Mirrors Edge

you may or may not have heard of this title, but it combines 3 of my favourite things in the world together: Parkour + Women + Video games

in the past we have seen many games with ‘Parkour’ in it. for example Assassins creed, Prince of Persia, Ninja Gaiden etc. but none of it has really captured Parkour as it should be. free flowing constant movement. with nothing in your way to stop you going to where you want to go… UNTIL NOW

this new game is called Mirrors Edge, its a First Person perspective game, and puts you in control of a character named faith. she is a female traceur and her sister has been kidnapped (that’s all we know about the story so far)
but that doesn’t matter, because what i am here to show you is about the movement. this game is slick! maybe not always realistic, but it sure as hell beats that crappy ‘free running’ game that was released a year or so ago.

the game asks you to build up momentum with your movements, allowing each thing you do in succession to be slightly bigger/faster than the one before it.

there are no ‘markers’ in the game as such. you are free to go where you want to go. but there is something called runner vision, which makes items appear brighter/more colourful/in focus if it is somewhere that would help your run. pretty much like real life, where you assess your surroundings whilst running, always looking for the best/easiest rout.

anyway. there is only so much you can say about a game that has only been shown off once, but im sure i can dig up some more info if people are interested

here is a video of the game in action

Stream Standard def

Stream High Def

Download Standard def

Download High Def

Sick

So here I am at half 2 in the morning, £5 down on poker, feeling as ill as ever, and without the ability to sleep (even though I know I have to be up early tomorrow) you would probably guess I’m feeling pretty rubbish.

well that guess would be wrong!… to an extent!

I’ve just been checking out our forums, and found something that perked me right up

some back-story….
in case you didn’t know, Joe Hicks from Nottingham (Jiks on the forums) has been popping over to Lincoln for the last few weeks and has been having a wale of a time at our Saturday gym sessions, practising, taking photos and clowning around with all of us in Lincs Parkour we love him

anyway, he made a small video documenting this weeks Saturday activities, and it made me smile. I think its great edit and I look forward to seeing more from him
it made me smile and I hope it does the same for you

click below for his photos

Youtube Takeover

Just a quick post before i head off to uni today
letting you all know that today (may 2nd) is the day that Parkour takes over Youtube
our media loving friends Forrest and Dan over at Parkour Generations have struck a deal with the video sharing site, to get their pick of Parkour videos on the featured list for the whole day

” the YouTube homepage will feature NOTHING but parkour videos for the entire day and a little longer. We now know that as well as YouTube.com at least another 18 countries’ YouTube homepages will be running the Takeover Day, including the UK and France, making this easily the largest online exposure for the discipline in history. The aim is to showcase the true discipline, the training, the community, rather than the spectacle. “

one video they didn’t manage to put on there was the now world famous JUMP LINCOLN

every video is great, and this is my pick of the bunch

its some great PR for them and Parkour, check it out @ YOUTUBE

Joes Photography - Part 2

so, I have been looking through the blog’s stats (trying to put off the essay thats due in for tomorrow) and I noticed that a few of the photo’s that Joe took of us training recently have attracted some attention from the inter-web
I want to say thanks to the people who linked us, and to return the favour (thanks to Scott Bird from straight to the bar)

I know we have a few more budding photographers in Lincs Parkour so I will do my best to give everyone their dues in time, but for now here are more of joes

Energize Event - Sat 19th April

Due to our incredible success in last years Christmas show, we will once again be working in association with the non profit organisation Energize in Lincoln UK.

Lincs Parkour (more specifically its vintage team + advance class guests) are going to be performing on stage at the Energize Easter event this coming Saturday (19th April)

We will not be the only ones performing on stage, the show is packed with local and national talent

There will be a Lincs Parkour demo,
Street Dance Crews - including Dance factor champions Sincil Survivors,
Performances from WOW (Wonders of the World)
world famous DJ’s.

An event not to be missed!

Date:	Saturday, April 19, 2008
Time:	7:30pm - 9:30pm
Location:	New Life Centre Newland Street
City/Town:	Lincoln, United Kingdom
Price:	£2 on the door

Timing means that the advanced session on Saturday will be cut short by half an hour, to enable everyone to travel to the event and get ready for the show.

I hope to see you all there

To see us on stage at last years show, carry on reading

JM’s Photography

this post was supposed to be all about the conditioning session myself, Ryan, Stu and Tumo had on Thursday while others were in Nottingham. The session wasn’t exactly as it was supposed to be. Tumo had to head off early for his his dads birthday, so we spent most of the time doing challenges at the usher gallery, and city hall, and minimal leg conditioning in the arboretum. The main reason we didn’t focus so heavily on the conditioning (apart from my complete inability to keep up with fitness gods Ryan and Stu) was that we had Joe Marshall (my house mate ) come along with us as our ‘official’ photographer. he got some great shots, a few choice ones are placed on his Flickr Account
let us know what you think of the photos here and if you like them, maybe we can get joe out again some time soon to document our days

Once again,
Thanks Joe

Workshop Heaven/Hell

wow what a day it was yesterday!
all seasons of weather in one day! which made it a perfect day for an indoor parkour session!

I have to say I looked calm most of the time today but it was a BLOODY NIGHTMARE getting these classes sorted today

We had to change venues from the regular massive hall, to the smaller school hall due to timetabling errors and everyone saying its not their problem is someone else’s (this basically meant the normal hall was free all day but they wouldn’t let us use it!)

then they wouldn’t let us use the schools equipment because they apparently hate people doing constructive things with their rarely touched equipment. I seriously think they keep it just for show!

so anyway 40 people and all the equipment we had to lug around from the other side of the venue in the freezing snow had to squeeze into this tiny space, which meant we had to set up around the kids who were doing a military style warm-up with Stu.

Then at the end of the session it took me Stu, Dom, Jack, Jen + her bro, and even STU’s DAD almost an hour to put all the stuff that everyone left for us to pack away. I almost went insane with rage when I saw that everyone had just gone instead of helping out and doing their bit.

But I know you ALL will help next week

Workshop Reshuffle

I know I know, yet another post from me, you must be bored of me by now
(what are all you other contributors doing, get your acts together lol)
but this is some important information so I thought I would post it here to give everyone a chance to read it!

as of last week 15th March 08 classes have been restructured to accommodate the increased demand, here are the details

3pm-4:30pm - £3 - Beginners UNDER 13
4:30pm-6pm - £3 - Beginners 14 +
6pm-8pm - £3 - Advanced (you need to apply through our forums for this class as its advanced and so you will need considerable experience to attend)

click below for important dates

Christ Almighty: Week 19

I am surprised it has been a whole month since I made the post about the Thursday sessions, time moves so fast, it feels like yesterday we had our first session.

anyway its going to be a short report today cause im working on my dissertation but lots of photos to keep you entertained instead

Lincolnshire Echo

a quick update to point you in the direction of our article in the Lincolnshire echo.

It basically tells you what Jonny has already posted before about how Lincs Parkour came to be, and how successful the classes have become but this time its from an outsiders point of view, so there are some details about what Parkour is and why we do it…

“It’s known variously around the world as Parkour, free running, street running or PK.

And the people who do it are called Traceurs, street ninjas or urban athletes.
But whatever you call it the latest craze to sweep the country is essentially about overcoming hurdles, both mental and physical.

As an activity Parkour is difficult to categorise. It is referred to as an extreme sport but it was not invented as one. The sport was founded by David Belle in France as a way to develop the body and mind to be able to overcome obstacles. The aim of the practice was to train the body to move as quickly and efficiently as possible, from one place to another, without letting the surrounding environment get in the way.”