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I was in the middle of stretching in my room when I heard a knock on the door, “Yea?” I called. Atari opened the door, “What’s your agenda today?” he asked. I was a bit surprised he was apparently taking an interest, but I’ll take it for what it’s worth.
"Skip the first two stations. I want you to try something new.” “Such as?” “Parkour. I think you’ll like it. Actually, it should come to you naturally.” He said nothing more and closed the door.
The station was part of the climbing wall that opened yesterday. It was empty when I got there. Scattered over a wide area were rocks, metal railings, ledges and walls, all at varying heights. A trainer started explaining what exactly parkour is: training your body and mind to overcome obstacles, challenges that require speed, adaptability, creativity, always keeping yourself moving forward and in constant motion.
This station had my undivided attention.
“Alright, Three, let’s start with the basics.” The trainer asked me to stretch (again), do some pull ups, sit ups, sprint and jump into a sand pit, and a few other warm ups, “You’re in better shape than I expected.” He said, looking me up and down. Seeing as we were alone, and keeping Styx’s warning in mind, I only told the trainer about the abandoned building I used to run though as an obstacle course, and the make shift ones my brothers and I built in the backyard.
“You should have said something sooner.” “I prefer the element of surprise.” “Then surprise me.” the trainer said motioning to the beginners course, “Stay in motion, use everything in your path to your advantage.”
I started running, jumping over the first rock with ease and onto the second, seeing the wall directly behind it I would need height to assist me. I hopped up and grabbed the lip, pulling myself up and continuing onto a series of narrow beams, shifting my weight to maintain my balance before it plateaued off on a ledge. Still in motion I jumped down onto a series of stacked tires, up to a low rail and vaulted over it, letting my body roll low as I came back to the ground, onto my shoulder as I finished the course.
“I’m impressed.” the trainer nodded. “Good technique and form. Now lets build on it.”
He had me run that course a few more times, telling me to begin incorporating twisting and spinning my body as I moved, “It’ll make you a harder target and keep you fully aware of your surroundings.” It seemed ridiculous and took a time or two before I got the hang of it. “Can you do a flip?” he asked. Thankfully there were padded floors, but I wasn’t making much headway.
"I think we can move this right along. I want to challenge you.” And what he presented me with next was a helluva challenge: wall running. I had climbed my fair share of obstacles back home, but this was something completely different.
“It’s all about transferring your momentum into the wall, whether you’re going vertically or horizontally.” We started vertically. He showed me how to get the right angle with my foot to project myself upwards during a ‘take off’: not hitting the wall too soon or late with the sole of my foot. He had me practice running up to it and pushing off with my foot, just to get the feeling of it.
I was really enjoying this. It was like the next step up from what I was used to doing back home. After practicing the pieces I put it all into one fluid motion. I ran forward and pushed off the wall, my fingers grasping the lip and pulling myself upwards. “Good. Now get down.” I hung down and let go of the wall, pushing off with my foot as I neared the bottom and landing properly. He had me go through the motions again and again, telling me to incorporate the shoulder roll into my fall.
Next came horizontal running, or the tic tac. Now this was some Assassins Creed shit. He had me start by walking alongside the wall and pushing off of it with the sole of my foot. Then I began picking up my pace and aiming higher, incorporating the twists and spins he got me into the habit of doing on the beginners course.
Eventually he brought a crate over and told me to use that as my marker to jump over. I took to this quickly, making it over the crate each time. Then came a trash can I practiced with for a bit. By the time we moved onto the next lesson I managed to get three steps in on the wall before coming down. “Use it to jump over obstacles, and it can be combined with the wall climb to get over a high point.” he explained.
He brought me over to what looked like a half-pipe, “You got the hang of a straight wall, now what if it’s warped?” I watched him take a running start and run an impressive distance up the wall before grasping the lip. “Speed transfers into height.” he explained, “Lean back slightly to go with the curve of the wall.”
It took longer to get the hang of this one: I ran up and down the curved wall for nearly 20 minutes just to get the feel of it until I was comfortable enough to start incorporating the jump up. Pulling myself up to the top was a bit different too considering it curved over slightly, it was about combining the force of the jump and pull of the lift.
Of the three wall runs I learned this was definitely the most difficult, and I didn’t feel like I wasted my whole morning and early afternoon practicing between all of them.
I made a mental note to thank Atari for pushing me in this direction when I went back upstairs tonight. Maybe I was being a little harsh with him.
