training
-
Complex movement is not just a physical exercise, but a cognitive one – as we run, jump, vault and climb through an unprepared environment we are also taxing our brain’s motor control, memory, spatial awareness and executive functioning. This is why a combination of simultaneous physical and mental work improves neural responses and brain health,…
-
What’s the cardinal principle of all training? The single most fundamental element of making progress in any field of personal development. Consistency. If you want to get good at something, consistent practice is the only way. Yes, progress happens at different rates for different people for a multitude of reasons; you can always train smarter and refine…
-
It is important to remember that not always is your own mind your friend. In fact, the mind is the most slippery of opponents, and the most cunning, and the most persistent. It will use every trick in the book to encourage you to give up the fight. It knows you better than anyone; your…
-
Too often we are taught to break apart the body and look at it as a series of problems; to fragment it in order to make the complexity of human movement more manageable, and injuries more fixable. But we pay a hidden and enormous price for this…
-
Your journey will be unique, and no one knows your body and mind better than you, if you take the time to listen and understand. Go at your own pace. Forgive your own errors.
-
The floor is a hard, unforgiving taskmaster. But the floor never hits you – you hit the floor: so learn to control the contact and it will soften dramatically.
-
The best training programmes must be tailored for the recipient, and the best coaches will make sure this happens…
-
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so – Hamlet, William Shakespeare If you’re naive enough to believe you can get the best out of your body (and, therefore, your life) without the risk of injury at some stage, you’re living in a fantasy. Either that or you’re happy to settle…
-
How often have you stopped simply to listen to the world around you? Indeed, how often have you actually listened to yourself? Admittedly, against the constant background drone of an urban society this can sometimes be hard to manage. Noise, bright lights, the rush of the city – these things are the trappings of our modern…
-
It is often thought that the one true bane of all parkour practitioners is rain. Most, especially beginners, will grimace at the sight of dark clouds or the feel of cold winds, head for home and resign themselves to another day without training. A current prevailing view within the parkour communities seems to be that the…
-
Much has been made of the importance of warming-up before beginning a training session, and yet in general most people underdo or even skip entirely this vital aspect of the discipline of parkour. Some may not know why warming up is so important, others may not know how; some may perceive it to be a waste…
Dan Edwardes 