Entries Tagged 'General' ↓

Hello to all the KGO Radio Morning News listeners that heard Jeff aka Meatlad, the co-founder of SFPK, speak about parkour this fine Memorial Day morning! Welcome, and we’re glad you found us.

Parkour is an art that helps you overcome obstacles as quickly and efficiently as possible, using only the abilities of the human body. Movements should be guided by an intent to escape and/or reach; if a movement is superfluous to that intent, it is not typically considered parkour. Parkour movements often involve running, jumping, vaulting, quadrupedal movement, climbing and balancing. [Learn More]

Anyone of any age, sex, experience or skill level can get started on training parkour! All you need is a good pair of running shoes and an enthusiastic spirit :) There are plenty of good tutorials online, but we recommend seeking out others and connecting with your local community so you can train with experienced practitioners who can help guide you and ensure you are training safely and get off on the right foot.

Please check out our Monthly schedule for free Beginner’s Classes and our Monthly Jam, as well as the standing practice sessions and many other classes around the Bay.  Beginners and newcomers are always welcome!

Feel free to hang out and say hi, and hopefully we’ll see you in person to jam soon!  The thread on this topic can be found here.

Parkour: The Art of Momentum
http://rhyencoombs.com/projects/PARKOUR/Site/

Check out this great parkour site created by Rhyen Coombs and her multimedia crew Chris Tompkins, Stefania Rousselle and David Castello-Lopes.  This UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism project involved several SFPK traceurs including Beretta, NoSole, Andrey, Ascent, lethalbeef, Adhesive and more!  Some cool stuff in there including pics, audio clips, video interview, and interactive kong to dive roll graphic.

To discuss this on the community forum, visit the thread here.

Big shout out to SFPK member, Ninja Warrior and friend Shane “Ascent” Daniels for being a part of an upcoming national AT&T commercial.  Shane is in SoCal now but this is his real home :)  Shane’s dedication and diligent practice is inspirational, payoffs notwithstanding!  Congrats bud, we are proud of you!  To read more on the forum and give Shane a back pat, visit the thread here.

Freerunner and Ninja Warrior, Levi Meeuwenberg is running a unique fundraiser to raise $3000 for the Parkour Visions project to help disadvantaged kids learn to overcome obstacles with parkour.

Each time you make a donation, a message is sent to Levi’s phone telling him to do a backflip. No matter where he is at that time, he will do a standing backflip! Then he will tweet explaining who made him do the backflip and where they made him do it. To get an idea of how this works, check out the video HERE.

You can learn more about the project at Levi Meeuwenberg’s Blog, or make a donation and make Levi do a backflip Here.

To discuss this with the community, visit the forum thread here.

Upcoming SF Parkour monthly sessions for March:

Beginner’s Class
Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 12 noon @ San Francisco
http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3675
The Beginner’s Class is geared towards first timers, and lasts 1.5 hours. The emphasis will be on controlled progression and will cover: philosophy of parkour, training, conditioning and safety tips, and basic movements such as vaults, landings and rolls. Taking photos/videos at this session is discouraged. Check out the sample agenda for details. Attendees are also welcome to hang out, continue training or have an open jam after the class ends. Remember, classes are always FREE!

California Jam - Spring 2010
March 20-21, 2010 @ San Francisco & Berkeley
http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3474
The CA Jam is all about connecting with traceurs from other areas, cities, and communities around the Bay… and with our fellow practitioners from southern California!  This will be a 2-day, multi-spot jam (and BBQ!) to share some of our favorite SF and Berkeley spots with visiting traceurs.  Please check the forum for details and tips on rides and housing.  Beginners are definitely welcome! While unstructured and open, jams will still begin with a meet’n'greet and warmup, then end with a clean up time. Participants are encouraged to jam, condition, drill, have parkour-related discussions, get help from others, teach Beginners and just hang out.

Other Info

There are several weekly training sessions led by SFPK community members in San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, and elsewhere around the Bay. Check out the Standing Jams and Classes & Instruction forums, as well as the 2010 Schedule for SF Parkour Beginner’s Classes & Monthly Jams for more info!

We need your input! Help shape and grow the SFPK community by contributing ideas to the 2010 Planning thread.

Upcoming SF Parkour monthly sessions for February:

Beginner’s Class
Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 12 noon @ UC Berkeley
http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3596
The Beginner’s Class is geared towards first timers, and lasts 1.5 hours. The emphasis will be on controlled progression and will cover: philosophy of parkour, training, conditioning and safety tips, and basic movements such as vaults, landings and rolls. Taking photos/videos at this session is discouraged. Check out the sample agenda for details. Attendees are also welcome to hang out, continue training or have an open jam after the class ends. Remember, classes are always FREE!

Monthly Jam
February 21, 2010 - 11:30AM @ San Jose
http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3601
Hosted by the San Jose Parkour Team!  Will start early for breakfast and will be roaming all over San Jose with specific checkpoints at certain times if you want to skip some parts and still meet up with the group.  Check the thread for details and contacts.

The Monthly Jam is all about connecting with other traceurs, whether from other areas, cities, or communities around the Bay… and beyond! This is essentially a “National Jam” for the Bay Area. There are always regulars as well as new faces. Beginners are always welcome! Jams typically last 3-4+ hours, and while unstructured and open will still begin with a meet’n'greet and warmup, then end with a clean up time. Participants are encouraged to jam, condition, drill, have parkour-related discussions, get help from others, teach Beginners and just hang out.

Other Info

There are several weekly training sessions led by SFPK community members in San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, and elsewhere around the Bay. Check out the Standing Jams and Classes & Instruction forums, as well as the 2010 Schedule for SF Parkour Beginner’s Classes & Monthly Jams for more info!

We need your input! Help shape and grow the SFPK community by contributing ideas to the 2010 Planning thread.

SF Parkour is excited to be able to offer the Bay Area parkour community free movie passes to the screening of District-13 Ultimatum, starring David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli!  The screening is Monday, February 1st at 7:30 PM at the Metreon in San Francisco.  The passes gain you entry on a first come, first served basis so be sure to get there early!  (We are recommending ~1 hour before.)

To find out how to get your free passes, please visit the forum thread at - http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3557

Upcoming SF Parkour monthly sessions for January:

Beginner’s Class
Saturday, January 9, 2010 at 12 noon @ San Francisco
http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3528
The Beginner’s Class is geared towards first timers, and lasts 1.5 hours. The emphasis will be on controlled progression and will cover: philosophy of parkour, training, conditioning and safety tips, and basic movements such as vaults, landings and rolls. Taking photos/videos at this session is discouraged. Check out the sample agenda for details. Attendees are also welcome to hang out, continue training or have an open jam after the class ends. Remember, classes are always FREE!

Monthly Jam
Sunday, January 17, 2010 - 12 Noon @ Oak Ridge High School, Sacramento
http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3526
The Monthly Jam is all about connecting with other traceurs, whether from other areas, cities, or communities around the Bay… and beyond! This is essentially a “National Jam” for the Bay Area. There are always regulars as well as new faces. Beginners are always welcome! Jams typically last 3-4+ hours, and while unstructured and open will still begin with a meet’n'greet and warmup, then end with a clean up time. Participants are encouraged to jam, condition, drill, have parkour-related discussions, get help from others, teach Beginners and just hang out.

Other Info

There are several weekly training sessions led by SFPK community members in San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, and elsewhere around the Bay. Check out the Standing Jams and Classes & Instruction forums, as well as the 2010 Schedule for SF Parkour Beginner’s Classes & Monthly Jams for more info!

For a recap of 2009 read the SF Parkour Monthly Jams - 2009 Year in Review and SFPK Year in Review 2009 threads.

We need your input!  Help shape and grow the SFPK community by contributing ideas to the 2010 Planning thread.

Happy Holidays to everyone, may your days be merry and filled with cheer!  Share your holiday wishes with the community here.

The SF Parkour Community - SFPK Year in Review 2009

Well, it’s been another great year for the SFPK community! We’ve made a lot of great memories, a lot of friendships, and discovered many new places to jam at. As 2009 draws to a close and we begin to plan for 2010, it’s good to take a look back to where we started last year (point A) and where we finished (point B).

If 2008 was a year of outreach and putting a public face on parkour in the Bay Area, 2009 was the year of strengthening connections between communities. There was a big contingent that traveled by train out to Colorado for the National Jam, and many in the community participated in the Massive West Coast Jam, the Washington State Jam and BEAST Coast Jam. Traceurs from all over the country and beyond came here to jam and stay with us. The SFPK community worked closely with APK to come up with APK’s updated definition of parkour.

All the classes that were around in 2008 were still going strong at the end of 2009, and many new, free instructional sessions have been established all over the region. Through charity work and demos we have reached out beyond the parkour community to make some great connections with parks, gyms, local government and some nonprofits.

Monthlies continue to grow, membership is on the rise, people are starting more projects on their own, and there’s lots of cool stuff on the horizon in 2010. We have a varied and diverse community, full of motivated and creative people bursting with talent and energy. It’s all of you who make the community what it is, and we hope you stop for a moment and reflect back at all the wonderful achievements you were a part of in the past year before looking ahead to what’s in store for 2010.

We hope your path through 2009 was as fun as it was for us who tune the cogs at SFPK, and hope you will help make 2010 the best year yet for SFPK community.

Happy Holidays,

SFPK Admins & Area Reps

P.S. A little housekeeping notice: Any accounts with zero posts that haven’t logged in within the past six months will be deleted, so come and say hi! Become a fan of our Facebook page and a friend of our YouTube channel. Also please contribute to 2010 planning thread – your ideas are important!

SF Parkour would like to share our DIY vault box construction diagrams and instructions with the parkour and freerunning community. Brian “NoSole” Orosco designed the box and YouTube helped build them for the Live! event we did with them. They worked out great! You can see them in action here.

Please download the “Vault Box Construction” pdf at - http://www.sfparkour.com/Vault_Box_Construction_by_SFParkour.pdf
Feel free to share and distribute this link!

We welcome all comments, suggestions, improvements etc. that anyone wants to share. If we incorporate your tips we will add “credits” into the doc. We’d love to get feedback such as cost to build, time to build, build photos at each step and more. Help us improve this “how to” guide for everyone!

Enjoy, and happy vaulting!

AmericanParkour.com has released their new “What is Parkour” definition!

For more details on the official announcement, how this was created, and further discussion, please read the SFPK forum thread.

What is Parkour?

Parkour is the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one’s path by adapting one’s movements to the environment.

• Parkour requires… consistent, disciplined training with an emphasis on functional strength, physical conditioning, balance, creativity, fluidity, control, precision, spatial awareness, and looking beyond the traditional use of objects.
• Parkour movements typically include… running, jumping, vaulting, climbing, balancing, and quadrupedal movement. Movements from other physical disciplines are often incorporated, but acrobatics or tricking alone do not constitute parkour.
• Parkour training focuses on… safety, longevity, personal responsibility, and self-improvement. It discourages reckless behavior, showing off, and dangerous stunts.
• Parkour practitioners value… community, humility, positive collaboration, sharing of knowledge, and the importance of play in human life, while demonstrating respect for all people, places, and spaces.

Upcoming SF Parkour monthly sessions for October:

Beginner’s Class
Saturday, October 10th, 2009 - 12 Noon @ San Francisco
http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3261
The Beginner’s Class is geared towards first timers and those just getting started. The structured class will be led by SFPK Admins, Area Reps, and various members of the community, and typically lasts 1.5-2+ hours. The emphasis will be on getting beginners started off on the right foot to begin training safely through controlled progression. The class will cover: philosophy of parkour, training and safety tips, basic skills, fundamental movements and much more! Taking photos/videos at this session is discouraged. Check out the sample agenda for details. Remember, classes are always FREE!

Monthly Jam
Sunday, October 18th, 2009 - 12 Noon @ Sacramento
Details coming soon, please check here for details!
The Monthly Jam is all about connecting with other traceurs, whether from other areas, cities, or communities around the Bay… and beyond! There are always regulars, as well as new faces. Beginners are always welcome. Jams typically last 3-4+ hours, and while unstructured and open will still include a warmup, cooldown and clean up time. Participants are encouraged to jam, condition, drill, have parkour-related discussions, get help from others, teach Beginners and just hang out.

Ongoing Weekly Sessions
There are several daily and weekly training sessions led by SFPK community members in San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, and elsewhere.  Check out the Upcoming Jams forum and the 2009 Schedule for SF Parkour: Beginner’s Class, Monthly Jam and Weekly Sessions for more info!

Upcoming SF Parkour monthly sessions for September:

Beginner’s Class
Saturday, September 12th, 2009 - 12 Noon @ UC Berkeley
http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3167
The Beginner’s Class is geared towards first timers and those just getting started. The structured class will be led by SFPK Admins, Area Reps, and various members of the community, and typically lasts 1.5-2+ hours. The emphasis will be on getting beginners started off on the right foot to begin training safely through controlled progression. The class will cover: philosophy of parkour, training and safety tips, basic skills, fundamental movements and much more! Taking photos/videos at this session is discouraged. Check out the sample agenda for details. Remember, classes are always FREE!

Monthly Jam
Sunday, September 20th, 2009 - 12 Noon @ UC Santa Cruz
http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3156
The Monthly Jam is all about connecting with other traceurs, whether from other areas, cities, or communities around the Bay… and beyond! There are always regulars, as well as new faces. Beginners are always welcome. Jams typically last 3-4+ hours, and while unstructured and open will still include a warmup, cooldown and clean up time. Participants are encouraged to jam, condition, drill, have parkour-related discussions, get help from others, teach Beginners and just hang out.

Ongoing Weekly Sessions
There are several daily and weekly training sessions led by SFPK community members in San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, and elsewhere.  Check out the Upcoming Jams forum and the 2009 Schedule for SF Parkour: Beginner’s Class, Monthly Jam and Weekly Sessions for more info!

SF Parkour is pleased to announce that SFPK is now an American Parkour (APK) Affiliate.  For details on the Affiliate Program, please see the Guidelines here.

SFPK has been carefully considering the pros and cons of becoming an Affiliate, and in the end sees it as a great opportunity to forward our own agenda of creating an open, diverse community that is based on safety, proper training techniques, controlled progression, and collaborating with others.  It also gives us a stronger voice in influencing the national parkour community, and will definitely help create stronger ties with other parkour communities, both Affiliates and otherwise.

Read the official announcement on AmericanParkour.com
http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/4392/1/

“We are pleased to announce the latest (and greatest!) APK Affiliate… San Francisco Parkour! SFPK is an older and well established community, and they’ve done amazing things since it was started by two guys who wanted to start learning this new thing called Parkour. They’ve done work with Youtube, held major area monthly jams (basically like National Jams for the SF area) for over a year, and established an amazing and supportive community that works hard and trains hard.

Great job, guys, and looking forward to having you aboard!”

Many thanks to all the supporters and active members of the SFPK and APK  communities for making this possible!

Happy birthday SFPK!  It’s been an awesome 4 years since SFPK was founded in August 2005, with many more to come!

Feel free to post your shout outs, memories and other comments on the community forum at - http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3112

We are happy to announce that Matt aka Mattastic, founder and lead of San Jose Parkour (SJPK), has accepted the SFPK Area Rep role for the South Bay (San Jose area)!  Matt has been a positive force in the scene for a long time, and it’s great to have him involved in continuing to grow the community in and around San Jose.

Matt will be the main SFPK contact point for new and current traceurs in the San Jose area.  You can contact him through the forum, check out his profile here.  Hit him up to get plugged in quickly!

For more info on the SFPK Area Rep Program, visit the thread at - http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1746

The next SFPK Beginner’s Class is this Saturday in San Francisco at noon! This class is geared towards first-timers and those just getting started. The structured class will be led by SFPK Admins, Area Reps, and various members of the community, and typically lasts 1.5-2 hours. The class will cover: philosophy of parkour, safety techniques, a vigorous warmup, fundamental movements and vaults. The emphasis will be on safety through controlled progression. Taking photos/videos at this session is discouraged. Check out the sample agenda for details. Remember, classes are always FREE!

Location: Southeast corner of Market St. at Steuart St. (aside Justin Herman Plaza)

Join us for the next SFPK Beginner’s Class is this Saturday, 7/11  at noon on the UC Berkeley campus! These classes are free, and we’ll go over all the basic skills for getting past obstacles. We’ll go over rolls, basic vault variations, safety techniques and conditioning exercises. The class is about an hour and a half or a bit over, and is a great introduction to parkour. More information here. See you this weekend!

A new parkour nonprofit needs donations to get a permanent spot on a site that will draw lots of donors. Tyson Cecka submitted his nonprofit, “Parkour Visions” (formerly the Pacific North West Parkour Association) to GlobalGiving.org. They need to raise a total of $4,000 by the end of June to gain a permanent spot on the website, which will go a LONG way in procuring more funding for their community outreach projects. Most of their projects focus on at-risk children, so this money is going to help people that really need it!

They have about a week now to reach their goal, so we urge you to donate if you can, and if you can’t, just check it out for inspiration. To do either, click the link below:

http://www.globalgiving.com/projects/parkour-for-at-risk-disadvantaged-youth/

Come out and enjoy a parkour-packed weekend in the Bay Area!  2 big jams intended to bring traceurs together to share, collaborate, explore new spots, meet new people, make new friends, hang and chill out, and just have fun!

Massive West Coast Jam
Saturday, May 23rd @ 11AM in SF
Organized and hosted by BApk and PKCali.  West Coast traceurs unite!  For more info, please see - http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2573

SFPK May Monthly Jam
Sunday, May 24th @ 10AM in San Jose
Hosted by SJPK.  Part running jam!  For more info, please see - http://www.sfparkour.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2723

Jam soon!