Hi, I've been practicing parkour for about 4 years now, not posting much though. I want to say something about parkour training. From my own experience and from the evidence of videos & discussions on here it seems that something is lacking from many people’s training.

Often in sports phases of training can be broken into 1. Learning 2.Drilling 3.Testing. For example in football if you want to train crosses you learn the right way to do it, drill it statically and moving and then try it in a match. Or in boxing learn the right way to jab, train it on bags and against pads then try it in sparring. This seems like a sensible way to learn anything.

What about parkour? For example saut de bras, you learn the proper form, drill it, then what? What is the testing phase in parkour? According to most people parkour is for reach and escape so it should be tested in an escape or reach situation. A footballer isn’t good if he has perfect form on his crosses, a boxer isn’t good if he has really good bag work, they’re judged on performance. Same with parkour, judge yourself based on actual performance.

What I am saying is; test the things you drill in realistic situations. To get better in chases, have people chase you (traceurs or not) and see if you can do the things you train or are they actually useful. To get better at reaching, run from one place to another by any route as fast as possible and time it. Measure your performance and try to improve it.

All the things you train are testable. Drills can only get you so far, in the end performance matters. Would you rather assume what you do will work or do you want to know what you are really capable of? In my opinion this part of training is the most important but seems neglected by everyone.

Objections
1. Too dangerous.
I am not saying trying life or death rooftop chases. As with any training know your limits and respect them, it is not the time to try something new or risky.

2. It’s fake, I train for real situations.
Do you think if you can’t do something in a relatively low pressure situation you’ll be able to do it in an emergency? Training in a similar but lower pressure situation will prepare you better for an emergency. (compare to sparring in martial arts, practice matches in football training etc.)

3. I need to drill to get my technique perfect.
I am not saying abandon drills completely. I am saying they are a means of training. The aim isn’t perfect looking techniques, that’s gymnastics, the aim is speed over obstacles. Better to be able to apply an imperfect technique than never to have done a perfect one under pressure.

I hope what I’m saying is clear and that people can see why this is important.

(Similar to http://blane-parkour.blogspot.com/2007/06/descent.html)