I arrived in Manchester last month. The weather was shit, i was not excited and didnt know what layed ahead. I had only decided to come too Europe one week before i left and had contacted very few people too let them know i was coming. Four days into my stay i headed up too Liverpool too meet up with Danny Ilabaca. I had the intentions of staying one night. However i ended up staying seven and i must share that it was one of the most amazing/educating weeks of my life.
I must start by saying that his family are some of the most generous and beautiful people i have ever met, and i thank them greatly for the stay.
Throughout the seven days i trained with Danny. I was amazed at the skill level he was at and the mental strength he has aquired. It is really evident that he has been training parkour for 7 years and his level was far behond anything i will reach for many many years and i learned a lot in the short time. Danny had much too share, and is a great teacher.
Than there is the backyard (haha so much fun). Every morning i would wake and head straight too the backyard to play in the small parkour park they have built. Its got all the basics too drill. Precision, Catjumps, a bar setup for muscle ups and a crash mat too keep it relivtivly controlled and for the tricking types :P. His backyard alone was very helpfull in the short time i was there. I learned quite a lot about controlling my body and a lot about using my mind.
My favourite game that we played was each of us would line up for a relitivly large precision, while the rest of us would try and make the person doing the precision laugh. The person doing the jump must try and do the precision without failing. It helped me too overcome situations where you may be in pressure.
Than there was the ninja night. We all got dress up in ninja suits and explored the streets (in the darkness) in stealth. It was amazing and i think it is a very benifical method for putting you parkour skills too practice.
But i think the most intensive experiences i had while there was running through Danny´s conditioning sessions. I stupidly thought i was pretty up too scratch in a conditioning sense. But boy was i wrong. By the end of the first exercise i was ready too faint. I somehow pulled through a couple of light sessions but i am now very aware that i need to condition much harder and much more.
At the end of it all i must say. Conditioning is king, Danny is great and his whole family/friend are amazing. I met some people i will never forget and the memories will never leave me.
Thank you guys.
Shaun.
