lvl 1 Parkour: testing challenges

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  • FORWARD SHOULDER ROLL

    Level: 1

    Zone: Ukemi

  • Backward shoulder roll

    Level: 1

    Zone: Ukemi

  • 5 second rail balance

    Level: 1

    Zone: Ukemi

  • Quad Jump - Bounce Back

    Level: 1

    Zone: Jumps

  • Kong up - dash down - step vault

    Level: 1

    Zone: Vaults

  • Tac - Wall Splat

    Level: 1

    Zone: Walls

  • Underbar

    Level: 1

    Zone: Bars

  • Dash Down - Cartwheel

    Level: 1

    Zone: Vaults

level 1 testing tutorials

lvl 1 ukemi

Testing Challenges:

FORWARD SHOULDER ROLL

BACKWARD SHOULDER ROLL

5 SECOND RAIL BALANCE

UKEMI is a Japanese term that refers to the “art of falling”. No parkour athlete succeeds at 100% of the challenges they try, so athletes must prepare for the inevitable. When an athlete knows how to save themselves from injury, they will have the confidence to push boundaries and progress their parkour skills. For example, an athlete might preform a breakfall when falling backwards, regrip when slipping off a bar, or bounce back when undershooting a jump.

LVL 1 jumps

Testing Challenge:

QUAD JUMP - BOUNCE BACK

(STRIDE - STRIDE - PLYO - BOUNCE BACK)

JUMPS are naturally a part of almost every parkour skill. Athletes jump into vaults, jump off walls, & jump up to bars. Jumping techniques teach athletes how to maximize height on takeoff and properly absorb the impact on landing, which is key for both progression and safety. A solid foundation of jumps, make for a solid parkour athlete. For example, a parkour athlete might perform a plyo to dive roll, a 180 jump into a speed step, or a stride into a precision.

LVL 1 Vaults

Testing Challenge:

KONG UP - DASH DOWN - STEP VAULT

VAULTS are vital for moving efficiently through an environment. Generally, vault skills involve using a hand or two, propelling the body up, over, or down obstacles. There are endless variations of vaults, and they can be mixed with other skills to create exciting challenges. For example, a parkour athlete might perform a lazy vault to a plyo, a kong vault to a lache, or a speed step to a forward shoulder roll.

LVL 1 Walls

Testing Challenge:

TAC - WALL SPLAT

WALLS—whether slanted or flat—add a dynamic dimension to parkour. Athletes learn to hang on, climb up, push against, & kick off of walls. While a wall may seem to be a barrier for most, a wall provides opportunity for parkour athletes. They allow athletes to reach new heights and add new perspectives for parkour challenges. For example, a parkour athlete might preform a tac to a speed step, a brodie to a regrab, or a cat 180 to a plyo.

LVL 1 bars

Testing Challenge:

UNDERBAR

BARS add swinging to the mix, setting bar skills apart from the other main areas of parkour. The swing factor makes the volume of bar skills so large and their applications so unique. Due to the nature of parkour, bars can also act like the other main areas of parkour. For example, a parkour athlete might preform a kong over a bar (bar & vault skill), a plyo across bars (bar & jump skill), or a jump to pole cat (wall & bar skill).

LVL 1 Freerunning

Testing Challenge:

DASH DOWN - CARTWHEEL

FREERUNNING = Parkour + Acrobatics. This style of training is so diverse that we have a whole other program dedicated to it. Our Flips & Tricks Program progresses freerunning at a faster pace while students in our Parkour Program will just learn the essentials. Freerunning is all about transitioning between skills smoothly which is known in the movement community as flow. For example, a freerunning athlete might mix lache with cartwheel, kong with roundoff, or plyo with front flip.

Next

Parkour: Level 2 Elements