By Emma DobsonMonday 20th to Sunday 26th July 2009
Location: all over London.
I arrived in London with an open mind about the gathering. I honestly did not know what to expect, but I was certainly excited about what was yet to come. I had ‘googled’ and ‘youtubed’ my future traceuse training partners, and assessed that I would be very much behind everyone else when it comes to my abilities. Funnily enough, this did not make me anxious. I felt really happy that I would get the chance to train with women who had put so much into their training: women who had reached this impressive standard.
On the arrivals day (Monday) myself and Annty made our way to the Southbank to meet Liv. Only a handful of us were there on Monday, but it was a lovely sunny day and we all just enjoyed getting acquainted, followed by some light training…and closing with yummy pizza!
Naturally our conversation leaned towards our personal Parkour experiences and the injuries we had obtained along the way, and we began to realise that only few of us were actually unscathed! Liv’s foot was still badly injured, as was Elly’s arm, and as the gathering continued through the week I discovered that I was not the only traceuse with a busted knee. I found out that a couple of the women had ankle injuries, and throw in a collar bone and a wrist or two and then you’re getting the idea. Yes, we all seemed a bit rough around the edges but we were wired up and ready to go!
I felt that the atmosphere between everyone on the first big training day was a little uneasy to start with, but I later realised that this was because most of us were strangers to each other. However, we collectively had Parkour as our icebreaker, and we were all getting along and chatting like old friends within the hour!
I was a bit wary at the start of my training because I had just taken a month off Parkour before this event for recovery purposes, so I was very unconfident about testing my limits, but Andrea and Kirsty helped me build up my confidence by taking me through some vaults and helping me get my landings nice.
After warming up and ‘waking up the touch’ we went to IMAX. There’s not a lot I can say on this…other than: BIG! I found it hard to have any flow here, but I managed to do a couple of cheeky speed vaults and some (totally noob) clambering. I think that most of us had trouble, or at least a lack of confidence, when it came to tackling IMAX but we all managed to do a fairly hefty wall run intertwined with avoiding oncoming bus traffic. An achievement of which we should all be proud!
…and then it rained.
Carolin, cat pass Photo by Shi
Rachel, wall run. Photo by Shi
So we went to Earlsfield – a partially sheltered collection of spots containing many a rail. At this spot Carolin and Isabel really let loose with speedy underbars and catpass-to-cats. I was forever impressed by how these very tall ladies could fit so cleanly through these underbars. When I tried it, I was all elbows and kneecaps! Justine and Kirsty were very strong ladies who powered their way through double-taps, muscle-ups and just kept on moving throughout Earlsfield. Justine did a commendably high wall flip and Kirsty did an impressive full flag, and although both feats were pretty awesome to witness both traceuses seemed dissatisfied with their achievements, so would try over and over until they got these tiring manoeuvres up to personal expectation.
On Monday Agota had been helping me with cat leaps and she had also been helping me with building up to the climb up; a motion which I have been trying in vain to achieve for a long time. I watched as Liv did a climb up on one of the Earlsfield walls, and in my head something must have finally clicked into place. So, tired from the full day of training I decided to use the last of my strength and energy resources on this climb up attempt. The wall was what would be described as nice to grip. I got into cat leap position and convinced myself mentally that I could do it. I remembered the advice from Agota, and from the guys I train with in Leicester, and then……I did it! My feet didn’t slip. Both arms had shifted symmetrically and evenly. My chest had made it over without touching the wall. I made the final push up to get myself properly above the wall, and let out a loud “Aaaarggghhh!” as my muscles burned. I was absolutely shot and ready to call it a day when Liv said “Can you do it again so I get it on camera?” So I did. Ouch!
At the close of the day we resided to the Earlsfield playground where Marie, Elly and Carolin continued to show so much energy after a hard days training. I watched as they did some underbars through a bit of a climbing frame, and although I was really tired, I thought: “Go on then!” and joined in. Then tomorrow promised training around Vauxhall.
Most people from the previous day were there, but many more also turned up to join the fun that Vauxhall promises. This had to be my favourite day because there was so much to do, and it definitely went down very well with everyone else. For the first time in my training I felt confidence in my flow, and I found it a treat to string together my vaults and think about my foot placement in addition to my next execution. It was also great to sit back and watch Isabel and Carolin going for a cat-pass precision, Nicky doing wall runs, Shi doing stride missions to cat leap, AnnSofie and Annty going for some large precisions…everyone was moving and it was fantastic to watch and be inspired by the different approaches towards the obstacles. I think everyone really got a lot out of this day. I know a lot of people broke jumps and problems over the course of the day, and the atmosphere was really positive and encouraging…and the sun was shining too, which all in all made it a fantastic day of training!
Annty, running arm jump. Photo by Shi
Marie, Precision. Photo by Shi
This brings us around to Latimer Road training on Thursday. We trained with a large group of guys on this day, and we were all stuffed into one of the playgrounds for pretty much the duration of the day’s training. Although it wasn’t the roomiest of sessions, it was still a good day. By this point my body had started to shut down though, and the smallest precisions felt massive, and my legs felt stringy and heavy. I didn’t break a lot of jumps this day because I was feeling so feeble, so I spent most of the session balancing on a rail to condition my knees. By this point, a lot of people seemed very tired, but Mojo, Marie and Elly still pushed on perfecting their vaults and precisions.
Unfortunately this heavy feeling got worse through the week for me. For Friday and Saturday we were back at Earlsfield and the Southbank, but by this point I had hit the wall, and although I tried I was no where near on form to do any Parkour. Most other ladies managed to keep moving beautifully despite their tiredness, which I honestly find incredible, as I cannot recall another time in my life where I had ever felt that tired, worn out, and even a bit sick from the sheer volume of training. I find it harder to write about the final days of our training, partly because I was just so tired that I found it difficult to focus properly on myself and the people around me. Also, everyone was dispersing, and by Saturday there were only 5 of us left.
Overall, it was a great experience and was well worth doing. Although there was no direct teaching in any of the sessions I still feel like I learned a lot from everyone around me. I feel that I achieved what I came out to do, and more. I also surprised myself in what I could do, strength and technical-wise, which was a fantastic sensation. The only suggestions I can really think of noting if we have another gathering next year would be perhaps another session at Vauxhall could be added. Maybe a day of rest to lick our wounds and enjoy London mid-week could be on the cards. I don’t know if anyone else will agree with me, but I found it very intense to train 5 days in a row!
Despite the hindrance of injuries, I really hope that the other ladies got a lot out of training in London. I know it must have been very frustrating for Liv and Elly in particular, and I’d like to wish them all the best in their recoveries. Also, very big thanks to Liv for organising this event, and well done to everyone who took part in the gathering. I had a great time and it would be fantastic to meet up with you all and train again!
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