The First Episode

Went out training last night. Didn't manage to write anything on it, though, so here it is. Being a little sick, and focusing mostly on documenting Corey's lesson and progression, I didn't do all too much. Corey, however, was pushed quite a bit. I had him do an extensive warm-up similar to what we did in Hamilton under Dan's tutelage, occasinally joining in myself. He needed to take some breaks, which is all fair, since I doubt with my asthma I could've done it without breaks either. But I did notice that he could only do a fraction of what goes on in Toronto regularly. I'm trying to keep him in the realm of what I am capable of doing myself, because I wouldn't feel appropriate making him go through something that I'm not capable of.

All the same, I was expecting more out of him. For me, it would have been the warm-up's intensive cardio that wiped me out, but I would've pushed through. For him, I saw his weakness in the conditioning segment that followed. Thirty squats, thirty push-ups (three different stances, ten each), and then 30 vertical jumps on steps. Rest. Duck-walk about 20m. That's paltry. Even for me and my low level of fitness. It's not a criticism in any way; I just forgot what it was like. He'll get better, and each time I meet up with him for this project, the conditioning will get more intense.

I didn't want Corey to work on specific techniques this time around. I think that would box him in too soon. So I just asked him to keep moving in the area in any path he chose. In the beginning, he took his time and analysed what he could do where... When he moved and reached a rail where he couldn't speed vault or lazy vault it comfortably, he stopped, walked around some more, and found another path. I told him to stop thinking in terms of vaults and techniques. If he has to slowly climb over something, then just do that, but he shouldn't have been stopping because he couldn't do a more dynamic move on that rail. Over time, he got more comfortable with just moving around. I wanted to help instil in him a sense of play and exploration. That's the most important lesson for a beginner: don't get boxed in. Don't let your technique rule you. There are only two rules for Parkour: Condition. Move.

While I was filming, I did do random exercises, conditioning and some technical play, off the camera. But I'm just letting my body rest up for now.