It's My Parkour Birthday!!!!

Today, October 6th, 2008 is my first birthday within the parkour universe. One year ago, I was feeling very nervous, very anxious and very excited because I was on my way to see David Belle and officially begin my training. I don't think I could have picked a better day to start training if I tried! The sun was shining, the weather was unusually warm for October, and to top it off, David Belle was there. I had never been to a jam before, much less a training day and demo for the New Yorker Festival. Over 50 people showed up to participate. I was the only woman and I felt really, really alone. I tried my best, though, did what I could, and it was a fantastic 2 days.

The famous photo...

I won’t lie, I cringe every time I see that footage from the New Yorker video, but with more distance, I’m surprised I wasn’t more intimidated considering that I had guys literally flying over my head, hurling themselves over vault boxes that I was struggling to simply lift myself onto top of. There were three professional camera people filming, an audience which included more able-bodied traceurs, reporters and over one hundred spectators (many of whom were little girls), and on top of all that, David (or “the guru,” as Dino jokingly calls him) was pacing around, watching everyone. Despite all of that, I nonchalantly tuned everything out and concentrated on my body and what I was doing. In addition, I pretty much got a personal training session with both David and Dino for a few minutes, which felt really special. Dino later told me that he and David had talked the night before and knew how hard it was for me to come out and do this when I had never trained before. Any other struggle that I was going through was neutralized by that comment because I didn’t feel alone anymore.

Me and David

Dino from PK One in Germany and my brother Paul

Two months after the New Yorker Event, I left the country for the first time (with the exception of Canada). I don’t think I’ve ever felt more at peace than when I was in Thailand. I did a tiny bit of rural training there, but I was really feeling the cultural differences in the food! I lost 10 pounds off my already small frame, so training was minimal. When I think of Thailand, I feel 2 things, the first is hunger and the second is nostalgia. It was a really touristy trip, so I plan on living there for a while in the near future.

Sawatdee Kha!

I started having the Ladies’ Jams in Central Park in early February, shortly before Stephane Vigroux, Dan Edwardes and Chris Keighley of Parkour Generations came over with Julie Angel for a day of training. Good training and great conversations were had, and I’m very happy I missed class for it!

In May I found myself on a 14 hour bus ride to Columbus, Ohio for a 4 day long event with Parkour Horizons and Parkour Generations. I met Kazuma, Forrest and Johann Vigroux for the first time, and caught up with Stephane, Dan and Julie, along with the Ohio guys, Tyson, Jereme, Levi and a bunch of other American traceurs. It was a really hard few days, but I got some good training in and made awesome friends!

Dan, Stephane, Forrest, Kazuma and Johann with some of the ladies

From late June to early August, I lived in Paris while studying French and training parkour. A little trip to Lisses was a serious highlight, as well as the mental strength that comes from training alone, but then also the brother and sisterhood that comes from training with others.

After that, a measly 5 days was spent in London, mostly sick, but I did get the chance to take 2 classes with PK Gen, which was pretty incredible.

So...it's been a hell of a year. I attempted to give myself the best possible start in parkour, and I think that did a pretty good job: Thailand, France, London, David Belle, Stephane and Johann Vigroux, Kazuma, Dan Edwardes, Forrest...the list goes on. I've made incredible friends and deeply thank everyone who helped make this year what it was.

One year ago, I was showing my parents and brothers Speed Air Man and the UF3 Documentary on Stephane. One year later, I've met them and have been to those places. When Steph came to New York in February, he spoke to us about all the investment you have to give of yourself to really be good in Parkour. The older I get in this discipline, the more I understand that, and the more I want to give of myself. I want to get to a good level and be able to transmit all the knowledge I've been given back to those who want to learn. All of that is for the future, though. As for right now, what's next? Too soon to tell, but one thing I'm sure of is this: I'm going to keep training.

Train hard, train safe, train with conviction and passion, in the right spirit and always for the right reasons.

Thanks so much to everyone I've met over the past year. Lots more training and adventures to be had and many more people to meet. 'Till then, keep training and respect!