29th Dec 06
Post by: Spence

Time to Reflect

As the end of the year is coming to an end and a new year is once again approaching us i would like to take a couple of minutes out of my time to reflect back, set aims, open my closet and thank those who deserve it the most. 2006 hasn't exactly been the most easy or happy times of my life, I've had my ups and downs as many of you also have within parkour and your personal lifes and i bet alot of you have endured a much more harder time this year than myself. Ive struggled alot during 2006 to find a true meaning within my training and im still looking for this essence. I've struggled alot to progress, learn and fight my inner most fears within my training. I've battled to stay at my level and to learn the little i have this year, I've endured alot within my personal life through family problems, relationships, depression, hospital visits, deaths, near deaths and other problems. I've personally experienced generally a hard time this year, But now is enough. Now ive buried my hatchets ive now got a fresh slate ready for 2007 and im putting everything ive experienced this year behind me. Im setting myself personal goals and aims within parkour and my personal life, because i refuse to experience another repeat of this year!!!. My new personal aims within my training this year are to become Stronger mentally and physically, improve my Agility, increase my Flexibility, Control, increased Power and to improve my Efficiency. My aims within my personal life are to become a better person, to help others and to teach others the knowledge i have gained so far. I'm not saying 2007 will be a walk in the park but im sure i can make alot of things easier for myself this year, and i am absolutely one hundred per cent determined to succeed in my aims and self satisfaction within my training and personal life this year.

Now onto the thanks (im just upset i have no golden awards to go with these words hehe) During the last months of this year ive experience a rapid progression within my training. This rapid progression started back September-October time when i was introduced to Mr Matten, (charming fella who picks fights with bald headed scousers just after his raided there gardens for a quick training session, ;-) hehe). I've progressed, learnt and gained so much knowledge off you dude, you've had a great positive impact on my training and have helped me overcome barriers that i thought where impossible to overcome mentally and physically not to mention the positive impacts you have had on everyone else's training, you have changed our perspectives on Parkour and thanks just dosent seem enough, ...so in your name im gunna blow the shit!!! out of Liverpool (sorry Danny). But on a serious note, Thanks Jay ;-) I would also like to thank My girlfriend for having a big influence on my training these last months and showing me she has more mental strength than every traceur on this earth put together, you have showed pure courage and you get my up most respect, your an influence and i should now not have any mental barriers. Love you babe!. I would like to thank everyone at Bottom Level Conditioning who have had a big impact on my training and who have helped me progress and keep me going, Ash, Chris, Kev, Justiene (ive spent hours trying to find the right spelling of your name hehe) (your be missed :-( and others ive more than likely missed out. You've helped me keep going these last months. As again this year has been a struggle but the whole point of this post is to end this year on a positive note. I'm entering the new year in a positive mind frame and have gained a little self satisfaction with my training and the way things are heading these last few months. Have a Great New Years everyone at Bottom Level and i will be seeing you Next Year For conditioning and training.

21st Dec 06
post by: Jason

I'm Done!

I have just finished the missions that we set-why did Diz, Justine and Spence not post?... hmmm, c'mon man bring it on! I still have some energy left in me ;-) Back to reality, I am more than un happy at the moment with my training and the missions tonight just made me feel even worse about my self because i really struggled with all of it. To get the 100 pistols out of me was like blood from a stone and i had to do it in 3s and 2s only getting to 70 with loads of little breaks, then i nearly gave up on the 30m sprinting count down press ups because it was making me so mentally week thinking about how week i was as i ran to the other end. It makes me feel so bad to think that i am supposed to be a Traceur and i have this pathetic level of strength, power, speed, fitness and technique, then because i had got into such a bad way emotionally i gave up on Ash's mission after the end of the running press ups down to zero- i didn't do the jogging back up to ten nor did i do the sit ups (I'm so cool)

Basically i am in a horrible place right now were i don't want to talk to any one about my training and i don't even want to train with any one any more because i see people like Joe and Guy from NG who i got stated in parkour and helped teach doing so much better than me and i just get this sick upset feeling deep inside me that makes me want to cry,(NO JOKE) i HATE IT!! This feeling is not just from parkour and the training, i just feel like i have lost direction in my life. I am going to use what little time i have over the christmas and new year holidays staying with my grandma to find my self and find out what i really want from parkour? I will use the new year as a fresh start, I will only be training on my own to help me keep focused from now on, It will be hard for me to train on my own all the time but i think its important so i can feel better about my self , my training and focus on who and what i want to be.

Safe Journeys,

Jason Matten.

18th Dec 06
post by: Jason

All i want for christmas list.
Jason's mission, #1
After the most excellent 3rd session that Kevin took last week we found that over the Christmas period because many people would be away from the area (myself included) and or very busy we would probably not be able to have our usual BL training so we had to come up with a solution. We decided that every one who has come to the sessions regularly so far should post a killer mission before the thursdays that we are going to miss, so it looks like i am the first person to set a mission for this thursday, after lots of thinking my gift to you all is 100 pistols on each leg- keep your heel down + try to keep your opposite leg up to get a strong quad illiapsoas+ passoas major (if you do not know what they are you will soon :-) If you are not at the pistol stage work on the progressions that we have gone through. Have fun i know i will. Please add to the list for this weeks BL training before 4.30pm the time we should all start the missions that have been set.

Kevin's mission, #2

As Jason has given us the mission of conditioning our legs, I thought we should work on our shoulders and arms. The task is to do backward quadrepudal walking up 40 stairs; this is with your feet a few steps above your hands. The most effective way is doing them at the same time, however if you feel the need to break up the task, do 20 at a time but no less! Find the set of stairs you will use, which may be stairs in th house, but you can do them on steps outside; go up the stairs and welk down back to the bottom, repeat this as many times as you need to fulfill the mission of 40 stairs!

Ashley's mission, #3

Well Jason is doing your legs and Kevin is doing your arms I'm going to get your heart pumping. my mission is to find a 30 meter straight and put mark both ends with something. Then sprint from one end to the other doing count down push ups from 10 at one end then 9 and so on, till u get to zero and then work your way back up to 10 at jogging speed. Then do the same with sit ups. once u have finished u should have done on a 30 meter straight 1200 Meters = 0.7 miles and 110 push ups and 110 sit ups : )

Justine's mission, #4

Hi everyone, its christmas day at 2am an i am too exited to sleep so i thought i would add my part to our festive conditioning programme. I have two sprained ankles at the moment so the running and pistols are out for me grrrrrr (i will do it all when i have healed). Taking this into account i have come up with a very simple but effective challenge which hardly involves feet. So before filling yourselves with christmas turky you must walk 250 steps whilst in a handstand. There are three rules:

1. You must only move in a forwards direction

2. You must not break for more than a 30 seconds

3. You must keep going for as long as you phisically can

Good luck, have fun and merry christmas! x

30th Nov 06- 1st official B.L. night
Post by: Spence
Bottom Level Training, session 1#
On Thursday night after I finished college at about four pm, I proceeded as usual to go train (parkour/conditioning) with my good friends Jason, Ashley, Kevin and Chris who I've been training with for quite some time now and also another eleven practitioners of parkour, gymnastics and other physical activities. We started training in our usual underground car park but today was different, today we would push our physical and mental strength to another level. A challenge for our physical and mental strength that would last four exhausting hours, traveling from place to place, controlling our strength and mental barriers; pushing ourselves to the maximum of our bodies capability.

We started by warming up and stretching; stretching every muscle in our body to obviously help our fitness and standard of training for the night that would be ahead of us. Starting in our underground car park, "Bottom Level", that has some what became our "life-line" for training in the cold weather and extreme conditions of winter. This is where we would start by doing ten minutes worth of jogging from the very bottom of our underground car park to the mid way. Two laps worth of jogging from top to bottom which starts to test your mental skills and stamina in the first ten minutes if your not used to jogging or any kind of running exercise, because this car park is full of fumes, full of complete dirt and slippery surfaces due to fumes being trapped in the underground and soaked up by the surrounding surfaces that are not usually found on the outside surfaces. Next this was followed by ten minutes worth of quadrupedal walking (animal walking/on all fours) round a certain fixed lap. quadrupedal walking stretches and uses muscles that aren't usually ever used and helps build an all round control and balance over one's body and movement.

After we finished our ten minutes worth of jogging and ten minutes of quadrupedal walking it was followed by about ten minutes worth of a technique to build leg muscle (obviously useful in precision jumps) this technique would start from one end of the car park to another, Running to a squat precision then driving into a full upwards jump of momentum to a tap on the ceiling. Previously before we started this technique we chose a certain area (spot) on the ceiling where we "had!" to reach to achieve these goals, and if we didn't hit our target then we go back to the very start and begin again until we achieve. This exercise also lasted ten minutes. Its hard to give someone who doesn't train conditioning, parkour or isn't active in any physical instance an insight into how mentally and physically demanding this type of training really is, its hard to explain how much one has to battle mentally with fear, weakness and determination in this type of training of ones body.

After this we left our underground haven and we proceeded to walk at a fast pace to another certain area, keeping in mind that every twenty steps you take "you do!" a push-up. The twenty step push-ups are a good way to improve ones climb-up abilities as they are being performed at a more random pace than a controlled set and help to build the muscle needed in climb-ups regularly instead of certain times. Once we reached the next area (which is about five minutes away) we do a set of ten chin-ups on a bar, but while you wait for others to finish there set "you wait!" in the press-up position. The press up position might sound an easy part of waiting for the other practitioners to complete there exercise, but after ten minutes and having to wait for another fifteen people to take it in turns and do there set, it gets "very!" physically and mentally demanding and puts more mental pressure on the other practitioners to succeed at a faster rate.

Once everyone completes there set of ten chin-ups everyone does a set of ten push-ups to stop the body from warming down and to build and add more pressure to ones self. Once we reached the next area, which was an old roman clock tower, built with "flint" and old stone there was no time to waist not giving our bodies time to relax we continued to "try" or succeed in climbing around the clock tower. Each person has to at least go round three times while the other practitioners wait in the press-up position on the floor until "everyone" has completed there lap. The sharp surfaces on the clock tower help to add a pain effect into the training, which will help one to learn to control pain. Obviously to succeed in this exercise one must conquer and overcome pain. It is very mentally enduring knowing that this exercise will hurt and is just another barrier one must defeat to continue.

After this was finished everyone waits in the press up position while everyone does a certain precision jump (under the clock tower) five times, and if you don't make the distance of the jump you go back and you try and try until it is done! no exceptions. Meanwhile while you are doing this jump you always have to keep in mind that your fellow team of practitioners are suffering and the faster you complete one lap and wait in press-up position for your next turn, the faster you will stop your fellow practitioners pain which helps to build a level of trust within the group.

After we completed our five precision jumps we went onto the next area, which is seconds away from the clock tower, and again keeping in mind every twenty steps you "do!" a push-up. Once we reached the next area we start our next exercise. An exercise that tests stamina, speed, endurance, strength (mental and physical) and balance. Basically this would consist of ten jumps upwards onto a small wall, then a jump to another wall where you dismount and quadrupedal walk to another wall (about two metres high) where you do a "static muscle up" also known in the french terminology as a planche (basically a chin up but to your waist instead of your chin). After this you quadrupedal along the wall and dismount down a lamp post to the floor where you quadrupedal to the next area (seconds away). The next area is a test of balance, it consists of a smallish ledge next to a wall where you do at least two rotations of the body whilst staying on the ledge.

Once this movement is completed you quadrupedal back to where you started (the ten jump small wall) where you repeat this lap five times, which lasts about thirty minutes, Always keeping in mind once you have finished your five laps you wait in the press-up position. After this exercise is completed we traveled to a shop where we buy "nothing else but!" something to eat (to give energy/nothing unhealthy) and bottled water (no coke or Pepsi) to rehydrate the body. Keeping in mind whilst you travel to the shop, which is about two minutes away each twenty steps you still "do!" a press-up.

Once we have re-hydrated the body we walk about half a mile down the high street, each twenty steps doing a push-up (those who are easily embarrassed will not take a liking to this long walk). When the next area is finally reached (which is about twenty metres of scaffolding) we do one chin-up on each bar traveling all the way down the length of the scaffolding then proceed back to the start, where you have a choice to wait in the press-up position, which is good for mental strength if another practitioner chooses to. You may wonder why someone would choose to wait in the press-up position given the choice, but this is extreme physical training, this is conditioning of ones body. No one is here against there will, everyone is here to become stronger, and to become stronger also comes a price. No one should attend Bottom Level if there not willing to train "hard!" or push themselves to the maximum of there capability.

After this area is complete we jog about a mile away down a motorway (each twenty steps still doing a push up) to a football pitch. Once we have reached the football pitch we don't waist any time nor giving our bodies a rest. On the football pitch there are 3 goal posts we start at one and take it in turns to shimmy across the goal post to the end where we wait in the Horse Stance position (spread legs, with feet pointing directly in-front of you and your backside bent downwards, Like sitting in a chair) for everyone to finish. We then travel to the next goal post doing exactly the same as last time but trying to make our movements more efficient and faster. After we have shimmyed across the second goal post we travel to the last post and once we are there we do ten reverse chin-ups whilst after you have completed your set, again you wait in the horse stance position. After we have completed the football ground area we take a light calm jog about twenty metres away to a concrete area where we proceed to warm down and stretch out our muscles.

After this night of extreme training and body conditioning, you cant help but have a sense of pride and overwhelming achievement. But after all, you have pushed yourself physically and mentally to the maximum of your capability, you have achieved goals and broken your boundaries. Its hard to give one a sense of the feeling that comes with this achievement, and its even harder to describe how hard one has to push themselves to achieve this feeling. Again no one should attend Bottom Level if there not willing to train hard and push themselves. We attend Bottom Level to purely become stronger physically and mentally for parkour and other physical activities. We train hard, and when we train hard we expect our team to train hard. Bottom Level is held each Thursday in Canterbury Around 4 pm at Castle Street Car Park (the Bottom Level). I'll be seeing you next Thursday.

10th Dec 06
Post by: Jason
Crane mission.
During early summer 2006 I was was going through a hard time because of my knee injury not allowing me to train parkour etc, and at home I was becoming very distant from my dad and the whole family because of the constant friction/arguing between us all. All i could think about was getting the ____ out of there because i didn't need or want the stress and i no longer felt welcome. During this time my real friends were very supportive and Jin and his family helped me out BIG TIME by letting me stay with them for a few months until Jin had to go to UNI, this allowed me to move out of my parents house and give me a chance to focus on my leg recovering. I had such an amazing summer because of them and i will never forget all of the great times i had with the TCT so a ---BIG Thank you to the Donovan family ----

One of the most awesome things I did with the TCT was the Crane mission, it involves using parkour to get into a building site at night and climb a huge crane without being seen caught or arrested and it rocks!! MSJ (Mike) was the first one to do the mission on his own,crazy fool:-),
after this we all wanted to do it so we arranged to meet up around 12 one night, train for a bit and then all of us do it as a group.

Visit the TCT site to see a vid of the night.


Because the first time I did a crane mission was with the TCT and in a group, now when i look at a crane or a possible night/ninja mission i get a flood of awesome memories from my time in Cambridge with some of the coolest guys around and the other night all those feelings and memories hit me hard when I was at the building site and I had an overwhelming urge to do the crane mission on my own; so that's what I did. At the nearby college in Canterbury, they are building some new blocks, they have two cranes; one small that I have climbed already and one big that I have been planning my entrance, exit and climb on for a while. The conditions were good fun, it was raining very hard and was windy as hell so the rain came in sideways lol it makes me laugh thinking about it now. The building site is surrounded by houses so you have to be fast over the fences and across the open grounds to the first covering once in the building itself you have to be very quiet because on most sites they have security guards that patrol regularly and the whole building was lit up so i was very quiet because i was almost sure i would have to get past a guard, the harsh winds came in very handy and covered any noise that i made (also made me jump a few times :-) Turns out I didn't see any guards and I moved fast! into main structure, found the base of the crane and started climbing straight away, as soon as i climbed out of the cover of the building I was hit by some mad side winds; I started climbing faster, thinking about both the houses- if someone saw me out of their window and not slipping on the metal ladder rungs, before i got to the top i was soaked to the bone. At the top i climbed into the cage below the controls. Now freezing cold I looked at the view hahahaha WKD! I took a moment to enjoy it and film it on my phone but i had to think about getting down because if I had been seen the police could be on their way- I got down fast and as I was leaving the site I found the most amazing scaffolding ever; it was so strong and just box after box with no wooden panels to get in the way. ---- I will be getting some photos to accompany this post soon ---

Hello, Welcome to Bottom Level- (BL)

This Blog belongs to the people that train at least every week at BL and will be updated as regularly as possible.

The Blog has been named Bottom Level for two reasons.
1: The meeting place every Thursday at 4.30pm is the bottom level of castle street car park.
2: We are practising the real bottom level of the scale exercises that are essential foundations to progress in most sports; in our case we are training for Parkour as our increased strength will benefit the speed and control of all aspects of our movements.

This Blog was started by Jason Matten and Olivia Rowlands to encourage people to train hard more Physically than technically at least once a week and to document the participating individuals and groups progress. The Blog is about those people in and around Canterbury, Kent, who gather from all walks of life to train in this way so that they can improve their Mental and Physical Strength, Power, Speed, Stamina, Flexibility and endurance to have a positive impact on their lives.



Any and All.

ANYONE who's willing to give their ALL is welcome to attend the Thursday training sessions. Training starts promptly at 4:30pm, and finishes when the leader says so (usually around 2 hours).
Coming late when people have begun and are training hard is inconvenient because it breaks the mood and feeling of the team/group. Please do not be late.








This is where we train, Castle Street multi-storey car park



































This is a man. We do not know who he is.

Very hard Tick-Tack.

20th Nov 06.
Three steps across the road, take off before the yellow kerb, off the rounded wall then through the gap, clearing your feet of the black line on the ground, without smacking your head on the ceiling.

Jason:

I have tried this so many times and I just cant get it yet, Ash and I had a session training just this and the day after my groin was screaming because it is such a lunge to the wall and all of that speed at the wall has to be re-directed with one leg; HARD!! I came pretty close in my last attempts at it, but Ash made me laugh so much when he gave himself a hair cut and cleared it with ease at the same time. He went at a slightly different angle to what we had been doing and pegged it at the kerb going too close to the ceiling for my comfortable viewing pleasure (I thought he hit it) but he did it so respect :-)

This is one of the few staircases on which we train different technical methods. We have experimented with several methods of going up and down, two of which are shown below.
The principal rule, however, is that the actual stairs cannot be touched; we use the rails and the concrete skirting on the outside edge to get from one level to the other.
As the warning shows, the edges can be slippery when wet so this is another reason why we endeavour to keep control of the placements of the hands and feet, which are crucial to Parkour.

Times up using outside edge.
Jason: 18.8
Kevin: 16.5
Diz: 14.6

Times up using inside edge:
Jason: 22.5

Kev:18.6

Diz: 17.3

Times up using any/best way:

Meeting place (BL)

11th Dec 06.
Jason:

Diz and I have been practicing our underbars a little bit recently mainly because we suck at them but also because we have seen one that we are dreaming of doing. From the kerb to the black (wobbly as hell) rail. When we are training technically we try to move further away from the rail, at the moment i am stepping about a foot and a half over the curb into the road and Diz about two foot but we are both feeling a bit more comfortable with this underbar now so when we get the chance we will find and train some other types.