The Temptation of Disintegrating Boundaries

I took my run out of the usual training grounds today. I started off training at the local train-station. As my training became increasingly focused on conditioning I included the local park as well as the running circuit of my urban block. Today I though I’d see what else my immediate surroundings offered.

I had the St Kilda junction pedestrian underpass in mind for some wall-run practice. A lit underground tunnel - broken up by a series of narrow valleys - the graffiti covered walls, in the sections that aren't cut off by ceiling, offer a steadily rising gradient of heights to challenge a wall-runner of all levels. However, when I got there other things commanded my attention.

A transformer building had a ledge that called out to me. Easy grip, a textured wall that offered good traction for an experienced foot. Getting to the roof would have been easy. And I would have succumbed to the temptation if not for a noisy road-crew, working just a few meters away. I turned around to head home, but discovered the route back to my familiar training grounds suddenly littered with temptation.

Every fence struck me as a challenge. Each reachable ledge promised something exciting. I sought routes that might take me home, not via accepted roads, but along ledges, rooftops. I wanted to explore, forge my own way. I didn’t dare. This time. I did, however, find myself poised on the verge of a climb or jump that would take me across that imaginary boundary. As my training pushes my physical boundaries it seems like a natural progression to push the boundaries of society. When a fence no longer holds the power to contain, or close off, allowing it to block your explorations seems like a lame excuse.

I do some more ‘safe’ exercises to clear my head. The curiosity doesn’t fade. On my way home I see a car with spotlights sweep across a street up ahead. They must have seen me because seconds later the same car came back, lights glaring, and slowly cruised past me. The police: a reminder that social boundaries are not without guardians. Were they looking for me? Did someone see me sitting on the fence, contemplating taking the next step? Maybe… but that makes it all the more exciting.

From the APA forums:
The HJM: Funnily enough Sam has actually stated something that is/was at the heart of the punk movement. I think Pava may have missed the point regarding punk. To say it is destructive is to buy into the straight media version the same as saying Parkour is about jumping buildings. As a former punk (and still a punk at heart really) I have to take issue with the comparison there.
Skater punk is a different animal and evolved into a more anti-social, loutish sub genre as a result of the party hard behaviour of some professional skaters with scant regard for themselves and others.
Check out a some of the following bands and their lyrics if you want to see a different side of things: Dead Kennedys, Bad Religion, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Sperm Birds, Fugazi, Poison Idea, Husker Du, Suicidal Tendancies etc etc

SGeek: Well articulated, Pava (Axel?) - that all makes perfect sense. Now, about those psychological and physical changes...

The physical changes for training in any endurance activity are fairly straightforward, I think. Physical fitness (aka S&C) improves radically, aging (according to various scientific measures that I won't detail right now) slows, stops or even reverses, new activities (eg. higher wall-runs) become possible and all actions become easier.

The psychological changes are also fairly straightforward, though obviously there's more to them than what I'm about to say here. These changes, which I know mostly from my interest in distance running, can be summarised as follows: reduced tendency toward stress, improved concentration, greater capacity to endure pain, and a general increase in willpower. Hope I haven't left too much out of that list - I'm just too eager to get onto the sociology. As a bonus, I think my thoughts on the sociology might even be original (in the weak sense).

Modern humans, (almost?) without exception, maintain emotional barriers against other humans. In order to form a close relationship (eg. a genuine friendship), these barriers somehow have to be overcome - not a trivial thing, given that most of us don't have conscious awareness or control of all of our own defences. This is an area in which I think there is a notable difference between sexes, so I'll note at this point that I'm talking specifically about men - any relevance to women is merely fortunate.

There are quite a few traditional ways that men bond with each other, but the examples I can think of offhand use only three basic methods of disinhibition. Shared drug use is the most direct method, and especially in the case of alcohol it is highly significant. Shared emotional exertion is another, for instance the communal watching of a sporting event about which the watchers care very much. The third general class of disinhibition, sadly a lot less common than the other two, is shared physical exertion. Parkour training (at least in its Melbourne form) achieves this in spades - anyone who takes it at all seriously ends each session exhausted, at which point the usual barriers are mostly down. This makes group parkour an excellent bonding activity (among other things), and at least partly explains its ability to ignore traditional social distinctions. It's also a very powerful shared experience, especially when repeated - this is a major part of forming a community with its own culture, constituting a 'common basis of experience' as mentioned by Pava.

Me:The HJM: Sorry. Right you are. Skaters also picked up a territorial aggression from surfers who pushed the boundaries of the activity and competed with each other for space on the waves. That's my theory anyway. Punk philosophy and music has many more messages that "fuck you", and general anger... I guess its never any one thing, instead, there's many bits and pieces put together.


***Wank warning!***

Bonding is tricky. Your ideas are very interesting, Sgeek. Mine would have started off in a completely different place. I’d be drawn to the psychological changes from the perspectives of the people who participate in the culture of parkour. What they can talk about and share, in terms of common understanding gained through experience (I think they call this the phenomenological approach). From this perspective, it would be stuff like: parkour vision (looking at the physical layout of your environment in a way that meshes with your new abilities: i.e., “I see so many more things that I can climb/get-around than before.”), increased physical self-awareness and the flow phenomenon (good article on that in parkourpedia). These are just a few ideas, I’m sure that people can name many others.

You picked my sociology background here. Is yours a psychological perspective? Good stuff. I’ve never heard of this disinhibition stuff before. Still, largely, it makes sense to me. At the same time… I’m hesitant to be so quick to divide such things into categories. For me, there’s no such thing as pure forms of interaction. Bonding always happens on multiple levels at the same time. For example, part of bonding over a sporting event is physical (you feel more comfortable with the bloke that gets up and screams – like you do – than the bloke who just loves your team) and physiochemical (simultaneous release of endorphins and adrenaline) as well as emotional.

All the ideas on this thread just demonstrate that we’re getting multiple perspectives that illuminate the various aspects of parkour on various levels levels. Trying to understand from as many perspectives as possible is always a good way to look at things. Yours, Sgeek, is in everyway as good as mine, and everyone else’s… but OURS is always better. More ideas would be great! I’m still trying to work out my own…

Been training with C one of the guys behind the APA, and a bunch of other trainers. Recently I've come to realise the value of pushing BEYOND personal boundaries. The Muscle-up experience made me feel like I was back-pedaling on progress. Training with people that far above my own level was another thing that has brought me down lately by making me realise how far behind I really am. With all this going on it's easy to become discouraged.

Then you have another good moment, and you're back to reality. I realised today that I haven't suffered from hayfever at all in the last two months. A resent experience is behind this realisation... I trained with a guy who has asma, he told me he knew of people whose respiratory problems improved significantly after reaching a certain level of fitness. I though about it and realised that the really severe allergic reactions I always have during this time of year have entirely disappeared since I started cardio training. I'm getting fitter and stronger, in ways I didn't even initially realise. As for the muscle ups, I'm going to let training take its course. Get back to the conditioning and not try to force it.

The APA has asked me to help out with some diagrammatic illustrations. I'm happy to do it, though it has made my work-load a little ridiculous. Ah well, all part of the research. I spend an average of 10 hours a day drawing and writing nowadays. Add two hours of training and you have one dull boy. At least nobody can say I'm not being productive.

Here's what I have so far, though it's far from finished:

I surrender. Training is one step forward, two steps back. I still can't do the move I'm trying to master... but I'm doing much better than yesterday. Tonight I worked my upper body, my arms are killing me. I'm getting the right muscles ready. Trying to visualise the technique.

I'll keep trying. Just you wait, I'll get it. This time I won't announce victory until I've won.

Lesson learned.

Went out tonight and was totally useless. Can't do the thing I thought I'd mastered - the muscle up - at all! My balance sucks and my confidence is shot. Shit. You have your good days and you have your bad ones.

Forum reply... parkour culture

I’ve been saving up a while to contribute to this one. I apologise in advance for the truckload of wank coming your way, but this is something I think about a lot, so I’ll probably go on a bit. Please feel free to tear my observations apart - nothing like a good correction to bring one down to earth.

I’ll start by taking things back to the idea of culture. There is no question in my mind that parkour in Melbourne (my only point of reference) has a definite culture. As far as I am concerned, a culture is a shared system of meanings (Clifford Geertz came up with that definition, and its the one many anthropologists - the guys/girls in the funny hats that study cultures - use). It can be localised, it can be global, what really matters is that those participating in a culture understand each other and share a common basis of experience. Within the boundary of each local culture this common exchange of meanings needs to be articulated and understood by its members, so the culture develops a language and a common set of goals. All this is often held together by a history and a shared philosophy. Put all of this is one sack, shake and allow to settle and what you will pull out will be a community. Correct me if I am wrong, but I definitely see that in Melbourne.

I suspect that the culture in Melbourne is distinct and unique. I wholeheartedly embrace the idea that leadership and organisation helps to cement and define a culture. Leaders cultivate the philosophy and history of a culture and define the goals of the community. Cutos to our leaders, the Melbourne culture is healthy, self-questioning and open. Having said all that, we must take for granted that both culture and communities are in a state of constant evolution and change - as 13th tribe pointed out earlier. Systems of meaning are re-interpreted, new meanings are formed and old ones are discarded, upgraded and forgotten. Communities change. Members come and go, numbers grow and shrink and communities divide and merge together.

All that said I don’t believe that parkour culture is still in the process of ‘forming’ – because it always will be – I believe that is constantly evolving. This is healthy and good. The second it stops forming it will be dead.

Now would be the time to go grab a coffee and a muffin, cause you’re half-way…

This thread has returned regularly to the idea of skateboarding as parallel culture. Something others often compare parkour to. Fair enough, the two are both similar because both involve the use of public (and sometimes privare) space in new and creative ways. Both are about practice and the refining of skill. Both are often perceived as forms of personal, physical expression. I’m not saying they are the same, but clearly many of us see the similarity. A clever bloke called Duncan Humphreys wrote an article about the artistic sensibility of activities such as snowboarding and skateboarding. These are forms of physical self-expression. Personal activities that are more akin to art than sport. I think parkour also fits this category. These are supported by personal goals and an over-reaching philosophy. However, the philosophies of skateboarding/snowboarding are different from the philosophies of parkour. Humphreys suggests that individualism and personal style are at the very centre of boarding. This individualistic focus is enforced by the influence of punk culture. Punk culture gives these activities an in-your-face, destructive, uncompromising, counterculture edge - an “I’ll do what I like and fuck you” attitude. You can find elements of this attitude in skater/boarder-videos, mags and the behavior of skaters themselves. Not all skaters try to be ‘punk rock’ (I skate a bit and snowboard a lot) but it is a part of the culture.

I don’t see the punk-rock element in the parkour community of Melbourne, though I do think that the underlying artistic sensibility is there. There are also elements of self-empowerment, altruism and physical and psychological discipline and responsibility. These things are nearly the total opposite of the self-destructive and anti-social elements of punk. The difference is massive. Outsiders don’t take the time to notice this, they see the similarities and assume these extend to self-destruction and anti-sociability, the fact that both activities have an element of risk makes things even more complicated. “These crazy people are trying to kill themselves! They’d think nothing of damaging our property…” is the reaction. I haven’t spoken to enough people who protest parkour, but I think this is part of the reason people have such negative reactions to traceurs in action.

There’s more to be said about psychological and physical changes that all traceurs experience as a result of their training. The passions and perspectives that they develop that help forge a common outlook on the world… These things also shape the culture of parkour, but these ideas are only half-formed, so I’ll save them for later. Whew, that was long.

Anything to add?

Visualisation...

Ah, this is a topic close to my heart. I think visualisation is so important to parkour that I couldn’t imagine trying to study parkour without it.

It’s curious that many of these articles can make the simplest point opaque. The simplest and most direct way that we all use visualisation is in obstacle assessment. Look at a wall. Can you imagine yourself running up it? Our first reaction to any given obstacle is an automatic visualisation of ourselves – with our entire range of skills as we would perceive them – attempting to overcome the challenge. If we imagine ourselves succeeding the climb we give ourself a roadmap towards success: a sense of the technique. If cannot imagine ourselves overcoming the challenge, or worse, if we can only imagine failure, then we are far less prepared to face the challenge then we would be with a positive visualisation.

It is a useful trick of self-empowerment to imagine success. However, while a large part of visualisation is psychological, there is also an element of physical self-assessment inherent in the process. Some walls are simply too high to mesh with a realistic self-visualisation of success. Some self-projections of failure are necessary to generate useful self-protective responses such as fear and caution.

For me, visualisation is absolutely key. Watching others and the way they move gives me a sense of what I would need to achieve in order to be able to duplicate the process. By the sounds of things, this has been a first step for many of the advanced practitioners at the APA: people learn via the imitation of other peoples’ movements and the replications of useful techniques.

The problem with visualisation is that it is very seductive. Watching others, we are drawn into the beauty of good technique. Inspired, we forget our own limitations and presume that visualisation alone might be enough to carry us through. This can be embarrassing and ultimately dangerous. I’m reminded of that meme of the StarWars kid trying to imitate light-sabre wielding jedi and making a complete fool of him self. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM4O4-jT3x0) His visualisation of himself is based on his careful observation and mental absorption of the movements in his cinematic fantasy, and it is so complete that he doesn’t realise how far away it is from the reality. He thinks he’s doing it right, he can see him self doing it right… but we can see that his visualisation of self is far from reality.

On the other hand, those practicing can become too concerned with projecting a fluid image of their own movements and give up effective technique for the benefit of ‘style’. Kung-fu movies are the epitome of this. Impractical, attractive movements and athletic feats make a fight-scene elaborate and visually interesting to follow, but most of those seasoned fighters would cut their movements down to essential basics in any real physical confrontation. No real fight is ever as pretty as its choreographed counterpart.

Still… I’m going to argue that it is nearly impossible convey parkour without visualising, or visually depicting the movement. The visual is sensory. The verbal is abstract and cranial. I’d say to really understand the practices of parkour we need to see ans well as speak. That’s why I’ll be using comics in my attempts to understand parkour. It’s techniques, its practitioners and its culture.

Went to training in Coberg at the trace last night. There was a bunch of Traceurs staying there from around Australia and New Zealand. The APA was hosting them. Networks are being made and information is being exchanged. I spoke to the guy from Adelaide and he assured me that though their numbers didn't match Melbourne's, they are very dedicated to their training.

I made a breakthrough on the muscle-ups! I'd been doing exercises to condition and strengthen my upper body. For a while now, I've felt like I should be able to do them, the strength is there, but the movement never felt right. I'd get my shoulders over, and bring up one arm, but the other would always get stuck half-way. Almost there every time. I spoke to C about it and he looked at my technique. We both puzzled about what was wrong. He assured me that I was strong enough for it. I showed him the two exercises I've been doing. When I showed him the kip practice lifts he told me that that was it. We tried to work out a flow to the movement and, with a few attempts I, managed to get over the bar. The moment helped us both. For him he better understood a technique that he had learned intuitively. It improved his teaching. For me it was the next step forward in mastering a technique.

Some balance drills and wall-runs later a pair of skateboards came out. Some of the guys had decided to incorporate some skating into their regular program. I couldn't be happier. Skating was something I knew something about, I'd done it for a few years. The conversation turned to skating. I'm delighted to have a reason to brush off my old board. Doesn't hurt to be an all-rounder.

Mmmm... wonderful run tonight. I was feeling a bit off colour. I blame it on my sedimentary lifestyle lately. 10 hours work a day, from home, doesn't leave much time for socialising or even running around outside. I felt offbeat, my inking was rough and unsteady, my attention was lacking, the summer heat had me sweatin'. When the time came to go running I was happy to step outside and burn some of that energy. The cool summer night was a instant pleasure and an immediate bonus. i've been running a fair bit lately, but doing little else. My desire to improve my stamina has had priority and other than some chin-ups and over-bar drills I've done very little else. I ran a few laps and then headed out to the old training ground for some classic workouts.

I expected trouble. Wall-runs (one step up a wall, quick grip on the upper edge and a quick pull-ove the top) were first up. I was delighted to discover that they've gotten easier. Being able to comfortably hoist my own weight was the first thrill, the second was the discovery of surprising quadropedal stamina. I guess all my running around lately is paying off. Then I spent some time on conditioning and balance - a whole new discipline recently discovered.

Not even the nagging late dinner could detract from the sheer pleasure of exercise. I've really been getting a kick out of discovering my own limits. Today I've started to feel like progress is almost tangible. I've been steadily falling in love with my newfound fitness. I hope this will enrich my research. I've read, in 'A Diary Of a Boxer", an anthropologist purport a full surrender to the subject of one study. A pledging of loyalty to the physical discipline and culture one is discovering and trying to understand. I can see that happening here. In the best possible way.

What I'm starting to realise is that all methods of training offer something. Some are general and all-effecting. Others are specific and targeted. All are worth pursuing. Parkour is a way of life, this I can see. The philosophy is more difficult to grasp in practice (though I am exposed to great amounts of theory), but I have faith in experience. In time it will come, as the physical is becoming clearer, so will the intellectual. I just have to keep at it and, hopefully, keep clear of injury.

Went for a run with some of the trainers on thursday (testament for my lack of diligence, I haven't really done much training since then). It was great. Just me and two other guys, casual run. I'm still really behind. Plus a late lunch almost had me puking after the warmup run. Took about an hour for my stomach to completely settle. I think I carried it off too, the other guys just though I was being slack. I really have to take my training schedules more seriously.

I'm learning more about the structures and tendencies of Australian Parkour movements. There's a lot of depth, and that is really encouraging. Gotta do some chin-ups for overbar practice tonight
before bed. NO EXCUSES.

Peace.

Whew, out of a holiday straight onto a full workload. The parkour comic is delayed as my illustrating work is three-to-four times intensified. Shitter, I really wanted it out by christmas. Good news is the progress in distance running and jogging. 3km distance is pretty comfortable, kipping and chin-ups are getting better. At the same time, I'm doing 10-12 hours of illustration a day... Training and work are in definite competition.

I start my studies in about a week, that'll solve most of the problems. Work will fall back, parkour will come full force to the fore. Seems weird, just a few months ago I had the same problem with my old retail job, now my illustration job does the same. It's a common sentiment among regular traciurs, parkour is a way of life - seems like I'm starting to nderstand the full extent of that statement.

Now that I'm back and blogging hopefully my motivation will come back too.