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Sweden
| Uppsala Girls' Gathering 2010 |
This was originally written for Hayley's home community in New Zealand. You can join the discussion in the www.nztraceur.com Forums
Czech Republic
Parkour training in Sweden, by a lost kiwi.
by Hayley on Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:14 am. Photo by Hayley.
If you haven't already heard I left NZ for Sweden on the 6th of Jan and I am currently living in Stockholm. I thought I would give you guys a few updates on my impression of the Swedish Parkour scene thus far.
So first of all there is a lot of snow, so I feel my first outdoor training is going to be pretty epic. Can't wait. (and by a lot of snow, I mean more than in the picture of me handstanding on a bench in the middle of the Dunedin winter) I plan to go to an outdoor training in the city later this week.
So far I have been to one training session just of of Stockholm in a place called Uppsala. The training was held in a sort of school gym so we used all sorts of equipment (can't say I had ever done a wall climb up a mat before...at least it made it easier). Anyway at the beginning of the training there were about 30 people including about 8 girls (now this is not a big place...probably similar to Dunedin) I was stunned. We warmed up as a group...running, conditioning, stretching.
After warm up we split into 6 groups and there were 6 leaders that would take us around 6 stations.
1) wall climb (well almost a pop vault...it was a mat lashed to a bar, so you get a bit of a bonus bounce).
2) foot placement...connected lazys to opp vault to underbars and stuff (I killed my ankle here...but I managed to get back on my feet)
3) Flow (yes a daring use of the word) three boxes just above my waist height in a line, for konging and such.
4) Rolls (that explains itself really)
5) Cat balance on a skinny wooden thing about 1m off the ground ( I also added a little variation with the hand hand foot technique...which proved to be quite a challenge on this particular wooden thing)
6) Precision practice...from a box to a rail onto a higher box...or the other way around.
After each group had done each one we had an open gym for a bit. Then we did some conditioning.
I think we probably started at around 2pm and finished at 6pm. It was a super awesome training with some great Traceurs...Every one was really nice and they even spoke English most of the time because there were a number of people that did not speak Swedish.
The way they train in Sweden is a bit different. In NZ especially the South Island our trainings were usually about warming up and hitting some spots together to work on certain techniques and so on, with no teachers or leaders as such...It was strange to go to such an organised training. In Sweden Parkour is run like a sports club (they actually call it a club...in Uppsala it is like 'the Uppsala Parkour club', and in Stockholm it is a 'parkour academy'...I think you actually pay subs and stuff) It seems the idea of Parkour is changing as it becomes more mainstream. Especially where there are a lot more people involved.
My experience so far has lead me to re-question the definition of Parkour...It also reminds me of that great nz vid by Physical graffiti 'Parkour is'
here is the site for Stockholm's Academy: (the information is not avalible in English but it works on google translate...it is interesting to read)
http://parkouracademy.se/
It is great to have some structure and growth within the Parkour community, but how much is too much...and to what expense? For those people working on the Association development this I think is something to consider.
I'll keep you posted, as I find my feet in Sweden.
All the best
Uppsala Jam Jan 2010
by Hayley on Tue Feb 02, 2010 7:55 am
Ok so yesterday I went to Uppsala for a Jam...heaps of people, great day (got a chance to give that straddle kash another go on something super high!)
Thought I would have a go at attaching some photos for ya'll of the Jam...
Photos by Christoffer Birge. For all of the pics, visit this link: http://www.nztraceur.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2026
Chipping off the ice...
by Hayley on Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:19 am. Photo of Hayley.
Hi everyone, hope you had an awesome jam last weekend just thought I would drop an update from Sweden. Today I decided to use the snow to my advantage...snow introduces many new variables to training parkour.
So today I had a great solo jump all over Stockholm city, I decided to just go and run around in a foreign city jumping on stuff which turned out pretty great. I found heaps of things to play on and even ended up in some sweet scaffolding (yea and its not like South Island cities where the streets are empty, you have to keep letting people pass which is a little annoying). It seems you can always find things when your not looking which of course we knew all along but forgot somewhere along the line...
It's also a little strange when random passers by make comments that I can't understand (I just have to assume they are saying something like..."why do you keep jumping across that same gap? are you confused about which way you are going? or that scaffolding might fall down and kill you! ) I just smile and nod as what I can say in Swedish never seems to be useful in such situations. I had to try to explain to a man (who was frightened by my sudden apearance on the road infront of him) that I was infact trying to land on the curb and not on the road...this did not go well- he left. confused.
There is still a heap of snow which seems to be getting some people down a little and I must admit it would be nice to know what's under it! However there are a few great things about snow in Stockholm...
1) they move the snow... which means a) there are places where there is no snow, hence running and jumping not so much an issue.
b) there are also the places where they have moved the snow to....= great conditioning...If you have ever attempted running in snow up to your waist you will know what I mean, lets just say you welcome the cold snow into your socks!
2) not knowing what is under the snow (this could be considered both positive and negative...however I choose ) If I can go for a jump or do something in the snow it means I should have more confidence in its absence. (my theory)
3) Parkour training in the snow is not easy I also believe that having the strength and determination to continue training in such conditions, only makes my determination to continue to increase my skill, and understanding of Parkour greater.
Currently I am finding ice to be my new enemy. Being someone not used to such a climate I really can't tell if something is snow or ice before jumping on it! Problem: snow you can trust to an extent...ice = bail. Also its pretty caked on so difficult to get off, I am almost tempted to carry a small shovel to chip off the ice ...(like needing to carry a towel to dry the rails in nz.)
Enjoy the rest of your summer...I'm enjoying mine!
peace out
What's under the snow?...more snow.
by Hayley on Tue Feb 23, 2010 3:22 am. Photo by Hayley
Hey everyone!
Time seems to be going by so fast and I can't believe that we are almost at the end of Feb! I think training has changed a lot for me since I got here. At the moment I am finding that solo training really is what I need right now. I do enjoy training in a group sometimes and I have enjoyed it in the past, however for some reason I am finding it hard to train in such large groups right now (which seems stupid because you spend all your time wanting a big group to train with and when you finally get it, it doesn't live up to expections) although I can't say that because I have no idea what I was expecting the training is very structured which I guess I am not used to.I plan to go under the radar for a while and focus on my own training, building strength, fitness and basics (this crazy winter seems like a good time for this).
I feel like my internal motivation is at an all time high, despite the snow and the snow under the snow, even though I cannot wall climb the same height as when I left or do rail precisions right now, but I feel like my parkour is improving anyway. Not because I am practicing parkour, but because I am getting fitter, and somehow the snow and darkness is giving me a new strength and confidence.
Had a great week for training last week, 4 days training (a little stupid because I trained wens, thurs, fri, sat, sun) motivation increases towards the end of the week aparently! So Wednesday I had a solo jump at my fave scaffolding and basically just ran around finding stuff to practice precisions on. Thursday was the 'big group training' which was ok, but made me realise even more that it just isn't working for me. Friday, I had a solo 'hell night' which lead to the domination of some snow covered stairs, which became more difficult to negotiate when you got under the lights (one would think it would work the other way around).
Saturday I went to the pool, I swam my first ever 2km, and after swimming solidly for around an hour (not too bad I think for a 2k, I was impressed) I had forgotten I was in the middle of a Swedish winter, and was a little shocked on completion that I was in fact in Sweden! The best thing about that swim was that I wasn't any more tired after the 2000m than when I entered the pool, and still managed to complete another hrs worth of swimming (mostly 50's and 100's). Which eased my concerns about getting unfit during this intense winter. On sunday I did some slacklining in -14 snowy weather and then some lite parkour with a couple of Traceurs, did a bit of home conditioning also.
I am hearing great things about what's going on back home, so I am trying to kick off a 'hell night' here in Stockholm. Not sure how keen people will be to do this in the snow, but we'll see.
I think there is even more snow here now than when I arrived which is mental! You have to spend a few minutes just uncovering things before training on them which is interesting... but at least the snow is dry, so you don't get wet. (you can't even make snow balls).
It sounds like the NZPK community is getting stronger which is awesome, NZ may not have many people, but it has great people.
I miss training with all you guys in Chch, Dunedin, Southland.
(Oh and you probably shouldn't txt me when you are going to meet up in the octagon, because I'm not going to be there, but I still love you!)
Keep it green
peace
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I'M BACK I'M BACK 10,000 gymnastics montages, 10,000 parkour videos, the 2000 WAG AA final, and the world freerunning champs 2009, later... (I could write you a thesis on four). - I might post some of my fave moments in the media section later for your enjoyment. Hi everyone, it's been awhile but I am almost back on my feet again after my strange twist of fate... Wednesday was my first real training since the injury so it was a good test of the ankle. I am suprised at myself for taking it this slowly, I remember last year when I jumped back in soo quick, and walked around the podium ripping the tape of my ankle after every event and melting all the ice in Nelson. I guess the circumstances are slightly different however my willingness to slow down concerns me slightly... maybe I am scared. I have never been afraid to train after an injury before so I'm not sure why I am now. Maybe it's because it has happened twice and therefore it's completely rational to think it will happen again. If it was the kind on injury I could prevent maybe I wouldn't be so scared but it was a complete accident. But everytime something like this happens you learn a lot. It's the best training there is. You can wake up in the morning and say ok today I am going to train my body...i will do sit ups, push ups...But you can't decide to train your mind. I decided to take the opportunity to do so. On the way I found an awesome ground is lava traverse (I will get you a picture) which the others eventually found me negotating and decided to try themselves (until he who shall not be named broke a flower pot). Then we went and did some precisions (good ankle test, it seemed very strong but I was very scared to jump on uneven surfaces). A while later the academy class started (oh I also found an awesome tummy slide outside central station). Then a number of strange things happened,that lead me to believe that Stockholm is the most amazing city in the world. A - I was casually doing a quad in the city centre with like 20 other people and this man just walks up to me and says "Are you Hayley?" so I said yes (a little concerned at this point) he then tells me he is the father of one of the girls that I have been training with sometimes. Weird...I man whom I have never met somehow manages to identify me in a city of a million people??? B- I made a silent friend on the subway (he was staring at me maybe because my hands were completly black...probably looked a bit suspicious) we said nothing to each other the whole ride and when he got off at his station he waited to wave at me when the trained moved off which made me smile. c- waiting for the bus to finally get home and another man approaches me and asks me if I was jumping around in town with some guys earlier...so I say yes wondering where this is going...(now this is the strange part I can't imagine anyone back home ever saying something like this. I mean a lot of people appricate what you are doing and yell 'cool' or 'nice' or whatever) He said..."I wanted to thank you, your movement made me happy to be alive" I was blown away. I mean I have been thanked for parkour before but usually by someone involved like when showing someone a new skill or training spot. But I could never have imagined in a million years being thanked by some random on the street, in a city of a million people. d- of course talking to the guy about caused me to miss my bus, so I turn up at the bus stop and there are two other people there...long story short I end up in a taxi with a Danish couple who just had an exchange student from Rotorua! So wednesday ended up being pretty much five hours of training which having not run or jumped for three weeks was pretty intense (realising this the next day when I couldn't walk down stairs without intense pain). Friday was my forth 'Hell Night' last week we were three (until one guy got a fever) then we were two, this week again we were two (I think people are just afraid of our awesomeness )Hopefully now that the weather is warmer more people will be keen. The weather is already heaps warmer +10C just like Dunedin! I'm also starting to see heaps off stuff to play on now that the snow has melted(big cities are awesome, can't wait to heal, there are just soo many un-needed walls and rails which seem to serve no purpose other than making me itch like crazy). Hell Night was good still not quite up to where it should be but I think I'll get there. Fortunatly 'the one other' mangaged to come up with some equally crazy if not more so excercises (like a 2m app. high hanging underbar, which simply cannot be explained) and I was defeated by insane double taps but never fear it will be done!
Progress Hi everyone, it's been a long time...right now the snow has melted and the weather is fairly warm which changes things for parkour training once again. I feel like my progress has been very slow after this injury and something has definitely changed for me. I think my motivation is different, I am still enjoying training solo, but on reflection, I see my past practice as being rather selfish (selfish has a negative vibe about it, but this is not exactly what I mean). During the time when I was injured I found many ways to help people, making small changes to the environment and so on (at first I think it was about not feeling so useless not being able to move). Now when I train parkour it feels different. I can't do a lot of the things I could do before the injury (maybe because I am afraid) a couple of times since the injury after going back to training I made some mistakes. A cat leap with my ankle landing slightly off or a precision, the same problem, and I suddenly don't feel so indestructable (not that I ever really considered myself so, I guess you just take it for granted.) I started running again, but my ankles (both of them) get sore every time so a few weeks ago I took off my shoes. I took off my shoes and started to train parkour again, right from the start. I may not be able to do the 'big jumps' but ,what I am doing feels good. Now when I train, a three foot precision can feel like flying, it's a different kind of energy and power, one that I apprciate. I think when you wear shoes your mind thinks you can do a lot more without risk, and maybe you can and this is true, but I have noticed a big change in my parkour since training barefoot. My muscles have more control and I pay far more attention to maintaining that control especially on landings, I feel quick and more free in my movement. My ankles also feel safer. You are much more aware of the way you use your body to absorb impact. Is parkour about knowing how to kong.or something else completely? If the latter is true, we need to tell those people who cannot kong.
Brno parkour camp Czech Republic July 2010 The sun goes down in Brno around 9.30pm, Which is precisely when I arrived to greet a room full of adolescent boys in the heart of the Czech Republic. (of course I should have arrived a few hours prior to this, however I was otherwise engaged stranded on a train somewhere near the bottom of the Czech Republic with two Irish girls and one American who were having difficulty coping with the loss of air conditioning due to the train apparently not functioning as it should. I on the other hand had already come to terms with the fact that I am not really going to be clean for a couple of weeks, and was perfectly ok with the current sweat situation...I'm not saying it was pleasant or anything just tolerable.) Eventually we reached the station at which I was supposed to transfer to another train (which of course had left some hrs earlier). Eventually I found a promising train leaving in a few minutes and climbed on board and stuck my head out the window the entire remainder of the trip to Brno.
Uppsala Girls Gathering 2010 On Saturday morning parkour family Stockholm squashed into the little white car, and once the transition between togs and undies had officially been established, we arrived to our ominously wet destination. Uppsala Sweden. Uppsala is slightly north of Stockholm and is home to many students and a very positive and enthusiastic training group known as Uppsala Parkour (the organizers of the gathering). The growing numbers of female practitioners in Uppsala inspired the idea to hold a gathering in 2010. Girls came from many different cities from all over Sweden, there were also some international participants including myself of course and a girl from Czech Republic. As soon as we hit Uppsala the windscreen wipers were turned on, we found a car park and us girls went off to find a toilet (because we all know that there is nothing worse that training when you need to pee). We headed over to the train station to meet the girls and start the day. Everyone was really enthusiastic and energetic, it was also nice catching up with people I hadn't seen in a long time, the other girls from Stockholm were shocked to see so many girls, it was weird because it has always just been us three. We were divided into three groups; fortunately us three from Stockholm ended up working together. All 42 of us participating girls (and of course the inevitable gaggle of tag-along boys) headed over to some undercover stairs to begin the day, Therese (Uppsala Parkour) welcomed us to the event and introduced the instructors for the weekend. We also learnt the phrase 'start together' 'finish together' (Börja tillsammans, Svensk tillsammans…just because we aren't in Finland) must be completed in unison. We were fortunate enough to have Dan Edwardes from Parkour Generations lead the warm up. The warm up involved first working through the major muscles and joints and then we worked on basic quad movements. It was great to have such an experienced instructor and I was immediately taken by the energy of his movement, even when demonstrating quad movement variations. It reminded me of the energy I feel sometimes when I jump with no shoes. We worked on our techniques while simultaneously trying not to get hit by a bicycle, which proved to be no easy task considering that the cycle path had not been painted in a straight line. After warm up we split into groups to work on some movement techniques involving rails. It was great to get the chance to work with Naomi of PKG, she had a lot of technique knowledge which was great and she had a lot of encouragement for us girls, whether we were new to parkour or more experienced I think we gained a lot. Of course by this point we were all rather wet (especially after the suspicious first butterfly'esk ' vaulting maneuver, where one's stomach greeted the wet rail). We did our best to keep warm, which of course in Sweden involves, a lot of jumping, singing, shouting and dancing (all simultaneously of course). The rain continued to get heaver and heaver and a decision was made to move the remainder of the day's activities inside. Of course by the time we made it to the gym we were as wet as humanly possible without actually being submerged in water. (Of course most people took the bus, but we were just too hardcore), it was also a good chance to get to know some of the other participants…there's nothing like bonding over extreme weather conditions. In the gym we first worked on different vaults, Dan encouraged us not to get hung up on specific techniques and rather focus on moving efficiently over the obstacle. Some of the obstacles were quite high for us shorties and our vaults ended up getting rather extreme, (including a wonderful variation of a vault by one of us from Stockholm that involved dangling from one leg and an elbow with one's head directly above the ground. ) Needless to say she was slightly traumatized and happy to be alive. After the vaults we split into groups to work on some techniques, Cat leaps, running precision, rolls, and other vaults and movements. After another hour or so, we did a warm down with Annty from PKG, which was very comprehensive and I definitely learnt a couple of new stretches. After warm down training was over for the first day. We found that we missed training with our boys more than we thought, and were happy when we were finally reunited. After a short break we listened to a talk about injuries which by this stage we were all extremely tired and wanting to catch up with the rest of our group, so we were all a bit agitated and found it difficult to concentrate, (especially for me since I had pretty much done the same lesson with all my fifth grade classes 2 weeks earlier.) Soon after this the boys burst into the gym in their usual 'full-on' fashion (not that we couldn't hear them coming from 2 blocks away) and began tearing around. Some of us went down to get some food and ended meeting some other girls at the restaurant and had a great time just hanging out and meeting new people. I think the 'ParKul' (parkour tag) and general energetic randomness probably continued until about 11pm after which a sensible Stockholm Parkour Academy representative encouraged sleep. So we all settled into our makeshift gym mat beds for the night. In the morning we headed back to the train station for day 2.
Day 2 Sunday Day two involved both the boys and the girls and we were a group of around 100. Dan led the warm up and some brutal conditioning involving a lot of quads up and down the stairs, which was exactly what I needed. After the warm up, I was approached by a woman for an interview (who was stoked by the fact that us girls were just as strong as the boys.) which ended up being quite amusing when the rest of the Stockholm family got involved, and tried to explain the concept of the 'cork press'. We were divided into mixed groups and went to a spot to train. We must have been about 20-30 people. Annty showed us a great parkour game which was really fun (but we had to cheat with rubbish bins). We had to get in a line and follow the leader, the leader had to create a path for the rest of us, by passing obstacles without touching the ground, if they fell they had to go to the back of the line, and there was a new leader. We went back to the train station and concluded the official part of the gathering with epic conditioning and stretching once again led by Dan of PKG. After warm down we went to get some lunch before the free jam, at this point it started to once again bucket down, and after many tribulations the stockholmians being all out of rain enthusiasm decided to pack it in, and return home, tired and satisfied after an amazing weekend of parkour and friends. A big thanks to Therese the organizers of the event and the rest of Uppsala Parkour for hosting the great event. Thanks to the Parkour Generations instructors, Dan Edwardes, Annty Marais and Naomi Honey, thank you for inspiring us with your skill and passion for parkour And of course a big thank you to my parkour family who I would truly be lost without. I love you all so much. Photo credit: Therese Gunnarsson
by Hayley on Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:55 pm Photo by Alejandro Chryses Dahlgren
Training...so Wednesday afternoon I went out for a little jump to test out the ankle...(scaffolding heaven) I trained solo for about two hours and then I found out some of the others were training so went back to the city centre to try to find them (I tend to just parkour randomly around and never actually have a clue where I am).
Planning to head to Göteborg for a few days over Easter to visit some old friends so hopefully I will get a chance to have a jump there also. Do you know what would be cool...to have jumped in every city in the world.
Thats enough rambling for now...bring on Spring Stockholm!
by Hayley on Fri Apr 30, 2010 10:04 pm Photo by Hayley
So I think in some ways I have made a lot of progress it's just different to what I would have previously considered as progress. People around me are jumping longer and longer doing amazing cat leaps and huge wall runs. What I do is not at all impressive to watch, not correct, probably not even real parkour, Its just me, thats's all.
Somehow parkour became about following someone else's rules.
I was met at the train station by one of the instructor\leaders of the camp, who took me on a mystery tram ride from the city to the recreation centre being used as a base for the camp. As we approach the building I was informed that "this is the gate...we don't have the keys", and so the pop vault instantly becomes one of the entry requirements of the camp! After vaulting on over the fence we rounded a corner to meet one of the other instructor\leaders on his hands, at this point I had no idea what to expect, I walked into the building to see a room full of teenage boys watching a parkour doco and fighting the mosquitos, the lights turned on and I was introduced to the group (made up of 5 instructors, a couple of other personnel and around 40 or more boys between the ages of 11 and 18.) Of course not being able to speak the same language was indeed interesting...you have to wonder what gets lost in translation sometimes...After my introduction there were a few hours of mucking about (a few handstands may have been executed...) we went to bed (bed being the floor, of course, I hadn't really slept in an actual bed for about two weeks by this stage already).
The next morning I got a good look at where I was, the building was perfect, I wish we had more places like this back home. The funny thing about it is that it couldn't be all that difficult to achieve, a few big relatively empty rooms with a kitchen and some bathroom facilities. The fact of the matter is that this not a place to make money. Which is precisely why it is such a great place to hold a parkour camp. The place made me smile. You can imagine all the great time kids have had at this place...eating cereal out of cups. The heat situation was a bit horrific...at 7am it was already well over 20C. The rooms upstairs were painted black and most of the windows by this stage had been jammed open with some sort of empty water holding vessel, not that opening the windows helped much. Smelly clothes drenched in Sweat from the previous days training hung in the open windows my sink rinsed clothes soon added to the array. In the morning we had a run in the woods nearby which was really nice although a bit fast for me (running barefoot takes slightly more caution, of course I had to try to explain why I trained barefoot which nobody really understood, but they seemed to respect the imitative which was nice...everyone is kind of used to me not wearing shoes in Stockholm). After the run we had a stretch on the lawn outside the building, it was nice to have soo much time dedicated to warming up usually at training its a big rush to get into it. After warm up it was breakfast time, which wasn't as mad as I'd expected having soo many boys.
After breakfast we split into groups and did some training around the lawn and inside the building. I went out and did some conditioning with about 7 other people, we did some locomotion's and then some other body weight conditioning. By this stage it was almost impossible to stand in direct sunlight and I had to put on my shoes because the ground had become ridiculously hot sweat was pouring off everyone. I drunk a lot of water (hot water) many of the guys were drinking suspicious coloured water which reminded me of my days as an Air Force Cadet back in NZ. But I figure it was probably a good idea to get a bit of sugar and fluid at the same time. Now this is something that took me awhile to notice...There is nothing I hate more than needing to pee while doing parkour (stay with me here, I do have a point) and well usually I pee a lot so I try not to drink so much also I don't really like drinking while training but here well I just had to, I must have drunk more water in one day than I ever had in my life..I swear...but the amazing thing was I never needed to pee not once that whole time at camp did I ever really need to pee, I don't usually sweat very much (maybe that's why I always need to pee) but I was losing that liquid no question.
Most days followed a similar format, stretch, breakfast, group training, parkour spot, parkour doco watching...One of the days we went to a pool (when we eventually managed to find it that was) Needless to say I ended up in the water with my clothes on, with small boys attempting to drown me. I took a lot away from the camp, and have been inspired to create opportunities like this one for kids in Stockholm and New Zealand to learn about movement and the special community surrounding the world of parkour and natural movement.
The camp was amazing and I applaud the initiative and all the effort and dedication put into organising and running the camp by the guys.
A big shout out to you all, hope to see you again in the future,
All the best :)
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