In the last several years, we at RocPK have noticed an interesting trend: we rarely need to instruct young kids on how to move. Adults, however, are another story. Bring your child the first day and the first thing they will do is try to climb on the bars, jump on the boxes, and balance on the rails. Typically, an adult will wait until you tell them concretely what it is they should do. In essence, they bypass exploration in favor of direct instruction.

You may not find much wrong with this approach and there definitely are benefits. But parkour is a creative discipline and simply doing only what your instructor tells you to do does nothing to help your creativity. In kids, direct instruction before exploration yields shocking results and makes them less likely to try new things out on their own without being directly told what to do.

At Rochester Parkour, movement exploration is an important factor that is designed into each class. Exploration is typically encouraged at the start of a class, after a central idea has been expressed. The students will then explore the idea or a particular challenge with direct instruction being applied afterwards as a guide or to channel their creativity into something more constructive.

On multiple occasions, we’ve caught a number of our younger students discovering movements that we’ve never taught them! Below is a lucky shot I got of AJ discovering how to backwards lache:

Direct instruction is also an important part of the education equation, but not at the expense of creative play and exploration. Try new things and challenge yourself! Come to the gym and play with us!

Please keep asking questions and we’ll do our best to make sure you get the answers you need.

A couple reminders:

• Camps are limited to 10 children per camp and will not run with less than 3 enrolled.
• If less than 3 are enrolled, refunds will be processed 1 week before the camp’s expected date.
• If for whatever reason you cannot make the camp you registered for, you will be given credit for another camp on the schedule.

Thank you!

Believe it or not, today is rocpk’s first venture into into public advertising. It’s been quite a wild ride these last 15 months! We’re happy with our service and happy with how we’ve grown.

Here are some frequently asked questions we’ve received so far:

Q “Can I use these classes whenever I want or do I have to come consecutively?”

A – Yes, you can use the classes you purchased whenever you see fit over the coupon’s 6 month life time

Q “What classes am I allowed to join?”

A – You are allowed to join any beginner level class.

Q “What are the ages for each class?”

A – Kids are ages 7-12, youth 11-16, and adult 16+. Our youngsters classes, ages 3-6 will added to the schedule soon.

Useful links:

Class Schedule
What is Parkour?
Personal Training
Summer Camps

Hello Lovely Ladies out there,

The Rochester Parkour Gym is offering a new hour slot specifically for women! Ladies’ Hour will be held on Tuesday evenings from 8-9pm and run by Nicole Suchy. This time slot will be completely male-free and dedicated to building confidence through movement, connecting with your fellow women-practitioners, and just having fun. Come get strong through play! No experience required, just a good attitude.

Officially begins THIS Tuesday, May 1st. See you then!

Questions? Email Nicole Suchy:

nicole@rochesterparkour.com

THIS Saturday, April 21st, Rochester Parkour will be celebrating the Gym’s 1-Year Anniversary!

Join us at the Gym, 121 Lincoln Ave, to celebrate with us. Here’s the schedule of events:

2pm- 5pm

Ninja Warrior Competition (Competitors Fee $10, FREE to watch)

Refreshments Provided to all!

5pm-8pm

1-Year Anniversary Celebration

Collaboration Mural Showcase with Make Your MARC

RocPK Performance Video Screening from the RIT Juggle-In Public Show

Food, Fun, and Open Training! (Under 18 will need parent supervision and/or Liability Waiver)

For the next two Saturdays, Rochester Parkour has some pretty exciting events going on in place of the Saturday open jam session. Make sure to mark your calendars and come support our wonderful community members.

THIS Saturday, April 14th, at 7:30pm

A group of Rochester Parkour members are going to be showing off their skills on stage during the RIT Juggle In Public Show! For Public Show details check out the Juggle In website. The location for the show is Rush Henrietta High School and doors will open at 7:10pm. Tickets are $15 at the door, but if you stop by the RIT Juggle In fest, you can purchase tickets for $12. Rochester Parkour will be hanging out at the Juggle In fest from 2-4pm (Which is FREE). We have been working hard and perfecting our routine, so we’d love to see you there!

For directions to both the Juggle in and the Performance click Here.

NEXT Saturday, April 21st, from 2-8pm

Rochester Parkour is celebrating the Gym’s 1-Year Anniversary!! Join us for refreshments, fun, friends and games! Joint festivities will be held with Make Your MARC in honor of the community mural collaboration. The event is also on Facebook. Here’s the break down:

2-5pm Ninja Warrior Competition (Free to watch. $10 Competitors Fee.)

5-8pm 1-Year Anniversary & Mural Debut Celebration (Family Friendly!)

If you would like to help distribute flyers, come by the gym and grab some. We’d much appreciate it.

See you soon!

We will be compiling everyones input into a few great choices. Then we’ll vote!

If you haven’t already, stop by the gym and paint your name on the wall!!

If you would like to hear more about the Make Your MARC mural project, visit make-your-marc.com.

Starting tomorrow and continuing into March, RocPK will be undergoing some much needed refurbishments. One of the main points of interest is some fresh paint on the walls! Nicole Suchy has been working hard and has created a new program called Make Your MARC – Mural Arts in the Rochester Community. Her program will be paying for us to put up a super amazing mural on one of our walls. This will be a community event! We want you to come and make your own mark on the RocPK walls. Here are the dates:

Optional Events:

• Thursday March 1st 5:30-8:30pm – Grid and begin to draw design on the wall
• Friday March 2nd 3-7pm – Finish drawing design on wall

Big Community Event!

• Saturday March 3rd 2-6pm- Awesome community paint-by-numbers mural, painting of the surrounding walls and I-beams

Optional days before the March 3rd community event are days when Nicole will be working and outside help isn’t required, but very much appreciated! We want everyone to at least make it out to the March 3rd event – parkour breaks are encouraged and there will be food and drinks!

Questions? Email Nicole at marcmurals@gmail.com

It’s that time again – the time where you polish all your new moves and abilities and pit them against the clock to become a champion!

We believe strongly in these timed competitions as they are the true test of your capabilities. You may be able to do some pretty sweet stuff, but can you do them when it really matters? When time is racing? When your heart is racing?

February 18th is the day! 2pm to 5pm.

We’ve got some fun new stuff in the gym and we’re pretty excited about the course.

This event is donation based and is limited to 17+. If you’re an older teen that wants to participate, please send us an email at info@rochesterparkour.com or talk to us in the gym.