How to Learn Parkour for Free
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This article will be for people who are interested in getting into parkour but do not know where to start. I am still a beginner in parkour myself (7/2016) but I think some of my insights will help you. Most of the people who do parkour tutorial videos are in amazing strength, balance, stamina, and fitness and have nothing in common to me or other beginners. I am not starting from 0 as I used to do weight lifting but switching from weights to using my whole body and focusing on balance has been a fun challenge.
Warning: I am not a doctor or professional in anything and use the information below at your own discretion and responsibility. I do not recommend the following routine to others because I do not know your physical condition and it is what works for me at this moment and may change without any update. Now with that warning out of the way, let's dive into my adventure into parkour.
Finding a Place to Train
Finding a place to train in Japan is tough. The schools are completely blocked out and you do not have the freedom to walk in and out like a school in the US. The parks are either extremely crowded or really small and does not offer much options for training. There also are no gyms for training parkour even in the 30 million plus Tokyo Metropolitan Area.
I would have been able to accelerate my training by finding better places to train outdoors. I recommend people who are starting out to watch the first 12-15 tricks from the Parkour from Scratch series. Once you have an idea of what beginner techniques to train in, you can start to look for locations to train them. I would recommend making a checklist of beginner techniques and areas to practice them in.
Flexibility
Through my parkour adventure, I have discovered that I have really tight hips and it was snapping or cracking when I would swing my leg kinda like a roundhouse kick. Although it is still a little bit tight, I have found that doing the appropriate stretches has increase my flexibility, jumping ability, and improve my mobility.
Here are some videos on hip stretches to help you. I have chosen videos that do not require special training equipment or devices.
Another common industry people have are in the shoulder areas. I would highly recommend doing shoulder stretches during your routine. If your shoulders are snapping or cracking, then it is a sign that you have to stretch that area properly and re-evaluate how you use your shoulders. Here is one explanation and stretch to help remedy it.Clothing and Gear
Getting the right gear and clothing is tough in Japan because there are no parkour shops in Japan and shipping is ridiculously expensive, but in the US, you will have no problems finding all the gear you need.Clothing and Shoes
The clothing you wear is extremely important to increase mobility and safety. Most people who do parkour wear a loose fitting shirt and sweat pants. The Tapp Brothers recommend you wear sweat pants instead of shorts because it will help to prevent cuts and provide some protection in case you hit something with your leg. They also recommend a wrist band to help prevent getting your wrists cut when doing climbing or anything else that has the potential to increase your contact with sharp areas.I would recommend checking out this video by the Tapp Brothers - the content in this YouTube video is the same as the one included in their paid training program. They also talk about gloves and wristbands. Here is a video on what to look for when buying shoes.
My Experience
I have followed their advice on wearing sweat pants and a loose fitting shirt when doing quadrupedal movement and parkour and I think it is good advice. There are times where I have almost slipped while doing galloping on concrete or have made physical contact with sharp edges while climbing over a wall and I have not been cut thanks to the sweat pants.
Good grip is everything in parkour. I am struggling with cat hangs and cannot advance in any technique that involves or evolves from a cat hang because there is not enough grip on my shoes. I would like to improve my grip, so I am using it as an opportunity to increase my hand grip but if I would like to advance, I would need to purchase new shoes.
This is something I do not know yet, but I will share with you how often I need to change shoes because it seems like doing parkour will eat up your shoes grip and is one of the financial costs you have to bear in doing parkour.
Length of Workout
My workouts usually go about 75 minutes long. I have tried working out in shorter times, but the only way I can make it work is to reduce my main activity time and make sure I maintain steps 1, 2, and 4.
- Do a warm-up for around 8 minutes
- Do dynamic stretches for around 10 minutes
- Do your main activity for 40 - 50 minutes
- Finish with static stretches for around 15 minutes
Warm-up and Stretching
I use a warm-up and stretch routine similar to the one found in the video below at the Tapp Brothers YouTube site. The one that I currently use is a combination of the one introduced in the video below and the one from their paid course. The most important thing is that you warm-up and do dynamic stretches with all of your joints before going into your main exercise session. Check out my article on stretching for more information on the different types of stretches.
Main Workout
In my first month, I focused on developing more coordination and strength before taking on the tasks of learning parkour techniques and tricks. Coming from 1 year in power lifting, I have strong legs but I lacked full body coordination, balance and mobility. I made this decision to not start doing techniques early for safety reasons and I like to approach things cautiously.
I developed conditioning and mobility through a type of movement called quadrupedal movement, which involves using all 4 limbs to move yourself. You will find this unnatural at first because if you are like me, you will find walking or moving using your hands unnatural. Below is an example video on quadrupedal movement
My Main Workout Routine
I started my first month with doing ground kongs, crab walking, galloping, forwards, backwards, side lunges, and lunges 4 days a week to develop more leg and arm strength and physical conditioning.
I am still doing a mixture of these combined with cat walking, cat hangs, galloping, and ground kongs in month two but I have started to work on the simple vaults taught in parkour from scratch.
Here is two additional resources on learning more about quadrupedal movement
Simple Article at Parkour Train
After workout Stretching
Doing static stretches after your workout is extremely important in order to prevent cramping and muscle pain the next day. Static stretching helps you release the tension in your muscles and if you do it properly, you will feel great and not sore the next day. If you feel sore the next day, you are probably not spending enough time on each stretch or not stretching out the right area. I would even recommend not working out if you do not have around 15 minutes to spend on static stretches. Here is the stretch routine I am currently testing out after my parkour routine, it takes around 15 - 20 minutes, depending if I get distracted.
I have been feeling the after workout aches for pretty much my whole life, so I will share more of my experiences in stretching in the months to come.
Resources for Learning Parkour
1. Parkour from Scratch
I recommend for learning parkour moves. It is not the place to learn warm-up and conditioning drills. This is the series I would start with if you are in good condition and do not need help with conditioning.
Positives
- Will save you from feeling confusion about what moves to start with
- Shows you the move multiple times (slow motion as well)
- Shows you the progressions steps to overcoming the challenge
- Unique: The videos are made in progression and does not include moves you should not learn.
- Contains 44 videos!
- Does not contain videos on stretching
- Does not contain videos on conditioning
2. Ryan Ford
A good place to review tricks and techniques learned at Parkour From Scratch #1 to confirm if you are doing it properly or not.
Positives
- Shows common mistakes beginners make
- You can see good form and bad form in an easy to understand and friendly way
- Shows good form for many types of conditioning, strength, and flexibility exercises
- Lots of videos but lacks tutorial content for beginners
3. Tapp Brothers
The kings of content for parkour videos on youtube. They have tons of content covering various types of tricks but I think it will confuse any beginners to parkour because you do not know what to start with at first. I recommend checking their videos for strength, stretching, and conditioning.
Positives
- Videos on conditioning
- Has videos on warming up
- Videos on tricks
- The video quality is excellent
- The videos on Youtube are not organized and will be confusing for beginners to know what to do
- You would have to pay for their on-line course to have an organized plan for learning parkour
The program is 47 dollars and was worth it for me. I learned more about warm-ups and conditioning and it furthered my knowledge of how to build up flexibility and warming up properly. It is best to review the videos once a month because there is something I am forgetting or not incorporating into my warm-up and stretch routine.
I have not reviewed it but they also created an exact plan for your first 30 or 60 days to follow. Buying the course will save you a lot of time in figuring out what to do. If money is an issue, I would recommend sticking with Parkour from Scratch and taking the time to watch all the Tapp Brothers videos on conditioning and looking at other channels for information on gear and clothing.
Link for the course: This is a non-affiliate Link
Video on warming up: Youtube Link
Video on Lazy Vaulting: Youtube Link