Have you ever gone out and done that? If so, what was so terrible about it? If not, why not? I'll point out that David Belle would, too. So would Blane, Phil, Danny, Stephane, Forrest, Owen, Jin, Sebastien, Laurent, Tyson, and Team Evo (in no particular order).

The way I look at it is, okay, you don't have to throw yourself into every horrible situation imaginable. I've never trained in an oven set to 350 degrees, or gone out naked in a blizzard. Yes, there has to be a certain degree of common sense.

But on the other hand, isn't it crucial to understand how to move in the rain? Otherwise, if you need parkour on a wet day, you'll be absolutely no better than the average Joes around you. Isn't it crucial to prepare yourself for cold? It sounds like you're sensitive to cold generally. What are you going to do if you're trapped in the cold one day? You could say, "Oh, in a real emergency, I'd think of something, I'd get by ..." But that kind of argument invalidates the whole idea of practicing parkour - someone who believes that logic wouldn't really feel the need to practice overcoming obstacles, either. If you're working properly and dressed well, you're not going to get sick from a rain session, and you need to know how your body will respond to those conditions (e.g. numb fingers).

And it's a challenge. Beyond the physical, it's a spiritual and mental challenge. The universe is asking you ... how much do you love parkour? How much of a traceur ARE you? What's it take to kill your pk spirit?

When I went to Leicester last March, it was about forty degrees out, and sleeting and raining and hailing all at once, and Blane didn't show up until it was already dark. And we trained. The most memorable thing we trained, in fact, was CAT LEAPS (omg, srsly, wtf?). At that point, I could've just said no, not worth it, too dangerous, too cold, too miserable, uncomfortable, etc. But I didn't. I stayed with it, when in fact most of the Leicester guys sought shelter. For a long while it was just me, Blane, and Andeh. And yeah, I WAS kind of miserable, at times. But for most of the night, I was elated, and afterwards, I felt more accomplished than I have at almost any other time in my training, because suddenly parkour was NEW again ... suddenly I was no good, suddenly I had to think, suddenly I had to excercise will to keep going.

The rain, the cold, the darkness ... they were obstacles. Obstacles on a new level, and I'd started to get tired of the old level. Walls and rails and gaps and drops and tight spaces ... I KNOW how to deal with those, now. I have weaknesses ... strength, endurance, balance, agility. There's plenty of work to be done. But I know what it all is, and so sometimes even parkour gets old.

But obstacles like the weather? You could face something you've never seen before with that, even if you're in a spot you know like the back of your hand. Obstacles like loneliness, because half the group gave up and you're one of just three guys left? These are obstacles that a traceur should LEARN from. There's nothing to be learned from walking away, nothing.

David Belle says this was the most amazing run of his life, one of the most memorable parkour experiences he's ever had:


A jam at in the RAIN in the END of the YEAR seems to me like that situation stretched out and constant over six hours. It would be cold, it would be miserable, some of us might catch a virus at the end of it. But oh how wonderful would pizza taste at the end? How much MORE would we feel, those of us who were left? What a sense of unique accomplishment ... last men standing ... we would know things in our hearts, minds, and bodies, that those who went home could simply not understand. We would KNOW that we were traceurs, while others would merely believe it about themselves.

It's a test. And it's not a test where you win or lose based on how you do, but on whether or not you step up at all. Again, I'm not saying that to be true traceurs we have to sit at home waiting for the most horrible conditions every time, and then run out and suffer through them. But we SHOULD seize these opportunities for extreme training when we can. We should embrace them AS opportunities, not run and hide from them the way ordinary people run and hide from rails and walls. If a traceur has agreed to be at a certain place at a certain time, and the weather throws him a curve ball, he's not going to back down ... not if he really wants to live on this path. Taking the path of least resistance, finding the easiest way, using the least energy ... it's what we train FOR, but it's not what we TRAIN.

"Train while crying, and you will win while laughing." -David Belle.

I know that the people I DO see on rainy days will be the ones I truly want to train with the most. That's saying nothing about others AS PEOPLE - I love nearly everyone I've met through NCPK. But it really does say something about them as traceurs. It really does.