Achieve Your Goals Through Self-Confidence, Achieve Self-Confidence Through Conquering Your Fears

by Erica Madrid
APEX Movement Performance Team
ericanmadrid@gmail.com

Last Friday, I had just about finished my blog entry when I went to go film my last trick for my 2010 sampler. What happened this day made my rewrite my blog entry about the result.

First, I’ll tell you a little about this blog-changing day. Wall inward fronts are one of my newest accomplishments. I had gotten them on a brick wall at the gym (with an 8 inch mat on the ground) about 3 days before I wanted to film them outside. The day of filming, I went to the gym to get some good practice ones in. They weren’t all perfect, but I was consistently landing on my feet. When it was time for the real deal, suddenly a HUGE wall of self doubt and fear built up in my head. Of course with this mental block comes all the excuses and “what ifs”. The grass is too wet. It’s too muddy and squishy. I can’t get enough power. It’s too uphill. I can’t get enough speed.

Let me tell you, when I get into excuse mode, the list never ends.

Having fear and understanding all possible consequences is important. It is not smart to just throw things without knowing what could happen. However, this does not mean you should let those things stop you from getting better. This is where you have to develop an understanding of rational vs. irrational fear. Then you have to build a strong neuron connection in your brain, that allows you to ignore your irrational fears. That means that when you know deep down that your training and ability can safely get you through the skill you are attempting, then you have to trust yourself and commit 100% to going for it. The more you do this, the easier it will become.

One of the most effective ways of beginning this mental training, is with positive thinking. Here are a couple of websites that have tons of positive quotes in just about every subject, so read them, remember them, and recite them next time you feel a mental block coming!

http://www.successconsciousness.com/quotes.htm
http://www.heartquotes.net/fear.html

I will post my 2010 sampler by this weekend as a comment on the blog. It will have my inward front wall flip performed outside so you can see me practicing what I preach!

Lastly, I want to know if you have had any similar mental blocks on particular tricks, jumps, or movements. Why were you scared? How did you overcome them?

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”
-Ambrose Redmoon

by Erica Madrid
APEX Movement Performance Team
ericanmadrid@gmail.com

An Unlikely Parallel

by Risa Scott
APEX Movement Family
risa.scott@gmail.com

I couldn’t decide what I wanted to write about for this blog. Eventually I started to think about the reasons I like Parkour, how it has affected my life and most importantly, what was it about Parkour that attracted me in the first place. Aside from the obvious social perks, Parkour has allowed me to make several breakthroughs in my already jam-packed athletic lifestyle. These breakthroughs have manifested physically as well as mentally as Parkour has made me face more fears than any of the other sports that I have done. Conversely, many of my previous sports and activities have also had a positive effect on my Parkour training; bringing an element of strength or body awareness acquired under very different conditions. My intent for this entry is to take a path unfamiliar to most traceurs and see how a very different background can often lead to similar ideals in training.

Many traceurs come from backgrounds like BMX, gymnastics, skateboarding, video gaming, even soccer or football; each sport contributing strengths and/or weaknesses to the traceurs’ Parkour training based on the mental or physical differences between activities. Similarly, my past athletic endeavors, however varied, have all been influenced by a primary and first sport which has created the physical and mental foundation I work with in my Parkour training.

I have been a competitive equestrian since the age of seven. I have competed or participated in a huge array of equestrian sports, most of which the general population has never heard of: Dressage, jumping, fox hunting, barrel racing, pony games, eventing, hunter pace, horse shows and even polo-crosse (a combination of polo and lacrosse). As a life-long rider, the communication between the rider and the horse becomes as second nature as tying your shoes. You come to learn that the differences from one horse to horse another means that accuracy, consistency and confidence are extremely important in order for commands to be understood. The importance of coordination between horse and rider is paramount and thus training emphasizes these three factors. Sound familiar yet?

Hold your horses (pun intended), it is not the same kind of consistency and accuracy you are used to in Parkour. Riders need to be able to replicate extremely fine muscular movements, called ‘aids’ that the horse is trained to interpret. The key to knowing an advanced rider is when they seem to sit perfectly still while the horse executes the desired movement. Likewise, in Parkour, the mark of a great traceur is when their movements seem almost effortless. This takes a deceiving amount of strength, even for the equestrian; something relatively unknown and hard to imagine to those who aren’t in the sport. Rider training is full bodied and yields excellent core strength and balance. In order to progress to certain movements or higher obstacles, strength and fitness are absolutely necessary. Or is that Parkour?

Even beyond these physical benefits, however, the mental benefits that can transfer to Parkour are the most applicable. Commitment to the execution of movements, particularly those that scare you is one of the earliest lessons learned with horses and Parkour. “Throw your heart over the jump and the horse will follow,” I heard once. The other day I was looking at a rail precision and that quote floated into my head. There is also the developed skill of picking a line, gauging space for striding and utilizing the appropriate technique to maximize efficiency. These are tenants spoken of often by riding instructors; after all, it doesn’t do the rider any good when the horse gets tired. So, like a traceur, they opt to minimize effort through a line by utilizing technique, flow and strategical power.

It seems an unlikely influence, but my experience with horses has brought more to the table than most of my other, seemingly more relevant sports. The general observation is that we are a product of what we know best. I, without a doubt in my mind, know horses and riding better than almost anything else in my life. As such, it is only fitting that it significantly influences my training as I strive to become a better traceuse.

by Risa Scott
APEX Movement Family
risa.scott@gmail.com

Building Up

by Geoff Worcester
APEX Movement Family
gworcester13@gmail.com

We have all done it before; daydreaming of training while sitting in class or busy at work. Or getting a mild adrenaline rush while the imaginary obstacles run through our minds. As we flex our muscles we become restless and just want to train. The trouble is sometimes we do not follow through with the action, often making excuses by saying, “I don’t have time” or “I’m not wearing my sweats.”

Excuses, excuses.

No matter where you are or what you are doing, there is always time to train things like grip strength, flips, vaults, or balance. Now I’m not saying that you should jump on a table in the middle of a business meeting and start to do some flow (although that would be awesome). But during time between classes, a work break, when everything is going slow, get up and work on a simple skill.

Here are a few examples:

Walking on curbs or rails to and from class or work.

Precisions on parking lot lines or cracks in the street.

When seeing an obstacle that’s blocking people, go over it with a vault.

Need to get around a rail but can’t go over? Go under.

Handstands during commercials of your favorite show.

Practice rolls in your house.

During a break, find some grass and work on tumbling or flips, just to keep the skill up (but don’t go messing up your uniform though).

Try avoiding stairs and see if you can go up and/or down creatively or efficiently.

Grab the edge of the desk and pull slightly for grip strength.

Precision up or stride up the stairs.

Of course there are many more and surely you have thought of things on your own. Having those basics down is essential and small drills like these will surely help keep your skills polished. Also, building up self-confidence is important; when there is no one around, we scare ourselves even more because there is no outer encouragement. Having confidence by ourselves will multiply having others around. Soon enough, it won’t matter when random strangers give you weird looks because you are doing your own thing and happy with yourself.

Remember, wherever you are, inside an office or in the middle of a parking lot, there is always something to be found. Now get up and do whatever it is you want to work on. Thanks for reading and please leave a comment. What are some things you do to always keep your training up, no matter the time or place you are in?

“Everything is practice.”
-Pele

Related article – Always Training; Foot Placement by Ryan Ford

by Geoff Worcester
APEX Movement Family
gworcester13@gmail.com

Obstacle Courses and Competition as Preparation for Real-Life Emergency Situations

Amos Rendao
Head Instructor of APEX Movement Boulder
amos@apexmovement.com

Imagine yourself at a national competition (maybe even the APEX Movement Invitational 2011). The course is in front of you. You are trying to quiet your mind, eyes around the room and a time to beat adding pressure. This is your one chance. Adrenaline continues to kick
in.

“Ready…Set…Flow!”

More adrenaline.

Now you are relying on muscle memory, subconscious communication with the environment, and trying to stay focused on the moment while moving over, under, and through obstacles at 12 mph.

Maybe it is just me, but this all sounds very similar to an emergency situation: trying to stay calm under pressure, adrenaline, relying on muscle memory and the subconscious while trying to stay focused on what needs to be accomplished in the moment.

I am sure there are going to be plenty of competition nay-sayers out there that will despise this idea, but it seems to me that obstacle course competition can be a great way to train for real life emergency situations.

This is not a perfect analogy, but there are some themes that cross over rather well:

Trying to stay focused and calm amidst pressure and adrenaline is an important skill. No matter how talented you are with movement, if you freak out and can’t stay focused, you’re bound to make crucial mistakes, and that baby in the window of a burning building is going to be reasonably disappointed.

Adapting to mistakes and unforeseen outcomes is also a neglected skill during casual training. In my experience, most people don’t make it a point to finish out a line, and even more often, usually only train one technique at a time. If they’re training a line, you’ll see them slip up on the third movement, and then stop and think about what happened or go back and start at the beginning. In contrast, when the clock is ticking and there’s no turning back on an obstacle course or emergency
situation, one must deal on the spot with mistakes and unforeseen outcomes.

For example, during casual training a traceuse undershoots an 8 foot
precision to a bar that’s 10 feet off the ground. In the casual situation, the traceuse may absorb with two feet and drop down to a good landing and climb back up for another attempt. During the course, where touching the ground isn’t an option, or the emergency situation, where there isn’t the time for going back around and
climbing up, the traceuse, when undershooting the jump, would absorb with two feet and get her hands on the bar to either immediately lache or muscle up for a cast to plant.

Even though one could (and should) train specifically for these split
second corrections, the heat of competition forces you to try new corrections and adaptations in situations you may have not encountered yet, and more importantly prepares you for a certain state of mind: a mind that never gives up and does the best it can with the inevitable mistakes that come about.

And lastly, looking really, really good in front of people is often neglected in casual training. In a real life situation, when you make it down with that baby, people are freaking out and cameras are being shoved in your face. You’ve gotta look good. You’ve gotta control heavy breathing while throwing on a blue steel that not even Ben Stiller could have predicted.

Think about that for a second.

Now go practice in the mirror.

Now, you could set up an obstacle course by yourself and make it a point to finish as quickly as possible, but it seems the crowd and the competition add a whole different element of pressure, adrenaline, and chaos of sound, that more closely embodies a real life emergency situation.

These are just a couple similarities that pop off the top of my head at this moment. Whether you are for or against competition, I would love to hear what you think. Let’s develop this idea as a community.

Amos Rendao
Head Instructor of APEX Movement Boulder
amos@apexmovement.com