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How Good Are You?

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TRun17

Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 15:50

Registered Member #773

Joined: Wed 18 Apr 2007 : 17:29
Location: La CaÃ±ada
Posts: 2395

So I wrote this up real quick, I think it gets my point across haha, but there are probably many grammar errors and such, and things I could elaborate/discuss better, but I think you'll all understand it well enough.. Anyways, hope you like it.
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What comes to mind when you read the question?

"How good are you?"

Probably in terms of movement, correct? Do you judge your ability based on your peers around you? Do you consider yourself "good" because you can land that Kong Precision? You can hit that cat leap. You can reach that 12 foot wall climb. Because you can vault over something your peers cannot?

Well, this thread has nothing to do with how "good" you are in terms of movement. As important as being able to move through our environment is, I think it's time to take a step back, and ask ourselves what we consider "good" and why we consider others good, based on how well they can move.

When I joined the community 2 years ago, I remember my first couple jams. I was new to group sessions, I had been training mainly by myself for 8 months before-hand. Immediately, I remember being able to point out who was "good" just based on how well.... how big they could go with movements. Yes, it's taken me a while to realize this now, but I was totally wrong.

Our ability to move well doesn't make us "Good". What we take from the discipline, how it betters our daily lives, makes us a better person, also not forgetting that we must build up our "body armour" to also, be able to move well through the environment. To me, this is what makes someone "Good" - The journey, and what they get out of it.

I remember seeing a post from Teige(someone I highly respect), stating how "the original Traceurs aren't that good anyways ;)" and I remember thinking to myself... well wait a second, have we forgotten how long they have lasted? In a discipline that encompasses itself around the motto "To be and To Last" they sure have lasted, they love what they do, they enjoy life... I don't understand how they "aren't that good".

This is where I see problems arising... People judging how good others, or themselves are, based on their movements. I've seen some really new, crazy guys do some crazy moves, but I doubt they will last half as long as some of the originals. Sure they can move "better" at least, do cooler tricks and all, but are they really... good? How long are they going to last? What is their goal by doing these crazy, yet dangerous moves? Establishing themselves as Good to their peers and friends? Yea yea, I'm sure they enjoy it as well, but have we lost sight of the motto "To be and to Last"?

When will Parkour go from a discipline for life, to an activity for fun and recklessness? Is this what we want?

I remember posting on APK for a while, and whenever I would post about a video, and critique it, not agreeing with everyone in their saying "omg you are soo good man!!", "You are crazy!!! Good job man!!" I would get negative karma up to wahoo, and to me... this just shows how poorly we've come along, and how much people hate telling them that their training is flawed, and that what they are doing is dangerous to their body-because I didn't tell them.. they we're "good".

This is why I no longer associate the word "good" with how well someone can move. It honestly, means nothing to me, how well someone can move, it never really has, but I don't think we should be praising people on how well they can move. We should take a step back and look at how they are bettering themselves as a person, are they training to last? Are they helping others progress as well? etc.. etc.. No point in training all crazy for 1, 2 maybe 3-4 years, then ending up with jacked up knees, ankles, shoulders etc... rendering yourself useless to someone that may need your help one day. What then is your excuse? "Sorry, I could've helped you before, but not now, I was good but I'm jacked up now"...

Discovering whether or not someone is "Good" or not, in terms of everything we've covered, training to last, becoming a better person, helping others etc... Just ask yourself Why you do Parkour? Yes, this question is all over the place.. "Why?" It's a very good question...

Why do you train Parkour?
Why do you train the way you do?
etc..

Find out your reasons for training, and why you do the things you do and see if you can adjust your training so you are bettering yourself as a person, as opposed to the movement.

Any-who, to wrap up, just remember not to judge someone based on how they move. Do not compare yourself and assess whether you are "Good" or not to your peers based on movement. We should all be striving to be and to last, along with becoming a better person, and helping others, if these aren't of any concern to you, then you aren't Good.

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This has been made into an article here

[ Edited Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 19:49 ]

Training for strength and flexibility is a must. You must use it to support your techniques.
Techniques alone are no good if you don't support them with strength and flexibility." - Bruce Lee

David Jones

Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 16:02

Registered Member #1719

Joined: Tue 08 Jul 2008 : 11:42
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 1106

+1 Taylor. Great post. Article worthy? Damn straight it is! LOL!

Seriously though, I found this to be a great read, you really nailed it on this one.

I will post more later, for I have work now!

~David

[ Edited Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 16:02 ]

Stumpy

Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 16:37

Registered Member #2212

Joined: Mon 23 Mar 2009 : 21:24
Location: Placerville
Posts: 808

cool man. i like it. but remember you have to find a happy meadium here. if you can drop ten feet or more for ten years straight and not have a single ounce of damage then you have some awesome conditioning, but you still need to be able to move well to some point.

thats all i have to say for now.

l8 :)

"Limits were set by our creator to give us somthing to do."

"You break limits or break bones, either way you gotta good story to tell."

Want to join a PK group, but are not near Sac or another big town?
Join Peregrine Parkour, we are located in Placerville CA and are always looking for cool people to join our group.

Jackal

Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 17:28

Registered Member #2164

Joined: Mon 02 Mar 2009 : 14:12
Location: OC(HB)
Posts: 775

Nice Post Taylor!!! I try to think like that when i can ~ But i can't help but say "dang, he's good" when i see someone do something crazy... This read will definately help me in my training and in the purpose of my training.

NAME: Jacob Seil
LOCATIONS: Orange County (HB)
EMAIL: -email-
CELL: (951) 836 - 3834 (OK to text)
FACEBOOK: (add Jacob Raul Seil - Send invite with message saying your from pkcali)

~ FIFTEEN CENTS - WILL HELP ME BUY A SANDWICH ~

Seth

Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 19:35

Registered Member #1245

Joined: Wed 07 Nov 2007 : 00:24
Location: Merced
Posts: 356

I want your cookies :D

Pain is temporary, quitting is forever....

Gambit

Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 22:24

Registered Member #2086

Joined: Sat 24 Jan 2009 : 11:55
Location: Encinitas
Posts: 207

wait..so how good are you?
I think that people can be judged in different ways. Personally I judge on how well someone can teach, not really how well they move.

Don't look back

Stumpy

Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 23:26

Registered Member #2212

Joined: Mon 23 Mar 2009 : 21:24
Location: Placerville
Posts: 808

Gambit wrote ...

wait..so how good are you?
I think that people can be judged in different ways. Personally I judge on how well someone can teach, not really how well they move.

i personally think there is nothing wrong with how people see each other. i look at someone who is extremly good at movements of PK and i say they are good. but also if i see someone who is obviously experienced, and has massive conditioning, but may not do movements as crazy as someone else good too.
mostly, at my level, if i see someone who is obviously better than me, then i consider them good. but that will change as i progress i guess.

i guess thats all i have to say for now.

Tcat

Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 23:37

Registered Member #2067

Joined: Tue 13 Jan 2009 : 18:01
Location: Temecula, CA
Posts: 685

YES!!!! Godd job taylor, A+. I can simply say i agree with you, almost all newer tracers think "good" is how your movement is, but it is on pure discpline.
Btw, no grammatical errors;)

Check our team, Temecula parkour out:
Click it!
It's time to do da potty dance!
Ditto.

"The moral of the story is...That no matter what you do, time is always ticking away. And i believe we should all aspire to fulfill our dreams. Anything is *possible* to those who are willing to try"-Chase Armitage

ShadowNegative

Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 23:43

Registered Member #1836

Joined: Sun 24 Aug 2008 : 08:04
Location: Southern CA
Posts: 822

I suck at Parkour.

carlton 333

Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 23:54

Registered Member #2295

Joined: Mon 11 May 2009 : 19:04
Location: Sacramento, Ca
Posts: 23

Great article. Very interesting. My view is that there is no such idea as good. You can be skilled at certain techniques or movements, but everyone has a different definition of good.

[ Edited Thu 04 Jun 2009 : 23:57 ]

JFK PK

Juxta

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 00:35

Registered Member #2221

Joined: Sun 29 Mar 2009 : 02:43
Location: Oceanside
Posts: 368

I don't care about good. I care about better... and it's always one step ahead of me.

Ain't nothin gonna break my stride

Beast

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 01:08

Registered Member #1848

Joined: Tue 26 Aug 2008 : 00:08
Location: Fullerton
Posts: 904

I'm so good, my neighboor has to have a smoke!

wait, we are talking about our prowess in bed, right?

Public ignorance is an obstacle we must overcome. We must teach them. Explain to them. Educate them. Only then will they understand what we are doing, and why. - Me

~ FIFTEEN CENTS - WILL HELP ME BUY A SANDWICH ~

TRun17

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 01:15

Registered Member #773

Joined: Wed 18 Apr 2007 : 17:29
Location: La CaÃ±ada
Posts: 2395

Rebbeh wrote ...

wait, we are talking about our prowess in bed, right?

Always

Training for strength and flexibility is a must. You must use it to support your techniques.
Techniques alone are no good if you don't support them with strength and flexibility." - Bruce Lee

Beast

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 01:19

Registered Member #1848

Joined: Tue 26 Aug 2008 : 00:08
Location: Fullerton
Posts: 904

recognize! fo sho!

orem

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 04:15

Registered Member #1336

Joined: Tue 25 Dec 2007 : 22:45
Location: La Canada/ Oakland
Posts: 370

lol Rebbeh

The ability to move well should definitely be praised, but praised along with training for longevity, conditioning, perseverance, etc. It's just one of many things we strive for. And "good" can definitely be taken to mean many different things, and as someone trains more their idea of "good" probably changes a lot. If you're training someone and want to reenforce that "control" is what's actually "good," then that's where you say, "That's good!" and use that word. I'm all for a better vocabulary in describing what you're talking about, but I also wanted to point out that you can change a person's definition of a word, which can be all you need.

Hombre13

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 10:14

Registered Member #1415

Joined: Fri 15 Feb 2008 : 13:33
Location: Anaheim
Posts: 716

Someone who is good is someone who constantly pushes themselves to be better in my opinion. Someone who is smart can do this without hurting their body in the process. I don't care how 'good' a person thinks they are, if they haven't progressed in a year then I don't think they are. And like you said, it doesn't neccessarily mean good in terms of movement, andi don't even mean progression in terms of movement, but someone that is better conditioned or even mentally more prepared then when they started.

I dunno I feel like if I keep thinking about it I can talk about tihs forever. I feel like because of pakour I am a better, more confident, 'good' person.

TRun17

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 10:58

Registered Member #773

Joined: Wed 18 Apr 2007 : 17:29
Location: La CaÃ±ada
Posts: 2395

Training for strength and flexibility is a must. You must use it to support your techniques.
Techniques alone are no good if you don't support them with strength and flexibility." - Bruce Lee

Beast

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 13:27

Registered Member #1848

Joined: Tue 26 Aug 2008 : 00:08
Location: Fullerton
Posts: 904

Taylor wrote ...

:)

i concur

Seth

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 13:50

Registered Member #1245

Joined: Wed 07 Nov 2007 : 00:24
Location: Merced
Posts: 356

Totally....

=D

Pain is temporary, quitting is forever....

Nextar

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 17:42

Registered Member #2291

Joined: Fri 08 May 2009 : 16:55
Location: Santa Clarita
Posts: 43

When you think your'e good is probably when you start taking it easy in your training, but if you feel like you'll never be good enough and use it as motivation to get better you'll probably surpass most others. Parkour has made me look at life in a totally different way and that makes me want to get better so my views of life can change even more.

I see guys doing crazy things and I think I hope i never get that good so I can keep trying to get that good because the journey is were the philosophy of parkour takes place. At least how I see it. I'm not "Good" by any means but I train hard and to me that is what I love about parkour.

神速
GOD
SPEED
PARKOUR
Santa Clarita

GODSPEED:

a wish for a prosperous journey.

David Jones

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 17:55

Registered Member #1719

Joined: Tue 08 Jul 2008 : 11:42
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 1106

Good post Nextar. Since starting Parkour, I've always said to my father, and some friends that I'd rather be someone who isn't that developed in Parkour to begin with, but is constantly progressing no matter how miniscule the progression is, rather than someone who is naturally gifted but is at a plateau throughout their Parkour.

I think what I said above can be applied to anything in life. Think about it like this: If nothing was a challenge, then what is the enjoyment in it? I think we all can say that a major part of Parkour and other activities is that we enjoy the challenge, and trying to reach farther than the norm.

~David

[ Edited Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 17:59 ]

thatoneguy

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 18:09

Registered Member #1657

Joined: Sat 07 Jun 2008 : 01:49
Location: pacific beach, california
Posts: 229

wow, godly post, anywho what i consider good is a traceur or traceuse is able to basically traverse and climb and handle nearly any obstacle put in front of them without going through a trial run of the course they are on. I guess another way of putting it is a person who is truly good can make it from point a to b without breaking stride or second guessing themselves, but i am good, i dont think so, but i might not ever be as good as i want to be. Juxta said it the best, its just like when im on one of my jams, i dont care about where im standing at the moment i just care about staying focused on the place i want to be at, and when i get to that point there is always another place thats harder to get to that i want to be at.

[ Edited Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 18:11 ]

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body but rather to skid in broadside thoroughly used up, totally worn out, bruised, bloody and loudly proclaiming WOW, WHAT A RIDE"

"Actions speak in ways words never can"

Socrates

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 18:11

Registered Member #2130

Joined: Wed 11 Feb 2009 : 22:59
Location: Bloomington
Posts: 328

Yes another great read from Taylor. This read reminds me again how I am not "good" at parkour. lol :p

To be and to last

Nextar

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 18:44

Registered Member #2291

Joined: Fri 08 May 2009 : 16:55
Location: Santa Clarita
Posts: 43

If YOU think your really good- watch this and remember what your watching.

-link-

神速
GOD
SPEED
PARKOUR
Santa Clarita

GODSPEED:

a wish for a prosperous journey.

ShadowNegative

Fri 05 Jun 2009 : 18:44

Registered Member #1836

Joined: Sun 24 Aug 2008 : 08:04
Location: Southern CA
Posts: 822

I suck at Parkour.

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