In several of my pursuits, we often talk about 'training how you play.' In other words, when you are training/practicing, you should be using the same methods and mindset that you would use in a real life situation. For instance, in parkor, you should often be training outside, in the streets, not in a gym. While gyms have their place for practicing dangerous new maneuvers, a padded mat does not give a necessary sense of reality or urgency. Go practice out over concrete.
In the fire academy, we talked about what makes firefighters "special". What makes us run into burning buildings whenever else turns tail and runs? Is it courage? A sense of duty? The expensive equipment we wear? While all of that may help, especially the equipment, none of that is the true answer. The answer is TRAINING. That is what we are trained to do. If we have learned and trained properly, we do not have to rely on any superhuman qualities. If we have gave a civilian all the equipment and knowledge we possess, he would still not enter that structure and perform the job. Because in that moment, one should be running purely on habit and muscle memory.
The same is very true of parkour. People think that you must be crazy, reckless, and super strong in order to perform such movements. But the truth is, we have trained...it is that simple. It is all quite relative. To an elderly lady, keeping one's balance while walking down the sidewalk may be a feat in itself. For someone else, walking along a handrail and leaping to another may be just as difficult and dangerous. It is simply a matter of developing one's body and mind to be familiar and comfortable, to build that confidence.
Anyway, just some interesting parallels I came across a while ago, thought I'd share.
A trash heap of updates, ramblings, and general nonsense on the projects of Pengy Poo Productions and the life of Scott
