One thing I really like about parkour is the training. I like waking up every morning thinking of some challenge or technique I can train. "Can I land that precision 25 times in a row?" "I am going to do 40 muscle-ups today." "My arms are tired, I think I will just work on some jumps and maybe some flips." It is a lot of work, but trainingis fun and rewarding--at least it is after the fact. When you do accomplish that goal or challenge it feels great. It not only works your body, but also your mind. It helps to cultivate stamina, steadfastness, patience, and overall better technique and skill. (Click "Read More" to continue reading.)

The turn vault is probably one of the most underused movements in parkour. When used effectively, it can make a sequence of movements involving a drop faster, smoother and safer. Yet for the myriad of drops I see on youtube and in other various places, I hardly ever see the turn vault used. There are probably two reasons for this. The first is: it's not a very flashy movement. It's not impressive to look at, whereas someone throwing himself bodily off a ledge is AWESOME!!!11! The other reason, and the one I think is honestly more likely in most cases is this: people don't know how to use it! I wouldn't be surprised if many newcomers to parkour were completely unaware of its existence. If people who have been training for a while don't understand and use the turn vault, they aren't likely to teach it to newbies. HIPK's turn vault tutorial has only 45,761 views, less than half the views of their kong tutorial at 98,890. This is no coincidence. (Click "Read More" to continue reading.)

Okay maybe not, and this photo isn’t from the latest jam. It’s from NCPKJX which took place during the summer of last year. I’ve confessed to a few close friends about how often I’ll look into the photos, topics, videos, anything of the community past. I do it partly as a moderator in order to be able to reference people to some worthwhile items. Mostly I do it because I enjoy being able to reminisce. A friend recently pointed out the joys of reveling memories rather than people because memories are unable to let you down. In one of my favorite songs, the singer states “Do you ever think that, ‘now I must remember’?” In this, the lyrics suggest the importance of valuing good moments in life to help us get through the less glorious ones. Anyways, what I’m getting at is that we all experience nostalgia, and as we are, many of us spend time thinking about what has past (Click "Read More" to continue reading).

The thirteenth statewide jam of the North Carolina Parkour community was successfully held this past weekend on March 27th, 2010 at the Forest Theatre of UNC-Chapel Hill. With a few months of planning ahead of time, Anthony Nguyen (Tomato), with the help of some friends, was able to organize a sleepover at a local gym on Friday, a potluck lunch, and a nerf war succeeding the jam (Click “Read More” to continue reading).