WOO! Lots of things have gone pretty good this past week, namely I got a job, working fairly good hours. I am now a kitchen assistant at a local restaurant, working Friday and Saturday nights. This means I now can save up to go to Canberra in October for the National Gathering, and I can start saving up for a trip back to England!
Also, my knees feel way better, I did a bit of training today. I think next weekend, after resting a little this week, I should be fine. The other day I woke up and just had this feeling they were better.
My raise up handstands are nearly there, here is a little video of how they are going.
Doesn't look that good but I was pleased with the progression I'm making on them. I think in another week I'll have them; all I need to do is be able to press a little more.
One more thing: I want to wish my friend Gainey many thanks, for being a great friend and being one of the main people I keep in touch with regularly from England, he's helped me loads with my training and stuffs. You are a Gainstar mister Gainizzles! Hope you have/had a great time training at Teg's =]
-Wizey
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Hanstands and Stuff
Recently I have been having a problem with my knees. I have obviously stopped training and rested, which has been going pretty good. I am aiming to rest for around a month. I can walk and run fine, and do a little bit of technical training, provided a thorough warm up and cool down is done. Also, I don't do any training involving my quads for too long, as I think this is the problem - I reckon I have really early stages of Osgood-Schlatters. Luckily it hasnt progressed far, so I think some rest shall make it good.
Because of this, I have decided to start training handstands a lot more, and my aim is to get raise-up handstands. Since deciding to start this training on Wednesday night, after speaking to Liam, I have done handstands each day. Against a wall for strength, and then kicking away from it for balance, as well as just doing ones on logs or rocks. On Thursday I did about 50, on Friday I did 70, Saturday I did about 50 on different surfaces, and today I did 100. Next Thursday I will update with how they are going. At the moment I am still developing the strength for raise-ups, and working on the balancing techniques - so far it is going good.
This is a video I made last month with some training around my village:
and here is a picture of some handstands down at the creek:
![Handstand =]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/2463359701_88489c4941.jpg)
![Handstand II =]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2014/2464179880_b1905acd0d.jpg)
Peace,
-Wizey =]
Because of this, I have decided to start training handstands a lot more, and my aim is to get raise-up handstands. Since deciding to start this training on Wednesday night, after speaking to Liam, I have done handstands each day. Against a wall for strength, and then kicking away from it for balance, as well as just doing ones on logs or rocks. On Thursday I did about 50, on Friday I did 70, Saturday I did about 50 on different surfaces, and today I did 100. Next Thursday I will update with how they are going. At the moment I am still developing the strength for raise-ups, and working on the balancing techniques - so far it is going good.
This is a video I made last month with some training around my village:
and here is a picture of some handstands down at the creek:
Peace,
-Wizey =]
Monday, April 07, 2008
Climbup Progression and New Penrith Video
Training is going great - I finally got climbups pretty good. So I filmed a few. Here ya go:
And Penrith scene is getting great, its a lot of fun. New video, last one was 6 months ago. Time flies. Robbie edited this one. Turned out really great:
-Peace from Down Under, x
And Penrith scene is getting great, its a lot of fun. New video, last one was 6 months ago. Time flies. Robbie edited this one. Turned out really great:
-Peace from Down Under, x
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Hawkesbury Gazette Article
Here's an article I did with the Hawkesbury Gazette about parkour, focusing on my journey and training at my park.
-Wizzles
-Wizzles
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Easter Weekend
Finally, a few days off school to catch up on training and assignments. Pah, as if I'd do those when I could be out training.
Anyways, I headed off to Penrith on Saturday, despite the downpour. I met Antek and Zewelli, who are both from Sydney area, and we decided to head to Sydney instead. No one else turned up in Penrith, so the decision was pretty easy. After an hour and a half train ride, we ended up at Wynyard station, and from there we walked to a spot Antek and Zewelli had trained at previously. It is a really great place, filled with railings, AND it's undercover, so rain didnt get there. Sydney was dry anyways when we arrived.
I wanted to get rail precisions better, and just be generally more confident on railings. The railings varied, thinner white ones, and thicker red ones. After gaining some confidence, I was doing sequences of precisions, but making sure to stick them. There are many other things to try, for example a really large arm jump, which I thought was out of my reach, so I didn't go for it. I strung together a few runs, that involved precisions and swinging around lamposts. Still, there is plenty of stuff there to occupy yourself for a few hours, and I can't wait to go back there again.
The next spot we headed to was around Circular Quay, and it is basically lots or stones, like fake ruins almost. It's a great spot for precisions, many different surfaces, angles etc really help mix things up and keep you on your toes. I got climbups on some of the taller stones really good.
We three felt pretty tired after these two spots, so we grabbed some late lunch, and got on a train back to Town Hall, for a cool down and tricking session at Darling Harbour. I tryed my new sideflip technique, and pulled off a few tricks. Antek did some nice piked fronts and weird 180 sort of sideflips. It was a great day, fairly tiring as well.
Oh, one more thing. There is a wall at Town Hall, where I practise climbups each time I go to Sydney, and monitor my progress. Started off with bad single armed ones, then bad double armed ones. I tried one on Saturday and got a really explosive pullup part, and ended up with nearly straight arms on top of the wall, I was well chuffed.
Feeling pretty tired, I decided not to go to Sydney again today, so I slept in till around 9, and then talked to Gainey for a bit. He convinced me to film some stuff outside, so I got dressed and showered, and went out. Due to there being heavy rain yesterday, the ground at the park was wet, so if I wore shoes it would transfer to the wood and make that wet too. Barefootz it was then.
I have to say it was a great training session, I was feeling strong and stuff, so I filmed some muscle ups on varying thickness of bars. I have the goal post, which is thick, yellow bar which is perfect size, and the 3 bars at the park which are thin. They are all rounded, but provide different challenges. My muscleups on the yellow bars were the smoothest, and I think I did around 20 in total throughout the session. Some of them were single armed or nearly double armed, but I was striving to get double arms smoother. I filmed two really good double armed ones consecutively, but the camera angle didnt capture it fully. Anyway it was really fast and smooth. I also worked on some runs through the park, which feel so much better barefooted. I put my shoes back on later on and did a small precision, and I didn't feel half as good as with barefoot.
Gainey also wanted me to film some flips, so I headed over to the sand pit, as the grass was a bit wet and slippy to do them on. My sideflips have improved a lot, as have my backflips. I kept overotating on my backflips, as I didn't expect to land them that good. I got those nicely, and thought I'd try flashkicks, which are pretty hard, and still need to figure out what technique to use. Relatives of a neighbour were there, and were asking me about what I do etc and took some nice pictures on their camera of some flips.
I really wanted to film some climbups, so I went to a wall that I thought might be good. However it isn't, as the bricks stick out on the top a bit, making it harder. I can pullup really fast but the bricks on top make the transition harder. Once I get a bit stronger I'll be able to do them on there really well. Here's the video I made today:
Anyways, I headed off to Penrith on Saturday, despite the downpour. I met Antek and Zewelli, who are both from Sydney area, and we decided to head to Sydney instead. No one else turned up in Penrith, so the decision was pretty easy. After an hour and a half train ride, we ended up at Wynyard station, and from there we walked to a spot Antek and Zewelli had trained at previously. It is a really great place, filled with railings, AND it's undercover, so rain didnt get there. Sydney was dry anyways when we arrived.
I wanted to get rail precisions better, and just be generally more confident on railings. The railings varied, thinner white ones, and thicker red ones. After gaining some confidence, I was doing sequences of precisions, but making sure to stick them. There are many other things to try, for example a really large arm jump, which I thought was out of my reach, so I didn't go for it. I strung together a few runs, that involved precisions and swinging around lamposts. Still, there is plenty of stuff there to occupy yourself for a few hours, and I can't wait to go back there again.
The next spot we headed to was around Circular Quay, and it is basically lots or stones, like fake ruins almost. It's a great spot for precisions, many different surfaces, angles etc really help mix things up and keep you on your toes. I got climbups on some of the taller stones really good.
We three felt pretty tired after these two spots, so we grabbed some late lunch, and got on a train back to Town Hall, for a cool down and tricking session at Darling Harbour. I tryed my new sideflip technique, and pulled off a few tricks. Antek did some nice piked fronts and weird 180 sort of sideflips. It was a great day, fairly tiring as well.
Oh, one more thing. There is a wall at Town Hall, where I practise climbups each time I go to Sydney, and monitor my progress. Started off with bad single armed ones, then bad double armed ones. I tried one on Saturday and got a really explosive pullup part, and ended up with nearly straight arms on top of the wall, I was well chuffed.
Feeling pretty tired, I decided not to go to Sydney again today, so I slept in till around 9, and then talked to Gainey for a bit. He convinced me to film some stuff outside, so I got dressed and showered, and went out. Due to there being heavy rain yesterday, the ground at the park was wet, so if I wore shoes it would transfer to the wood and make that wet too. Barefootz it was then.
I have to say it was a great training session, I was feeling strong and stuff, so I filmed some muscle ups on varying thickness of bars. I have the goal post, which is thick, yellow bar which is perfect size, and the 3 bars at the park which are thin. They are all rounded, but provide different challenges. My muscleups on the yellow bars were the smoothest, and I think I did around 20 in total throughout the session. Some of them were single armed or nearly double armed, but I was striving to get double arms smoother. I filmed two really good double armed ones consecutively, but the camera angle didnt capture it fully. Anyway it was really fast and smooth. I also worked on some runs through the park, which feel so much better barefooted. I put my shoes back on later on and did a small precision, and I didn't feel half as good as with barefoot.
Gainey also wanted me to film some flips, so I headed over to the sand pit, as the grass was a bit wet and slippy to do them on. My sideflips have improved a lot, as have my backflips. I kept overotating on my backflips, as I didn't expect to land them that good. I got those nicely, and thought I'd try flashkicks, which are pretty hard, and still need to figure out what technique to use. Relatives of a neighbour were there, and were asking me about what I do etc and took some nice pictures on their camera of some flips.
I really wanted to film some climbups, so I went to a wall that I thought might be good. However it isn't, as the bricks stick out on the top a bit, making it harder. I can pullup really fast but the bricks on top make the transition harder. Once I get a bit stronger I'll be able to do them on there really well. Here's the video I made today:
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
New Media Thingz All Around!
It's been a while since I updated this, I really should do it more often.
To start with I will show you the newspaper article myself and Robbie did with the Penrith Star. It went really well, and there were no inaccuracies or misinformation, so it was pretty successful.
The article has sparked some more interest in Penrith, and we have had a few more people join us in Penrith each Saturday. It also caught the eye of the Hawkesbury Gazette, who interviewed me at my park in Kurrajong. The article is due to be published tomorrow, so I will upload a scan of it.
I have made a two new videos since my last blog post: One is a training video at my park, and the other is of a day I had in Sydney with Robbie, Antek and Max. It was a great day, and we explored some new areas of the City. Probably one of the best training sessions I have had. Anyways, here are the videos:
Light As A Feather
Sydney Parkour - 24th Feb 08
I had my birthday on the 11th of February, and I got a new camera - it is a bit like my old one but with so many better features, namely the picture quality, better video quality and the ability to record in widescreen AND with sound this time. I have been taking some pictures each week in Penrith, and they have turned out pretty good so far. Here is a selection, the rest can be found on here: http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g199/Wizey7/
Along with taking pictures in Penrith, Robbie and I are creating a new Penrith Sessions video, this time the aim being to show the growth of parkour in Penrith, as well as to show some new areas and movements. Filming is taking place throughout March, and Robbie is doing the final edit.
So, apart from media-whoring, what else have I been doing?
Well, mainly training at my park - conditioning and working on new movements on rails and bars. I can really feel a sense of freedom and ease of movement there now, and I also feel ownership over the park; I use it practically everyday and hate to see it messy and littered.
The other day whilst training I just felt so alive and confident, and could feel a real progression in my strength and abilities. Muscle ups and climbups are getting better - I have been practising technique for both, as that was the trouble I had with it. One week in Penrith I couldn't do muscle ups on the green bars, then after working on technique, the next week I could do loads.
I did a big conditioning session on Monday with a friend, partly for a PE assignment, mainly to try some new things. Highlights included around 120 metres of lunges and then a sprint back; handstand walking across a wall and quadrupedal. The session was mainly leg and ab based, and thats what aches at the moment. One day this week I'll do a more focused upper body session, most likely on Thursday.
OOOH! Just remembered, I also had a really great gym session in Homebush for my birthday, and Danny Ilabaca was there, as he was over for a K-Swiss promotion. He remembered me from the WWJ workshop in Lincoln, which was cool. That night I learnt back tucks, and have got them on grass as well now. So yer, basically an awesome month of training.
That's all from me for now, good luck in all your own forms of movement. Happy trainingz!
-Wizzles
To start with I will show you the newspaper article myself and Robbie did with the Penrith Star. It went really well, and there were no inaccuracies or misinformation, so it was pretty successful.
The article has sparked some more interest in Penrith, and we have had a few more people join us in Penrith each Saturday. It also caught the eye of the Hawkesbury Gazette, who interviewed me at my park in Kurrajong. The article is due to be published tomorrow, so I will upload a scan of it.
I have made a two new videos since my last blog post: One is a training video at my park, and the other is of a day I had in Sydney with Robbie, Antek and Max. It was a great day, and we explored some new areas of the City. Probably one of the best training sessions I have had. Anyways, here are the videos:
Light As A Feather
Sydney Parkour - 24th Feb 08
I had my birthday on the 11th of February, and I got a new camera - it is a bit like my old one but with so many better features, namely the picture quality, better video quality and the ability to record in widescreen AND with sound this time. I have been taking some pictures each week in Penrith, and they have turned out pretty good so far. Here is a selection, the rest can be found on here: http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g199/Wizey7/
Along with taking pictures in Penrith, Robbie and I are creating a new Penrith Sessions video, this time the aim being to show the growth of parkour in Penrith, as well as to show some new areas and movements. Filming is taking place throughout March, and Robbie is doing the final edit.
So, apart from media-whoring, what else have I been doing?
Well, mainly training at my park - conditioning and working on new movements on rails and bars. I can really feel a sense of freedom and ease of movement there now, and I also feel ownership over the park; I use it practically everyday and hate to see it messy and littered.
The other day whilst training I just felt so alive and confident, and could feel a real progression in my strength and abilities. Muscle ups and climbups are getting better - I have been practising technique for both, as that was the trouble I had with it. One week in Penrith I couldn't do muscle ups on the green bars, then after working on technique, the next week I could do loads.
I did a big conditioning session on Monday with a friend, partly for a PE assignment, mainly to try some new things. Highlights included around 120 metres of lunges and then a sprint back; handstand walking across a wall and quadrupedal. The session was mainly leg and ab based, and thats what aches at the moment. One day this week I'll do a more focused upper body session, most likely on Thursday.
OOOH! Just remembered, I also had a really great gym session in Homebush for my birthday, and Danny Ilabaca was there, as he was over for a K-Swiss promotion. He remembered me from the WWJ workshop in Lincoln, which was cool. That night I learnt back tucks, and have got them on grass as well now. So yer, basically an awesome month of training.
That's all from me for now, good luck in all your own forms of movement. Happy trainingz!
-Wizzles
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Updates
Well, I haven't updated this in a while, I have just been busy with training and things. It is nearly the end of the holidays, and I have managed to get quite a lot of training in. So, what's been happening since I last updated:
Training in Penrith each Saturday - I have accomplished a few new movements and me and Robbie have found some good new areas. We have also been experimenting with new movements and such in our current spots. "Epic Spot" still is epic, and we spend quite a bit of our day there.
Had a session in Sydney, where I got a big precision near Darling Harbour. I looked at it when I first went to Sydney, and thought I would never be able to do it. Leading up to the city session, I had noticed big improvements in my precision distance and control, so I knew it was right on the edge of my limit, but I went for for it. Did a few nice front flips at Tumbalong Park aswell.
A few days after that, I went to a gym session in Homebush, my first one which was really awesome. I got to practise some new tricks into the foam pit, and I got piked fronts aswell. I am going to try those at home in the sandpit when I get around to it. I also did 5 double armed muscle ups that night, which I was really pleased with. I got them pretty easily aswell, with hardly any swing.
I slept at Robbie's house that night, and had a full day training in the Mountains with him. It was a really tiring day, a lot of walking, and a lot of training, but it was well worth it. I was so tired the next day.
I haven't been able to train at my full potential for the past week and a bit, due to a back injury I sustained whilst learning to waterski, but that is nearly better now. I think it is the muscles between my shoulder blades that got pulled and stretched and used for the first time extensively.
And the highlight of the holidays so far has been an interview with a journalist named Gemma, along with photoshoot with a photographer in Penrith. She contacted me after seeing the Penrith training video and being really amazed (looking back at it, I dont think it is that good). That took place yesterday, and Robbie and I had a great time. Some photos will probably look a bit faggy and staged, but oh well. The interview went great, we chatted for nearly an hour, and Robbie and I talked extensively about parkour and a lot of its aspects. The interview was less based on the movements in parkour, more about why we do it, the philosophies behind it, and mine and Robbie's journey so far in parkour. The article and some photos will be in either this week's Penrith Star or next week's, depending on space, and all the photos will be available online as a slideshow. When its done I'll link the page and maybe scan the paper.
It is my birthday soon, and my goal was to get double armed muscle ups, and seeing as I got them, I made my goal to get them consistent and regular. I can do them on certain bars, but not all. So I am doing conditioning to work on the transition and pull up part a bit more. Once I have that goal, I will keep doing them until I can do more and more consecutively, whilst working on my other goal of getting raise up handstands.
Photos, videos and newpaper things to come soon,
-J
Training in Penrith each Saturday - I have accomplished a few new movements and me and Robbie have found some good new areas. We have also been experimenting with new movements and such in our current spots. "Epic Spot" still is epic, and we spend quite a bit of our day there.
Had a session in Sydney, where I got a big precision near Darling Harbour. I looked at it when I first went to Sydney, and thought I would never be able to do it. Leading up to the city session, I had noticed big improvements in my precision distance and control, so I knew it was right on the edge of my limit, but I went for for it. Did a few nice front flips at Tumbalong Park aswell.
A few days after that, I went to a gym session in Homebush, my first one which was really awesome. I got to practise some new tricks into the foam pit, and I got piked fronts aswell. I am going to try those at home in the sandpit when I get around to it. I also did 5 double armed muscle ups that night, which I was really pleased with. I got them pretty easily aswell, with hardly any swing.
I slept at Robbie's house that night, and had a full day training in the Mountains with him. It was a really tiring day, a lot of walking, and a lot of training, but it was well worth it. I was so tired the next day.
I haven't been able to train at my full potential for the past week and a bit, due to a back injury I sustained whilst learning to waterski, but that is nearly better now. I think it is the muscles between my shoulder blades that got pulled and stretched and used for the first time extensively.
And the highlight of the holidays so far has been an interview with a journalist named Gemma, along with photoshoot with a photographer in Penrith. She contacted me after seeing the Penrith training video and being really amazed (looking back at it, I dont think it is that good). That took place yesterday, and Robbie and I had a great time. Some photos will probably look a bit faggy and staged, but oh well. The interview went great, we chatted for nearly an hour, and Robbie and I talked extensively about parkour and a lot of its aspects. The interview was less based on the movements in parkour, more about why we do it, the philosophies behind it, and mine and Robbie's journey so far in parkour. The article and some photos will be in either this week's Penrith Star or next week's, depending on space, and all the photos will be available online as a slideshow. When its done I'll link the page and maybe scan the paper.
It is my birthday soon, and my goal was to get double armed muscle ups, and seeing as I got them, I made my goal to get them consistent and regular. I can do them on certain bars, but not all. So I am doing conditioning to work on the transition and pull up part a bit more. Once I have that goal, I will keep doing them until I can do more and more consecutively, whilst working on my other goal of getting raise up handstands.
Photos, videos and newpaper things to come soon,
-J
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