Have you heard of parkour? It’s essentially free style running/jumping/gymnastic craziness all over an urban environment. It’s pretty intense to watch. Here’s a vid:
I’ve watched some of the training videos; I can run, jump, but this back flip stuff? Hell no. I’m one of the least flexible humans ever; another reason why cycling is such a great sport, no need to be all bendy and flexible. OK Well yes you need to stay not-tense and kind of bendy but you know what I mean.
Like cycling, parkour is pretty male dominated. Percentage wise, there are obviously a lot more women engaged with cycling than with parkour. I Youtube’d (is that a verb now?) for parkour videos with women and found this one where a chick gives it a whirl. She does a decent job (nothing crazy but shows how it can be accessible to the general population).
Kind of cracks me up that she is scampering around on icy streets. I’d have to think that parkour + ice = recipe for disaster.
Have you ever done this parkour thing? I bet I can find a gym in Los Angeles that specializes in in it. That is the plus side of Los Angeles – you can find just about anything you want here (and things you never wanted to know exists).
I was stumbling around on the Internet and found your blog. I am actually a woman who practices parkour. I have been practicing for roughly 2 years now. I write about it on my blog Flow Like a Woman.
You are definitely right. There are not a lot of women doing it. There is a pretty strong female community out there though. By the way, flipping is not a part of parkour, but it is incorporated in a related activity called freerunning. Great for people like me, because backflips are not my forte 🙂
There is a parkour/freerunning gym in LA called Tempest. I have heard it is pretty awesome!