March 15th boasted the first parkour class taught by Parkour Visions at Northwest Crossfit in Bellevue. This was a completely free event open to the public. With thirty-six attendees, two main coaches, and three assistant coaches, the gym was packed and full of movement for two hours. And, excitingly, it was one of the most diverse classes we’ve had yet! The age of attendees ranged from single digits to happily over the hill, and entire 
families—yes, moms, kids, dads, even grandma!—jumped in to share the lessons of the day.
We started with a balance course to ease into activity, practicing ‘touch’—acute physical awareness—with variation challenges of walking forwards, backwards, and sideways while balancing on rails, thin boards, and navigating over boxes. Next, a vigorous quadrupedal warm-up, traveling through the room after Tyson follow-the-leader style over, under, and through. Everyone received some extra burn courtesy of Adam in the conditioning that followed, had a water break, and were grouped out to hit the basics. Here, the youngest enjoyed their own lessons with Janine while the older cycled through their stations—safe falling, jumping, landing, and rolls. All ages regrouped for the movement techniques that followed: vaulting, climbing, and jumping precisely. There was something distinctly delightful about watching people shimmy like monkeys on the bars during Rafe’s climbing work, hanging and swinging around—for many, recalling and reclaiming the playground years they’d thought passed.
It’s always so inspiring for me to see and meet people exploring new movement, pushing through the intensity of exercises, and ending the day smiling with pockets full of new skills. It’s also a huge delight that in the recent classes, more families have been showing up together; I wish my family had had parkour class to go to! How cool would it be if you could say to your parents and siblings, “Lets go jump!” and have everyone know exactly what you mean? Seeing so many people come to train together is the reason I love and want only to share parkour, to bring individuals closer to their bodies and build solid communities of healthy, moving people.
We received an overwhelming amount of good feedback from the class, such as, “I thought enthusiasm and clarity were great,” and, “There was a good variety of skills taught.” That “everyone was friendly and motivating and helpful,” is not only something for us to be proud of, but for us to acknowledge and continue to strive toward in every class and clinic we teach. Feedback of any constructive nature is greatly appreciated, so if you attended and want to comment further, please do! You may comment to the blog, or send your thoughts to classes@parkourvisions.org.
I’d like to thank everyone who showed up to make this class possible; being shown the interest is all we need to be there. Great job to everyone who jumped at this opportunity to learn something new, and keep an eye out for us in Bellevue!
More photos from Parkour Visions events can be found <here> on Flickr.
Parkour Visions is hosting the first obstacle coursing challenge in the Puget Sound area. Athletes of all ages will run, jump, climb and clamber their way through three different courses; the athlete with the best overall time wins the challenge! Everyone confident in their parkour skills is welcome to sign up. Anyone interested in parkour or seeing skilled athletes demonstrate parkour in action are invited to come watch. Funds raised from this event will go to equipment for the gym and funding for our youth outreach programs. Come support the only parkour gym on the west coast, just sure to register here on our Facebook page!
