Topic: Join gymnastic class to help parkour?

[Noah.]

So I want to start doing parkour and I thought if I joined gymnastic class it might help me learn flips and stuff

[Jan-Su]

If you're brand new to parkour, I might save those big, flashy, stunt like moves for when you are more advanced. Make sure you've got the basics down first, such as knowing how to land and roll. Learn them, learn them, learn them.

I never thought I might say this, but I might agree with a certain individual on these forums regarding first-time gym visits, albeit for slightly different reasons. I probably would not go straight to a gym right away if you're so new. I'd go outside to one's locales first and see if there's any potential obstacle you can do something on, no matter how bad your outdoor spots seem. At least this promotes exploration, as well as body awareness, and awareness of your surroundings. Then I guess you can go to a gym for more variety or instruction if your outdoor spots are really insufficient (like mine).

I'm not saying that you should never go to a facility for parkour, but rather, that it does not always have to be your only option for training.

[Redbeard The Pink]

There are no parkour gyms near enough to me to be worth it, but I have considered joining a simple tumbling class just to get familiar with some of the ground and aerial skills that I'd like to be able to work into my runs later.


I would recommend keeping the two disciplines separate until you're pretty comfortable with both, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be good to train both alongside each other until you're ready to start mixing them. It wouldn't necessarily be any better or worse than learning one first, then the other, unless doing that messes with your focus or wears you out.