing. Don’t just put up with it because ultimately, you will not sleep well. 5.Mattress and bed linen quality is surprisingly important. However, we are all different, so this has to be specific to you. Just like the type of trainer you like to run in. A good bed store can give advice on which mattress is suitable depending on how you sleep: on your side, back or front and also in relation to your bodyweight. Something which the community is most likely lacking: change your sheets regularly and pick pillows that are good quality and have not been around the house for 10 years. Lastly ensure that the pillows you use, don’t excessively elevate the neck. 6. Get up when your alarm clock goes off and don’t hit the snooze button. It is better to set the alarm for the actual time you need to wake and get straight up than to set it for 30mins earlier and hit snooze 3 times. You’ll actually get more sleep if you set an alarm and stick to it. 7. Last but not least, get into a pattern. Whenever possible, go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time. We as humans are habitual and so are our bodily rhythms. Again, use the ‘drug’ of sleep to its full advantage.
Tommi Þ. Guðmundsson (Iceland) www.youtube.com/tommigud Photographer: Arnór Halldórsson
Rocko Rovira (Mexico) www.urbanrunners.net Photographer: Josefo Robledo www.flickr.com/photos/joseforobledo
UNDERPRESSURE By Brad Wendes www.teamkinetix.co.uk
So there I was on Facebook last month when I saw an advert for some ‘Parkour Gloves’. I copied the link and sent it to a few friends with a message that roughly read: “lol, check out these ‘Parkour gloves’! Who in their right mind needs gloves for Parkour?!” Then this month the FSIGS (Free Shit Is Good Shit) fairy at UF HQ fired over some shiny new Fluescent Parkour Gloves with a message that read ‘Brad, do you fancy giving these gloves a beasting for Jump Mag?’ Oh the irony.... My approach to this test was to put them on and try to train as normally as possible. As much as I’m not a big fan of the idea of wearing gloves to train in, I wanted to give them a chance and to deliver a fair review for those of you who might be interested in purchasing a pair.
Comfort....
Well, on first impression they are comfortable. I put them on and didn’t find them to be too restrictive. The material used on the fingers is thin enough to give good feedback (I expected it to tear after one cat leap though) and they fit nicely. The adjustable Velcro wrist strap fits snug and is thick enough to give additional support to the wrist. The upper is breathable and soft. All in all they’re not a bad glove as far as gloves go. It’s worth noting that the pair I tested were large size and they fit my hands, which aren’t particularly big. If you have massive hands you should check with the retailer for sizing advice.
Score: 4 out of 5 Ok, they’re a comfortable glove.
Style....
What can I say about the style? Well firstly there’s three fingers missing (2 fingers and a thumb to be precise), secondly they look a bit like they came from a ‘special interest Adult shop’ and finally, they’re only available in one colour. To be honest, I felt a bit daft wearing them as I’ve never been one to wear gloves for Parkour, but I’ve seen people wearing less attractive and more colourful gloves for BMXing, Trials Riding or even weight lifting, so the big fluorescent yellow lines might be a plus to some people. The material on the palms and fingers is shiny rubber/plastic that makes them look a little bit too kinky, and despite reading the website a few times, I still can’t see any real reason for some fingers to be missing. On a brighter note, they do match my Inov-8 RacePro bag (see last issue), so all is not lost. When asked why some fingers weren’t covered, the guys at Fluescent said: “When we set out to design the gloves, we knew that they would need to provide the level of feel you expected while still doing their job of protecting your hands. Our solution was to protect the so-called “power fingers”, your index and your middle fingers, while still leaving your ring finger, pinky, and thumb open for dexterity. The result was an unorthodox look with exactly the balance you require” After using the gloves, I really don’t see any functional reason for the choice.
Score: 2 out of 5
Not to my taste, can’t get past the S&M look.
Grip....
When reviewing shoes, a lot of grip is a very positive thing. On gloves I’ve discovered that this isn’t so. Yes you want grip for vaulting and for climb-ups, but what about swinging on poles? The material used on the palms and fingers is quite grippy, even in slightly damp conditions. But when training underbar and lâché techniques I found the grip a bit too much and would prefer bare hands. Sadly in wet conditions, especially on polished or metal surfaces, the shiny surface of the gloves is more slippery than your skin. I also didn’t feel very comfortable using the gloves when climbing up or cat leaping to high up points, I just didn’t have faith in the gloves the way I do my own hands – perhaps confidence will come with further training in the gloves.
Score: 2.5 out of 5
Lots of grip isn’t always a positive thing.
Functionality....
So, you know what they look like, you know they’re comfortable and grippy, but do they work? Well, yes and no. As I mentioned before, I’ve never regarded gloves as an essential piece of kit for Parkour. I like the feedback from my own hands on a surface, I have faith in my grip when I can feel the surface, and I can react to different materials if I can feel them with my hands. I’ve always been one to toughen my hands through training, not protect them with gloves. With that in mind, it took me a while just to get my head around having gloves on. As far as function goes, I believe gloves should be there to protect your hands, offer grip, be thin enough to feel and (I would assume) provide warmth. The Fluescent Parkour gloves have prevented me from scratching the skin on my hands and wrists while training, so in this respect they perform as intended. As discussed above they are grippy as presumably intended. They are slightly restrictive, but not very much. Praise where praise is due, the gloves do move very well with your hands and fit well. The same goes for feel, the materials used are so thin that you can still feel every surface, but it’s still not the same at actually touching it. The final point on functionality, a very important one at this time of year, is that gloves should help keep your hands warm. This they do, and they do it very effectively. I was much more comfortable climbing and vaulting in particularly cold weather while wearing the gloves. The added warmth was worth the payoff of reduced feedback, as when your hands get too cold you cant feel anything anyway!
Score: 3 out of 5
They function as they were designed to. I might even keep wearing them occasionally through the winter.
Durability....
The thin material on the palm and fingers is much more durable than I had expected. I thought it would tear after one or two cat leaps, but in reality there’s hardly a scratch on the fingers. After some heavy use I’m actually now more concerned that the soft material on the back of the hand will rip first. The gloves are double-stitched and not one seam has started to come loose. They’re well constructed and make use of some great materials.
Score: 4 out of 5
They’re surprisingly hard wearing.
Value....
Well they cost $40 (+$5 shipping to Europe) thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not cheap for a pair of hand-warmers. You could get similar function from a pair of gardening gloves for much less money, but you really would look daft wearing them to train in. Yes there are benefits to wearing them, but not $45 worth of benefits in my opinion.
Score: 2 out of 5
Too expensive for the limited benefits.
Overall....
Am I now a Parkour glove convert? No. Do these gloves have any place in Parkour/Freerunning? Yes. For newcomers and young practitioners, or even all those hand models out there that want to keep their hands silky smooth and still train on rough surfaces, you may want to invest in a pair of these gloves. They do function as they were designed to, they are grippy, they are thin, they look ‘funky’ and they will keep your hands warm. During the winter months we may ALL want a pair of gloves to keep our mits warm, but I’d look at alternatives before forking out $45. All in all I’m pleasantly surprised that the Fluescent gloves aren’t totally useless, but I won’t be urging people to go out and buy them at the current price.
Overall Score: 2.5 out of 5
A nice glove, good for winter, but I prefer to toughen up my hands the old-fashioned way. For more information on the Fluescent Parkour Gloves, or to purchase a pair visit: www.fluescent.com
Raleigh Wishon (USA) Photographer: Aaron Peters
We ca one ‘ Edite Alrea
Brighton Parkour (UK) Produced by Visive Productions, this edit features the Powell, Tom Vance, Henry Ashworth and Alex Rigby a in Brighton. Whilst this reel hasn’t had anywhere nea Storm one, it’s definitely worth a watch as it’ll inspire www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA7AW5KBXnQ
Storm Freerun (UK) an’t think of a better way to sign out of 2010 than with these two slick edits. This features Paul ‘Blue’ Joseph, Tim ‘Livewire’ Shieff, Ashley ‘Spyder’ Holland, Franck ‘Cali’ Nelle and Jan ‘Jashman’ Barcikowski who make up the Storm Freerun team. ed by Claudiu Voicu this reel took six months to produce and it’s clear to see why. ady being hailed as one of the best PK/FR run edits ever, the 2nd part will need to be something very special indeed to better this one. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHy9W9LpvlQ
e talents of Callum Powell, Sacha as they tear up the environment ar the amount of traffic as the e in equal measures.
Peppe (Germany) www.vibramove.de Photographer: Hannes Bl端mel
Sam Corbett (England) www.youtube.com/samcornett Photographer: Tom Slader *Photo taken in Puerto Rico
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This has to rank as one of the filthiest Michael Jackson impressions weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen yet. Ordinarily anyone would get scolded for bailing like a noob, but this dipshit fails in heinous fashion for trying to pull off a moonwalk using his face. Sometimes people need to be left alone to find out the hard way.
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWtgPBbdfu0
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VAULT BOX BUILD YOUR OWN Photo’s and design specs courtesy of:
www.sturdymade.com www.parkourvisions.org We all know that PK/FR is all about using your existing environment to create movement but bespoke equipment can be of used in all manner of situations... Whether you are a performer, teacher or have some space in your garage or garden to drill specifics, this no nonsense guide from Sturdy Made and Parkour Visions shows how you can do it without breaking the bank in the process. Materials and tools you will need: *2x4’s for framing *3/4” plywood for sheeting (CDX or better) *Outdoor decking screws/nails, 2” and 3” *Liquid Nails (optional) *Primer/paint *Playground silica sand (Home Depot has this) *Tape measurer, pencils, chalk line *Drill/driver *Saw - circular saw, chop saw, jigsaw Safety Equipment: *Glasses *Earplugs *Dust masks
Build Instructions:
1. Determine size Size is up to you and your design constraints. Our new medium boxes are 36” tall, 32” deep on the bottom, 12” deep on the top, and 48” wide so that they fit through doorways and make efficient use of plywood sheeting. If you don’t need to fit through doorways 36x36x16x48 is a good size as well. Weight and base width relative to height are the defining factors for tippiness. Our new boxes are a little narrow so that they’d fit through doorways, but we cut a big hole near the bottom for bracing or sandbagging as well as just building them heavy (about 120lbs). Once you have chosen your size, sketch out each face’s dimensions on paper so you’ll know how to cut your plywood and lay out your frame pieces. Take your time to plan and think about how to make the best use of your time and materials. Pictured on the right is an example of a BAD plan (sheeting first and figuring it out as we went).
2. Make frame We build our frames like we build walls - framed in 2x4’s with studs every 16”. This is important so that you have enough attachment points for the faces and an internal framing structure to distribute force. You can also use 2x6’s on the top and bottom rectangles to add strength and weight. We used a mitering chop saw to cut the angles, which helps a huge amount. Use at least two 3” screws or nails per attachment.
3. Sheet the frame in plywood Your framing will probably have some irregularities. We’ve found that the best way to make sure the pieces fit together tightly is to trace the frame onto a sheet of plywood, then cut. If your cuts are accurate, you will have very few gaps in your vault boxes. Cut and mount the ends first, then the faces, and then the top so that the sheeting overlaps at the edges. Extra points for angled cuts on the faces for a perfect fit. We used spare OSB for the sides once, but it breaks down easily on the faces and top. You can get away with CDX if painting but use BCX or ACX if finishing clear or if you want the most strength. Use lots of quality fasteners when assembling your vault boxes. The plywood sheeting provides excellent shear strength (to keep the box in a box shape) and the framing prevents the plywood from buckling in. But if they aren’t tied together well, neither will be very effective. We sink quality star head 2” decking screws in at least every 8” into every framing member at STURDY. If you’re using nails, be sure to caulk down a line of liquid nails on every connection as well for a long-lasting box.
4. Optional Improvements: Handles We move our boxes around a lot, so like to cut in handles for them. Put in handles so that they’re not so low as to be awkward to grab, and not so high that you bash your shins when you try to move them. We’ve found that ½ way up is good for most boxes. We used a 2” hole drill and jigsaw to cut our handles, but you can also just screw on a 2x4. Route/sand edges We used a router and a 1/2” roundover/bullnose bit to route all the edges and handles of our boxes. We also sand the boxes to 180 grit to get rid of potential splinters. Feet In order to save wear and tear on the box bottoms when you move them around, you can make feet out of 2x4 squares and mount them to the bottom of your vault box as close to the edges as you can. Ours even have wheels attached for moving them around easier.
5. Coating Your vault boxes will last a lot longer if you coat them. If you’re looking to paint your boxes quickly so you can get jumping soonest, it’s simplest to use any latex primer/sealer, then paint over with any porch/floor paint. You can mix playground sand in with the paint to add some texture for better grip. That’s how we made our first blue boxes a couple years ago. At Parkour Visions, we like the natural look of wood. Finding a clear finishing process that’s tough and grippy, though, has been a challenge. Paint is going to be 10 x easier and less expensive but wears down ugly and Tyson just doesn’t like it ;) Our last process that went pretty well involved staining, epoxying all the edges and the tops, and using several coats of clear marine varnish with walnut shells added in for grip. Further info about box finishes can be found by visiting: www.sturdymade.com/box-finishes-hard-and-easy If you liked this ‘How To’ and want to be kept up to date with further guides, checkout: www.facebook.com/sturdymade
Todor Rusinov (Bulgaria) www.freerunbg.com Photographer: Dilian Velev
Mahdi Baqer (Kuwait) www.pkjaguars.com Photographer: Maryam Baqer
PARKOURWEEK On November 22nd to the 28th St Petersburg, Russia, was the location where the ‘Parkour Week’ was staged. Set up by the Parkour City organisation, the event attracted over 250 practitioners and saw people travel in from the Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and France to join up with the many Russian Traceurs/Freerunner’s who were waiting. The special guest this year was UF All Star athlete, Quentin ‘Le Vietnamien Volant’ Salvador, from France. He was joined by his UF team mates from Russia in the form of Shade Zlat and Eric Mukhametshin. The main purpose of the event was to show the World that the Russian scene operates all year around regardless of the cold weather. During the seven days of training, we were entertained with continuous events connected with Parkour and Freerunning such as: *Cinema screenings *Indoor training (lots of it) *Survival school in the woods *Taking part in an anti-smoking campaign *Photo sessions *Much more indoor training What follows is a selection of pics from the week of fun and madness....
Top: An indoor location was most welcome as it was absolutely freeeeeezing outside Above: 3 UF All Star athletes - Quentin â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Le Vietnamien Volantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Salvador, Shade Zlat and Eric Mukhametshin representing
Above: Evgenij Krynin, the director behind the Parkour City organisation . Here he stands with the mic just before he was to give a welcome speech to everyone in attendance. He also sang some tracks by Beyonce, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another story
The facilities on the day were great and got sessioned hard by everyone there. But for some strange reason this picture is ruined by the du
ude with the mullet on the right. This kind of Eurotard haircut should not be allowed!
Shade Zlat made himself very busy during the event and hardly stopped moving throughout
Top: Sizing up a precision opportunity Above: Aside from being a great excuse to train hard, the event was also a perfect place for practitioners to network
No event is ever complete without a bunch of clowns to spice things up
Top: Getting into the swing of things Above: Dima Buenkov with Quentin â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Le Vietnamien Volantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Salvador
Inna and Sacha Sheva break away from training for a photo opportunity. Om nom nomski!
“Be strong to be useful”
The tee-shirt says it all
With the event being 7 days long, there was plenty of time to chill out without missing out on any of the action
Shade using the scaffolding to full effect
Sacha Sheva makes here way up the ramp
Dima Korotkov and Quentin grab a shot together
Constantine Kachurin launches himself skyward
A random man sports a bag with a Glyph on it
Inna perched on top of the cityscape obstacle
Precision jump from Dima Korotkov
Top: Quentin taking care of media duties Above: Shade Zlat and Russia’s version of Tim ‘Livewire’ Shieff
Top: Everybody hits St Petersburg square to take part in an anti-smoking campaign. Above: The campain consisted of everyone performing flips and handstands to raise awareness
Athletes in T-shirts with an inscription of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Air is for everybodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; collected petitions in support of the campaign against smoking in public places. Here Shade Zlat pulls a wall spin
Grabbing an obligatory group shot before the survival school â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;classesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; began
It was so cold that the only way to keep warm was to move. Ok maggots, drop and give me 20!!
Top: Manhunt in effect Above: Spartans on a hillside mission
Eric, LowKick and Dima Belan manage to smile through the bitter cold
So after 7 great days of training, everybody left extremely tired but happy. Next year we hope to see things being even bigger and better. From all of us here in the Russian Parkour and Freerunning community we wish all the readers of Jump Magazine a very happy Christmas. Article courtesy of: Eddie Karyakin Photography courtesy of: Azm Ermatov Eugene Gavrilov Fedor Selivanov Dmitry Bazylev Ivan Puzyrev Roman Gainutdinov Dmitry Korotkov www.parkourcity.ru
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