summit
parkour
gathering
2019
POST-EVENT IMPACT REPORT
SPG2019 – INTRODUCTION
2019 was the second Summit Parkour Gathering in North Carolina. What initially started as a transformation of a previous event has successfully become an gathering that welds connections from all over for the celebration of movement. We came together to share and train parkour throughout the Triangle Area – from indoor locations at the Enso Movement facilities to the great outdoors at NC State University and Downtown Cary.
This year our coaching team brought a beautiful spirit that captured the essence of bringing new and experienced movers together. Participants learned new skills and worked together to solve problems. We saw kids collaborating on breaking down exercises for one another and adults sharing ideas to fruition. The Summit Parkour Gathering owes it to the participants involved.
We’d like to thank everyone for sharing an enthusiastic energy that led to an absolutely wonderful event.
Maggie Spaloss and Alan Tran
about summit
The SUMMIT PARKOUR GATHERING brought together a national team of guest coaches, athletes, and participants to celebrate the practice of parkour and related movements to the Greater Triangle of North Carolina.
This three-day parkour gathering offered exploration applications, specialized workshops, and collaborative experiences for participants to learn about, to widen, or to deepen their practice. No experience was necessary! Beginners to advanced athletes were all welcomed.
This year’s Summit brought new and returning guest coaches including including Lorena Abreu, Christian Anderson, Jesse Danger, Ryan Mallon, Frank Mejia, Sparsha Pun, Christie Thomas, Nikkie Zanevsky, Maggie Spaloss, & Alan Tran. The coaching team was amazing, full of diversity, and had over 80+ years of experience between everyone.
our impact
People are engaging in fitness / movement, seeking community, and looking for opportunities for something greater. Enso Movement is creating a vision to effect its neighborhoods and regions around the Southeast. From our event logistics to instructed workshops, every detail envelopes our two values – connection and collaboration.
Summit’s impact is measured by the demographics of our participants. We are successful when we can serve parkour and its core values to a diverse audience. This year’s event shared outdoor and indoor training with over 75 participants ages 8 to 65 from 10+ states. Over 31% of our participants were female! We brought people to three different sites of the Raleigh-Durham and Cary area. Summit worked with 20+ organizations. This year’s revenue will financially aid projects providing free access to parkour and movement around North Carolina including Asheville’s “Carolina Fam Jam” event and youth leadership programs.
The 2019 Summit Parkour Gathering grew by 25% in participant size. At 38% women, 75% non-white, and 75% non-NC-native, this was certainly one of the MOST diverse parkour coaching teams put together here in the United States. We sponsored tickets for underprivileged youth in partnership with Town of Cary, at-risk youth in partnership with Haven House, emergency service and officers in partnership with Raleigh Police Department, and college-aged women in partnership with CHAARG.
When we reflect on the diversity of age and gender of Summit’s participants and coaching team, we feel incredibly happy to have fostered a successful and profound event.
# of Participants
% Female Participants
Age Range
% Growth
Event Partners
lorena
abreu
Los Angeles, California
Rilla Hops
LINES WITH LORENA
Connecting movements can be fun! We started with finding our individual challenges before sequencing them into longer lines of connected movements. In addition the participants took the time to master their momentum to build smoother routes. At the end we got to share and film the movements for our peers
PARKOUR AND PERFORMANCE
Lorena shared her insights from the professional experiences she’s gained from working under the limelight. This specialist session showed participants just the right steps to perform in live shows and entertainment. From paperwork, gigs, to social media, the walkthrough showed it all.
CHRISTIAN ANDERSON
Greensboro, North Carolina
Tumblebees
THE REACH
How high can we go? Advanced athletes were pushed to the next level by challenging their expert skills in complex scenarios. Parkour participants took their powerful skills to weird angles and heights using non-linear movement and techniques.
ASCENTS AND DESCENTS
Parkour is sometimes seen as a powerful and strong sport with high impact. We battled the misperception by showing ascents and descents are approachable for any individual of all levels – including new beginners! Participants explored a slow and gentle pace with soft progressions.
Frank mejia
Alexandria, Virginia
PKMove, Urban Evolution
THE REACH
How high can we go? Advanced athletes were pushed to the next level by challenging their expert skills in complex scenarios. Parkour participants took their powerful skills to weird angles and heights using non-linear movement and techniques.
ASCENTS AND DESCENTS
Parkour is sometimes seen as a powerful and strong sport with high impact. We battled the misperception by showing ascents and descents are approachable for any individual of all levels – including new beginners! Participants explored a slow and gentle pace with soft progressions.
DANGER’S OWN
This collaborative experience showed us how to move under, over, and through obstacles with a bubbly solution. By developing a few techniques, we garnered a skill toolbelt to help route and find activities. Physical exploration is for everybody!
FIND YOUR BRILLIANCE
How do we find true belonging and the courage to stand alone? Jesse Danger took participants through a specialized session exploring movement, reflection, and group discussion that helped us to build a stronger connection to the communities we step into. We moved and gathered to share our personal insights by digging deeper into our personal selves.
SPARSHA
PUN
Somerville, Massachusetts
Parkour Generations Americas
WALL-YEET
How fast can we go over, up, and down all types of walls? It certainly takes a lot of practice! Sparsha challenged individuals to use time their ascents and descents in concerted efforts. It helped to build a sense of camaraderie while having everyone move a ton!
MASTERING YOUR KINESPHERE
What’s the space around us? Kinesphere is the reachable environment extending in all directions. Sparsha guided participants in exploring movement and landings in all directions to give us security and safety from non-linear momentum, falls, and landings. Our outcome is the ability to manage fear and expectations in all directions we may go.
rYAN
mALLON
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville Parkour
BAREFOOT TRAINING
Why is foot care and training important? With deep experience hiking in the backwoods of North Carolina, Ryan brings a unique perspective on barefoot practices. He shared with us his approached supported by a rich practice and science. Feel the earth, get grounded, and awaken your body with barefoot training.
TECHNICAL HAND AND FOOT PLACEMENT
Our mechanical practice of moving through an environment is important down to the details. Well-timed coordination helps us to displace our movement with grace and less effort. Ryan helped us to be more effective in navigating outdoor spaces.
NIKKIE
ZANEVSKY
Jersey City, New Jersey
Wildly Fit
STRONG TO BE USEFUL
What does it take to rescue and save another person? Nikkie explored parkour at its core values of usefulness. Participants navigated outdoor obstacles testing their performance, fitness, and abilities to rescue in real-life scenarios. This immersive session was fun and wild!
RAILFLOW5
How can we foster creativity? Nikkie shared techniques and vocabulary to give participants a foundation in exploring rails. Five concepts – space, rotation, levels, step-reduction, and speed, offered us tools to move with expression.
CHRISTIE
thomas
Lorton, Virginia
The St.James
RAIL-FLOW IS NOT LAME
What’s low impact and challenges our coordination and timing? Rail-flow! Christie challenged participants to connect and sequence together a variety of movement skills to a ‘flow’. Unimpeded movement takes deep practice and a level of kinesthetic sensitivity.
IMAGINATION STATION
How can we express physical creativity? Christie shared five skills that useful for any rails and walls. With a few simple tools we can navigate and utilize obstacles as our medium. Movements are brushed to become the extensions of how we think and feel.
ALAN TRAN
Raleigh, North Carolina
Enso Movement
ELEMENTS OF BREATH
Breathing is an automatic and often rhythmic act – what happens when we begin to constrain and set boundaries to it? Inspired by yoga, taiji, and diving, Alan peeled back layers to our movement by overriding this automatic sense to challenge our ability to perform, cope, with, and endure stress.
WHAT’S NEXT?
| January 2020 |
Youth Parkour LEADs with Enso MovementA youth leadership education and development program facilitated through Enso Movements. |
| May 2020 |
Regeneration Gathering with Enso MovementThe annual southeast tricking gathering held in the Raleigh-Durham region. Workshops, contests, and more! |
| June 2020 |
American Rendezvous with Parkour Generations Americas – Sommerville, MassachusettsA large inclusive and diverse parkour gathering connecting an international community of movers. |
| SUMMER TBD |
MOVE NYC with The Movement Creative – Brooklyn, New YorkA movement expo focused on bringing workshops to a a massive pop-up parkour park in New York City. |
| August 2020 |
Carolina Fam Jam with Asheville Parkour – Asheville, North CarolinaLarge community-organized jam to celebrate and train with parkour athletes in the Western Carolinas. |
| September 2020 |
Art of Retreat – Wenatchee, WashingtonThe annual parkour leadership and education conference. Spark ideas, share research, and build connections. |
| October 2020 |
Summit Parkour Gathering with Enso Movement – Raleigh, North CarolinaExplorative applications, specialized workshops, and collaborative experiences centered around parkour. |
Want to learn more? Visit Enso Movement for parkour instruction. A wide variety of classes for different levels – open to any new or beginner to the advanced athlete.
THANK YOU
A big THANK YOU to the massive support shared by our event team, guest coaches, and support team. We owe the Summit Parkour Gathering 2019 to the generous contributors who shared their resources and time.
Questions?Contact us at info@ensomovement.com |
Support TeamThanks to Max Bobrowski, Mitch Buynitzky, Zak Ferguson, Jon Marshall, Julius Porter, & Ben Spaloss. A special thanks to the Spaloss family for hosting the guest coaching team. |
Coaching OrganizationsEnso Movement, The Movement Creative, Parkour Generations Americas, PKMove, Rilla Hops, Tumblebees, Urban Evolution, & Wildly Fit. |
ImagesEvent photos were taken by Jonathan Marshall, Maggie Spaloss, and Alan Tran. Follow the Enso Movement Facebook page to any and all photos.
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Event PartnersThe Endurance Edge, Fresh Local Ice Cream, The Fueling Edge, Guasaca, Insomnia Cookies, Jasmin & Olivz, Jersey Mike’s, Pho Super 9, Poke Bar, Small Cakes, & Taipei 101. |
SocialUse #summitparkour or tag @ensomovement For more information, please visit EnsoMovement.com |
