Benefits of Learning Parkour
at Urban Youth Park
TOP 5 MENTAL BENEFITS of learning PARKOUR at uyp
Personal Growth Mindset
We teach our students how to have a positive mental attitude. We teach them how to set goals and measure personal progress. We encourage failure, and teach that failing is ok. We also teach them how to get back up and try again. We teach our students that we are responsible for our own emotions, thoughts and behavior. We teach personal responsibility for our thoughts and actions and choices. We encourage our students to be self-confident and capable of anything if they put their minds to it. We often hear students say “I can’t do that’ or “that’s impossible” when they first come in to our classes, but we don’t allow the “C” word in our gym! Things that seem “impossible” become “possible” because we give our students smaller steps to build up to that once “impossible” skill. Often when training parkour we realize we are capable, that we can push past self imposed mental boundaries. That ultimately we can decide whether we want to have a positive attitude or negative attitude on the road to learning a new skill.
Confidence
At our gym, making mistakes is not only ok…Its encouraged! Falling is taught how to do safely. When a person makes a mistake and comes out ok, their confidence builds knowing that no matter what happens they will be alright. Students can then start to take more measured risks as they become more confident in their personal boundaries. Interestingly enough, parkour students are also more confident when playing in other sports as they have developed better body control and athleticism. They know how to safely roll, or fall, or divert their bodies from potential collisions with other athletes.
Critical Thinking Skills
Parkour teaches an individual how to measure the risk/reward benefit when it comes to attempting certain skills. They will begin to judge the distance of obstacles and know if their skill level can reach that. They will also learn how to safely fail (bail), check the surface and stability of an obstacle before trying to use it. They will begin to judge the heights of obstacles, and what the ground looks like beneath it, before they try to execute a skill off of something. Students will start to learn how to think on their toes sometimes having to make quick decisions sometimes with limited knowledge on a given situation.
Focus
Parkour teaches focus. As students begin to level up and learn more difficult skills, being able to focus is a key component to parkour training. Students will need to learn focus for a variety of reasons…some examples might be simply taking the time to listen to important instructions before attempting a skill. Focus is necessary to be able to assess an obstacles distance, height or width and then deciding quickly which movement/skill to do over an obstacle. Also when you first start learning focus and patience with something you enjoy, it will trickle down into other areas of life. School, relationships, at home and with other sports and activities.
Parkour is Fun!
Simply put.. parkour is so fun!! Many of the benefits explained above sometimes takes adults years to learn, understand, and apply into their daily lives. This is because people are trying to learn and apply all of these mental traits through methods that are not as enjoyable so they don’t stay consistent. With parkour training, all of the above methods get taught. Sometimes without a person even knowing!
TOP 7 PHYSICAL BENEFITS OF learning PARKOUR at yup
Spacial & Body Awareness
Parkour teaches you how to be aware of your surroundings and your body, this can come in handy for everyday life and other sports or activities. We learn this by utilizing obstacles around us and our own body to perform skills. All in all parkour is great for cross training.
Teaches the Art of Ukemi: How to fall safely
Everyone is going to fall in life figuratively and literally. It always good to know how to safely fall to reduce the risk of injury. Parkour teaches all the safe falling techniques a person needs when falling from any direction. It doesn’t matter what sport or activity you play, gravity rules, & falling is still the same and it's helpful to know how to do that properly.
Helps to connect the Left Brain to the Right brain (coordination)
Left brain/right brain connection takes place when the whole body is being used. Bilateral movement is also important to this development. Parkour uses the entire body in majority of its movement skills and techniques. We teach a lot of QM: quadrilateral movement, forwards, backwards and sideways. Many sports and activities are unilateral and they are one sided or are upper body or lower body dominant. Many sports don’t encourage simultaneous whole body movements. Many sports focus on one part of the body at a time and often you end up doing the same repetitive positions over and over again. This leads to overuse injuries and unbalanced bodies. Parkour nourishes left/right brain development and is very important to everyone at all ages.
Balance
Prevent falling in the first place! Gotta train balance when we are young and got still train balance as we get older. Preventable falls is the number one reason older adults get injured. Balance is like a muscle, you have to train it or you will lose it. We train balance in every class, we use the floor rails, floor beams, bosu balls, precision and plyo trainers and even balancing on our hands!! Good balance will help to keep you safe in everyday life.
Flexibility
Flexibility is another use it or lose it body trait. You’ve gotta continue with flexibility training your whole life. Longevity is important in parkour athletes. You take care of your body and your body will take care of you. Being able to move forever, doesn’t that sound wonderful! Many adults have a hard time completing normal, everyday movements. Staying flexible is key for longevity and short term recovery after hard exercise.
Great for ALL Levels and Ages
You don’t have to be the most athletic person to be great at parkour. In fact some of the best athletes are the awkward ones before they found parkour. Parkour is a single person sport. You don’y need a team, or special equipment, or even special coaches. Just get out and move!! Parkour has a misconception about it that it has to be hard or dangerous to be considered parkour. Not true. Parkour can be very basic and simple even for the newest beginner.
Stay in Great Shape!
By training Parkour you will develop an athlete’s body. You will develop the speed, power, agility, cardio, and strength of an athlete. When training parkour, the entire body is used! Key body strengthening areas are the legs, arms, chest, back, shoulders, and core. Even your joints will strengthen- ankles, wrist, neck. Because parkour is so fun… you will have more intense workouts! You’ll enjoy being healthy, capable, and strong. Training parkour is very empowering as well. While most adults are grueling through yet another boring workout, you’ll be moving with more speed, agility and strength than your’ve ever known… and you’ll be having fun too! Exercise doesn’t have to be boring anymore! There are so many different parkour skills and drills that can be enjoyed at every age.
The physical and mental lessons and skills that are taught and developed will often stick with these students for life.