Parkour Workshop with Harley and Rhys

Two weeks ago I attended an APA Parkour Workshop located at Clear Vision Films in Mitchell. This was taught by Harley from Melbourne, and Rhys from Sydney - both APA instructors and members of Trace Elements.
Clear Vision "is an action film producer and stunt training company", run by a guy called Warren. They have a large studio space which has a sprung floor, various training apparatus, and today, some vaulting boxes - supplied by Harley.

The facility is a work in progress, and Warren says he is always trying to improve the space... and if I were staying in Canberra, I'd be trying to get out there as much as possible, and suggesting additional features. (Ropes, pullups bars etc).

The workshop was a 2 day event, with the Saturday as an "open" Parkour day, and Sunday as a more advanced day targeted towards those who wish to learn how to teach, and covering some more advanced techniques.
I would have liked to attend both days, but I had other commitments. The first day was, however, by no means "easy".

People rocked up at about 10:00 or so, and signed forms and introduced themselves. There were a few of the regular Canberra crew, some interstaters, and a few first-timers.
The first-timers seemed to be mostly from a stunt/martial arts backgound, and picked up the movements quickly.

The day was divided into two sessions. The first in the facility at Mitchell, and the second half outside at a regular training spot in Belconnen.

Started off with some breathing exercises, warmups and joint mobility drills. Then on to quadrupedal movement, where we went right back to basics, and learned the technique from the ground up, so to speak. This was to be a feature of the days training, and I found it very beneficial to deconstruct the basics and iron out technique.

We did some drills to reinforce proper rolling technique, and how to avoid all the bony bits. We moved on to concrete after 15 minutes or so... which is a fairly quick progression! Harley mentioned it took him 2 years before he rolled on concrete... I think this time frame isn't uncommon, so it's good to get people doing it as soon as possible.

We moved on to obstacle work, using a couple of custom built wooden vaulting boxes. Precisions, catpasses, and speed vaults were taught, but I thought the difficulty of the movements was ramped up fairly quickly, and I reckon some people would have benefited more from working longer at lower difficulty levels.

Lunch was called at around 12:15 and everyone headed into Belconnen. Mmmmm curry.

We met up again after lunch near the Belconnen Library - one of our regular training spots.

We started off with some rail balancing - standing, quadrupedal and "duck walk" style, which is in a squatting position.

Next up we moved on to turn vaults, APA style. Apparently Rhys developed this technique while on a job where he had to climb down 4 stories of balconies. The technique stresses safety by taking away the possibility of losing your grip and falling.

The remaining technique drills involved climbups, armjumps, and a wall run.

We pieced it all together by running through 2 runs, 5 times each. Each run took about 30 seconds to complete per lap, and involved around 10 techniques each. This wasn't as easy as it sounds... especially after 3 hours of training. I (and some of the others) was totally wrecked by the end of it, which was when someone said the word which brought up mixed emotions: Conditioning.

The conditioning session was held at a nearby set of stairs, maybe 30 steps in all. First up was quadrupedal movement, forward down the stairs, and backwards up them.
Then we partnered up and took turns to "fireman's carry" each other up the stairs, then did the same thing sitting on each others shoulders.
The last drill was also done with a partner, in the wheel barrow position, with one person holding the legs of the other, who supports himself on his hands. You then had to bounce (not walk) up the stairs on your hands with your partner trailing behind with your legs. This exercise involves a good combination of strength, power, timing, and coordination with your partner.

For me it was a great days training, and I learned a lot. It also highlighted for me the great job that the APA are doing in the field of Parkour teaching.

I hope that the Canberra scene can use this session as a starting point to continue similar workshops on a regular basis.