By Shi.
Location: Sydney. Australia
Yet another sunny day (are there any others?) in Sydney for the location of March’s Girls’ Jam. We had a small group this month that allowed for more focused training. Starting with warmups, we drilled our rolls, working with a slight incline and side rolls that the girls picked up really quickly. It was great to meet up with the girls and to practise vaulting techniques in a relaxed atmosphere. There was lots of encouragement by all girls that only fueled the desire to keep on going.
Going through the basics, we practised precisions, both standing and running precisions and ironing out technique. It is important to repeat basic movements over and over again, to develop one’s technique until the movement feels natural and familiar. For some of the girls on her first day, it was highly commendable that she attempted a water precision. After some practise on the side, she made it across safely with a heart stopping moment when she did a mental “uh-oh” during the take-off.
We also practised wall-runs and finished off with balancing to develop proprioception abilities. Balancing also helps with rehabilitating knee and ankle injuries and developing a strong core. I found it beneficial sharing knowledge between parkour, ballet and yoga, that are all different forms of movements and we discussed different techniques that I would like to incorprate into my practise. Unfortunately this session I was forced to take it easy as I had pulled a hamstring and I could feel myself not at 100%…that I found out the hard way when my arm jump turned into a wall splat. I have to remind myself again and again that healing and “down”time is just as important to keep the longevity of one’s parkour journey. Nevertheless in high spirits, we went to the Australian Parkour Association lessons.
Much much later and after dinner, the practising continued. While not all girls can make it for girls’ jam for example for work or study commitments, several informal practises are also being planned during the month in an informal training schedule that will be open to anyone who would like join. Training for parkour is not always enjoyable or easy, but having a supportive community helps it a long way. You girls and guys are awesome!
Any girls interested in Parkour who are living in Sydney should check out Sydney Women’s Parkour on facebook – a great way to get in the loop of what’s happening in the area, and meet fellow traceuses. You can also email sydneywomensparkour (at) gmail.com
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