Conditioning Through Motion.

All of us at one point or another have been attracted and perhaps participated in a variety of physical activities/disciplines that appeal to us for one reason or another. Whether it is because of the physical results we get from it, the rush of adrenaline or plain and simple because they are fun, they all helped us develop abilities that only needed to be awakened .

I have had the fortune of being able to participate in several of my disciplines, most of them activities of motion. Ever since I found parkour I got stuck on it, being my main way of training, a hobby and also my life style. However, I have come to realize that several of the activities I have been part of in the past, although, in my opinion, not as fulfilling, fun and rewarding as I find parkour to be, they all offer other possibilities for movement; a variety of ways of motion that has been left out or put on pause since I started parkour. I will dare to say that I am not the only one who has done so.

We find parkour to be a very complete and functional discipline. The conditioning and preparation to be able to perform well is pretty much all we need to stay in top shape. But being a student of motion, there are always many more opportunities to develops skills that, although not being entirely necessary for our training, they still help the body adapt to different situations at any point in time, making us react quickly and effectively while our bodies keep control. They work on other areas we might not find another way to emphasize on and they also keep the body and mind in constant challenge and in constant evolution towards a stronger being.

We get hung up on putting a titles on a move, naming a discipline and even argue about what it is that we do. Well, let me help you out just a bit. Who cares really about what he/she/they choose to do? This we all do, is plain and simple and? called motion, movement. Regardless of the discipline, regardless of what we feel it means to us and regardless of what it is actually intended to, it all falls into a category, a category that needs no explanation, no definition. It is born with us, wired deep within our brains and will stay with us as long as we have limbs. It all falls into motion, natural movement.

The hunger for discovering what we are capable of has been with us ever since the beginning of man kind, when we had the actual need to move, to be fast and effective in our feet and stay focused, calm and strong in our minds while hunting, or even being hunted. Abilities that have stayed with us in order to survive. As only the stronger was able to make it, our race grew stronger and faster, therefore taking over all the animal kingdom as the stronger and smarter of the species'.

We are still smart, but are we strong? In this modern technology, where everything is put in front of us, that need for movement is no longer an urge or an actual necessity. We have come to evolve weaker, slower, heavier and lazier.

We see it everywhere, on the streets, dozens of obese people, people who could not be able to run even if their life depended on it. We see it on TV, "buy this" or "buy that" "You wont have to do this/that anymore" "It'll make your job easier" No more back problem" No more reaching that far" blah blah etc etc. Lazy, convenient, weak.... blah!

It is our natural instinct that thrives to move, then we make the choice, how we move and why we do it. That is all that matters, that we follow our primal need for motion and keep it alive. Whatever it is that you choose to do, do it with passion, discipline and dedication. Do it for yourself, treat your body with respect, reward when it performs well and punish it with intense conditioning when it doesn't, because that is what it is asking from you. Preparation, "play" and discovery. Keep it challenged and it will repay you in time.

Urban Current Clan Demo

Finally got it done, this has been waiting to be released for a while now. The original ending was going to be a cliff dive onto the ocean, reason why we are running to meet. Unfortunately it was about time we got it out, we have been waiting for one of the guys to recover from an injury, waiting any longer wouldnt do any justice to our current skills compared to the ones in the video, so here it is.



Make sure to go to youtube and watch it on HD

Training Update.

So we had our one of the Feb jams couple Sundays ago at the Pali Lookout, I had a great time, we hiked up the trail probably about a quarter of a mile only. It was moody and I was wearing the Ariakes. It was very interesting getting up, there were a lot of branches on the way so we used them to helps us out. It is a place we should really take advantage off. So we get to a cliff area. Beautiful view, just beautiful. There was a section of the mountain with a very interesting formation that we use for up hill flow and other drills. It was a lot of fun, I filmed it but lost the footage :-\, on the way down it was very fun, pretty moody but fun. I filmed the way down. It was very exhilarating at time. As I was running down with speed to prevent me from slipping, I was trusting my instincts to guide me and my ankles to perform well. I made it down and warmed up again. Played around with the rocks on the side of the mountain to do cats and other drills. It was very different but fun.

I was performing well, my body felt good. My ankles were well warmed up and feeling fresh. Up until I tried this kong to precision that was pretty far. I tested it a couple of time with one foot, was ready to do it with two and when I went for it I landed it a bit short, putting a lot of impact on my left ankle which is still healing. So that kinda did it for me, I did some wall ups and dinos for a while after that, some tic tac 360 to cat but not short after that I was having a hard time taking any running steps to perform a technique. My upper body was fresh, I could have done some upper body drills but I just kinda let get to my head and called it a day. After all we did condition well and the hike plus the trail flow gave us a good workout. Lately though, it take a lot of me to get tired, I get tired during the repetition of a drill but in between I get enough rest to keep on going. Not sure if this is good or bad I really dont rest all that much.

Yesterday I went to CF, wasnt able to do the WOD due the motion needed on the elbow with the weight required was just too much for it just yet. So I did my own thing. I started to warm up with an up rock then I did some motion training, some of the capoeira I have done, plus breaking and QM's all mixed together in flow. Also did several variations of stretches and push ups randomly during the flow. I also drilled my cartwheels and hands stands and other acrobatics. Did a few capoeira moves that hadnt done in a while. Felt pretty good, wanted to do flips but my ankle just wasnt there. I am doing CF and very low impact PK conditioning for the next few weeks. I need to take my injuries a bit more serious. Become more resilient is my main goal now.

The time for my trip to the mainland is closer and closer. I am planning on intensifying my CF training along with my parkour training and conditioning for the next 3 months, no pause. I plan on conditioning at the least 4 times a week with some light training here and there plus the jams, which I should not be tempted with. Then I might take it easy for a couple of weeks to get ready for the trip. This is going to be an opportunity I need to be at my best and 100% to be able to take the fullest out of it. This can change my perspective broaden the window of possibilities to me. So it is time to consider some very serious and discipline training routine. It is going to take all my will power to get thru it but how bad do I want this is all I need to keep asking myself.

I will be focus on training motion, movement, the different disciplines that will allow me to further develop physical abilities and improve my flexibility. This next few months are going to be exciting, I will probably have to face some slight frustration on the way.

With the new year...

With this new year a lot of new things will come, we have been getting visited in the community by out of state traceur. In fact, we are training tomorrow with a traceurse from New Zealand so that is something I am looking forward too. Been giving the elbow some rest since that fall during the class a couple weeks ago, never went to the doc but I am pretty sure I sprained it a bit. Old snow boarding injury that will take just a few week sto heal. Nothing to bad but needs rest. Trying to manage to work on lower body while still trying to pamper the ankle. It is feeling good, but after long session with lots of precision it ust gets tred and stiffy the next day.

I have also been working on the APKA page, which is coming alone pretty well. Edited a few videos and having a lot of fun with the class at CF. We are almost done with it but the next one is also already scheduled.

Holidays was great an manage not to get to fat, ha.

So anyway, that is about it and here are a few things I have been working on along with the pictures I took of my sexy injured elbow a couple of days after the fall.

Sexy Elbow


HIpk New Mascot


Farewell 08 Training


APK Alliance Reel


HIpk Training Jam


I am definitely excited to what is to come in this new year.

A New Transition.

It has been a very interesting last 8 weeks. On Sep 23rd I got injured at the gym, with a moving coming up, I didnt feel to useful while moving. Once settled at my new place, we get the news that my wife will be deploying to Afghanistan for 7 or so months on Oct the 23rd. Not so happy news I must say, we decided to start working on what we need for her to take with.

About Oct 9th Amanda picks her sister at the airport, she would be staying with us for 2 weeks. Two days later, her mom also arrives, she would be staying with us for a week and a half. Happy to have them we go out and show them around, walking from here to there and from there to here while I have a heal to take care of. Doing my best to please both, what I need to do and what they 3 need to do, I managed to have a good time while keeping it safe in the ankle.

Very little time to train, very little time for the Stuff I usually do. I manage to get away for the two jams getting some training and testing the ankle very gently. The day when Amanda leave gets closer, so I arrange a surprise pre deployment away party with some kareoke and all. Very good times. The day arrives, short story, we all feel sad but give her our best we can, strength, optimism and patience.

With my in Laws still with me, still very little time. I take my mom in law with me to CF, first time in weeks since I get any conditioning, specially there. For the next 3 days crossfit left me with pain in muscles I forgot I had. Within all this time though, things are still happening for me and the community. I get an email from Flyp Media they tell us they want to add HIpk in an story about Parkour they are working on.

A few days later I get a call from Mark Toorock from APK he invites me to be part of the APK ALLIANCE. So that is off course great news, with a nice welcome and a little article on the APK site I come on board.

Last Thursday I drop my mother in law at the airport and get ready for what it will be a busy training season for me now that I have so much time in my hands.

This next 7 or so months are a great opportunity for me to continue to discover my capabilities. Training with the community and getting the classes going at crossfit, working with the Alliance team and keeping myself busy with what I can for the community will be my goals. I plan on making a trip to the mainland to train. I am very excited about that.

I plan on getting a job landscaping, that will keep me in shape and I kinda see it as keeping me in touch with nature, who knows, maybe the places I work at will give me the opportunity to move around just like we like it. I also plan on training myself in the natural method, it is something I want to bring to the community.

I am very excited to see what this opportunity will bring, I am at a moment in my life where my passion could become my career, what else can I ask.

My next step is to get a training schedule that will maintain me challenged. I have started today and I had a great time. I am taking biking again and that is keeping me motivated and excited.

There are other things not so fun that will need to take care of but hey, that is life. We would never achieve success without finding a few challenges in the way. It is my mission as a traceur to overcome them and keep on moving on.

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.

No Obstacle Too Great

Parkour practitioners may look like crazed daredevils, but there is a solid philosophy behind their moves: You can overcome anything

Avi Kaye flips off a wall

You may have seen Parkour around town, on TV or the Internet, but didn’t know what to make of it: guys and sometimes girls bounding around handicap ramp rails, jumping from rooftop to rooftop or using overly elaborate ways of getting from one point to another.

A McDonald’s commercial shot in downtown Honolulu features a young businessman leaping around the city’s obstacles, with McDonald’s bag and ice cream cone in hand, trying to get to work on time.

The most memorable - and over-the-top - portrayal of such street acrobatics is seen in the Bond flick Casino Royale when the British agent chases a bomb-maker around the streets of Madagascar - bounding from high rooftops to the ground and fighting on top of construction equipment. This is a good example of what Parkour is about: Escape, no matter the obstacle.

However, what appears to be a lot of flips, running and wall climbs is actually a discipline that takes commitment, training and focus both mentally and physically.

“Parkour the sport is also a philosophy,” says Hawaii Parkour founder and organizer Ozzi Quintero, who also starred in the McDonald’s commercial. “We believe if we train the body and mind to overcome the physical obstacles that get in our way, then why not use the same mindset to overcome the mental obstacles in daily life?”

Parkour essentially means “the path,” and is a physical art form dedicated to getting an individual from point A to point B using the objects that usually deter most, like walls and fences, as an advantage.

“We don’t see obstacles. We see opportunities to use our minds to create a particular solution for whatever is in our way,” Quintero says.

Why take a bridge, says Genevieve Zasada, when you can jump?

Quintero himself started Parkour for the wrong reasons. “I’ve always been a natural monkey,” he says, listing several other extreme activities he’s done including BMX, break-dancing and martial arts. “So when I moved to Hawaii, I was looking for a place to breakdance, but then I saw Parkour videos and said, ‘You know what? I can try this.’ But then, like I said, it was just because it was cool. I wanted be just like Jackie Chan or whatever.”

From there, Quintero went out to live, eat and breathe Parkour. “Within a couple of months I just started to try to find people around and was either learning from them or teaching them, because I had a lot of time on my hands,” he says. “I was just looking at tutorials all the time, going out to practice, and got into forums online to try to understand the philosophy and training behind it.”

Despite his auspicious attitude, Quintero started to feel the pain of an unconditioned body with the beatings his bones and joints were taking.

So he dove deeper into the history and philosophies surrounding Parkour, which, believe it or not, has been around for decades.

It all began with Georges Hebert and his journeys all over the globe in the French navy before World War I. While visiting Africa, Hebert was impressed with the physique and training exercises practiced by Africans, as well as their ability to use the environment to their advantage.

Richard Skowronski safely leaps across a Kaneohe canal

Thus, he created a strength-conditioning regimen called Methode Naturelle, or the “natural method.” The conditioning includes 10 fundamental groups: walking, running, jumping, quadruple movement, climbing, balancing, throwing, lifting, self-defense and swimming.

The French military began using the method to train its soldiers and trickled down to the godfather of modern Parkour’s father, Raymond Belle, who served in the French military in Vietnam during the 1950s. He instilled the training and mindset into his son, David, who took it to another level.

Belle began using the method in the streets of Lisses, France, in the late 1990s with a handful of friends and gave it the name Parkour. This new method has the same roots as the natural method, but places more of an emphasis on the urban environment.

“You can think of Parkour as an idea,” says Quintero. “It’s the mindset of overcoming obstacles rather than giving up in front of them.”

The real question is: Is it hard? The answer: Yes! I caught up with the group at a Kaneohe park, with MidWeek photographer Byron Lee, for some conditioning exercises.

“I want you to try this, Matt,” Ozzi says. “So you can write about how much you hate me afterwards.” And boy, do I.

We all sat in a circle as the sun slowly cooked our flesh and drew out the sweat soon to cover every inch of my body. We did some yoga-like poses and exercises, using mostly our own body weight to tense up our cores, strengthen our legs and work on our arms.

“How ya doin’, Matt?” one of them shouted out.

“Yeah, right!” I gasped. I was sore for the next week and a half.

Members of the local chapter are young, the eldest being 25 years old, and the youngest about 15. “First time I saw Parkour was in the media,” recalls 22-year-old David Saucedo, listing martial arts and acrobatics as his previous activities of choice. He started as a free runner (a similar urban sport without the philosophy), but enjoyed the mentality behind Parkour more, joining Hawaii PK after moving here from Texas, where he also practiced the sport. “That’s why I started getting into it,” he says, “because I started understanding it and how a person can be enlightened, and once you know about that it’s when you start doing things different.”

Apart from making older folks wish they were still as nimble as these guys, Parkour has practical uses, too. “It can be an everyday thing,” says Saucedo, noting that repetition makes his training second nature. “If you’re really doing Parkour in an emergency, like an escape, the most efficient way for someone is to just run. But if it’s in a place with obstacles, than the Parkour training can be really beneficial.”

Richard Skorownski leaps over a railing

Hawaii PK is not just a boy’s club either, as proven by Hawaii PK member Genevieve Zasada. “(Parkour) makes me feel free,” says the 18-year-old from Connecticut. “Alot of females are really discouraged because Parkour requires a lot of upper body strength.” She notes, as if reciting a mantra, this is just another challenge for her body and mind to overcome.

However, Zasada still wants to see more girls like her representing their gender. “I’ve been trying to recruit some more girls at my school (UH Manoa), and I will be starting a Parkour club there.”

Avi Kaye vaults over a picnic table

For more information on Hawaii PK, maps to good locations for practice, the history of the sport or some training and tutorial videos, visit http://www.hawaiipk.com.

“Whether it is to discover what you are capable of, or whether it is for you to prepare for a particular situation,” says Quintero, “we train our body to effectively jump here and land there safely and efficiently. We train our mind to let that gap (between here and there) just disappear, and let our instincts take over our fears to use them as an ally rather than an enemy.”