Melbourne Trip - Day 5

Woke up at 0830, had a shower then did a bit of stretching before Chippa woke up. I made breakfast this time (well most of it) then sat around for a bit watching TV. Rhys showed up at one, just to hang, because Harley was busy.

From there Chippa and me left Rhys to go into the city to do a bit of training. He took me to a car park that had some good rails. From there we moved on to southbak where we met Sam, Smo and another guy that I can't remember the name of. he's been to a few of the trainings now. We trained at southbank for a bit, and then CHippa had to leave to go sort out his phone insurance and then go in to prepare for the Trace Elements perfomrance later that night.

So it was jusdt me and the other guys. We moved from southbank to a back area, that had some good precisions. I got a good running precision that Chippa does in one of the new Trace Elements videos, but I got it with two feet.

From there we moved to the back of the arts centre, where there were some really grippy walls and ledges. There we did a few tic tac to arm jumps. I even got off a tic tac to tic tac to arm jump. It's was pretty ineffient, but it was mainly about the physical capability that was required to be able to do it. Benji then cam eout of nowhere to do some training with us.

We then moved back along southbak to the area with the long black blocks, that is really good for precisions. I'm starting to refine my precision technique, such as reaching out with my feet to be able to get that little bit of extra distance. It was still evident that I have to work around my mental confidence in committing that little bit extra to the precision, so that I can reach that little bit further.

From there we moved on to the crackhead park. This is the playground behind the melbourne museum, that i had trained at with Chippa yesterday. On the way I bought a ped rag, just like what most of the big guys in Melbourne are wearing. it's kind of like my souvenier for the trip. Plus it keeps my head warm, so I don't need a beany anymore. At crackhead park we did a bit of balance work and a few arm jumps. I tried some arm jumps, but then my elbow started mucking up, so I stopped there. I think that I just have to let it rest and sort itself out. So I wont do any more parkour until Rhys comes to Canberra, or I'm doing filming for the commercial.

After crackhead park, we started to make our way to the Bali memorial, but on our way we foudn this awesome new spot. It was a stairwell that went into the ground, witha lot of rails and walls on the outside. it has a lot of potential for different types of movement at varying skill levels. So they guys played around in there for a while, but I stayed back as my elbow was still playing up.

From there we moved on to the Bali memorial, where there is a good wall closeby, that can be used to pratice various vaults.

We then all started to break off.

Just before he left, Benji asked me a few really deep questions about parkour. He asked me whether I had got out of the trip what I came to get, as well as what my idea of the philospohy of parkour was. Now this question, about the parkour philosophy, is a really tricking one. Benji had away of rephrasing it, what do I enjoy/get from doing parkour. When thinking about the answer, it kidn of came to me. I was thinking about my parkour history, and one moment stuck in my mind, when i was injured and was not supposed to do any sport. I remember doing my first vault, when i was getting to the end of my recovery from the injury. It was only a simple side vault, but the feeling I got from it. it was like pure happiness or joy. A feeling of freedom, to be able to move any way I want in any environment. The freedom of movement. I think that this is what makes my philospohy of parkour. Sure, I still follow the broader philosophy of helping others, becoming strong, but I think that it is this feeling of freedom in my movement that makes my parkour philosophy unique for me.

Well, after everyone had left, I went with Smo to the Arts House, so that we could go watch the Trace Elements show again. Smo already had a ticket, but I was expecting to be able to just get in. I was let down. I ended up getting put on the waiting list, then not making it in by only a few people. I felt so cut by this. So I jsut sat in the foyer, sulking a bit, thinking about all the ways I could have got in illegitimately. I then read the poster for the show, as well as the bios for each of the Trace Elements guys. it was actually pretty interesting to see how Arts House had decided how to explain parkour in the article. I then did a bit of stretching, until the show finished.

From there I went in and caught up witht he rest of the guys. I think ome were a bit shocked that I had just been sitting outside, instead of in watching the show. I really should have jsut gone in the doors from the side alley. Oh well.

From there we went to dinner at the bar. Afterwards I said my last farewells to most of the guys. Rhys said he'd let me know what was going on with his TV Show thing in Canberra. harley said he'd get in contact with me if he was ever in Canberra, to do some serious training. He was saying that with all the times he's been in Canberra, he's never done any real serious training. So hopefully I can take him out some time, be his parkour tour guide. Talking with jamie, he was talking about maybe doing a road trip to Canberra on one weekend. It will be interesting to see if it goes ahead, should be fun.