News
What makes a great Parkour Training Centre?
I get asked this question more and more lately and the answer is rather simple. Granted, you may not believe what I have to say! The answer is not a huge gym or fancy equipment, neither is it the best people or people pulling the biggest tricks every session…
It’s a group of dedicated people who train hard and the subsequent atmosphere that comes with it. That’s the secret of a great training centre.. and that’s the secret to this place and why we constantly have so much fun.
Feiyue Shoes Shipment
After a long wait, and even more headaches, we have finally gotten a shipment of Feiyues to the training centre!! They will be for sale later this coming week, with 2 different prices; members price and regular price. People who are current monthly pass members will always save 10-15% off all MV merchandise. Prices and an online store will be up later this week, but no need to get rushy as (I know some of you are scared for sizes) we have almost 300 pairs here waiting for you.
For those wondering what we do with these shoes, we find Feiyue to be the best indoor training shoe there is (cost/value). They also serve as a decent shoe for the more advanced Parkour practitioner outdoors. We do not recommend using this shoe for Parkour outdoors unless you have great control and understand the mechanics of Parkour well, but, they do make great cheap ‘nike frees’ if you want to start learning how to run better and build your arches.
Skydiving Group session?
The philosophy amongst the more serious trainees at the MV has always been “learn as many cool things as possible!!”. That being said, a few days a go a couple of us traveled up north to learn the basics of skydiving for the first time. After coming back to the MV there was quite the response and we are thinking of putting together a group and heading back for more. If this interests you / you can drive let us know as we continue to discuss this option as the days go by.
PKTO Summer Meet 2009
As announced on PKTO about 2 weeks ago, the summer meet is taking place this year on July 31st, Aug 1st, and Aug 2nd. It will be a 3 day Parkour extravaganza, day 1 and 3 in the city, and day 2 out in the bush. After announcing it 2 weeks ago, we already have about 125 confirmed Parkour enthusiasts attending, from all across Canada and some American enthusiasts joining in as well, with the target being about 200+ for the meet. This is, and continues to be the largest Parkour gathering in North America, and really, that means nothing more than the fact that it’s a fun time and there’s lots and lots of new people to meet.
The Monkey Vault will be the main meeting spot for the out-of-towners and we are trying to accommodate everyone possible! We are asking for a 5 dollar donation per night if you are staying at the MV that will help cover a lot of the costs and by-products of this meet. If you are planning on staying at the MV during the meet, and/or before and after the meet. YOU MUST send us an email so we know.
More details about the meet itself will be available really soon, on here and pkto.ca so keep an eye open. If you have any good questions (‘can I come’ is not a good question!!) or you think you can help in any way, as always, don’t hesitate to ask.
Shoe Carnival Commercial
Two members of the Monkey Vault will be busy all week rehearsing and filming for a Shoe Carnival commercial that will air later this year in the states. Curtis has been cast as one of the main characters, and Danno will be the stunt coordinator as well as the trainer for both. Big shout out to Maddison as well, who learnt a lot of cool Parkour tricks in only a couple hours! The commercial will air later this year in the USA as well as an internet release.
On a side note, it’s important to realize that Curtis is a pretty much “Parkour-Gym-Athlete”, with very little outdoor experience, YET, his training at the MV has made him capable of doing things that most people 2-3 years into Parkour are still trying to grasp. For all those that think indoor training doesn’t help your outdoor training, use Curtis as proof because he’s making us super proud this week!
Sarnia Parkour… We’ll be back!
The two live performances in Sarnia over the weekend went without a hitch and the beautiful weather made for some interesting, spontaneous street antics during the show. Apologies to the group of belly dancers we decided to do some tumbling right through, but, well, lets just say the crowd needed to see something different at that moment! Big thumbs up to Stephen, Brayden and Riley for taking charge and really killing it throughout the show.
This performance and the idea went so well, that we are already in talks to go back to Sarnia later this summer for a 2 day teaching workshop and to show people there that their little city has more in it to discover than they may see at the moment. We’re stoked to do this; bring on the obstacles Sarnia!!
Parkour visits Taboo 2009 in Sarnia
On Saturday June 6th, there will be a 4 man team sent out to Sarnia to do 2 live performances using a custom scaffolding setup hosted by Gallery Lambton. Taboo is an urban street art festival held every in Sarnia showcasing various artists and talents ranging from graffiti artists to dancers to skateboarders and more. If you are anywhere near Sarnia, and have never been to Toronto or met anyone from either the MV or PKTO.ca before, make sure you come out and say hi as would love to meet you and will definitely fit some training time in! You can see us perform live at 12:45 and 2:45 at Gallery Lambton.
Mp3 of Hardcore Radio
For those interested here’s a download link of last weeks radio broadcast. You can click the link here to open up the mp3.
Female Training Cancelled
We’re sorry to announce but for several reasons the Female Training Session scheduled for June 6th will be canceled. Whether it is pushed forward, or canceled all together for this month we are unsure about yet, but we will let you all know via the female training email list. If you aren’t on this list and want to be, email us to add you!