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Which parkour technique to learn first?

Adam Kuebler — Sat, 08 May 2010 03:22:00 +0000

When many people begin parkour, they look at specific techniques and try and learn them. This is what I did, this is what most people do, this is how I have taught up until now.

Now when someone comes out to train and asks which technique we are going to learn first, my response will be:

none.

The way I and most learned parkour taught us bad habits, it taught us to rely on techniques and specific skills. Once you mastered all of the core “techniques” it becomes a matter of combining them in runs, which is good. But then it comes to a matter of creativity, and coming up with different movements and ways of moving. At this point we are free. Sometimes the most inspirational parkour comes from people incorporating movements from other disciplines into parkour. Take for instance, Oleg’s Out of Time. He incorporates breaking moves in there and it looks awesome!

But why should this be limited to those with other backgrounds and those who have been training a long time? Why shouldn’t everyone have this freedom from the onset? That is why I want to encourage new traceurs to just move. Whatever comes naturally. And as they begin to move, give them small tips on what might make a particular movement more fluid or quicker. In this way their mind will not be constrained to the movements defined by us. They will simply move from point A to point B in whatever way seems fit.

Overtime they will learn the central techniques as there is a reason they have been developed. But they will not be limited to them. Some will say this is dangerous, I don’t think so. As long as you start with simple, small, low obstacles, and move from there they will be fine.

It is one thing to tell someone that this is the proper way to do something, it is an entirely different thing to let that person discover why this is the way most people do something.

Blog Spring Cleaning

Adam Kuebler — Sat, 01 May 2010 21:07:30 +0000

Do you use a RSS reader such as Google Reader? Do you find yourself with a pileup of blog posts to read? Are you often distracted from a task by perusing your reader? Cut the fat.

Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great blogs to read and RSS is a great time saver. But I just did some spring cleaning of subscriptions and it feels so good. Cutting out those blogs which have rarely offer something of value to you, or are maybe interesting sometimes but not really worthwhile. Cut it out. Over time all of these subscriptions can build up and become a time drain.

If this blog is one of those, it won’t offend me. But if you are subscribed to the main feed, consider subscribing to just one of the categories first

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Pragmatic Idealism

Adam Kuebler — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:49:47 +0000

We all know the guy who is living in a fairy tale. He sees life as it should be, unbound by reality, and is often brought back to it. And then we know the girl who brutally honest and realistic. While true, shes doesn’t inspire much. I think between these two is the perfect state for life, and for business.

Some people are idealists, which is used slightly different than the definition, typically people who see things in a perfect world, what could be. On the other hand there are pragmatists, defined as relating to matters of fact or practical affairs often to the exclusion of intellectual or artistic matters : practical as opposed to idealistic.

In comes the pragmatic idealist. When viewing situations, we should frame them idealistically, what would be the best possible outcome. We then have to realize that this is most of the time not possible. So pragmatically, what can we do to move toward that goal.

Ideally we would want to hire someone full time to do that job. This way they can get the full vibe from the team, and provide their knowledgeable input in the decision making process. We can’t afford someone of quality to fill that spot, but we don’t want to outsource those duties. How about bring on an independent contractor or consultant to do that. It’s not a one time project so they can really get to know the team and be a part of it, but we don’t have to pay a full year’s salary. And maybe eventually when we are making more money and have more work, we can bring them on full time.

That’s a basic example, but the idea is to start with the best possible end and move backward instead of how we normally do it, start from where we are and make incremental steps forward.

This is just a thought, would love to hear you input!

Republic’s Network Partners Aren’t Dropping Them

Adam Kuebler — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:54:56 +0000

Many people have commented that with Republic’s acquisitions of Midwest and Frontier will lead to many if not all of their network partners, for who they provide regional flight services, to cancel or not renew their contracts.

This is absurd. Network carriers will only cancel or not renew their contracts if Republic provides a poor service or if they can get better prices elsewhere. They don’t care if the company which owns their regional partner also owns an airline which competes with them as long as their regional partner is saving them money.

For example, my dad’s company both sells concrete and cement (the main ingredient in concrete). The cement is sold to it’s concrete company and is also sold to other concrete companies which compete with it. And they have no problem because they are getting the best valued product.

To use a recent airline example, take JetBlue, American, and Lufthansa. American and JetBlue came into an agreement in which JetBlue and American will interline on non-competing routes and are swapping slots at JFK and DCA. Lufthansa owns 19% of JetBlue, has two seats on the board, and codeshares with JetBlue. American and JetBlue are leading partners in the competing oneworld and Star alliances. But Lufthansa does not mind because JetBlue is still providing value to them.

Don’t get me wrong, network carriers may use this as a negotiation tool when negotiating the next deals, and one may even leave for another airline once the contract is up. But we will see no contract cancellations.

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The C-Series Has Been Tapped

Adam Kuebler — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:03:40 +0000

As you have probably found out by now, Republic has announced a massive order to purchase 40 CS300 aircraft (formerly know as the C-130, good idea to change the name!) plus 40 more options.

You know the details, if not head on over to aviation-buzz who has a pretty good overview.

As I have said before, Republic and the C-Series are both highly regarded by me. Republic because, whether you like them or not, they are ballsy. They don’t stick to the status quo, and they make things happen. The big question is how they manage the Frontier and Midwest acquisition into the future, time will tell. A full post on Republic will be coming in the future.

And I think the C-Series is an amazing aircraft (if it can be pulled off). One: geared turbo-fan engine, two: bigger windows and overhead bins, three: engines under the wings, four: the sweet spot of range and passengers as airlines are downsizing, and five: perfect for an airline concept I am working on. But more on my thoughts there later. Today is about the order.

Republic was in the best position out of anyone in the U.S. market to pull this off. No regional airline could do it because of scope clauses.

Delta is a bit preoccupied at the moment and while they could use the aircraft, there is a lot left from the merger which needs to be shaken out. American could use it, but they have a huge amount of 737s rolling in which they need to pay for. Continental could use it, but they are pretty conservative and I couldn’t see them being the launch customer for a new aircraft type with a new engine. United could use it, and potentially might choose it now that they have moved past their wide body choice (yikes!) and are now looking at narrow bodies. But it will take them another year or so at least to make that announcement and it will probably be equal numbers of 737s, A320s and maybe some C-Series thrown in for fun. US Airways could use it, but it seems as if they are standardizing on Airbus and Embraer.

JetBlue wouldn’t order them because a third fleet type is not in their model. And even though people are throwing out Southwest, I just don’t see it happening. Boeing is going to do whatever it takes to keep one of their biggest customers and if Southwest does it, they are going to do it big, don’t know if they are ready to make that sort of commitment. It would be a good aircraft for them minus the whole fleet commonality thing. Allegiant might have a fleet of C-Series… in 2040.

The only other airline who was in a good position to do this sort of deal is AirTran, which already has a split fleet, has an aircraft which this would replace, and flies to smaller destinations. It is very reasonable that AirTran will be the second American customer to order the C-Series.

But other than that, it was going to be Republic which finds and aircraft which will work well for Midwest (which will become Frontier, mark my words) and for Frontier which will give them a competitive advantage over United and Southwest. Plus, they were probably sold at cost to Republic to get the ball rolling. Which provides Republic with an even greater competitive advantage because they were able to take a risk on a new plane.

One last thing, let’s hope the Republic livery is there only because they don’t want to announce their plans to convert the Midwest brand into Frontier yet. (But they did say there would be STRETCH seats?) It is a nice livery I’ll give them that. But seriously Republic, you have to go with the Frontier brand.

I think that risk will pay off. But only time will tell if the new aircraft and new engine will work as advertised.

The Secret to Nailing Techniques

Adam Kuebler — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:02:33 +0000

Picture by Kiell of Parkour Generations

Amateurs practice until they get it right, pros practice until they can’t get it wrong.

I see thread after thread after thread on parkour forums say that they could do some move or technique or combination one day. Then they come back the next day or a few days later and can’t do it. They are baffled and frustrated, and I completely understand.

Everyone goes through this until they learn the secret to overcome it. It’s not mental discipline, it’s not visualization, it’s not having eaten healthy that day, and it’s not how tired you are. All of these things have an effect sure, but there is one thing that is the difference between nailing it once, and nailing for good.

Repitition.

When you do something new for the first time, it is a combination of mental strength, preparation, lack of fatigue, etc. But until you have that in muscle memory, you will have to have the same combination of factors every time you do it.

Muscle memory is very like your regular memory, there is short term and long term. When you do something, you now have it in short term muscle memory. You could go back and do it again and again the same day pretty easily. But it is not in long term muscle memory.

This is why if you go back the next day to do the same thing after only doing it once or twice, it will be much harder to do because only a little bit was committed to muscle memory and the short term memory has all but faded away.

So in order to nail techniques, once you do something for the first time, do it again, and again, and again. Then go back the next day and do it again and again and again. Until you can’t get it wrong.

It’s also at this point that I should bring up: practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent. So if you are practicing something incorrectly, it will be incorrectly nailed into muscle memory.

The important thing here is, repetition, but not once you become fatigued. Once you become fatigued your form won’t be ad good and you will begin to commit bad habits to muscle memory.

Hope this helps! Now go train!

Birds of a Feather… Squawk Together

Adam Kuebler — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:32:30 +0000

Hey business guys ever tried explaining something to an engineer and they just didn’t get it? Or the other way around, you engineers just can’t get something across to a thick headed business guy?

You people who are trying to accomplish something creative, why do artists, musicians, and designers tell you that your not doing it right but when they explain their creative philosophies or rigid structures in which creativity must take place, why does it never make sense?

The other day the marketing team with eagle-trade and I were working on the music for an upcoming video promotion. Our marketing director, Chelsea Weiss, wanted the music to be faster at the end than in the beginning. I have a little music background, but not much. So I just made the lyrics double the speed and it worked perfectly. Now later I was telling the story to a friend of mine who is very musically talented. As soon as I told her that Chelsea wanted the music sped up, she said, “you can’t do that!”

Musically she is correct, you can’t speed up the music to a different tempo, it doesn’t sound good. I told her to hold on and I finished the story. She said, “ohh, well you didn’t speed it up, you changed the bars” (or some musical term I have since forgotten).

Now if my friend was in my shoes, when Chelsea asked the question, she would have said that’s not possible and maybe she would have proceeded to the proper solution and maybe not. But the point is, people of different specialized groups have different terms, have different views on how things go, have different skill sets, have different ideas, and are generally different from other groups. Yet they are pretty standard within their group so they communicate well.

But once groups try and communicate with one another, things get very difficult. Often times the groups interests are aligned, and a solution that satisfies both is fairly straightforward, but different perspectives get in the way. Causing each group to look down on the other. Interactions like these build up stereotypes over time of the other groups which make it even more difficult to get things done due to the general lack of trust.

There are a lot of things you could do. One: Southwest has a program where everyone in the company spends a day or two working with people in other areas of the company. The program is completely voluntary but it allows people to understand and respect what other people do for the company. When they go back to a tense situation between groups, they can now better understand where the other group is coming from and know where to go for the best solution.

If you are dealing with individuals or people outside your company, how do you do this. The most important thing is to be open to learning. Try and learn the basics of what they are doing so you can communicate better from their point of view.

Third option, bring in an impartial mediator. Ideally someone who knows both sides of the equation and can bring the different levels of communication together.

Finally, the most important thing is, next time your in disagreement with another group. Take a step back, try and think from their end. Ask them questions before you make accusations and demands. Everyone will be a lot better off.

General Aviation Airport Entrepreneurship

Adam Kuebler — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:01:22 +0000

So I came across this article the other day about General Aviation Entrepreneurship.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/02/08/338060/big-vision-at-small-airfields.html

I may be partial, but this is really exciting stuff, and exactly what we need to see more of!

In 1978, when the airlines were deregulated, it was score one for capitalism. Routes abounded, fares plummeted, and air travel was open to the masses. But for some reason, there are still a lot of problems in the aviation industry. Security is a huge hassle, there are so many extra fees, and it all around is not a pleasant experience (to all but us airline nerds!)

I for one think no extra amount of security will make us safer and we should drop the level down a bit. It’s the law of diminishing returns. I also think that unbundling of the fees is a good idea, you pay for what you use. And Southwest has shown you can make money by not doing it. The market at work.

But for true success in the aviation industry there are two more critical pieces which need to fall into place. The first one is air traffic control. ATC needs to be radically changed. Alfred Khan, the man behind airline deregulation, said that for the full effect to happen, ATC must be deregulated as well. Now, many people have bad ideas of chaos coming from this. But it could actually be done in a very standardized way which would keep everything uniform. If you think about it, we don’t have problems with different groups running ATC around the world. I’ll probably speak more to this later.

And finally, the whole point of this article, is the airports. Airports are primarily government owned. And as this article points out, governments do a poor job running GA airports. But let’s expand this, does this mean that governments do well running large commercial airports? I think the trend of having private companies run airports is a good start, but I think in the long run, airports need to be both owned and operated by private companies.

In 1997, congress passed a pilot program to begin the privatization of airports. Branson has received a lot of press, but it is unfortunately in a very tough market. Chicago Midway was supposed to be the big one that would unleash the floodgates, but the deal fell through last year due to financing drying up. So there are difficulties.

But I think entrepreneurs willing to take on small airports is a great start, there has obviously been success here and hopefully these people will take on bigger projects at bigger airports.

Would love to hear what you think!

Jumping Higher and Farther

Adam Kuebler — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:49:15 +0000

So, you want to jump higher and longer. You’ve tried doing squats and pistols, and have had mild success. But you really want to grow your distance. You don’t need more strength (per se) you need more explosiveness.

How do you do this? Go jump! That’s it, it’s that simple. Pick a couple different jumps, low to high, same height, and high to low (preferably in the same area, picnic tables are good resources if you can’t find anything better). Then just do the jumps, over and over and over again. Even if you are well conditioned as far as strength goes, you will be really sore!

And if you are more advanced in your training or do this for a while, you can start doing more plyometric stuff. The important thing here is explosive movements coupled with weight lifting is what really gives you jumping ability.

Persistence

Adam Kuebler — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:50:49 +0000

Persistence. Is it working hard and not giving up? Sure. When you are starting a new venture you must work ridiculously hard and not give up. But many people do this, but aren’t persistent. They lose steam after a while and sell out or shut down. I think the definition of persistent is refusing to lose.

We first started work on eagle-trade in October of 2008. Sure we made a ton of mistakes but we were learning. At the end of last year, over a year after we began, we were having a bunch of issues straitening out the site redesign. The site was previously hideous and we really needed a new design. While we were working on this new design we brought on a couple guys who would do web programming in house which we were really excited about. We were also discussing expansion strategy and realized that in order to have a scalable website, we would have to start from scratch (you do not want to see the mess of code and files we have). We would also need to re-brand.

At this time the redesign was taking more time and money than was planned (and we gave a lot of leeway). We hadn’t done much promoting of the site that semester because it was always supposed to be done “next week.” So there was very little traffic (which is even worse for a user generated content site). At this time I wanted to simply shut eagle-trade down and relaunch with the new, re-branded, scalable site when it was done. I argued that our brand was dead and we would be better off with a fresh start. Two of my partners argued that there was still more to learn and we should stick it out. We had a lot of discussion about this, but thankfully two of my partners talked us out of it.

Why do I say thankfully? Because when we had two weeks left of classes and the site was in decent shape. And we decided to move forward with marketing. And something amazing happened. Over the last couple of weeks of the fall semester and the first couple weeks of the spring semester, the site grew tremendously. The brand we had been building for the past year was still in people’s heads, they just needed to be reminded. And not only did they come back, we had the most successful transactions between students we had ever seen.

What does this have to do with persistence? I didn’t give up, I just wanted to jump over to the new thing. But what this shows is that it takes time, but I honestly think that most businesses close because they don’t give it enough time to develop.

I am going to leave you with a story told by Jay Conrad Levinson (the guerrilla marketing guy) at this year’s Entrepreneur Magazine’s Growth 2.0 Conference. The story went a little something like this:

He was called in by a cigarette company to create a marketing campaign. This company was the 31st ranked cigarette maker in the country and had a brand that was perceived as feminine. So he built an brand image around real Texas cowboys. The campaign was a big hit and came off well, but at the end of the year they were still ranked 31st. But the company decided to persist with it. Who is this company, today, one of the largest cigarette companies in the world, Marlboro.