So, we’re trying to think of ways to make our program “not just another program” that the kids participate in and then forget about when they go back to their own environments and personal lives: We want to inspire them. We want them to find their own inspiration inside of themselves. We want to give them hope. We want them to make their own hope. We want to give them tools like social skills, communication skills, problem solving skills, and conflict resolution skills…and we want them to learn these skills without even realizing it through enrichingly fun and awesome activities!!

LIKE PARKOUR.

We were hoping on being able to use the profits from our general classes to fund these types of reduced cost or free outreach programs, but while the classes are growing rapidly they’re not to that point yet (we’re hoping to move into our space this month which will help).

So we reached out to the parkour community by teaming up with AmericanParkour (more on that later) and entered into a fundraising competition on the excellent GlobalGiving site to subsidize the cost for future programs. That was near the beginning of last month…and it worked We’ve raised over $4,500 with your help so far, earned a permanent place on the GlobalGiving website, and are already being featured in another competition this month for sports organizations called Ready, Set, GIVE.

We’re very excited but have a crazy amount of work to do now, so the site may get a bit quiet We’ll make sure to update those who’ve donated through GG (even $10 helps!) as often as we can, and for everyone else – spread the word!

Train safe,
-Tyson

Janine Cundy, Tyson Cecka, and Brandee Laird headed downtown on Thursday (May 28th) to kick start an initiative that will bring parkour classes to halfway houses every week, free of charge. Lessons focus on much more than just technique, delving into the importance and joy of pride in achievement, respect for training grounds and community, personal growth, and how to face fear responsibly.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to head this initiative,” Cundy said “these kids deserve to have some fun.  Everybody should have something that they are proud they can do, and this gives that feeling to new kids every week.  We hope that the people we get to know through these classes will look to the Washington Parkour and American Parkour communities as paths to furthering their knowledge of self, and parkour.”

The first class went better than expected, with lots of enthusiasm from the students and a surprising amount of natural talent.  There was an immediate recognition of the need for this kind of program in the facility, and so we anticipate this to be a project that will be growing and changing for a while to come. For more information, please check out -Spruce Street’s website-

See more photos on the PNWPA’s Flickr group

Tune in tomorrow (May 2nd) to KUOW at 12:24pm to hear Jeremy Richards interviewing our own Rafe Kelley at Freeway Park.

Or just go direct and download the show here Thanks to KUOW for inviting us out!

Side note: Check out this blast from the past, KUOW was one of the first media interviews for parkour in Washington we ever did way back in 2005 before the PNWPA and everything you see here!

See more photos on the PNWPA’s Flickr group

We started with a balance course to ease into activity, practicing ‘touch’—acute physical awareness—with variation challenges of walking forwards, backwards, and sideways while balancing on rails, thin boards, and navigating over boxes. Next, a vigorous quadrupedal warm-up, traveling through the room after Tyson follow-the-leader style over, under, and through. Everyone received some extra burn courtesy of Adam in the conditioning that followed, had a water break, and were grouped out to hit the basics. Here, the youngest enjoyed their own lessons with Janine while the older cycled through their stations—safe falling, jumping,  landing, and rolls. All ages regrouped for the movement techniques that followed: vaulting, climbing, and jumping precisely. There was something distinctly delightful about watching people shimmy like monkeys on the bars during Rafe’s climbing work, hanging and swinging around—for many, recalling and reclaiming the playground years they’d thought passed.

It’s always so inspiring for me to see and meet people exploring new movement, pushing through the intensity of exercises, and ending the day smiling with pockets full of new skills. It’s also a huge delight that in the recent classes, more families have been showing up together; I wish my family had had parkour class to go to! How cool would it be if you could say to your parents and siblings, “Lets go jump!” and have everyone know exactly what you mean? Seeing so many people come to train together is the reason I love and want only to share parkour, to bring individuals closer to their bodies and build solid communities of healthy, moving people.

We received an overwhelming amount of good feedback from the class, such as, “I thought enthusiasm and clarity were great,” and,  “There was a good variety of skills taught.”  That “everyone was friendly and motivating and helpful,” is not only something for us to be proud of, but for us to acknowledge and continue to strive toward in every class and clinic we teach. Feedback of any constructive nature is greatly appreciated, so if you attended and want to comment further, please do! You may comment to the blog, or send your thoughts to classes@pnwpa.com.

I’d like to thank everyone who showed up to make this class possible; being shown the interest is all we need to be there. Great job to everyone who jumped at this opportunity to learn something new, and keep an eye out for us in Bellevue!

More photos from PNWPA events can be found <here> on Flickr.

Confluence Creative team Joshua B. Johnson and Bridget O’Neill pair up with members of the PNWPA to bring you Parkour For The People. Emerging on the streets of Europe, taking names on YouTube and leaping onto the big screen, Parkour has an underground appeal the world over. But it’s here in Seattle we found a tight knit group of Tracuers working together to make Parkour accessible to the masses. The Pacific Northwest Parkour Association, or PNWPA, is a not-for-profit designed to get people of all ages outside and moving. Experienced Traceurs teach students the fundamentals through classes, training exercises, and strength building activities. If you would like to give Parkour a try, you can find more information at www.PNWPA.com. Special thanks to: Green Lake Park, Gas Works Park, Tyson Cecka, Rafe Kelley, Brandee Laird, Janine Cundy, and Adam Truesdell

If you like the piece head over to SeattleIAM and vote it onto the frontpage so we can get this stuff spread!

PNWPA’s future plans call for expansion into the Bellevue area with regular classes, and this marks our first East side offering. If you or someone you know lives on the East side and has an interest in learning Parkour, email us at classes@pnwpa.com or stop by this free class to learn more about our classes, and membership options.

Northwest Crossfit Bellevue is located at 12121 Northup Way, Suite 110, Bellevue WA 98005.