Parkour

Parkour or free running, is a physical discipline which focuses on efficient movement around obstacles. Developed in France by David Belle, the main purpose of the discipline is to teach participants how to move through their environment by vaulting, rolling, running, climbing, and jumping. Parkour practitioners are known as "traceurs".

Parkour's modern history began in the 1920s, though similar movements can be found in the Eastern martial arts ninjutsu and qing gong. Georges Hébert began teaching the fundamental movements related to parkour during this time period, and eventually the training became the standard for the French military. David and Raymond Belle would expand on Hébert's work, and David would eventually find the Yamakasi group, the first group dedicated to parkour.

Parkour is one of the many physical training sports known to the world. Even i do some parkour. Especially at my house, when i pretend the carpet is lava, and i walk on the couches, hopping from one to the othe... oh... thats not parkour? Then im not trying anything more dangerous than lava carpet. 

If you're interested in learning parkour, good luck. Make sure you are very physically strong and very flexible. Beware of injury. 

The origins of free running come from Hawaii. In terms of parkour we would have to look at George Hebert who created Methode Naturelle as a military training, with the purpose of overall physical training and strength conditioning. Hebert set up a methode naturelle session consisting of ten fundamental groups: walking, running, climbing, quadrupedal movement, climbing, balancing, throwing, lifting, self-defense, swimming, which are part of three main forces. After learning the methode naturelle from his father Raymond Belle (a French soldier in the Vietnam war) David Belle brought the principal pf methode naturelle to the streets of Lisses, France with the name of Parkour which is translated to "the path", an art of movement emphasizing on freedom. Parkour focuses on practicing efficient movements to develop your body and mind to be able to overcome obstacles in an emergency.

Robbie"Rhetorical Master"Starbody

If you have had the extremely fortunate pleasure of running into Robbie Starbody in the halls or basking in his presence during class, you would know how amazing and extreme Robbie is. From helping the elderly cross the street, to reading the Terms and Agreements, Robbie is undoubtedly the most caring, honest person you'll ever meet. Robbie is just fabulous.





























Robbie Starbody has mastered many elements of life. Talk to him some time... he might teach you......
Anyway, he likes to keep his life mysterious. Robbie keeps people guessing. If you think you know him, guess again!
Robbie lives an extreme life. He manages multiple sports, extracurricular activities, and group activities outside of school. All while maintaining a killer GPA. Robbie is the man! You may know him from the Westmont Golf team, if not from class. Robbie plays Golf for Westmont Monday through Thursday. You can imagine that he dominates the course.(He does) I've heard rumors that Robbie even achieved a hole in 1... on a par 9 hole. I believe it. Robbie and the Team even has a golf match coming up, against Prospect. Fun fact, the Prospect coach is the old Westmont Coach! Now that's a strange situation. Time for some revenge! Good luck Robbie!

After his Golf days, Robbie keeps his toned body by hittin' up Gold's Gym. Where he completes a rigorous workout routine. This routine consists of 100 sit-ups...... while holding a  Ford F-150, 300 push ups(legend has it, that when Robbie does a push up, he doesn't push himself up, he pushes the earth away), then Robbie uses a Bowflex... upside down. And that's how he keeps this body, yes, that's him.

On Saturdays you can find Robbie jammin' out with his band. Ha. Just when you thought Robbie was as awesome and extreme as he could get. Robbie is an amazing guitar player. He can lay down one tasty jam. You can find him playing with the exalted Brandon Bambino(drums) and Jordan S.(vocals). Its amazing how many talents Robbie has that allows him to live his life at the max.

Robbie Starbody is one of the most intelligent, caring, and humorous people i have ever met. He is truly a very talented person and an all around a pleasure to have around. In class he participates fully and always has a complete answer on even the hardest questions. He has even mastered the art of rhetorical analysis.
Robbie is the man to know, it has really been an honor to be in the same class as him. He is phenomenal and just extraordinary.
Try living that life. Try living the extreme life, of Robbie Starbody.
*Toast* to the man, we love you Robbie. Keep doing what you're doing.

Space Diving

One of my previous blogs on Sky Diving went into the details of falling from a very lengthy height and parachuting towards the bottom.
Whilst roaming the internet on Stumbleupon, i came across a cool article that featured a man attempting a record "space dive". I was like... wtf? Space diving that cant end well. Cause like in the movies and stuff when objects fall from space they get all fiery and supernatural and what not. I just assumed that anyone crazy enough to try it would be ash by the time they got even close to the ground. But sure enough, people do it...

Space diving refers to the theoretical idea of an individual falling from outer space into the Earth's atmosphere and then parachuting to a landing. This is similar to sky diving but would occur from space. This concept has been shown in various media, including Star Trek and the novel Starship Troopers.

There are several technical requirements and challenges to the possibility of space jumping. Any reentry suit would likely have to be armored to survive the heat of reentry(see what im saying!), while also containing life support systems sufficient for the user to survive while in the airless conditions of space - Robert Heinlein, the author of Starship Troopers and a former spacesuit designer, conceived of a (fictional) reentry system involving multiple ablative shells and parachutes. These requirements would be somewhat eased when entering the atmosphere from a simple drop, where the heat of reentry would be considerably less than that of reentering from orbit. Parachutes would require increased strength to slow the higher weights associated with the added equipment. NASA is known to have investigated the concept in case of an emergency situation on the shuttle where alternative methods of reentry are not available — however, such planning has not moved beyond the conceptual stage given the high energies involved in reentry from orbital speeds.Cool Beans

Bicycle-Motocross

BMX started in the early 1970s when children began racing their bicycles on dirt tracks in southern California, drawing inspiration from the motocross superstars of the time. The size and availability of the Schwinn Sting-Ray and other wheelie bikes made them the natural bike of choice, since they were easily customized for better handling and performance. BMX racing was a phenomenon by the mid-1970s.Children were racing standard road bikes off-road, around purpose-built tracks in California The 1972 motorcycle racing documentary On Any Sunday is generally credited with inspiring the movement nationally in the US; its opening scene shows kids riding their Sting-Rays off-road. By the middle of that decade the sport achieved critical mass, and manufacturers began creating bicycles designed especially for the sport.
George E. Esser founded the National Bicycle League as a non-profit bicycle motocross sanctioning organization in 1974. before they set up the NBL, George and his wife, Mary, sanctioned motorcycle races with the AMA (American Motocross Association). Their two sons, Greg and Brian, raced motorcycles, but also enjoyed riding and racing BMX with their friends. It was their sons’ interest, and there being no BMX organizations in the East, that prompted George to start the NBL in Florida.
By 1977, the American Bicycle Association (ABA) was organized as a national sanctioning body for the growing sport. In April 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first world championships were held in 1982. Since January 1993 BMX has been integrated into the Union Cycliste Internationale.

The sport of Bicycle Motocross - Freestyle BMX is now one of the staple events at the annual Summer X Games Extreme Sports competition and the ETNIES backyard jam, held largely on both coasts of the United States. The popularity of the sport has increased due to its relative ease and availability of places to ride and do tricks.

In 2003, the International Olympic Committee made BMX a full medal Olympic sport for 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, and Māris Štrombergs (male, for Latvia) and Anne-Caroline Chausson (female, for France) were crowned the first Olympic champions.
Many great BMX riders go on to other cycling sports like downhill such as Australian Olympian Jared Graves, former "golden child" Eric Carter, and youth BMX racer Aaron Gwin.

BMX biking can give even the most adrenaline tolerant people a rush of excitement and energy. BMXing is a potentially very dangerous sport. If one were to attempt the tricks and riding styles of a level above their own experience, they could make a mistake and severely injure themselves or worse.

If anyone is familiar with the Los Gatos biking/jogging trail, just after you pass under Highway 85, there is a nice little BMX/Mountain biking jump zone. Complete with narrow edges, some rockin jumps, and room for short area riding tricks. The main feature, however, is a 10ft tall dirt ramp, allowing for some serious height off jumps. If you're into some serious business, i highly recommend you check it out for yourselves!