Cost: $13.00
Remaining Budget: $911.96
Just over 2 months into this project and still having fun! In fact, I cannot remember the last time that I have had this much fun. I got a little crazy for week 9 with Parkour.
I guess that I should probably start by explaining exactly what this popular new sport entails for those of you that do not know. Parkour is an all-encompassing discipline of movement. Developed in France during the late 80’s, it is basically the art of getting from one place to another in the most efficient way possible. They run, jump, propel themselves off walls and do any number of other movements to get from point A to point B quickly.
So, there I was, preparing to have yet another life altering experience, when I noticed my brother sitting around with his laptop watching the TV. The class was starting in less than 30 minutes, and I didn’t want to be late, but I felt obligated to share this new experience with someone else. I had a sense of responsibility; an intense feeling that I needed to share this experience with the young man wasting his morning in front of the TV. I asked him to join me. “Parkour? I don’t even know what that is Celina.” I kinda stared at him for a minute with my best frowny face on. I figured that this would eventually get him. Grudgingly, he agreed to put on some athletic shoes and join me at the Parkour gym.
Poor guy, he didn’t figure out what he was getting into until we actually walked into the gym. The entire drive there he kept asking, “What exactly is it that we are doing?” My answers were pretty vague. They had to be. To be honest, I didn’t know much more about this then he did. All I knew about Parkour is what I had gathered through watching Youtube videos. I had been Google searching Parkour for weeks, watching countless videos, getting more and more excited with each video that I watched. The closer we got to the gym the more jittery and excited I got. Finally, I was going to be trying Parkour. It just looked so cool!
“You so owe me a Chic Fil-A sandwich after this, I haven’t even had breakfast yet.” I looked over at him to make sure he was being serious. “Yeah, it’s a deal,” I agreed. I wasn’t excited about that. I dislike fast food. It is all just processed crap. No worse, it is EXPENSIVE processed crap. I knew that if I was dragging him to a Parkour gym then the least I could do was suck it up and enjoy a lemonade and fries though. That is why I agreed. It was only fair…
We pulled into the parking lot and Mike was starting to mumble to himself that he “could not believe that I was dragging him into this.” I put on a big ‘ol smile and said, “This is going to be great! I promise.” It was true, I knew that this was going to be so much fun for both us us. Well, at least I knew that it was going to be so much fun for me. I was really hoping that it would be fun for him too.
We walked into the gym and I saw a giant room full of vaults, poles and tall walls. My stomach dropped down to my now shaking knees. How was I supposed to get my almost 30 year old body up and over these obstacles without breaking a hip? “This is going to be so much fun Mike!” I am not sure if I was trying to convince him or myself.
The class began with warm ups. Warm ups were difficult and already way more exercise than I had anticipated. There were squats, jumps, running in place, high knees, butt kickers, and an assortment of other calisthenics that I was NOT prepared for. Mike was throwing some pretty dirty looks my way. I could almost hear him thinking, “I am never going ANYWHERE with you again.” I probably shouldn’t have lied to him about the amount of athleticism that would likely be required. I had been doing some “cardio training” for about a week or two in anticipation of this class. It was definitely not enough. I seriously regretted not starting my exercise regimen a lot earlier.
Josh, the guy teaching the class, walked us through some basic landings and shoulder rolls. He flew around the gym, gravity not existing in his crazy Parkour world. I looked over at Mike, he looked kinda ridiculous rolling around on the mat, but he was all smiles. He was obviously enjoying himself. I went for my first shoulder roll and “splat” landed flat on my back. “How is this even possible when I am just doing a roll?” Josh walked over and tried to give me some tips, “try looking behind you before you roll…don’t roll so aggressively…try to curl into a ball while rolling…” What he was most likely actually thinking was, “I really really hope that this girl signed the liability waiver. What a clutz!”
Nothing really worked, I landed flat on my back every time. It was embarrassing. I swear that I could do this all in elementary school. I did it over and over and over again, trying to perfect the move, until we ran out of time. “Splat,” every time. “Hey, this is the hardest part of Parkour. A lot of people have a really hard time with the shoulder roll. It comes with time and practice.” I shrugged it off, promising myself that I would eventually nail the, “roll technique.” On the other side of the gym, my brother was finding a lot of success running up the 8 foot call. I was so proud!
The more the class progressed, and the higher the obstacles were, the more panicky I got. My brain started shooting me some pretty unkind messages like, “you know you don’t bounce right? You are just NOT young enough for this anymore. Do you have a death wish?” I guess this must have appeared blatantly on my face because Josh walked up to me and said, “Stop thinking so much.” Yeah, that made sense. I was probably just psyching myself out. I turned my brain off. I went for it! And now, I have the bruises to prove it. Don’t care though. It was worth it.
We spent two hours jumping up/off things, flying over walls and rolling around on the mats. It was every bit as much fun as I had hoped it would be. And Mike was all smiles too! The muscle soreness that I suffered for the next 4 days was not so much fun though…I have probably never participated in such an intense workout in my life.
This was the list of movements that we would be learning in our first class.
Mike was actually really good. He doesn’t agree, but he is wrong. I wish he would consider actually taking it up as a sport. Oh well. Perhaps I will take it up. I can just picture myself as slim as a Victoria Secret Angel and as strong as Jillian Michaels! Or better yet, I could be one of those people from that TV show American Ninja Warrior!
The gym was amazing. If Parkour only does one thing for you, it will build up your confidence. The small community seems very supportive, and they will help you succeed if you want to. If it only does 2 things then it will build your confidence AND get you into incredible shape. The place that I went to is called Sarasota Parkour Facility. Here is a link in case you are interested in trying.
https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=157725