360 Parkour Magazine

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42 InspirationalGod of Fire

12

23

Departments

37

Do It YourselfDIY Practice Course

Safe PracticesStretching

Parkour LingoFor everyday practice

40 Featured GroupMissoula

48 Difficult MovesFor the advanced

50 InterviewTommy Mullen

3 Easy MovesTo train your body

54 Parkour StyleThe newest gear

6

Artist Profile Jon Burns

InspirationalGod of Fire

Features

14

26

46

Annual Parkour Conference, San Diego

The ParkuettesAll-girl Parkour group

David BelleFounder of Parkour

YamakasiMovie Review 18

36

About the CoverThe outer cover of the magazine is a stencil with 360 magazine’s logo.Photo by: KCFitnessLink

pg 360 Magazine

Department NameGod of Fire

Phot

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by: N

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42 April 2012

Insp

iratio

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When practicing rural Parkour, improvising is the key.In this innovative Parkour session, fire was used as grounding for a cat’s jump.

Continued on page 44...

Phot

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by: N

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Parkour with fire is an intriguing but

dangerous task. Take the proper pre-

cautions and have a fire extinguisher

or bucket of water ready just in case.

A good way to start is to place a board

down on top of the fire for emergency

landing.

In the opening picture, we see the

tracer vaulting over the fire. This gives

you more lift to have a greater impact

on your audience.

The reason for using fire is not

only for the cool effects, fire brings

some urgency to your tricks and

forces you to perform well in order

to avoid burns. For this reason fire

jumping should only be attempted by

advanced Traceurs who are confident

in their moves.

“Fear is a street run-ner’s ultimate enemy. Fire is an ultimate source of fear.” -Tommy Mullen

Tommy Mullen, a seasoned Tra-

ceur, finds the experience of fire jump-

ing to be exhilarating not only because

of the adrenaline rush but because of

the literal heat pushing all of the hair

on your body in an upward motion.

This is a physical exhilaration.

People who are most success-

ful in the obstacle of fire jumping are

those who have practiced track or

long jumps. This gives them a better

understanding of how to approach the

jump. When making large jumps, it is

important to know which foot to jump

off of to create a smooth jump.

44 April 2012

Continued on page 44...

Photography by: Nicole Page

DIY Practice CourseRural Parkour is more difficult that urban Parkour because of the lack of obstacles. Here are some ideas for creating your own practice course.

Trampolines are the best

way to start training. They allow you to

experience flips and learn the ways in

which your body can move and rotate.

The chance of injury is fairly small on

trampolines and even children can

practice Parkour moves with a net at-

tached for security.

Trampolines are made with dif-

ferent spring counts. The trampolines

made specifically for gymnastics

are the best for practicing Parkour

because they allow higher jumps.

Cheaper trampolines become looser

after a couple months of use, as the

strings and rubber stretch.

Empty playgrounds are also good

obstacles for Parkour. Monkey bars

are particularly effective for practic-

ing swing moves and cat jumps, if the

bars are low enough. They can also be

used to improve balance by walking

along the top of the bars.

Once you have mastered basic

moves you may be ready to build an

obstacle course in your own backyard.

Be critical of the obstacles include, as

building an obstacle course will take

some time and money. Here are a

couple options for quick and easy ob-

stacles to build in your own backyard.

12 April 2012

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Things you’ll need:• wood• benches• metal bars• old tires• trampoline• tables

Do

It Yo

urse

lf

Benches are easy to find and

require no assembly. They are good

for upwards-precision jumps and can

be used for vaulting. Make sure the

bench is extremely study, or add sand

bags or weights around the legs of

your bench.

Old car tires can be used for a

make-shift practice course. Tires can

be stacked for climbing practice or

spaced out for muscle training. What

is particularly useful about tires is that

they have some bounce and can be

used similar to a trampoline.

You can find supplies by taking a

quick trip to Lowes or Home Depot. If

you are handy with tools, wood and

Almost as important as the equip-

ment is the placement of obstacles.

Sketch out a design, focusing on

the moves you will practice on each

obstacle. You will need a minimum of

three obstacles in order to create a

flow in your moves.

If all else fails, look around you!

Parkour is the art of improvising, so if

you can improvise in the most difficult

of locations, then you have an advan-

tage over most advanced Traceurs.

360 Magazine 13

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nails can be transformed into all sorts

of mouting and jumping obstacles.

“Tires can be stacked for climbing practice or spaced out for muscle training.”

You can also find obstacles in a

sports training store. Traditional vaults

used in gymnastics and pull-up bars

are fairly inexpensive and extremely

useful in Parkour. In fact, when placed

next to each other, practicing a pull

through onto a vault is a very useful

skill.

3 easy moves

Precision Jump

The place for all aspiring Parkour runners to startis with these three easy moves that willtrain your body in Parkour.

1

Start with feet together on the edge

of your take-off point.

As you prepare to jump, bring your

legs into a semi-crouch.

Your arms move behind you and

your weight is shifted to the balls

of your feet.

As you jump throw your arms

forwards and upwards.

From this point, bring the knees

forward and push your feet

towards the landing point.

Spot the landing and extend your

legs to meet the line. Depending

on how much force and how high

you jump, you might bring your

legs in front of your body to com-

pensate the force.

As you make contact with the land-

ing destination, land on the balls

of your feet. If you happen to slip

across the landing surface you can

drop your heel and avoid further

slippage and possible falls.

6 April 2012

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A precision jump involves jumping from one small area to another small.The jump is great for situations where you need, you guessed it, precise jumping!

Lear

ning

3 easy moves

2

Do not bend your knees past a

90 degree angle. This keeps the

momentum forward and allows for

a proper roll.

Allow the forearm to lower to

the ground. This should stop a

common mistake people make,

where they fall onto and hurt their

shoulder. Keep the left leg on the

outside of the left arm. If you let it

track inwards you run the risk of

kneeling on your forearm.

From here push with the left leg

for forward momentum. You will

roll over the left arm and onto

your shoulder. As the back of your

shoulder makes contact with the

ground, tuck your right heel to your

backside. Roll diagonally across

the back, from left shoulder to right

hip and then onto your feet.

Be Aware. When you start to prog-

ress with this roll off heights and

with speed the technique will need

to change, you will need to land

with feet closer together and be

more adaptable and dynamic with

the arms.

Keep your legs at a 90 degree angle.

360 Magazine 7

Proper Rolls

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A basic roll is one of the most fundamental moves in parkour (the art of dis-placement). It's often used in landings, absorbing the impact of the fall and making it essential for practicing proper safety precautions.


3

Like rolls, if the knees are bent a

lot, there is no forward momentum.

It is important to focus on the

placement of the feet on the

ground. Aim to land with the ball of

the foot down (between the toes

and the arch of the foot). Do not

land on the toes, the heels, or on

flat feet.

Because the ball of the foot is

placed down, the heels can roll

down towards the ground. De-

pending on the impact absorbed

through the feet, this may or may

not be necessary (a drop, for

example, would be a good time

to roll the heel down, as opposed

to landing from a vault without a

significant drop afterwards, where

it may not be quite as important).

When using hands in a landing be

careful not to use them to absorb

large amounts of shock, they are

mostly for guidance.

Some Tracers will use their hands when landing

a jump to absorb some of the shock.

360 Magazine 9

Proper Landings

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Landing properly can save you from serious injury. Learning the proper ways to land after various chains and techniques is one of the most important areas for practitioners to focus on.

36 April 2012

360 Magazine 37

Jonathan Burns


38 April 2012

“Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move.” -Jon Burns


“Obstacles are found everywhere, and in overcoming them we nourish ourselves.” -Jon Burns

360 Magazine 39

Jon Burns has been involved in

track and soccer since his youth. The

son of a high-ranking military pilot, Jon

grew up in rural Maryland and attended

Huntingtown High School, where his

track records still holds.

Jon’s passion for Parkour comes

from his older brother David, who has

been teaching Jon the ways of Parkour

since he was 15. David was in a car

accident that damaged his legs and

prevented him from continuing with the

sport. He has passed on to Jon a love

of graceful movement and strength.

Jon stands out as an extraordi-

nary Tracuer because of his youth and

creativity. He is known for inventing

moves such as the cat jump (dem-

onstrated below). These moves have

been incorporated into the runs of

Traceurs such as David Belle in award

winning meets around the world.

Jon believes that although most

Traceurs are built like wrestlers, his

small build allows him to move more

smoothly and jump higher. The only

disadvantage it that he is not able to

do tricks that require more muscle.

His graceful movements allowed by

his slender body have inspired rural

Parkourists around the world.

Currently, Jon is part of the Calvert

County Parkour group, which has come

a long way since it started in 2004.

There are five members of the group,

and all have performed in competitions

such as the Annual Parkour Confer-

ence. In 2010, the Calvert County

Parkour group received top prize in the

conference.

Jon is now mentoring to Windy

Hill’s Junior High School’s Parkour

Born: November 15, 1990

Height: 6’ 2”

Weight: 140 pounds

Hometown: Calvert County, Maryland

Career: 2008 - Present


group. The group of ten young boys

and girls formed after they saw

him win the Annual Parkour Confer-

ence. They were so inspired by his

moves, that they found him through

Facebook and asked him to give a

workshop. This turned into a weekly

afterschool activity, sponsored by the

football coach. The group practices

in Dunkirk Park which offers a vari-

ety of dynamic obstacles. Jon plans

to coach them again next year, and

already has a waiting list of young

Junior High School enthusiasts.

18 April 2012 Photo by: Luc Besson

360 Magazine 19

Yamakasi Les Samurai Des Temps modernais

20 April 2012

Photo by: Luc Besson

The Yamakasi are a real-life

group of French daredevils who can

scramble up the side of tall buildings

and other urban structures as easily

as most people can climb a flight of

stairs; filmmaker Luc Besson saw a

television report on the Yamakasi and

was so impressed that he wrote and

produced this project as a vehicle for

putting their unusual talents onscreen.

A nine-year-old boy named Jamel

(Nassim Faid) has a weak heart, and

after he tries to climb a tree with his

friends, he has an attack and his

parents are told he'll need a heart

transplant within a few days or else

the boy will die. The operation will

cost over 400,000 francs, money the

boy's parents don't have, but the Heart

Transplant Corporation, the company

who can provide the boy with a fresh

heart, are not willing to negotiate on

the price.

When the Yamakasi hear about

Jamel's plight, they swing into action,

planning a daring raid in which they'll

raise the money for the surgery by

staging split-second robberies of the

homes of seven of the wealthiest men

in Paris -- all of whom happen to work

for the Heart Transplant Corporation.

Shortly before Yamakasi was

to premiere, director Julien Seri and

screenwriter Philippe Lyon filed suit

against Luc Besson and his produc-

tion company, claiming their work had

been unfairly tampered with; the suit

didn't prevent the film from becoming

an immediate box-office success in

France.

Written by: Mark Deming, Rovi

360 Magazine 21

Photo by: Luc Besson

Above: Front cover of the movieBelow: Still from the movieLeft: Jamel, mid jump

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