Plyo Monkeys

Here's a quick link to Hawaii PK's new exercise video on Plyo Monkeys. The exercise is much harder than it looks when Ozzi does it, as usual (check also his push-up variations video in the Conditioning Videos section of the website).

We will definitely add this to our regular exercise diet!

Posture

An often ignored element of parkour training is to improve our general posture. Most of us lie somewhere close to the left side man on the picture, thanks to poor sitting habits and a desk & computer job. Without going to the excesses of the right side man (showing the equally bad military posture), we can stand (and sit) much better. Signs of a good posture are: 1) a straight spine; 2) forward-engaged hips; 3) shoulders rotated back. It should make you feel slightly taller, show off your muscular chest and perhaps seem a little constipated until you learn to relax into the posture.

To switch from lounging to straight posture, start with rotating your pelvis forward onto your hips. Your lower back will naturally straighten (and then arch back if you go too far). Then pull your head up, straightening your upper back, and finish with rotating your shoulders up, back and then down to open your chest. Take a deep breath, and try to relax without moving..

With a better posture, you can breathe better (your thorax is open, making it easier to fill your lungs with air), lower the amount of torsion on your spine (and associated back pain), maintain a strong torso when moving in parkour, and most importantly improve your looks!!

Parkour Visions Summit 2011

Like in many places in the US, the traceurs in Seattle organize a big Parkour gathering every year, and now for a couple of years they have tried to make it more of an organized sports meeting than an oversized jam session. From this year's, here a couple of interesting-looking videos:

• A short discussion on injury prevention and healing
  
• A lengthy presentation of Ukemi for Parkour, with many examples and demonstrations.
  

There's also a few videos of some of the best traceurs out there completing various challenges; it's quite interesting to compare their styles and methods on the same routes and obstacles.

And remember if you ever travel to Seattle, go and visit Parkour Visions!