Benefits at SPRING Parkour Academy
There are countless benefits to Parkour as for many it has become a vital part of their entire life. It is so much more than just a physical activity. It is important to view it holistically as you will not only be challenged on a physical level but on an emotional level as well.
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As coaches, we focus on the student and design a path of personal development specifically for him/her. The Academy serves as an additional avenue of teaching students how to navigate life, while using the platform of Parkour.
After the family unit and school/varsity/ the workplace, the gym is the third most regular influence a student has. Year in and year out, you come for class one or two times a week and your life-ups and downs come with you. Personal relationships are formed and a culture of deeply investing and sincerely caring for one another cultivates. This base of acceptance is vital to each individual finding his / her own self.
Read more about the benefits of parkour:
Here are just some benefits/skills Parkour at SPRING Academy will teach you... but there are many more
This article has been written partly by using a blog from Freedom in Motion: Top ten Health Benefits of doing Parkour (https://fimblog.com/2017/07/09/top-10-health-benefits-to-doing-parkour/) as some of the source material
Look at each one of the benefits and ask yourself “can this be me or my child” then perhaps give Parkour a try and register by clicking on the Online Registration Button.
• Balance and agility.
Through moving consistently over and on obstacles, the students generate a better sense of balance and agility. Reasonable heights become less of a factor and more and more skill is acquired that starts eliminating their risk of falling.
• Cardiovascular Endurance
Play is encouraged in parkour, and with play comes long spans of quick movements that should remind you of the game “tag” that children often play. At the very core, the game “tag” is a parkour game. While playing “tag”, participants are constantly moving and jumping around which leads to increased stamina. This strengthens your heart enables increased oxygen into the entire body. Combine all of this with a more effective breathing technique and you will feel your body functioning on an entirely different level.
- Freedom in Motion
• Increased Bone strength
Bone density can be developed through certain parkour movements. Various lower and upper body and low-med & high impact movements are done by athletes during a parkour practice. From the impact that the body endures, the body is able to build stronger bones. It is, however, never necessary to train parkour with higher impact movements, but they do still offer a benefit when done with control and technique. - Freedom in Motion
• Builds Core strength
When bending, twisting and transferring power and strength across your body, core strength is an essential part. Developing a strong core can help prevent lower back injuries and promotes better posture while at the same time creating an agile individual through the various parkour exercises. - Freedom in Motion
• Skill-related fitness.
An athlete’s repertoire of their movement skills is referred to as skill-related fitness. These may be called upon at any given moment in any situation. Balance, climbing. jumping, landing et cetera are just a few of these skills. At any given time while practicing parkour an athlete will learn how to at their own convenience call upon these skills. It is a very beneficial skill to have in your arsenal even if it is not required for everyday life, it can still help with your physical fitness. Having these additional skills at your disposal may help you in unexpected situations like falls or emergencies. It does not only offer mental fitness but an added sense of security and joy. - Freedom in Motion
• Full body workout.
Parkour workouts surround total body fitness. You will incorporate multiple major muscle groups into your workout while you pilot your body through various and unique sequences of parkour movements. Parkour is not just good for the body, it engages the mind and can often increase overall stamina of the athlete because they are enjoying themselves and having fun. A static gym session is less rewarding than a parkour session and can be more rewarding in many ways with new experiences. - Freedom in Motion
• Teaches Opportunity thinking and Problem-Solving skills.
Strings of Obstacles (two or more following a specific sequence) are different with each approach as small variances in speed, strides or angles offer new challenges in the same string and possibly results in a different required move while flow and/or efficiency is always the key focus. Similar to life, the student has to adapt his/her movement to comply with the environment in that moment instead of expecting the environment to be changed or the string to be changed. When students realize that "the problem" doesn't change or go away but they can adapt to it, a profound moment of growth, courage, and self-assurance is cultivated.
• Promotes quick-thinking skills.
Participants in parkour are often required to make quick thinking and split-second decisions regarding a current or next movement. To successfully perform a task and sequence of movements, participants are taught to make logical and calculated decisions on the spot in order to perform a successful task. By continuously training these movements and progressions, the base reaction times and accuracy of the athletes are increased allowing the participants to trust their own instincts and decision making in their everyday lives. - Freedom in Motion
• Builds Critical thinking and creativity.
Parkour encourages participants to be creative as well as to think critically about their ever-changing environment. Students grow in their understanding of what they can and cannot do at any given point of their training as well as find different ways they are capable of to overcome. This also teaches students the ability to find parkour value or as we call it "Parkour Vision" in everyday environments and objects. Any public space, school ground, park or parking lot becomes a potential parkour spot. This new vision makes its way outside of the usual gym parkour sessions as students have reported an increase in activity outside of the gym with their newly expanded sense of self and creativity.
• Encourages respect and honor among peers.
While respect and Honour are one of SPRING Parkour Academy's coaches principals, the concepts usually start reflecting in student behavior after a while. Often in social, school, varsity or work settings pecking orders are established and students attempt to force those down onto others at the gym out of habit. However, even though we agree that a hierarchy is always at play in life, there are healthy and unhealthy ways to go about them.
• Grows a culture of Ownership and Responsibility.
One of our laws of the teacher (7 Laws of the Teacher by Dr. Howard Hendricks) is to "Never teach a student something they can figure out for themselves" and that failing is part of the learning process. We work hard to create a formative (serving to form something, especially having a profound influence on a person's development- Google Dictionary) environment where there is the freedom to make mistakes without high stake consequences. We teach students that we would rather have them "fail here and learn to get it right out there than get it right here but fail out there" - Dr. Howard Hendricks. However, we also bring in a sense of ownership through self-assessment and reflection where a student is given the chance to first identify what he/she thinks was wrong with the move and extrapolating improvements from previous mistakes to try and better his/her own movement, the coach will then either add to that or allow for the student to test his/her newfound theory.
• Boosts confidence.
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One of the beauties of Parkour is that, unlike other activities where you either have the talent or you don't, and only the best are chosen, Parkour is an environment where one student may be in Level 4 and still be struggling with a move that a student in Level 1 managed easily, and vice versa. this helps that everyone can learn from everyone and even though we have different levels for Class times and coaches purposes, all students can train together and be accepted throughout the gym.
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As our students grow in their moves and navigate the challenges that come with them, their character is also shaped by it. Through the tools we use at the Academy, the students become stronger versions of themselves with the freedom to be who they are. We have found that most of the students who were initially shy and kept to themselves grow into their voice and have learned that Parkour allows for anyone to be able to contribute and no one's input is worth more or less than others.
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We encourage friendly banter through the sessions. Students and Coaches alike learn to enjoy laughing at themselves for failing or sometimes saying something that did not come out as planned. But we teach that though we respect the person, we can enjoy
the pure foolishness of the moment and there is a distinct difference between the two. We monitor banter closely as no banter may be at the cost of a students' worth or value and we have seen magnificent results over the years. Research has also proven it to be healthy to simply enjoy oneself when failing and making peace with the fact that no learning or even success can take place without failure - the key in it to always get up and keep going at it - never give up.
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Many of our students have admittedly been in situations where they used to be verbally bullied and belittled by someone or multiple someones in another setting. Some struggled with acceptance from their peers and would have done anything just to be liked. As they grew in their own confidence and view of self through parkour at the Academy, they have found that the opinions of those that once mattered so much to them no longer have that value and the bullying has stopped. It is no secret that bullying is a huge problem in schools and universities today, and though we cannot claim to have a solution through Parkour, it is inarguably very beneficial.
• Reduces antisocial behavior.
It has been proven in a study conducted in Westminster in conjunction with parkour coaching that parkour can reduce antisocial behavior in participants. The study has found that crime rates had been reduced by up to 69% by the youth participants between the ages of 8 -19 who had participated in parkour and have received parkour instruction. Building mental fortitude is another building block, and to take on life challenges the youth will need that newfound confidence and abilities. - Freedom in Motion
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Also, feel free to read the blog by Freedom in Motion:
• Encourages Collaboration.
As collaboration is a major skill for any adult to have in today's workplace, it is a common known fact that young adults, as well as school learners, are struggling to learn the skill and the value of working alongside others to achieve a specified goal. At SPRING Parkour Academy we use class setting to teach students how to learn from each other, not make the same mistakes and we encourage them to share with each other their unique insights of moves learned or struggling with.
• Peer to peer teaching.
Our coaches understand the value of allowing students to "teach" other students what they have learned in previous sessions. This not only forces some active recall and learning on the student teaching but reinforces their own understanding of the movement. Peer to peer teaching assists as students also get individualized learning opportunities. It assists with communication on both parties, both conveying an idea into speech in order for someone to action it but also listening with the intent to understand on the part of the other student. This technique instills a great sense of belonging as a student can be in this position from their second class with no risk or shame and do not have to wait years to become a higher level in order to learn or shine.
• Cultivates healthy group interactions.
Most humans compare themselves with others on one level or another and the Academy environment is no different, however, we teach through a unique approach that though I am more inspired by some people than others, I do not need to compete with them, but rather learn from them to become my version of that quality. Our Coaches focus students on their own growth and achievements as individual goals are celebrated no matter how big or small. The sense of accomplishment when one student lands and sticks a big trick is equal to another student who has been working to be able to do 10 pushups in a row. Through this, mutual respect generates between students as for each of us, our struggle is real and we are here to help each other. Jealousy becomes empathy, envy becomes encouragement and pride becomes support.
• Teaches Communication.
Research shows that being able to communicate is an active skill that should be mastered as it does not come naturally to all. By communicating in the group setting, students learn 5 types of Communication:
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1. Listening
2. Verbal communication
3. Nonverbal communication
4. Emotional Awareness
5. Communicating in different situations
• Anyone can do it & everyone should do it.
Learning how to move is the basis and foundation of parkour and taught at the beginner levels. Regardless of age, the principle will remain the same, but the steps to follow may vary between the different age groups. It is all about beginning with the strength and mobility you already possess but then adding and building onto that through progression and practice. With practice, you learn to move more efficiently as well as with more confidence and less hesitation. Starting with the baby steps is like learning to walk or jumping unto an object with both feet. Each achievement no matter how small will create top-level athletes. - Freedom in Motion
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Also, feel free to read the blog by Freedom in Motion: