How to Land a Parkour Jump

Parkour, the art of displacement, emphasizes a wide variety of vaults and leaps in its discipline. But more important than the athletic jumps which its practitioners exercise is the way they land from those jumps. A proper landing helps keep the maneuver safe and traceurs (practitioners of parkour) often learn how to land before they learn anything else. The basics of landings from a jump are fairly easy.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Start from a very low height (no more than 1 or 2 feet to begin with) to practice your landing. Some traceurs suggest practicing your landing from no height at all, at least until you are comfortable with the basic moves.
2. Note the place where you will land and make sure it is free of stones or other obstructions. It should be a flat, even surface, and you should know in your mind exactly where you intend to land before you do so.
3. Jump outwards, rather than straight down, approaching the ground at a slight angle.
4. Pull your knees up towards your chest, bending them slightly as you do so. Keep them relaxed and flexible, which will allow you to absorb the shock when you land and quickly move forward to another parkour maneuver.
5. Use your hands to maintain balance as you jump, holding them parallel to the ground.
6. Point your toes and land on the balls of your feet, bending your knees as you do so to cushion the blow of the landing.
7. Touch the ground with the flat of your hands when you land.
8. Shift your body weight forwards as soon as you have landed and direct your energy forward. Push off from the ground with your hands as you do so. If performed correctly, the energy from the fall will be redirected forwards, allowing you to spring forth and execute another parkour maneuver.
9. Practice from increasingly higher starting points and increasingly broader jumps as you grow more skilled. Take care that you don't attempt to land from a jump that is too much for you to handle, and always practice proper safety precautions when engaged in parkour.

Tips & Warnings

• Before engaging in parkour, make sure you are sufficiently fit. Experts recommend practicing basic calisthenics and being able to perform 50 squats, 25 push-ups and 5 pull-ups easily before starting parkour.
• A land from a parkour jump is less a series of individual steps and more of a single fluid motion. You should know these steps as a means of learning the process, but don't be surprised if they merge into one the more skilled you become at the move.