Lost but active!!

Wow, its been so long since I posted. Just been lazy I guess. I have been doing way to much to be able to remember it all.

For the most part I have been doing a lot of hikes and natural training.

Diamond head, kokohead, Saint Louis etc.

Teaching 3 to 5 times a week keeps me busy and in shape as well.
Went to Kauai and that was a blast, so much energy, so much live and spirit.

Pictures

Waimea Canyon - Polihale Beach - Napali Coast - Koke'e State Park

Coming back was definitely a shocker.
Oahu doest and will not feel the same anymore.

Have been doing a lot of barefoot training, some easy terrain some not so forgiving.

Lot of play and exploration in the form of getting in the car with David and just see where we end up.

Breaking personal times doing long hikes, enjoying the live and energy around me as I do so. Starting to stay out again more often, got rained on the first night but it wasnt all that bad.

Being closer and closer to my friends, missing my lover, cleaning the earth anyway I can, one piece of trash at the time.

Gave Kapena Falls some love by doing a leave no trace event.

cf
Did CF for the first time in over a month yesterday....

Came back to Fran, not an easy one to come back to. My time 4:27, two seconds slower than my last time but considering how long I have been gone Im was happy.

Got some red five fingers for free.

Roxy is sexier and more agile than ever.

Ankles are alright, just like always keeping my mind busy and my body aware.

Gotta update HIpk, work on the video review and give the forum more lovings.

Going to the Ohio event on memorial weekend, visiting my mom and training with miami freerunning while at it.
Planning a trip to NY at the end of the year, then Vegas and hopefully Grand Canyon.

Meditating, being a renegade, thoughts of anarchy, getting inside my head a lot, trying to reach for the energies and all that feeding my soul.

Thanks CF today Im sore.

National Parkour Day

We decided to hit this one spot we just found for some movnat training, the first of so many more to come. We tried to most of all the bases, we didint have any trees or much to balance or climb but the rest was well covered and we definitelly had a great time. We couldnt help do some flips and of course I had to get some sweet slowmo shoots in there.

For roxys fans, she did hike and jumped quite a bit but didnt remember to get her on video. She continues to join us and mess around with us. Next time she will be featured as well, promise.

Now go out there and train.

October Jam Outcome

I had a lot of fun at the jam today. Different drills and games.

I wake up on a very chilly morning excited about the jam regardless of how rainy the day looked. Put on my favorite parkour pants my new W.W.D.B.D.? shirt, designed by a cool cat at APK and the totally wrong shoes for the day. Ariaki mesh lite.

I get to the school where some of the cats were already waiting, ready to go despite the drops of water dripping from the cold metal of the parallel bars at the very slippery playground.
After waiting for a few more minutes for those who we knew were coming, we started the warm up. A nice jog lead by Ian, surprisingly enough I am still recovering from my ankle, so was Pete who twicked his ankle a few days a go at the gym.

The panting guys arrive from their jog letting us know it was time for some good joint mobility and some stretches. After planning an intense leg conditioning I ended up deviating from my original plan when I started working on low-leg-cross stances. The nice breeze, almost perfect temperature and the tingling of hundreds of light drops of water bombarding our body from up above, led to a very relaxing and zen type of moment. I asked the guys to close their eye, control their breathing and enjoy weather and sounds of silence, it was very mystical, and calming.

The exercise went for a little while, then I figure, lets do some space sensitivity training.

We all made a long line, leaving about 2ft (arm length of one person), then we had to weave between each and everyone of us in low stances while keeping out eyes shut. Front and backward, the latter being very interesting for me.

After having a lot of fun with that, we came up with a game that we called "Predator and Pray"

It is very easy, a lot of fun and helpful to improve sensitivity, breathing and increase coordination.

It is very simple, there is only one Pray but as many Predators, there predators job is to stalk to the pray until captured. The catch is, the predators are blind, the pray is not.

In a low stance position or QM the hunters listen for the predators moves as he maneuver and sneaks around as he please. Some times mocking them or tricking them by intentionally making noise to dissuade the hunters from the Prays location. A snap of the fingers, stumps, heavy foot steps are used by the Pray to give clues of his location, while the hunter follow the sound as they stalk.

Some Prays like to play with the Predators by sitting still in between then while controlling their intense breathing.

Anyway, so yeah, the main idea is to have the Pray weave around and in between the predators as silently as he/she can in order to not be detected. The Predators are to use their senses and work as a tem to capture the Pray.

As the game intensifies, the Pray gets most of the workout, as it tries to skillful and silently move through the Predators undetected. The Predators usually get a heavy breathing due to the workout after a few minutes, asking for another skill set to be use. Controlled and Rhythmic Breathing.

We went for laps of about 10 minutes of "hunt", everyone was a Predator, everyone was a Pray.
I would specify the feeling and how it helps, but I will let you discover that for yourself.

After that we moved to a low wall, where we drilled pop vaults and climb us, which I must say, I have gained the understanding of the timing needed and the use of both feet. It basically has helped in such a way that when I do a climb up my elbows bend very little bringing me all the way to the top on a shimmy position. I also tried a couple clapping climb us and although i didnt succeed I was very close to achieving it. A little drilling and I will get it. I gotta say I was very happy about that.

After the excitement I drilled it several times during the day, the worse of the day after that, was better than any other I had done in the past.

We moved on to a very nice set of rails at the HS's stadium. Where right as I perform a dino on a wall, a lady comes to me explaining how I was not going to be able to that here due to liability, that she thought is was really nice but that the school would love to have you sign some waiver document that will allow us to be there without problem. She also showed interest on what we were doing, and said she knew about it, that they saw it (us) on the paper and that her son was interested on it. We told her about HIpk and what we did and she said it'd be a great idea to have a lecture about PK in her school, that she would totally be down for it. Thats when I asked, - what do you teach in here? She smiled and said "I teach P.E." my eyes lit up. She said that would love to have me consulting and maybe giving a demo to get some of the students interested because they needed programs like that. So I asked about the club and she said we can get it done.

So that was great news, I am also very excited about that.

At the end of the day we finish with an interesting little vehicular parkour adventure. As we approach the car in the parking lot, we noticed the gate had been locked with the car still parked inside. After much thinking and wondering about what to do, Pete hit the AWD no existing in this vehicle and climb the very steep sidewalk, drove through this jungle of 3" tall grass leaving a beautiful tire track to then drop from the 1/2ft sidewalk. That was also fun and interesting.

My foot felt ok but not too ok. I pushed it a bit and it felt the stress. I did however, try at all times to be very careful with my moves and never let pain take over. I should start conditioning rigorously very soon, while letting the ankle gain strength.....

that is another story though. I'll be posting an update soon, I havent been around as I should. Lots of stuff going on that I will share with you guys later.

Here is a video of the climb up and one attempt to the clapping climb up.
(Sorry about the video, for some reason my editor would not open it, so I could not rotate it.

Our Sour Down Moments - Injury Recovery.

Injury, a word respected by some traceurs, maybe feared by others, but needless to say desired by none. Although in most cases we can easily prevent injuries from happening, there is no doubt that they are a constant companion in our path of physical discovery. Whether it is a tiny scratch from a well executed cat leap or a bruised wrist and bashed shoulder after our sweaty palm slid pass right over the concrete wall we were trying to vault.

Any traceur will tell you to check before you leap or to conditioning regularly in order become stronger and help prevent injury. There are hundreds of sites that will provide you with informative material about the importance of slow progression, constant conditioning and drilling of movement. All of which will help you prevent injury.

Well, the injury prevention topic is pretty much covered, but what happens when we are injured? What now? You have been training hard, efficiently, combining it with a rigorous conditioning program and even then, regardless of how careful you were, you now find yourself out of commission for a few months. Here is when the sour moments start. Healing time, maybe a limp or bad shoulder whatever the case may be, you are on the shelve.

As traceurs we see obstacles and opportunities. This is a mindset that we all should carry whether we are training or not. An injury is just an opportunity for us to take that time to find our areas of opportunity to be able to come back stronger that we were before.

Let it be known that this information is not intended to be medical advice. You should consult a professional before diagnosing yourself to determine the grade of damage and rest needed to prevent poor healing of the injured area.

Rest Time.

Some injuries will require more rest than others, such as literately stopping from strenuous physical activities all together. It is imperative to recognize what level of damage was caused to the body in order to determine the amount of rest needed. The human body is a regenerating machine, capable of healing itself very quickly and effectively if allowed enough time and rest to do so. Read R.I.C.E. for effective ways of treating common injuries.

You should be able to feel when your injury is regaining its power and strength back. Pain is a very good ally while healing. The more you can avoid it, the faster and stronger you will be healing. Needless to say re-damaging an area will only make it worse. Prolonging healing time while also healing very poorly.

During your rest time, we can carefully and gently test our range of motion, not to challenge the area but to rather keep it active and exercised, this will also stimulate the blood flow and help recovery process.

Remember, stay away from pain. Pain is never a good indicative. It is built into our system to tell us that something is wrong.

Visualization Training.

It is proven that humans can learn and achieve not only by doing but by visualizing. We do it all the time right before performing a technique and we do it in our sleep. The brain takes all the experiences of our day to learn as much as possible. Muscle memory works even when we sleep. Being aware of this, you don’t have to stop training, you can practice with your mind. Picture yourself training at one of your favorite spots or when you see an area play with thinking what you would be able to do there. We do it all the time anyway. Use it to your advantage, just sit in a quite room, and go to that favor spot of your and just see yourself going at it.

This visualization training will allow the brain to touch bases with the motion and train our minds, the most important part of our Parkour performing bodies. Visualizing will also restore the muscle memory of all the training you have previously done.

Evaluating Possibilities for Training.

Although most serious injuries will keep you away from performing at a 100% for months, on occasion we can get back to conditioning other strong areas of the body and drilling skills after just a couple of weeks of full rest. Keep in mind that during this time we are still in a rest period, we should chose isolated areas of the body that will not compromise our healing.

Although the possibilities for exercises could be endless this would be a good time to drill those exercises we tend to avoid. I mentioned that as traceurs we don't see obstacles but opportunities, therefore, I believe we should come back considerably stronger than we were before. Although no body likes or enjoys being injured, it can help us in many ways.

It is good to always keep in mind that whatever it is we are drilling or training, we should not allow any discomfort on our injured area to be caused by our conditioning. This pain or discomfort is your body telling you to stop doing what you are doing. Your body is your temple, respect it, baby it, because it is your tool for movement. Appreciate that it is healing itself while you still try to challenge it. Be thankful to it for still stay strong enough to do both. This could also be an eye opener to ask ourselves, what if? What if right now I needed to run to/escape from/defend myself from anything. How would I be able to stand up to that situation in order to save myself or others? That is the biggest challenge.

Be smart about what you chose to drill. You will find at the end of this article examples for the most common injuries and the conditioning you can still perform while recovering.

Recovery Training.

After a little while we start feeling confident and able to move, yet we feel we are not as strong as before. Some athletes make the mistake of getting back to the "game" before being fully healed, this could easily lead to re-injuring the area once again prolonging healing time and making the area weaker.

• Light Training. It is simple, just give yourself some time. Get your body into light training and conditioning that will ensure safe progression and strengthening of the injured area. Little flows, stealth training etc. There is no need to go to that favored cat leap spot of yours, or to go on a full on 4hrs session with the fellow traceurs - euses. As I always say, there is so much to do ground level that it takes much more skill than the big "all out" techniques.
• Healed Misconception. One of the easiest things to do after an injured, it to get re-injured. Many of us start getting excited about the way we move one more time, we fight through bits of pain ignoring what signals, we gather with friends or join a jam and it is just so tempting inst it? Once again, be smart, it IS your body, the only one you will have for a long while. Being able to use it efficiently and to the fullest on a later age in the future is our responsibility now.
  

Back to training.

Unarguably, strength and full recovery of our injures comes with time, as if starting over the progression to our full on training regimens should be slow increasing the intensity of training as time goes by.

Even after fully healed it is important to remember that strengthening and conditioning methods should always be part of our training in order to become more resilient against the possible hazards of training on the streets, those we can prevent and those we cannot. The stronger we become the more our body will be able to resist.

PK/FR Related Injuries - Recovery Training.
Based on what I have heard throughout different communities

Upper Body.

Shoulder (AC separation, dislocation, etc)
Collar bone (fracture)
Wrists (Sprains, bruise)
Elbows (Over use, tendinitis)
Fingers (Broken, bruise)
Palm (bruise)

• Strengthening. Pistols, squats, box jumps, knees up. Balance training, agility training, cardio, up hill sprint etc
• Parkour Training. Tic tacs, precisions, one handed climb up/wall ups (also strengthening), rural running. Hurdling, some vaulting, flow, footing.
  

There are several of exercises that can be done while recovering from this type of injuries, giving the injured area very little or no stress and time to heal. Some of this exercises require arm rage of motion so very slow progression and low intensity is the best way to go (specially when recovering from shoulder and elbow injuries).

Lower Body

Knees (over use, jumpers knee, tendinitis, bashes)
Shins (shin splints, bashes)
Ankles (Sprain, broken)
Heels (bruise)
Toes (bashes, bruise)

• Strengthening. Several variations of push ups, pull ups, chin ups, muscle ups, dips. Core, grip, hand stands etc.
• Parkour Training. Climb us, laches, hang shimmies, waist shimmies. Arm climbing (under stair case climb)
  

Some of this injuries could, depending on degree of damage, prevent you from being able to displace at will (limp, pain etc) so we must be extra careful with what we do. We might not want to do laches if we are recovering from an sprained ankle.

In conclusion, again, we believe that we use our body and mind to come with solutions to different obstacles that come our way. We, I don’t believe a traceur would let an injury get on its way to excel as a physical being.