parkour gym – Ben Musholt

Parkour Gym List

Ben Musholt — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 19:45:20 +0000

APEX Movement Boulder

In recent years, the number of parkour gyms across the world has increased dramatically. The USA has the highest number of gyms of any country, but other areas are experiencing growth as well. To be included in the list below, a facility has to be primarily focused on parkour and have permanent structures for obstacle negotiation. Exclusion criteria include any parkour space that operates within a gymnastics gym or other training facility. “Ninja warrior” gyms and other movement art facilities that target multiple types of athletics were a gray area for categorization.

If you know of any gyms not mentioned on this list, please identify them in the comments below. The English language was a limiting factor for the online research; thus, there may be certain regions that are under represented.

Please note that some gyms have multiple locations within a state, but do not have unique URLs for the different facilities. Hence, they were only reported once.

USA

California

Nexus of Guardian Art

Tempest Freerunning Academy (3 locations)

Urban Jungle Gym

Colorado

APEX Movement Boulder

APEX Movement Colorado Springs

APEX Movement Denver

APEX Movement Fort Collins

Connecticut

GCA Parkour and Freerunning

Florida

Intensity Parkour

Miami Freerunning Academy

Urban Ninja

Georgia

KSG Parkour

Level Up Parkour Academy

Illinois

Maine

Maryland

Urban Evolution Baltimore

Massachusetts

AMP Academy

HUB Parkour Training Center

Michigan

Freedom Academy

Minnesota

Fight for Flight Academy

Missouri

Triumph Freerunning

Montana

Unparalleled Movement

Nevada

Hardkore Parkour Las Vegas

New Jersey

Movement Lab

Pinnacle Parkour – Cherry Hill

Pinnacle Parkour – Princeton

Pinnacle Parkour – Washington Township

New Mexico

Zero Point Parkour

New York

Brooklyn Zoo

Innate Movement Parkour

North Carolina

Ohio

Oregon

Revolution Parkour Beaverton

Revolution Parkour Gresham

Revolution Parkour Tualatin

Pennsylvania

Harder Faster Stronger

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Urban Evolution Alexandria

Urban Evolution Manassas

Washington

Parkour Visions

Wisconsin

CoMo

CANADA

ADD Academy of Quebec

The Breathe Parkour Space

The Monkey Vault

Origins Parkour

The Spot Parkour and Movement Training Center

ENGLAND

3Run Evolution Academy

ITALY

GERMANY

Die Halle Parkour Creation Center

AUSTRALIA

BRAZIL

DENMARK

FINLAND

MEXICO

NEW ZEALAND

NETHERLANDS

PHILIPPINES

PORTUGAL

SPAIN

SWEDEN

TURKEY

(updated 2/4/2016)

A parkour mecca: APEX Movement – Boulder

Ben Musholt — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 03:41:47 +0000

Pack your bags. Load the car. Get on a flight. Do whatever you have to do, to get yourself to Boulder, CO. The APEX Movement flagship gym there is beyond epic: It’s a mecca for parkour athletes.

As some of you may know, I got to hang out there for a few days earlier this summer, when I was working on a photo shoot with APEX founder Ryan Ford. He and I are wrapping up a parkour strength training book, due to be out this Fall. In the evenings and other downtimes between shooting, we would rest and regroup at the gym. And, man, it is awe-inspiring.

Occupying an enormous 10,000 square feet space, the gym is built with a dedicated trampoline area, foam pit, air trick floor, and the biggest, most complex obstacle set-up I’ve ever seen. From a low-to-the-ground, beginner-friendly bar structure, to elevated catwalks and freestanding wood monoliths, the place is a movement wonderland. It’s so big that a pole dance/fitness studio sublets space in the rear of the building.

Besides having a full warped wall for all you American Ninja Warrior fans, there is also an impressive weight room to keep you in top athletic shape. Two squat racks, and plenty of other strength and conditioning paraphernalia are obviously getting put to good use by the APEX pros. Not up-to-date on the competitive parkour scene? Do a search for Dylan Baker, Brandon Douglass, and Dante Grazioli—they are on fire right now.

Another impressive aspect of the gym is that it has become a must-visit destination for globe-trotting practitioners. During my visit I met a handful of athletes who had left home and transplanted themselves in Boulder just to be closer to the APEX headquarters. People want to be close to the source of any major movement, and right now Boulder is where it’s at.

In that vein, Ryan and crew recently launched a cool live-work arrangement for out-of-town athletes. Based on the uchi-deshi model from Japan, eager students get to crash at the gym and train there in exchange for helping out with work tasks. When they released the program, Ryan thought that they might only get a handful of applicants. They were quickly bombarded with thousands of requests.

APEX Movement was one of the first parkour gyms in the world—#3 if you’re keeping track—and the standard it sets is second to none. Aside from the Boulder gym, the APEX empire includes three more facilities in Colorado, and one in Northern California. More gyms are in the works, and if you have an entrepreneurial mindset you might consider opening your own: They are currently looking for additional licensees.

Bottom line: If you’re interested in seeing what a world-class parkour facility looks like, you have to visit Boulder. The legacy that is being built there is setting the tone for the future progression of our sport. Go now.

Gym Visit: Origins Parkour and Athletic Facility

Ben Musholt — Mon, 26 May 2014 04:08:37 +0000

I’m winding down from a 5-hour drive after a quick overnight trip to Vancouver, BC, and I wanted to share some thoughts about the amazing parkour gym I visited. Most of you have probably heard of it by now, but for those of you who haven’t, Vancouver is home to the Origins Parkour and Athletic Facility. Situated on the third floor of a humble building along Main Street, Origins sets the standard for what parkour gyms should aspire to be. That’s my personal opinion of course, but the assertion rests on a few key observations. Let me enumerate.

1. It has everything. From vault boxes, to a foam pit, high bars, low bars, a spring floor, a climbing wall, and plenty of super-sturdy wall features, this place has it all. It would be impossible to get bored while training here. Tired of working on your climb-ups and pre’s? Head over to spring floor or the foam pit for some acrobatics.

I’m not sure what financial deities the owners (Rene Scavington and Ma Yuet) had to pray to in order to build it all, but they obviously did it right. Nothing was spared.

2. Dedicated strength and conditioning space! Parkour athletes are like any other athletes. They need strong, powerful muscles to propel them through space. Origins Parkour sets the benchmark for other parkour facilities in this regard. Adjustable plyo boxes, olympic lifting platforms, power racks, and an entire dumbbell array, provide their athletes with all of the tools needed to prep their bodies for optimal function.

3. It’s light and spacious. As someone with a 15+ year history in the health and fitness business, I’ve spent a fair amount of time in different gyms and athletic facilities. Some are good, and others… not so much. Dark, dirty, cramped, and musky. You don’t want any of that. Light, spacious, and clean – that’s where it’s at. It may seem funny that I even bring it up, but it’s a big deal. As an athlete, your nervous system needs to be cued to be alert and focused on the task at hand. Well-lit, cleanly spaces are ideal for allowing you to step-up your performance.

4. You can get lost in the nooks and crannies. Coming from a background in climbing and bouldering, I often find myself thinking about parkour runs as different “problems”, much in the way that climber approaches a unique challenge on the rock. How could you move from here to there, incorporating a variety of different features? What sequence of tacs, precisions, cat leaps, and climb-ups would get you to the top of that wall? Origins has built a cool mini maze-like feature where you can spend plenty of time playing around with different challenges. It’s a happy place.

5. They have great art. Parkour athletes are movement artists. Origins really pays homage to this aspect of the sport, and has done a killer job of outfitting the gym with inspiring murals. When you go someplace to train you should be in an environment that uplifts your spirits and promotes the creativity that will make your movement flow. Kudos to the artwork. It’s a great touch.

Those were the main observations that I walked away with after training at Origins for about an hour. I hope to make it back soon, and I’m eager to talk more with Rene and his head coach, Tom Coppola, about their approach to the athletic development of their students. I have yet to confirm a chance to talk with them in greater depth, but my fingers are crossed that I’ll have an interview to share soon.

Thinking about opening a parkour gym? Matt Antis shares his experience.

Ben Musholt — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 23:35:44 +0000

Do you dream about opening your own parkour gym? Opening one’s own training space is a fantasy many athletes share and in the past few years a handful of entrepreneurial traceurs have successfully made the leap.

Matt Antis and his wife Whitney have been the co-owners of Revolution Parkour since 2010, and they definitely know a thing or two about running a successful gym. In fact, they are currently looking to expand to a second Portland location.

In between a thriving class schedule, Matt was able to sit down with me to talk about his experiences in the parkour gym business.

If you’re considering going down this path, let his insights help you get started on the right foot:

How did you decide to make the leap into owning your own gym?

For me, I had known for some time that I didn’t want to just work for someone else my whole life. I had been reading some very influential books, like Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and realized that being a business owner was one path to the freedom that I sought. When the opportunity to purchase Revolution Parkour came up, Whitney and I did some soul searching and came to the conclusion that it was the right move for us. The timing was right so we scrambled to get the funds together, and the rest is history.

Matt Antis at Revolution Parkour (Photo courtesy of Levy Moroshan)

What does it take to expose new people to parkour and get more people involved in the sport?

I’ve found that holding free events for people to get their feet wet with parkour is a nice way to get fresh faces in the door. It’s hard to compete with something that’s offered for free. And, if someone has been sitting on the fence about trying parkour, holding a free seminar is a nice way to have them get some exposure.

What are your thoughts about conditioning for you students?

One of the great things about parkour is that, in many regards, it is a “self-conditioning” discipline, meaning that through repetition, the student’s body builds the necessary strength and endurance. However, progression is also key, so in cases where the strength is not yet there, we use drills to help students build up their strength and stamina.

One of our favorite activities is to have people run a “parcours”, meaning we set up a series of obstacles and have them run through for a set number of runs. By keeping track of the repetition and variety of skills in each course from week to week, we can get a sense of their progression, and when and where it’s necessary to build from.

What is your advice to helping someone interested in starting their own parkour gym?

Establish a good team! You can’t do it all on your own, and you’ll need to have a good team of lawyers, marketing people, real estate agents, and insurance people on your side. Set yourself up for success by having a network of people who possess the skills, knowledge and resources you might not have.

I’ve found that an “insurance broker”, not an agent, is the first bet for finding the right person to connect you with a good insurance plan. Likewise, it really pays to hire someone who is an expert at branding, to help get exposure for you gym. Pay to do it right the first time.

It also helps to have a supportive spouse. Marry someone with an entrepreneurial drive if you can!

In terms of the potential liabilities of running a parkour gym, what types of injuries have your students encountered?

We haven’t really had as many injuries as people might think over the past few years. Probably the most common injuries with our beginner students stem from not falling correctly, for example, bracing yourself with your arms extended, which can lead to a broken wrist. This is why we focus on teaching techniques (such as break falls and rolls) that equip students to avoid injury by properly absorbing the force or transferring the momentum of a fall.

Think of how quickly a football player would break an arm if they tried to catch his weight with his hands when being tackled. He’d break it for sure with all of that pressure. They’re taught to absorb the fall with their chest and torso.

Parkour is obviously different, but by using a roll or a break fall many injuries can be avoided.

What has been one of the hardest parts about running or opening a parkour gym?

Well, we are trying to open a second location, and I can tell you that just finding a suitable space is really hard. You have to have the right square footage, the right height ceiling, and of course it has to be zoned appropriately. Getting all of those things together at a good price can take a lot more effort than you’d imagine.

It’s weird to say, but until you’re confronted with it, you don’t realize that you’ll actually run into competition for space. Not from other people trying to open a parkour gym, but from other business owners who have similar space needs. Say someone wants to open an indoor batting range, you’ll probably end up competing with that person to find a suitable space.

Prepare yourself for a treasure hunt.

Where do you see the discipline going in the next few years?

Well, things are definitely looking up. Events like American Ninja Warrior have brought a lot of people in to our gym to train, so I suppose that will continue to build momentum.

I think more local and mobile events will become commonplace over the next few years. The Alpha Warrior event is a traveling obstacle course race that is starting to gain publicity. Parkour athletes would have a distinct advantage in a race like that. Speaking of races, even mud runs like the Spartan Race and Tough Mudder are a chance for people to get exposure to running obstacles.

Parkour gyms should definitely be positioned to benefit from that trend.

(For the record, my audio recorder failed, so the text above is my attempt to paraphrase Matt’s wisdom.)