#Tempest freerunning academy series#

None of them chased efficient movement instead, they exuded style, surprising viewers with their acrobatics and leading French parkour athlete Guillaume Pelletier to coin the term freerunning. In 2003, a British documentary called Jump London tracked three parkour athletes traversing London landmarks. But parkour focuses on “usefulness,” pushing you to find efficient ways to move. Some of those stunt guys practice and sharpen their skills at Tempest.įreerunning is an offshoot of parkour, which many believe was conceived in the early 1900s by French military officers as anew method of navigating obstacle courses. Freerunning skills are the backbone of many Hollywood stunts, powering high-flying action-star chase scenes-involving everyone from James Bond and Jason Bourne to Captain America and Black Panther.

#Tempest freerunning academy series#

Your goal is to be playful and creative, swiftly making your way through a series of obstacles. This is how you see any space with walls, ledges, and railings (or any space outdoors) when you get into freerunning, the daredevil sport/art/way of life that’s growing in popularity-and can help energize your summer workouts.Īt the heart of freerunning is a simple concept: constant movement. “Then once that’s easy, you figure out how you might do it in a more creative way. “Usually you start by climbing onto something,” says Nunez.

Then maybe you’d hop up to the railing, run down it, and side-flip to the landing at the bottom. Or you might grab the lip of the wall, lower yourself halfway, push your feet off, and flip onto the ground. But if you’re Gabriel Nunez, the 37-year-old CEO of the Tempest Freerunning Academy in Chatsworth, California, all you see is possibility.You might sprint and jump into the wall, plant your feet, and then leap and flip off it, landing on the stairs below. How would you get down? If you’re like most people, you might stroll down the stairs. Next to it is a five-inch-wide, seven-foot-high wall. “There’s this beautiful sort of community we have here where people really enjoy movement and enjoy doing it together in a group.Picture yourself at the top of a staircase with steel railings. Everyone’s smiling, everyone’s laughing, patting each other on the back,” Billy says. “I’ve never seen a class end without everyone looking like they had a great time.

Whether you’re a risk-taker or want to try a new and exciting kind of cardio workout, Tempest Freerunning Academy provides the thrills to keep you motivated.

“There’s a lot in this gym, and because we have all these blocks we can move around, you can always build something new.” “I’ve had people jump on it and touch the ceiling of this place,” Billy says. Tempest also has a springboard floor, a giant airbag that looks like a pool and two trampolines - one that is Olympic-sized and one that is, the bounciest trampoline you can buy in the U.S., according to Billy. In the gym, there are structures built to look like the outside world - the LA skyline, a parking garage and rooftop air ducts, to name a few. “And just like a martial arts gym, we have testings every so often.” “Martial arts gyms have belts… at our gym, we have bands that you wear on your wrist that say what level you are,” Billy says.

With hour-long classes following a set curriculum, patrons can learn everything they need to in order to move up a skill level in 10 weeks. “Freerunning is the same type of movements but with more stylistic flips and tricks involved.” “Parkour is all about getting from point A to point B as efficiently as possible,” Tempest Freerunning Academy manager Billy Branch says. But while the trio’s take on the workout is mostly goofy, Tempest Freerunning Academy is serious about spreading the word about parkour and freerunning. If you got your introduction to parkour from Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute and Andy Bernard from “The Office,” you’re not alone.