Make A Difference

Recently, I have been attempting to reduce my environmental footprint.

ClifBar has been instrumental in inspiring me (so, kudos to them, as always!!)

However, my most recent inspiration has been the NO IMPACT MAN.

Give the site a try, and hopefully, you will find some inspiration as well!

___________________http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/

Urban Zen:

That which is not, where that is, when naught is, when what is -- is not.

...Be free.

http://www.clifbar.com/ourstory/document.cfm?location=environment&websubsection=environment
Good Index

Earthsite

Your Footprint

Run to myfootprint.org

My Hyperlinks are broken; do it yourself & find out why it's worth it.

I also made some new goals about how I run things.

In the future it will be different.

If we all resolved to do better, things would get better.

BRUCE LEE AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF PARKOUR

By Rob Green

Bruce Lee realised that although steeped in thousands of years of tradition, that's exactly what martial arts were - traditions.

There were too many rules, too many set moves. There was no freedom of movement, and so, no freedom of thought. He believed that sparring required an individuality in order to be useful, not just mindless, imitative repetition. By doing so, you never learn to truely understand the movement which you are undertaking. Instead, you become like a robot. The very same thing applies to parkour.

People walk from a to b oblivious to the fact that they're even 'moving.' They think about what's on tv later or what they ate for breakfast. They are completely unaware that they are being 'traditional.' Everyone moves like that because everyone else does, and always has. Bruce learned that tradition in such a context was actually wrong. By only following set rules, we immediately lose our freedom.

He wanted to develop a martial art that would allow instinctive movement. He believed that the most effective martial art would have an absence of thought as it's doctrine, not a rigid pre-set frame of thought.

In essence the aim was not to concentrate on working out a situation, but instead to somehow 'be in thought yet devoid of thought.' This is difficult because we are associative, sentient beings. All our perceptions at any one time are based on all those that have gone before. Therefore by 'assessing' a situation we immediatley relate it to others we have experienced and the whole process can lead to self doubt and negativity.

Bruce said of his martial art, 'Jeet kune Do,' "can you look at a situation without naming it? Naming it, making it a word, causes fear."

The concept of trying not to think of the situation you are in, but merely trying to 'feel' your way through it, is as fundamental to parkour as it was to Bruce. There is a saying that links the two perfectly, "hesitation causes fear." Obviously, the moment when you are hesitating, you are thinking unneccessarily. You are assessing the situation, comparing and relating it to previous situations. This is the last thing you should do in parkour.

In Bruce's martial arts, it may mean you get hit, in parkour, it could mean death. Many practitioners of parkour who 'feel' this philosophy, even though they may not know it, do indeed practice this method of 'being in thought, yet without thought.' It is the concept of 'freeing the mind.' The idea that just before a jump, the absolute last thing you should be thinking of really is actually the jump itself. You should in fact be seeing yourself on the other side. You should be feeling the movement that is about to happen, not thinking about what will happen if the movement isn't executed properly.

A Zen belief which inspired Bruce at this point, was the following regarding human movement itself:"I'm moving and not moving at all. It is not, "I am doing this," but rather, an inner realization that "this is happening though me," or "it is doing this for me. The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action."

It is this very understanding that directly links Jeet Kune Do with parkour. The whole point of parkour is to travel from one point to another in the smoothest, most efficient way possible. And in order to this, one must achieve 'fluidity.' Any time spent wondering whether or not one can achieve what needs to be done is time where the mind is busy calculating negativity. The second you think, 'I have to get this jump right or I'm dead,' you immediately hinder your abilities by causing fear. This in itself may cause the very failure it was intended to seek out. If you can achieve a belief within yourself that you are 'flowing' through your course, you will simply wash over the obstacles in your path. You will encounter them and move freely past them. You must be able to reach a oneness between your body and your environment.

Bruce learned that in order to execute this effectively, it was not the mastery of manouvres that was important, but instead the mastery of will. In order to achieve a simplicity of consiousness as oppposed to constant thought, it is necessary to forget about the outcome and the situation.

Forget about winning and losing, forget about pride and pain. On this matter he states: "Jeet Kune Do does not beat around the bush. It does not take winding detours. It follows a straight line to the objective. Simplicity is the shortest distance between two points. The art of Jeet kune Do is simply to simplify."

He could have been talking about parkour with that very statement. The very point of parkour is, well, imagine being chased by a lion. The aim is to get away as efficiently as possible or you get chomped on. In order to do this effectively, we must simplify things as much as possible. With Bruce the end point was a clean, effective strike, with parkour it is reaching another point in space. That is why such things as flips and somersaults, if used at times when more simplistic solutions are available, are not parkour. If they are performed in this manner, then they are more art than efficiency and hence are not parkour.

The world is seen differently through every pair of eyes, and to follow the right path for you you must view the world through your own. We just accept that someone has decided that a group of walls and railings will determine our route from point a to point b. And, like sheep, we follow. Mindlessly. No longer do we enjoy the freedom of personal expression in finding our own path, and although there are many out there who are happy in this mindset, there are also many who aren't.

There may be many routes from a to b, and who you are will detemine which path you choose and how you follow it. It is this expression of your inner self through the freedom of true, instinctive movement that shows the artistic element of parkour...Through parkour we find a more natural, instinctive art...It is not just an art form, but in fact a fully rigorous physical and psychological pursuit. In order to achieve the main aim you must be confident of your ability. But you cannot become confident if you do not train long and hard. Parkour is considered by most to be a sport - but it is not. You will not let anyone else down if you do not perform. There are no rules or time limits you must follow in order to achieve greatness. You will never need to 'score' to achieve.

As the shaolin say:"It does not matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop."

There are many ways in which the body can naturally move, and it takes a long time and a lot of dedication to find what your own body is capable of. There are certain ways of clearing obstacles that feel comfortable to some and uncomfortable to others, again - another form in which self expression of the soul becomes apparent. You should let the energy of motion 'move through you,' instead of predeciding how it will flow. When you reach an obstacle, you want your body to already know the way in which it will move. This takes time, effort, discipline, dedication and practice to learn. Bruce trained like this...He did not want to try to guess before a move which one would be best suited, so he would try to 'feel' them out by not predetermining any movement. He described the process as "Movements with a point. The point is the doing of them rather than the accomplishments. There is no actor but the action; there is no experiencer, but the experience...Art calls for complete mastery of techniques, developed by reflection in the soul."

And so we come to the inevitable conclusion regarding the comparison of Bruce Lee's philosophies behind Jeet Kune Do and the fundamental philosophies that drive parkour as a discipline and a way of life. We must become free of set ways and traditions brought down on us by those who came before and we must find ourselves. Within is where we must look in order to truely see the without.

Remember, it is our eyes we were meant to see through, not someone elses. Do not follow those who choose to take you over like sheep. Do not accept that which is drummed into you, ask instead why they would want to to control your thoughts, to take away your freedom. Why do others try to hold us back anyway, hold us down? Do not be gripped by them. Do not move like robots for it cages you inner being. Be instead free and formless.

Like water. Certain people believe parkour can be roughly translated into english as 'freerunning.' This, contrary to popular belief, does not describe the notion of running around freely, but instead the idea of water running freely, the idea that you should be like water and flow freely - like the water of a river. When it encounters obstacles, it does not hesitate nor flounder, it simply follows it's path freely around, over, under or through. If said water is flowing down a stream, it may crash into a rock with power, or it may flow smoothly past it, for it has no predetermined form and so flows freely.

Therefore, as Bruce said:"Be like water making it's way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend."

And so in my belief, Bruce Lee did indeed have the exact same philisophical beliefs evident at the hard core of parkour thinking.

PARKOUR VS. FREERUNING

When parkour first hit the English-speaking world, it was given another name: "free-running," mostly for ease of use.

The two terms have created a wildly enthusiastic schism which has only served to heighten the popularity of the two arts.

Purists argue that, while very similar to parkour, free-running/free-flowing is more liberal when it comes to the rule of not moving backward. On this side of the argument, parkour in its purist form is meant to be only practical and efficient; the fewest moves, executed in the best manner, while free-running allows moves to be purely aesthetic.

Groups like Urban Freeflow are lambasted by many for "prostituting" the art of parkour through participation in high-profile media projects; television advertisements, film projects and corporate events.

However, in light of David Belle's contributions to television and film, and those of parkour's other founders, this position is difficult to support. Other arguments against the purists' position have been that commercialization and competition in other sports does not diminish individual experience; rather, it's what one makes of the sport.

As of today, official parkour competitions do not exist. If purists have their way, they never will. Urban Freeflow's foremost writer, Dan Edwardes, argues that "competition already exists on many levels within the free-running community: friends challenge each other to improve upon their most recent efforts; training partners push each other during sessions, even involuntarily; members of the same crew feed off each other's energy and achievements as they seek new boundaries to break."

Either way, the schism has resulted into one art, two ways. The art of overcoming urban obstacles, pushing ourselves to imagine, discover, and explore.

Amazing! (Click Here) And I thought I was impressive for learning Klingon...

Creativity is an Adventure. A new Season is a renewed opportunity to explore. Awaken the mind, replenish the body...

It's all about support. Our support. If we don't do the job, who will?

ACCESS FUND

FOREST SERVICE

"Casual viewers fail to see the hard work and dedication the athletes put in - and make the mistake of jumping in at the deep end." - Ez, Urban Freeflow

The president of "I-Parkour" writes, shortly after the death of a would-be traceur:

"Hey all you traceurs. Salut! ... I'm actually in Paris, France studying abroad for the whole year. Yes, I'm [in] the place where PK was born. I will be back next year, hopefully with several tricks up my sleeves. But for now, I hope you guys have fun and be careful. Parkour is not for showoffs! It's a discipline to be mastered. Do practice during the day. Try to avoid problems with officers, speaking from experience. Visit websites dedicated on PK instructions. Help each other out, and most of all have fun."

All of life entails risk.

As Dan Edwardes says, "No matter how much we try to pad the world with cotton-wool, the harsh reality is that danger is never far away. Every time you cross a road you take a risk. People slip and fall in their bathrooms, sometimes sustaining serious injuries or worse."

And he's right. Statistics say that sixty people are struck by lightning each year in Britain alone, three of these will die of severe burns. Risk is eternal; we cannot escape it. However, we can handle it correctly and minimise it.

Edwardes also writes: "In relation to the practise of the discipline, this means, primarily, understanding what the art is about. By doing so, one also comes to understand what it is not about. Despite the sensationalism and glamourising (principally by the media) of ‘gap jumps’ and height training, Parkour is not about running across roofs and other death-defying stunts. Anyone who thinks it is has simply missed the point.

Parkour is concerned with the refinement of one’s own movement, with grace, control, efficiency and self-expression. These goals can be achieved in any environment – so why pick a dangerous place to train, like a rooftop, when the more expansive and varied terrain is almost always to be found at ground level? The height you train at is irrelevant, and most rooftops actually offer very little in the way of helping the individual develop as a freerunner.

The art of movement is also based on developing and improving the body, making it strong, fast, effective: in a word, healthy. This means one must have the goal in mind of being physically capable for as long as possible, which, after all, is the true litmus test of health. We are seeking longevity, not only of our own training but also of our own lives; to be as healthy and vigorous for years, even decades, to come. Thus, to receive an injury while training – in other words, for an art that promotes health to damage one’s health – is not only counterproductive but also counter to the art’s very purpose. Much like with martial art practitioners who carry several incapacitating injuries, one is justified in questioning exactly how effective this training is? The answer would seem to be that their training has, in effect, produced the very results they were trying so hard to avoid…"

So we must look closely at our own training. Take stock. Evaluate the hazards. Are you taking unnecessary risks when you could just as effectively gain the same skills by a safer method? How much of your practise if geared towards exposing yourself to danger for no purpose other than to impress, or to prove a point? Be honest with yourself, for such actions are not justified within the philosophy of the art, nor ever have been.

This is not to say, however, that discipline cannot be practised on high levels. The aim of all practitioners is to be able to move freely and effectively – whatever they may view ‘effective’ to mean – within any environment, be it high or low, confined or spacious, urban or rural. The point is that the environment is not the focus; mastery of one’s body in relation to the environment is. Roofs are not important – you are important. So focus on yourself.

How do you do this?

Firstly, and most importantly, see the truth of the art beyond the mere spectacle and showmanship. Do not be deluded by what you see in movies or on television: in almost all those scenarios, extensive security and safety measures are in place and the actions are always performed by professionals while other professionals ensure that nothing is left to chance. Use of wires, safety nets and crash mats are common. Research, delve deeper – you will find that mastery comes from rigorous practise and continuous refinement of the fundamentals. There are no short-cuts, and no secrets.

Secondly, seek out proper instruction where possible. Attend workshops and seminars, train with the more experienced in your area as often as possible, and constantly feed yourself with good information and advice found here on Urban Freeflow.

Thirdly, stop and think. Evaluate the safety measures you employ in your own training. Examine carefully the surfaces and materials your commonly practise on, check their structural integrity and stability and be particularly careful in the wet. Be aware of your own limitations and do not push yourself too far for any reason. If you are not one hundred percent sure of your ability to complete the manoeuvre safely, simply walk away from it. Practise more, and come back to it when you know you are capable.

Sadly, accidents are inevitable in every walk of life. Statistics tell us that many of the everyday sports that society takes for granted, such as football or sailing, put your life more at risk than do the seemingly more dangerous sports such as parachuting or freerunning. A recent sports council survey showed that rugby tops the dangerous sports list with 95.7 injuries per 1,000 players, with football scoring 64.4 per 1,000: yet compare this to alpine skiing which has only 2.6 injuries per 1,000, and it is clear that you don’t have to climb mountains to be more at risk. And the fact is that in the many years Parkour has been practised as a discipline in its own right, serious injuries have been few and far between, even since its explosion onto the global stage, where almost every country in the World is now represented by practitioners of all levels.
All life does entail risk, obviously. And there is no doubt that a discipline as dynamic and energetic as Parkour does involve certain hazards. But the reverse is also true; due to having a better understanding and control of one’s body and capabilities, the practitioner can improve his ability to safeguard himself from physical harm. One who trains sincerely will become less clumsy in everyday life, less prone to accident, and more aware of one’s surroundings. By practising carefully and prudently, and with proper instruction, one should actually be safer. The training should in fact prepare practitioners for the few rare and unavoidable times in life when one has to use one’s body to remove oneself from harm’s way.

So practise safely, and in turn your practise will keep you safe.

Drop.

Pit.

Fall.

Chasm.

Below.

Empty.

Space.

These are the things rushing through the mind of the climber.

These are the words which suddenly spring to life and become more than words, they become fears; fears which could become realities.

There is a sickening dread which every climber knows, when the left foot slips off a ledge and kicks out into space.

When the right hand seeks the crevice and finds none.

Is it worth it?

Is it worth the sweat?

The intensity?

The fear?

Anything worth doing in life has risk.

Jobs. Marriage. Children. Travel. Politics. Justice. Hope...

So I argue in favour of the risky climb. I argue in favour of the dangerous slope. In favour of the perilous stretch, the hazerdous falls...

If you forgo those things in life...If you substitute the real Adventure in life for the hoax of a safe and happy existence, you never discover yourself. Never discover the rest of the Universe. Never discover what it means to risk and succeed, to strive and triumph.

Dangerous? Yes.

Difficult? You bet.

Worth it? Definitely.

For totally awesome climbs, helpful pointers, and just plain old climbing mania, surf on over HERE!

WEST VIRGINIA

What to do when they tell you to stop? Sometimes your body just has to move. Sometimes you just have to break all the rules.

When the World is lying naked before you, and the Open Roads are beckoning, there is nothing to stop you.

Your feet hit the turf, they smack the pavement, they seek the ledges, your fingers stretch for the windows, the edges, the lines, the rails, the casements, the cracks, and the extreme boundaries.

This is the World of Freedom. Nothing can stop you here. Here, your body is pushed to do the unimaginable. Here, there are no rules. There are no limitations. No pretensions, no lies; no realities but the ones you carve for yourself.

The packed snow is an easel for your board; ready to expose the truth, reveal your skill, test your courage.

The stone edifice rising before you is not an obstacle, it is an opportunity.

There are no closed roads, no barriers in the path, and no restrictions.

The World is your Playground.