Hi all, I do lots of UE, but have never done anything Parkour related. I was how to start? How did all of you get started in this activity? Any tips or anything helpful would be very appreciated, thanks!

i got into it for a mix of reasons. i heard about freestyle walking, and then researched and found parkour. it looked intense so i started to do it. i just started running and leaping little things like fences or trash cans. moved up as i got more sure of my skills.

it comes in handy when you're ue'ing if you have to get onto a roof, over an obstacle....just imagine the ways.

great exercise too!

My biggest tip would be:

Learn to properly land. Always land on the balls of your feet, never flat-footed. Use your legs as shock absorbers, a good way to learn to land properly is to literally slap the ground when you land. Rolls are also valuable for landing from great height or transferring your momentum out of a jump. They take a while to get used to on hard surfaces, but they can be your best friend.

Theres tons and tons of tutorials online for the standard move repetoire, but I think the ideal way of starting out is to check the various PK forums for Jams that are local to you or for experienced Traceurs who live near by that wouldn't mind training with you. It's a really friendly scene, I've never met anyone who isn't willing to help out a new guy, and training with others is by far the best way to progress initially.

Oh, if by any chance you're around Chelmsford ever, I'll be happy to train with you. : )

Hi, thanks guys, there's not really much of a scene out here where I live, I've come across a couple of tutorials and things, been getting into it a little bit, just running around like a jackass, still pretty fun, good exercise too. Haven't tried anything ridiculous yet, wait to get my strength up a bit I think.

dont feel that you have to try anything ridiculous especially if you are just starting
check out
www.parkournorthamerica.com
join the forum and learn
pm me with questions I have been practicing parkour for about 2 years now

Strength's good, but don't forget balance. Spending some time walking along hand rails etc. will really improve your landings and mid-air control. And like the dude who posted before me says, ridiculousness isn't everything. You're not a skater. ;)

Anyways, it's awesome you're getting out there and enjoying yourself. Keep at it!

Thanks for the tips, any advice for doing this in the snow, my big concern now is not being able to see what's under there so I don't really know what I'm going to be landing on.

I've never trained in snow before, and if it's raining I'd much rather fire up youtube and freerun vicariously, so there's not a lot of practical advice I can share. Just, when attempting precision landings, always try and drop from as near to perpendicular to the landing spot as possible, even if that means jumping up and adding a couple of feet to the drop height. So...

          5 4
       6       3
                 2   
     7            1______
                  |
 ___8_            |
     |            |
     |            |

Is much safer than...

             
            3  2     
         4        1______
       5          |
 ____6            |
     |            |
     |            |

You see how in the second crappy ASCII drawing you're landing from less of a height, but you're coming in at forty five degrees instead of a much more pleasant ninety. If it's slippy, you'll be on your ass at best, if it's dry and there's no room to roll, your knees will hate you.

I have to agree with you and your ascii... Especially for catleaps. I went to the local elementary school to drill them, and was suprised at how much easier they are after a powerful takeoff, leading to a more harder, but more downward, landing/stick. And in snow.. I only train on area's I know / indoors.

well i wish i lived in a place where there was parkour going on, but Seattle isn't that good for it.

Posted by Atomsk813 well i wish i lived in a place where there was parkour going on, but Seattle isn't that good for it.

Well if you want to get it going...then do it. When i first started parkour there was no one in Winnipeg that really did it. So a couple friend and i started up a Winnipeg site for it and now tonnes of people do it.

Seattle is a huge city...there is interest, just no where for the mass to go.

Posted by Atomsk813 well i wish i lived in a place where there was parkour going on, but Seattle isn't that good for it.

pike street hillclimb. there's enough stairs and ledges there to keep me busy for hours.