Learning to learn

Learning to learn, what does this mean? When a new discipline or activity catches our attention, to the point that we decide to devote a tremendous amount of our time and energy to it, instead of focusing entirely on the content do we actually question ourselves enough, if at all, about learning (i.e. the process of absorbing and making ours new skills and knowledge)? What if learning was not just a question of time and effort, but a matter of clarity and vision as well? What if learning was a skill in itself? Wouldn’t there then be a way to optimise every ounce of effort we put in the aquirement of a new technique, and therefore acheive results faster without extra effort?

In any discipline or activity, there are always those who train hard for years only to acquire mediocre results, and those who seem to fly over every difficulties in their way, is it human nature, or just a different kind of perception that one could unlock ?

This is an attempt to explore these questions...


Being in the moment: the right here right now equilibrium.

The philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote : “May one examine their own thoughts, and they will find them all focused on the past or the future. We almost never think in the present, and when we do, it is only to shed light on what to do with the future”.

We live in the present, it is our only field of action, and it is only then that we can interconnect entirely body, mind, and environment to create a sense of pure awareness; but how often do we actually do this? What Pascal wrote has never been so true: most of us have grown up and are still immersed in a world of distractions: television, cell phones, advertising, work, social activities, internet, games... the list is endless.
From birth we become accustomed to the habit of being constantly distracted, it is for most of us a normal thing that we accept and agree with entirely, our rare moments of boredom are those that we find awkward and that we will strive to fill with more mind-absorbing activities.
How is this related to learning? I had a student who was a very slow learner and had grown to accept it as part of his nature: he would make the same mistakes many times before understanding the lesson, and he would sometimes learn only to drop back into those old mistakes again. I didn’t really know how to help him until I realised something essential: that even when training his mind was constantly drifting away in thought, absorbed in the past or future, inconspicuously slipping out of the “right here right now equilibrium”.

I understood that one’s learning is clearly improved by being in constant connection with one’s present sensations.

Sensations are feedback, they tell us if what we do is right or not, they show us what we should improve on and how to do it at the condition that we pay attention to them. Repetition alone is pointless if there isn’t constant attention to what is being done, just as it is being done. Learn in real-time, be awake and aware, feel and analyse what you are doing. Trying again doesn’t mean doing again; every attempt is a new opportunity to do better, based on the knowledge and experience of past tries.

So avoid any type of distraction when you are training, let your entire self be directed towards what you are doing and all your energy, all your qualities, all that you are made of will cease to be dispersed and wasted but, instead, will work for you towards one clear goal that you have chosen, like a whole army marching in unison towards one unique target.

I took the time to explain these things to the student, letting them slowly soak in over time, and he has since then made tremendous progress and is now one of the quickest learners I have ever taught to!


Constructive criticism: the positive vision

Collecting feedback and endlessly integrating it in what you do is a major element of learning to learn, but doing so with absolute positiveness is the key principle that will create the alchemy. When we try and fail, we try harder, but if we fail again, most of us will tend to get upset or irritated, and our emotions conquer us and corrupt the positive learning mindset we were in. It is then very easy to slip into negative criticism and to start asking ouselves the wrong questions, such as “why am I so bad at this?”, or even “why can’t I ever get things right?”

The mind, in these cases, is bluntly stupid in the way it works, as it searches for a direct answer to these questions; for instance: “you’re bad at this because it’s not your thing”, or “you can never get things right because you’re not meant to be talented at this”. The answers it gives us are often conveyed on a subconscious level, and thus we unknowingly hypnotise ourselves into failure.

Therefore, one must ask themselves the right questions if one wishes to find the right answers: “How can I improve on this?”, “How can I avoid doing these mistakes?”, “What is holding me back from complete mastery?”

Condition your mind for positivity and you will get positive results. A positive vision is one that can picture a clear objective and a list of ways to reach it, regardless of what stands in the way. And any resistance in your progress, instead of being a source of frustration, will become a call for a new accomplishment, a treat of self-exploration. You won’t need to ignore your frustration, it won’t be there anymore, transformed into a new exciting feeling of challenge!

Training, as intense as it may get, is never but a game so don’t take it too seriously, even if you’re at it every day for hours, be relaxed about it, inner tension will cause outer stiffness, let it flow inside and it will flow outside. Lightness is key.


Discovering rather than manufacturing: the blossoming flower concept

“When I and my students think of strokes as being discovered rather than manufactured, they seem to learn the game much faster and without frustration.” Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis

I will humbly paraphrase this great book here.

As explained earlier, a major part of the process of learning is directly linked to how we visualise things. Manufacturing skills would imply that there is you + all that you’ve learned. Like costumes worn over each other, your skills are not connected to who you are, they are merely added to you in a very impersonal way. Progress, in this mindset, appears as having no end and worse, as being perishable...

Now, let’s talk about flowers... flowers don’t grow, they blossom: from the instant they exist as a tiny seed, they are already the future flower that they will turn into, just like a new-born baby is already in essence the future adult it will become.

They constantly express themselves as flowers and day by day, instant by instant, they become a little bit more their blossomed selves, what they were right from the start is now fully expressed and they are purely themselves.

If you visualise all your skills as being within you right from the start, on standby, waiting to be discovered and released, you will get rid of a lot of the pressure that athletes face with intense training because it means that you are simply learning to express yourself, zeroing in ever more on your true self. One could almost call it a process of enlightenment. In this case, nothing is really learnt, everything is simply revealed and therefore it is an undisociable part of you.

Progress is not an addition of bits of knowledge and skill like Lego pieces stacked on top of each other, it is only the elimination of what is keeping you from expressing your true self.


Conclusion: expanding the horizon

Throughout this article, I’ve never once mentioned parkour: the reason is that “learning to learn”, once acquired, is a skill that transcends any activity it may be applied to. One who understands it may use it in any field equally.

As a matter of fact, in order to explore a single discipline one is required to branch off continuously into other fields, as no knowledge is ever completely isolated.

A samurai once wrote about his art: “The practice cannot be confined to swordsmanship, if one limits it to that, they will not even know swordsmanship“. The same warrior added: “I have applied the lessons of my art to every other discipline I have encountered, therefore in any discipline I am my own master”. The road that leads to the mastery of one discipline will lead to the mastery of others; following one is close to following them all because, more than just the discipline, it is ourselves that we learn to explore and know through our practice. The discipline itself is never the end, but the means to a more noble, meaningful and everlasting end: our blossomed self.

Interview for Urban Runners

I was recently asked by Ixek from the Urban Runners team in Mexico to do a written interview for their website, so i thought i'd post it here too, here it is :



Introduce yourself (name, age and how long have you been practising Parkour).
My name is Thomas Couetdic, i'm 24 and i'm from France. I've been into Parkour for about 8 years.


How did you find Parkour?
At the time when Yamaksi was coming out in the cinemas, i saw by chance a short documentary about Parkour on television (stade 2) and was hooked by it ! I new from that moment on that Parkour would play a major role in my life. In those days, Parkour was nonexistant on the internet and it took me a few months to find more information about it. I managed to get in contact with some of the guys training in Lisses (the only experienced practicioners at that time) and they invited me to come over and train with them. They told me in advance that it would be hard, and it was, but that's exactly what i was expecting. I would have been very disappointed if they had been just a bunch of guys randomly jumping around, with no discipline and no objectives, but it wasn't that and my motivation to get stronger grew as i discovered their incredible abilities.

My first training sessions in Lisses opened my eyes and gave me some guidance for my training. I would then go back home (in Tours) and apply what i had learned, so most of my training was done alone, which was hard at times but well worth it in the long run. And just every now and then, i went back to Lisses to boost my progress a little bit. If i didn't have money to pay for the travel, i would cycle the 250 km to there, Parkour was my biggest priority in those years and nothing would stop me from training.


What does Parkour mean to you?
My definition of Parkour is "utilitarian displacement" : efficient techniques of movement. My training with the guys from Lisses and the hours of conversation with each of them has made me realise the purpose of Parkour, and i've seen how it was created, the state of mind that triggered this whole discipline. I think that many traceurs nowadays forget to think about all this, they discover the visual aspect of Parkour and want to be able to do the same things, but that's only one dimension of Parkour, they don't try to grasp the original meaning of it, and i feel they miss out on the whole essence of Parkour.
I believe strongly in the idea that intention affects action : knowing why you do something determines how you will do it.
It's been said before, but practitioners should think deeply about why they train, what they search for in the end.

For my part, i've always been interested in outdoor life and adventure, which demand pure efficiency... You can't adventure yourself in remote areas or face critical situations if you're not efficient. You can't be strong, in the broad sense of the word, if you're not efficient. This is why i entirely agree with and follow the original spirit of Parkour, it has a depth that many young traceurs/freerunners completely miss out on.


What do you think about Parkour being related to the medias?
In the eyes of the modern world, Parkour is very stylish and fun, just what the media and advertising companies love, but that is not what Parkour was ever intended to be. Parkour is intended to be trained, not to be shown. Even though i personally take part in such things, because it's a good way to make a living using something i love doing, i'm very aware that it does not take me anywhere as a human being and therefore i never take it too seriously, my life is not there...


In which point do you think Parkour is and where do you think it will go?
The Parkour i've been describing, the one i practice, is not the one that most people train. It's like this now and i think it will always remain like that. It's not necessarily a bad thing as long as the original form of Parkour stays alive so that those who seek it may find it. That's the whole point of Parkour Generations (the people i work with), keeping it alive and accessible. On a personal level, i'd like to see Parkour applied in the field, by people who face critical situations on a regular basis, like firefighters for example. This would also be a good way to maintain the practice of efficient Parkour.



Which advice would you give to people who want to start practicing parkour?
Take your time and never give up. No fortress is impregnable, it all depends on the tenacity of the assailant. No matter where you start from, you'll always reach your goal if you keep trying. Some times are harder than others, but "is lost only he who gives himself up for lost", so never give up.


What do you think about separating parkour from free running or art du deplacement?
I've never really worried about how to call something. I use the word Parkour but it's just for the purpose of conversation. But if we can't even figure out the precise definition of a simple random object such as a chair or a car, then i think we can forget about defining Parkour ! This is because words will never grasp the pure essence of the very things they define. So Parkour, Freerunning, Art du Deplacement etc... these 3 things are different to eachother but the name you give them is irrelevant. Gandhi said : "In reality, there's as many religions as there are individuals" and in the same way, there's as many Parkours as there are traceurs, not two people in the world practice exactly the same thing. Names are only symbolic.
As long as people express themselves in what they do and find peace in it, that's all that matters.



What do you think about body and mind balance?
I think that both work in conjunction with eachother, but i would still give priority to the mind. The reason is simple, the state of the body fluctuates over time, one can be physicaly strong now and weak in one month or less, performance is a very temporary feat, but a strong mind lives on, even in a weakened body. What we learn through experience (and i make a distinction here with knowledge, which is merely the memorisation of information), we keep to the end and perhaps even after, and it affects us in a much deeper and durable way than what is only physical.
Over the years, i've come to focus more and more on the mind, adapting my training to it's development. For example, i try not to keep for later a jump i feel i can do now, because most of the time, keeping for later means waiting for the jump to be easier, and the easier it gets, the less the mind is solicited. This also explains why i never train in gyms : having obstacles that adapt to you only offers training for your body, not your mind, which is close to pointless in my opinion.



How is Thomas (appart from parkour what do you do, hobbies, what do you like doing, etc)?
He says he's fine haha ! I do a lot of travels at the moment (and as i speak, i am in the middle of one). I still love Parkour very much and i train it very often, but i think i've learned what it had to teach me spiritually. I've grown so much thanks to it and i am completely transformed compared to when i started, so now i broaden my horizons, i search for the next step in my growth, and i think i've found it in travels. I also try to share what i've learned with others who may find my experience of use, and i think i'll be doing this more and more in the future, i realise more and more the importance of sharing and giving.
On another level, i've also found a big interest in magic with coins and i spend many hours training it. It feels funny to start from zero again in a new discipline, but it allows me to measure the tremendous effects Parkour has had on me. I was saying earlier that what the mind has learned, it keeps, and this is a perfect example of it. I don't feel overwhelmed by the enormous difficulty of learning coin magic, instead i take it slowly and patiently, through trial and error until i manage to do things properly. It takes a very long time to learn but i know i'll get there in the end if i don't give up, smooth sailing on a big ocean i suppose...


Do you have any specific training routine?
No, i don't believe in routines though i did spend my first training years doing some. There's something reassuring about routines, because you can visualise precisely what you're doing and in which amounts, and everyone enjoys that kind of classification, it's very "academic", the brain likes it, but the human body is not meant to follow a schedule.
So instead i try to ask myself what my body and mind want to do and i go for it. I also often change my plans during the training itself, i really stay away from strict training programmes, it's much better in terms of motivation.
I do have a few exercises that i like to do every now and then, but that's about it, the rest is all spontaneous.


Anything, comments, ideas or advice you would like to share.
Nothing really, i just want to say thank you to you (Ixek) and your group for giving me this opportunity to express my vision of Parkour. Good luck to you and all the traceurs in Mexico !

The woman's way

I recently wrote an article for www.girlparkour.com about my experience teaching women during the 6 months i spent in London.
In order to share it with as many people as possible, i'm posting it here too.

This is it :

Parkour has been spreading like the wind to all the corners of the world - in a worryingly uncontrolled way some would say - but bringing together nonetheless more and more practitioners. Among them, a community has started to emerge, rapidly growing in numbers and talent to the point that it must now be seriously taken into account if mentioning the global community, I speak of course about the female Parkour scene.

I've spent several months in London and have taught at nearly every Parkour Generations Women's Jam and Class, thus getting a good idea of what the ladies are up to. I've also trained with very dedicated women from England but also different parts of the world such as Canada, Brasil and other places, and I hope to train with a lot more in the future. In many regards, I found out that my evolution through Parkour has been very similar to that of many women I've encountered : I started out with a huge motivation, but also a great lack of confidence that I had to fight through. I've seen this in beginners as well as more experienced traceuses but I can say from my own experience that self-doubt is no more than a phase in one's progress, with practice and dedication, one's mind becomes clearer. As Antoine de-St Exupery would have put it : "He who confronts himself to the obstacle discovers himself", and who more than Parkour practitioners confront themselves to obstacles? Just in the same way that where there is light there can be no darkness, where there is awareness there can be no doubt, therefore there will be confidence.

Absolutely everyone has a potential waiting to be unleashed. Male or female, tall or small, weak or strong, etc... all this is irrelevant. What matters is not where you start from but how far you want to go.

I understand that many women still feel ill-at-ease in an environment that was exclusively populated by males just a few years ago, and that although several traceuses have started to show the path by expressing the women's potential through Parkour, the female "way" remains a big mystery: traceuses have bodies built in different ways than those of their male counterparts, therefore they must move differently.

Some inspiration could be drawn from the women practicing rock climbing, by adapting to their morphology they've developed their own way of climbing, which is less powerful but extremely technical, and they can now rival with men in what was a seemingly "male-reserved" discipline...

It has happened many times while I was climbing in Fontainebleau (a bouldering heaven in France) that I was completely outleveled by women, though I had the big advantage of superior physical power, and I'm not a total beginner in terms of technique either...

In the same way, I know that there will be a women's way of doing Parkour and it will be develloped in the upcoming years. It must be very exciting to be a traceuse in this particular time, drawing a path that so many will follow after them!

If, based on my observations, I had to list the main things that traceuses have a hard time dealing with (in general of course, these are not universal laws), it would go like this (in no particular order):

• They think too much and too rationnally, and forget to trust their sensations.

  As human beings, we have instincts, and Parkour being based on natural human movements, our instincts are perfectly adapted to Parkour training. This is why it is very important to be aware of the sensations that our body gives us, it's the way it communicates and closing our eyes on it would be (with a little bit of exaggeration) like putting our hand in fire and not realizing it's hurting us! This is a subtle notion and is much easier to explain in the field, but to summarize: our body will tell us if it is ready for a particular move or physical exercise by making these moves/exercises "feel" right or wrong. Too much rational thinking at this stage would just blur that signal and could lead to the traceuse hurting herself, or not trying anything at all.

• They tend to be overwhelmed by their emotions.

  Because of the lack of confidence that i metioned before, many women tend to become very emotional when training Parkour, either when they bail or when they don't manage to overcome a mental barrier. Parkour is bound to be emotional because it makes us face our own fears and weaknesses, it's like this for everyone, from the complete newbie to David Belle or others. Very few people have never shed tears because of Parkour... You could very well stay at home and do something easy and comfortable, but you go outside and deliberately place yourself in challenging situations, it's a very brave thing to do and really not everyone does it, precisely because it is hard. Nothing worth doing is easy, and Parkour, because of the many great things it can bring you, is worth doing. So express your emotions : cry, scream, get angry if you need to, but don't let them conquer you and turn you down, ever... Giving up is never a solution. In the long run, efforts are always rewarded.

• They have trouble trusting themselves and tend to underestimate their capabilities.

  I've already explained this, but i will never insist enough : all human beings have an enormous potential that unfortunately, most don't use to the fullest. I'm sure it has happened during your training or in other areas of your life, that you found yourself facing an obstacle that seemed so imposing that you thought maybe it wasn't for you, and that you ended up overcoming only to find out it wasn't that bad.

  Well that's what happens 99.9% of the time, we build our own demons, we mentally transform the obstacles that we face, the limit is one's imagination! But in the end, it is only an illusion, like those fake facades on buildings in old cowboy films that make a rundown tavern look like the Playboy mansion. Very few people make the effort of seeing things as they actually are.

  So next time you are in such a situation, ask yourself: am I really trying to see what is rather than what my mind wants to see? And am I confronting this obstacle with my most positive state of mind, or have I given up before really trying?

  If you still can't overcome the difficulty, it's fine, take a step down, go for something easier and work your way up step by step. There is no wrong or right, no win or lose, only feedback. Don't think that because you are a woman, you are less capable than men, not only because it's not true, but also because by doing so, you would be subconsciously building a barrier in your mind to your own progress. Don't set yourself limits, because no one (including you) really knows where they are...

These 3 points are linked to each other, so if you experience one of them, there's a good chance you also experience the other two. And the other way around : solving one is not far from solving all of them!

I see some very good spirits and very good energies among the female community which has convinced me since a long time that women can bring to Parkour at least as much as men have. One of my dearest wishes at the moment would be to train a very motivated traceuse on a regular basis, but because of my travelling plans, this is a project that is on standby for now.

Though the real point in parkour is not be able to do incredible things, but rather to explore ourself and conquer our demons on the our way to pure inner peace, I hope to see the female scene express itself and shine ever more among the Parkour world.

To all the traceuses in the world, I give you my best wishes and hopes!

© Parkour Generations Ltd.

Night missions

Since i moved in London, my life has become busier compared to what it was for the past several years. I can't say that i'm buried under endless amounts of work, far from it, but i do have a certain rhythm that i must set myself to. One would say that life can't always be the way we want, but that's the biggest lie lazy people have come up with to avoid facing their deeper aspirations. Life is made of the decisions we take and he who wants to move a mountain has nothing more to do than to move each stone one at a time.
Therefore, my life in London is a chosen one, a new direction on the improvised trail i prolong daily. This doesn't mean that it satisfies all of my needs, indeed my desires for outdoor adventure and life on the move have never been so strong !

As i find myself waiting to hit the road again as soon as possible, there are a few schemes i have come up with in the meantime to deceive my impulses. One of them is the solo nocturnal parkour adventure, or night mission.

Yesterday night i found myself facing the fortress i had been planning on conquering, an old abandoned factory in the vicinity of a busy street. It was in sight of many cctv cameras, but like many others in London, i suspect they are only monitored if a problem is reported. Anyway, i was going around towards a dark stinky alley leading to the first part of the challenge when i noticed 3 police officers standing there, apparently making sure everything was in order. I turned and innocently walked in the opposite direction. But because i was in a hurry to start the mission, and also since i didn't have anything bad to be found guilty of, i came back into their field of vision, sat down, and pretended to write an sms. As expected, they found my behaviour suspicious and came to question me :

_ Evenin' sir, what are you doing here ?
_ Just wanted to take a leak but thought it wouldn't be wise to do it near you.
_ Haha yeah that's an 80 pound fine !
I laughed back and explained that i needed to finish the sms i was writing.

_ Ok sir, but be careful, there's a lot of bad boys around here, not a great place to stay...

Little did they know that one of them was about to climb the building just behind them.
As they left, i traced them a bit just to make sure they wouldn't come back, and proceeded to begin the first climb.

Along the factory runs a thin yellow gas pipe that strangely is held at about half a meter away from the old brick walls instead of being right against them. I jumped to reach the first section, which climbs vertically to a first small roof, about 5 meters off the ground. Once there, the pipe then turns at a 90 degrees angle and strolls along the wall, over the first seriously scary part, a massive 15 meter drop. At that point, my only safety is the pipe itself, as i must walk along it with my hands against the nearby wall, which offers nothing close to a hand hold in case the pipe breaks under my weight. Before risking my life on it, i jumped on the pipe a few times to make sure it would hold me. It wobbled a lot but seemed strong so i braced myself and walked the scariest 10 meters ever, breathing hesitantly in and out, as if the weight of my full lungs was enough to fracture my life line.
With silent calculated moves, i then hanged and traversed across the next portion of the same length, which offered a hold for my feet, and reached a second roof. I could see people in their homes on the opposite side, too busy with their everyday boring house chores to look up and notice me. As i looked back towards where i came from, i realised that the portion of pipe i had walked on had slightly bent under my weight, it wouldn't be safe to use it as an exit route so i had no choice but to continue forward.

I monkey-walked across the roof and ended up traversing along the pipe again, but at a reasonable height this time. At this point, i could have continued like this to find a way to safe ground around the next corner of the building, but i spotted two metallic drain pipes running together all the way to the top of the factory, over 30 meters high. I had set myself to reach the top so after a few moments of mentally studying my climb, i commenced my ascent. Though i had two of them that i could use, drain pipes are nothing close to gas pipes when it comes to strength. They are not, by far, built with the same quality standards and they tend to dislocate if not handled properly. As i moved a hand towards the first hold, a loud noise burst out of a tiny sealed window next to me, it was a little squirrel running off through a small hole which had scared me probably as much as i had frightened it. Fair enough i thought, and continued the climb.

I soon realise that apart from being wobbly, old, and weak, my drain pipes are also lacking many of the screws linking them to the run-down wall they are seemingly attached to ! I make sure to push myself up along them rather than to pull, as it is precisely a horizontal pull that would risk dislocating them, thus abruptly precipitating me to safer ground at free fall speed.
The last section, which is composed of only one pipe not attached to the wall at all, is the trickiest. I think for a second about coming back down, but figure it might not be any safer, so i squeeze my feet around it and stretch out to grab the top of it. That's when a thought comes to my mind : i remember reading about 2 mountain climbers who had fallen off the mountain cliff they were ascending. As they were falling, they passed close to another group of climbers. One of them later said that they had not screamed during their fall, they had silently let gravity pull them down towards their inevitable deaths.
I thought about it and looked down at the far away ground, would i remain silent if i was to fall right now ? Imagining myself suddenly plunge down scared me a lot.
I've found myself in similar situations many times, feeling death's frozen breath along my spine and promising myself each time : "never again". Far from being a fascination with death, i believe it is a love of life that draws me to do such things, for never do i measure better the essence of life than when i come out safe and sound from one of these moments !

I hold my breath and pull carefully on the pipe as one would handle a new born baby, and reach with my hand the top of the wall ! I bring myself up and breathe out with great relief. I know that going down from the other side will not be of any problem, i can finally relax !


I explored the factory's silent rooftops -populated with an infinity of pigeons that would fly off all at the same time when i approached- and spent a moment looking at the view over nocturnal London. I even found a way inside the building, but having no more than a keychain flashlight to illuminate my way, i decided not to venture too far into the rusting entrails of my fortress and made my way back down to the relative safety of the busy streets, in the direction of home.


I wish to conclude this account by specifying that such missions require for one to have a lot of experience and practice before attempting them. For my part, i have been training Parkour for about 8 years now and still seldom find myself in such heights or on such old and dangerous buildings. It is necessary to be highly attentive and in perfect physical condition in order to limit the risks to no more than simple bad luck. So don't do anything stupid...

Some news perhaps ?

It's been a while since i gave some news, probably because i didn't know what to speak about (though it's really not like nothing has been going on).

After completing a really cool 3 weeks long trip to Italy (photos HERE) with Blane and Kiell (another HUGE thanks to all the Italian traceurs who trained and helped us out !), i moved to London and have been living there for a few months, teaching classes with ParkourGenerations.
I enjoy this new life a lot, earning a living with my passion is something really great, and helping people discover their hidden potential is so even more...

Although i enjoy each class i teach for different reasons (regular class, advance, and girls'), i must admit i have a slight preference for the girls' class i teach with Tracey (of course you do, which guy wouldn't ? Smart ass...). Before that, i had only trained with less than a handful of (talented) girls (like Silex, Hollie or Liv), nevermind teaching them, and i thought i would have to learn so much about their psychology before being able to teach them anything, but it turns out i find a lot of similarities between their approach to Parkour, and the one i had during my first years as a traceur (same fears, doubts, etc.), which helps me to identify myself to them a great deal.
Some of the girls over here are very dedicated and i find that women are nothing close to being weak, they can be in fact damn efficient (I'll always remember how scared, yet impressively focused and determined Lauren was when she climbed with Kaz and i to the top of the Dame du Lac in Lisses) !
The female Parkour scene is still making its first steps thanks to the efforts of a few pioneering girls in different areas of the globe, and i'd be very proud if i could be responsible for at least a fraction of its development and the expression of the traceuses' potential, women have not yet shown all that they are capable of.


Apart from that, I'm starting to go over my travel photos nostalgically, which is a good hint that it's time to hit the road again. I've already got a clear idea of what my next trip will be, it will take me back to certain places i haven't seen enough but also to many new ones, and it should be longer and more intense than anything i've done before (though i will not limit myself to cycling this time).
For weather reasons, i won't be leaving before the beginning of 2009, which leaves me time to prepare things comfortably, and to enjoy moments with my friends/students.

I'd like to add that i still plan on writing Parkour related articles on this blog, but it's just a matter of finding the time at the moment.
Thanks for the support and nice comments !

Parkour in Brasil

I just came back from a 10-days trip in Brasil in order to teach at a workshop. I had a great time and it was a real pleasure to train with some very promising brasilian traceurs. Special thanks to Bruno and Sofia for their kind hospitality, and a double thanks to Bruno for organizing the event.
There should be a little video about it later on. For the moment, you can check out this one featuring Alli Shelton during his time with the PKMAX guys.

Good luck to the whole Parkour brasilian scene and keep it up !

Globetraceurs

I'd like to express my warmest congratulations to the several traceurs that have travelled, are travelling, or will travel on their own adventures, and to those that are exploring any other kind of activity (climbing, marathons, gymnastics, martial arts, music, photography, painting, writing, playing mahjong, etc.) in their perpetual struggle for perfection, as one thing always ends up leading to another.

It seems that i am not the only one that Parkour is leading to other things, and i hope it will keep on going this way.
Diversity is strength for ourselves ; sharing it is strength for everyone !

Special encouragements to Daniel and Raimundo from the Adrenaline team for their ambitious Paris-Dakar walk.


Good luck to each and everyone for your projects !


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It's a wrap, folks !

The shooting of Babylon A.D. is over. The last scene we had to work on was cancelled...
Too bad, it was going to be the most exciting to shoot (parkour car-chase scene) ! I have loads and loads of photos but i'll wait before posting them since the film is not out yet.
I hope it'll be good !

Just in case they ever read these lines, i wish to give a very warm and sincere thanks to a few great people with whom i've had the delightful pleasure of working on this film. It's not true what people say, you don't only find arrogant, empty people in the world of cinema, these persons are the living proof :

Mathieu Kassovitz, Alain Figlarz and his team, Lambert Wilson, Jérome Le Banner, the very kind Michelle Yeoh and of course, my ten hacker/traceur friends !

Memories of an early Parkour experience

Just a few years ago, Parkour was no more than a little underground training method shared by a handful of friends. During the last few years it has exploded into a worldwide phenomenon at an uncontrollable speed, attracting all types of people with all types of motives. Parkour is all over the internet, in ads on TV and in magazines, even on the big screen in cinemas. Some brands are already using it to sell their “Parkour adapted” products. It’s only a matter of time before Parkour finds its way between the fitness and the skateboarding department in your local sports-shop.

With no doubt, things have changed.

I feel lucky to have discovered Parkour before the big bang, at a time where a new training video was an event, and when all traceurs knew each other. My first contact with Parkour was a television report: “Stade 2”, soon followed by the Yamakasi film. At this time, there was only one website about Parkour, Tim’s (Tim from the Pisteurs team).

Only a very little amount of information was available (sometimes true, and sometimes not), making Parkour appear as some kind of lost art. We (the few guys aware of Parkour but not living in Lisses) didn’t really know who these incredible athletes were nor what they were really capable of... Parkour was wrapped in a fascinating aura of secret and mystery.

My deepest dream, of course, was to find these guys and learn from them. I knew they lived in Lisses, but that wasn’t enough information. After a few months, I managed to get in contact with Mike and Johann (Stéphane Vigroux’s brother). I remember chatting on Msn with Johann and getting into some argument because of a crazy misunderstanding: he thought I wanted to defy the traceurs of Lisses !
I was in the process of explaining that my intentions were at the opposite of this, that I just wanted to come and learn, in the most humble and respectful manner (my admiration for these guys had no limit ! ) when Stéphane took hold of the keyboard and said “If you want to come to learn, you’re very welcome.”

I was 17, and at this age, traveling alone to another city to spend a few days with some strangers (especially strangers for whom you have the highest respect) was a stressful idea. I bought a train ticket, booked a hotel for three nights, and around September, I was on my way to Lisses ! I was, I think, the first guy to come from another town to train with them, so I didn’t really know what to expect...
Most of all, I was hoping to meet David, probably because I hadn’t realized how good the other guys also were. After making Johann drive from train station to train station in Evry to pick me up (I hadn’t stopped at the correct one), I finally had the honor of shaking some real traceurs’ hands. We were off to Lisses, along with Mike in Johann’s tiny cheap car, it was around 10:30AM, the music was roaring out of the speakers, I was alone in the back seat getting tossed from one side to the other (the memory of Johann’s driving skills makes me shiver even to this day) while empty water bottles rolled at my feet... One of the three best training days of my life was just starting !

My mind was full of dreams of crazy intense training, and I was really hoping to find this in Lisses. Once on location, we met with Seb Goudot and all four of us trained all day together. Strangely, I do not recall precisely what we did, but I do remember how impressed I was with their skills. They were only slightly older than me, and they had been training for no more than two years, but their level was already very high. Parkour’s reputation was definitely not only made on David Belle.
So many times they showed me a jump that appeared to me as completely impossible, and each time they proved me wrong by making the jump before my wide-open amazed eyes, each time they broke a barrier in my mind, thus teaching me one of the key lessons of my life : forget about “impossible”, it doesn’t exist ! Nothing is ever impossible. If you trust yourself and if you work hard, you can achieve anything ! Nowadays, even in front of seemingly inhuman obstacles, I force myself to keep an open mind, “what if ...?”.

During these three days in Lisses, even though I met with some of the other traceurs from Lisses, I trained mostly with Johann, Seb and Mike. They gave me their time and energy without asking for anything in return. At this period of my life, my self esteem was very low and I was desperately trying to find some confidence. I think about it now and I realize that I didn’t need much: just someone to tell me “it’s ok, it doesn’t matter if you miss, if you’re scared or if you don’t do it, there’s no shame, take your time there’s no hurry, etc...”, I just needed to see in the eyes of someone that I was capable of achieving something, that I wasn’t a hopeless piece of shit. I was like a little child, I wanted someone to hold my hand and to encourage me, and that’s exactly what these three guys did. They gave me their time and energy, and it changed so many things for me.

It’s incredible sometimes how a little something for someone can represent a big everything for someone else... I know that i owe so much to them in regards to my present state of mind, they were the trigger that i needed to activate a long thinking process in my mind, leading me to do or to plan things today that appeared as unquestionably impossible a few years ago. For this, they have my eternal respect and gratitude.

They had found the perfect way to communicate with me : sometimes speaking nicely and kindly, and sometimes being strict assholes, yelling on me to push me further. They had some technique that they used often when I didn’t feel like making the jump: they just asked me in a very kind way if I wanted to give up. I felt shameful because I knew their opinion about giving up, so very often, I took the bait and got back in action.

After the first day, my whole body was already exhausted... Johann once took me to the school in Lisses to do some physical training. Stéphane was already there along with several other guys, repeating some techniques. I was asked to hang onto the edge of the school’s roof and to go across the wall, it was no more than 15 meters long, but given my state of exhaustion, it became one of the most intense exercises I’ve ever done. Before even starting, my hands were in very bad shape, already covered with bleeding wounds while my arm muscles were making involuntary intense contractions. After about 1 meter, I wanted to stop, so I climbed to a “resting” position, with only my legs hanging over the edge. Johann was there on the roof, pushing me to continue, and all the other guys were there looking and probably making their opinion about me, so I felt I had to continue, and centimeter by centimeter I went across the damn wall, often climbing back into my resting position for extended periods of rest.

All of these guys had been through some much more intense training than me, and there was in Lisses a taste for very hard work. They were all very good at finding a sneaky way to make every exercise, every jump even harder. They did it as a game, creating little “fun” challenges all the time. The emulation in the group was the best I’ve ever seen. If you didn’t train your ass off, you were called lazy ! If one of them made a jump, the others had to do it also. This, combined with the rule of three (Once is never, you must make a jump three times before you can call it a success) quickly turned them into very good traceurs.
A good, positive emulation is the key to great progress when you train in a group.

They spoke to me about their training under the rain or snow (that I would soon experience), they took me on a 4AM training in Evry (Mike and Johann had done this 3 or 4 times a week during the whole summer). They taught me about never being satisfied and always pushing myself a little more.

I know that all the training I do or have done is nothing compared to what the first guys went through, especially David. His deeds are told like legends, since very few of his achievements were caught on film or photo : the 1000 jumps from the top of the “hammer” of the Dame du lac, his traversing across a whole portion of the old stone aqueduct every morning, etc. I heard a million stories like this about him. At the time I met him, he was starting to come out of his crazy training period but my respect for him was beyond all boundaries nonetheless (at the Damier, under the big tree -destroyed recently-, one night, we were all stretching and chatting when David offered me some cookies : ”Finish the box if you want” he said. I ate one and kept the rest in the box... It stayed at least one year on a shelf in my room, like a cherished relic).


I met him a few times during these three days. He was, along with Stéphane, Kazuma, Seb Foucan and others forming the very unofficial “big guys’ group”, in regards to their advanced level compared to Mike, Jonann and Seb. But I would have to wait a while before doing some real training with him, since I was mainly training with the “little guys’ group”, and because of my extreme shyness to ask him for some training. I think I also wanted to deserve to train with him and the others, I didn’t want to push things, it would happen at the right time.

I came back to my hometown of Tours, 220km from Lisses and started training alone, staying as close as possible to the Lisses method. I followed some training programs that the guys gave me, and often, I came back to Lisses to learn some new things.

But little by little, things changed in Lisses. A series of stupid arguments divided the group and the great atmosphere changed into a bitter climate of conflict. Maybe this is one of the reasons that are motivating me to take some distance, to seek some challenges in other areas. I miss this lost ambience... There was no bullshit, no fake attitudes, no dodgy money schemes... just a bunch of friends with holes in their clothes and dirt on their hands, training their asses off together with the best spirit. Several people in Lisses still have this, but things are definitely different.

I feel very far from all that’s happening nowadays: the freerun stuff, the competitions, the businesses... This is so far from what Parkour used to be... But once in a while, I’m delighted to meet some guys who share this great spirit even though they’ve only been into Parkour for a few years or less.
Maybe I was wrong at the beginning of this post, maybe after all, Parkour is still this little underground thing that it was some time ago, maybe Parkour is no more than a genuine state of mind shared by a few people, and all the rest is just bullshit built around it.
Don’t get me wrong, i’m not against anyone. If some people want to take Parkour to competitions, if they want to do crazy skateboarding moves, or if they want to sell Parkour gadgets then so be it and good luck to them, i wish success to everyone, but i just don’t feel like taking part in it.
My motives are of a different kind : not better, not worse, but simply mine and close to this spirit that i found in Lisses several years ago.




As a conclusion, here’s an excerpt from an old interview that Stéphane and David did. I think it’s directly related with what I’ve been speaking about. The journalist asked them if there were any similar points between Parkour and martial arts. Here’s what they answered :


Stéphane: No, in the sense that martial arts, in France, are practiced in clubs that encourage performance, while the spirit and philosophy stop at the door of the dojo. When you’re outside, in the cold or under the rain, you must be 100% concentrated to make a jump... It’s in those moments that you learn humility, you forget your pride and your belts...

David: There is some similarity with martial arts, but not here, not in a club where you pay 1000 bucks a year. But concerning the philosophy and the way of life, there are some common points.

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Babylon AD : will it ever end ?!

Maybe some of you are already aware of it : i am part of the 11 happy traceurs working on Mathieu Kassovitz' new action/anticipation film : Babylon AD.

We've already been twice in Ostrava (Czech Republic)to do some shooting, and we're heading back there on the 17th of april for the last remaining scenes. The film is not about Parkour but features a few short scenes involving Parkour. Release date, from what i've heared, is planned for either next november or january of 2008.


I'll post some photos and a summary when i get back to France.



EDIT :

After only 3 days of shooting, we're back in France before heading back again to Prague in just a few days (no wonder films cost so much !). What can i say about these 3 days ? The most boring ones in all the shooting !
I was carrying pots, and pressing buttons in the background from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. : yeah !

Here are just a few photos, out of the millions we took on the sets. I'll update this message when the shooting will be completely finished.



EDIT² :

The shooting that never ends...

We're back from Prague after just one day of shooting (which was supposed to be the last one), and we just learned that we still have 2 scenes to work on. I can't argue as it is a very exciting experience, but i really want to start travelling now !
Normally the remaining scenes shouldn't take too long to shoot. Thanks, by the way, to everyone for your very nice comments. I read them with all my attention and they make me very happy !

Stay tuned...

A word about me

I was born in Arpajon (France) and i spent my childhood travelling. I lived in Virginia (USA) during five years, New Caledonia during 2 years, and i moved from town to town in France every 2 years. Why ? Because my father was in the army and he was always working in different places... The family just followed.
So since very young, i got used to breaking my roots and not seeing just one place as my home. This probably explains the thirst for movement (in all possible ways) that i have today.

I've been into Parkour since April of 2001, after seeing something on tv about it. A few years later i started getting interested in all types of adventures after reading a book written by Mike Horn about his travel around the world following the equator. I did several bicycle trips alone, for a start, and i'm now moving on to bigger things (but i'll tell you more about this soon).


What's my goal ? To challenge myself, to discover what i'm really made of and how far i can go.


To illustrate my point, here's something written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the writer of the "Petit Prince" :



"La terre nous en apprend plus long sur nous mêmes que tous les livres. Parce qu'elle nous résiste. L'homme se découvre quand il se mesure avec l'obstacle."

meaning :

"The earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books.
Because it resists us. Man discovers himself when he measures
himself against the obstacle."

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