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).

Friday night, many of the Raleigh guys were joined by Aaron Carlisle (parkourdoll), Andrew Coone, Daniel Graubman (Spaco), and Ricardo Martinez (goof321) at the Knightdale Gymnastics Academy. Immediately, the night saw many of the guys working on backflips, kongs, and a variety of movements that involve jumping and rotating in some sort of manner. A few hours in, pizza was due so Tony and I headed over to Dominoes to pick up six pizzas at the sweet price of $6.99 per a medium pie with two toppings. About an hour later, the Charlotte guys showed up adding more to the energetic atmosphere. A few more pizzas were called in before everybody got to sleep around 1:30AM.

What we didn’t realize was that the gym didn’t have heating! With it being a one night sleepover, many of us had simply forgotten or chose not to bring necessities such as sleeping bags, pillows, or blankets and boy oh boy was the night cold. Throughout the freezing night which hit the low 30s, people got up to find mats to sleep under, tried shifting under blocks in the foam pit, and cried for their parents. Personally, I had started the what seemed to be a warm night in my briefs but as hours went by, the more clothes I had to put on. Even sleeping under a hard mat wasn't enough but I was able to get through the night with a couple hours of hard sleep.

Early in the morning, before anyone had gotten up, Raimond was dropped off. I don’t remember when I woke from the hard cold slumber, but everybody was up and getting some energy by 8:30AM. As a group, we cleaned up and left by 9AM to head to Walmart to quickly grab food for the potluck. While at Walmart, Ben Webster threw out the challenge to drink half a gallon of milk before the jam started with him, Tony, and I agreeing to take it on. We got our groceries and headed to UNC-Chapel Hill. Upon arrival, we found Regenia Spangler (JustMe) already taking pictures and Duncan Germain (TK17) leading his students in conditioning. Duncan is a teacher that has a parkour club at his school. To my understanding, he brought his students to see a few of us move before he left with the kids to take them around the campus. I greeted everybody and began to warm up when I noticed everybody already moving. The jam didn’t start for another hour so the half gallon challengers began chugging their milk when the Virginia Tech guys arrived.

Paul Mederos (Leon) leads an active parkour club at Virginia Tech. We first met them at one of their state jams held in late 2007. They are absolutely, some of the coolest guys I’ve been able to meet through movement. With early planning, we were able to notify the VT group to come down for the state jam bringing down a little over ten guys.

By high noon, Ben, Tony, and I had finished our milk and the jam had commenced. Winston-Salem, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Hillsborough, Durham, Charlotte, Raleigh, Fayetteville, and many more cities had representatives. Personally, my goal for the day was to meet and interact with as many people as I could for the day so I jumped right into talking with old friends and making new bonds. I met Sean Endres and his dog, Anna Lineberger who was trying to organize the Chapel Hill group, and many new VT guys who certainly knew how to bro it up.

Around 1:30PM, things were still kicking so I decided to move the group across the street near the dorms and tennis courts. Cooperatively, everybody moved while a few people hung back to pick up trash and grabbed some of the forgotten belongings. Then the milk began to kick in, I felt knots in my lower abdomen twisting and turning and I wanted to give in but was able to hold it down. I checked up on Ben and Tony, both were beginning to feel something as well. An hour went by and I started the potluck by asking everyone to pool in their contributions. Many people had simply forgotten or chose to not bring food but there was more than enough to go around for everybody. Sandwiches, corndogs, pickles, cookies, and much more was shared amongst upwards fifty people.

After the eating festivities, I moved the group to the library. With an upset stomach, I could barely handle the quarter of a mile walk to David Library. Tony had used the restroom prior and was feeling better and Ben didn't feel much of anything. Leon, Hai Thai, and Nick Mason wanted to get away from the group a bit so we walked back to some dorms near the tree that Duncan would tie his shoes in every morning before school. We worked on a few precisions before heading back to the group circled around a few individuals breakdancing and wrestling on some old cardboard boxes. It was awesome to see so much positivity that I hadn't seen at the state jams in years. Rather than trying to up the game, everybody was applauding each other's efforts and having fun - this is what state jams are all about.

With time closing in, I wanted to get the group to one last spot before the nerf war so we gathered a block away from David Library at the gym entrance. With everybody settled, I took my bathroom break. With so much milk intake, my butt exploded from the lack of food and high protein and sugar intake. After fifteen minutes of sitting on the toilet, I made it out alive to come back and chill with everybody for a little bit. Around 3:30PM, we began preparing everybody for the nerf war by heading back to the Forest Theatre.

After Regenia took a few group pictures, Tony and I split the group up into three teams - Virginia Tech, Raleigh/Charlotte, and "Others". The goal was to capture the other bases and the only rule was one hit, one kill. I had brought a modded shotgun painted gold on black but it had little use compared to some of the battery-operated guns brought by Virginia Tech, the sniper rifle of Kevin Wu, and the various swords, shields, and guns, brought by others. I was taken down quickly by on the guys on the VT Team and watched as my teammates failed to advance against such advance technology. Leon and I agreed on twenty second respawns to make the game last longer and quickly, a frenzy ensued. Everybody was having fun running around, dodging nerfs, and trying to capture bases; I was glad the jam was ending on a positive note.

I checked the time and it was already 4:30PM, now we were late for the gym session! I tried my best to leave quickly but thanking and hugging everyone ended up taking a bunch of time. I wanted to personally close on a good note by taking the time to thank the majority of the individuals that showed up whether it was their first or thirteenth statejam.

Ahh, a long close-to-an-hour-drive-that-seemed-like-an-eternity-drive back to the Knightdale Gymnastics Academy. The milk was kicking in again and I was struggling to keep it in or down while concentrating on driving. Throughtout the fifty odd minutes, I faded in and out of the present while gripping the steering wheel tightly, I had to make it there in one piece. I shifted from sitting straight to hanging over the wheel over and over again while trying to adjust the seatbelt strapped tightly against my lower abdomen. My stomach cried in pain and kicked in struggle but I got the guys to the gym safely.

We arrived at the gym around 5:45PM to find that Jeremy Lewis had already gotten in without us. With us was Travis Kolczynski (Gangster T), Ramone, Cody Matthews, Matt Turner, Aaron Carlisle, Ben, Tony, Andrew Coone, Tim Nguyen (T'Sc00pz), Ty Devries and Ryan Carr (Snow). The majority of the guys were too tired so only a small number ended up working on a few vaults and flips. Both Tony and I spent a good time in the restroom letting out the devil of the milk we had consumed. Ben was fortunate to be graced with the body of a god that didn't feel much of the effects caused by lactose intolerance. I felt much better quickly to begin moving about again. Websters, fulls, side flips, backtucks, and flash gainers were a few things that were pulled out by a bunch of the guys before the gym closed up around 8PM. After a long day of nerf wars, jumping, eating, and hitting the gym, we all headed our separate ways.

A big thanks to everyone who came to the thirteenth state jam. We saw well over eighty people throughout the day. Without any of you, the day would not have been as successful. An even bigger thanks to those who brought food for the potluck, you can receive a hug from me anytime you ask. Special thanks to Regenia Spangler for taking hundreds of photos, the Virginia Tech guys who drove close to four hours to see us, and all the parents, guardians, family, and friends who came out to support the movement. I hope to see many of you again in the future. One love.

About the Author Since early 2007, Alan Tran has been key to establishing connections for the North Carolina online community. He plans to advance the online community while working on local and state projects. As he advances with training, he continues to work towards the one armed chin-up. Alan also aspires to become a "bar-barian" and a "bodyweight demon" by completing various bodyweight challenges.

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