Welcome to Fat Tuesday, Guildford's original free running collective

The Collective

Name: Jake Peet Nick Name: Spiky Age: 32 Occupation: graphic designer Doing PK since: April 2004 My PK comment: Be strong, be wise, be yourself	Spiky cat's the subway outside Standard Life, pictures courtesy of www.soma-design.co.uk

Name: Matt Nick Name: N/A Age: 16 Occupation: Student Doing PK since: April 2004 My PK comment:	Matt precessions the stones in Lisses, France - birth palce of parkour.

Name: Zachary Jacob Wood Nick Name: Zaccy Age: 17 Occupation: Student Doing PK since: 5/01/05 My PK comment: Get Taken With Your Movement	Zac does a flip vault. Facing portrait courtsey of www.soma-design.co.uk

Name: Charlie Nick Name: N/A Age: 17 Occupation: Student, to an extent, supposedly (free-runner in reality) Doing PK since: July 2004 My PK comment: Woh PK is good. Dont put off areas of PK that you are weakest in; instead, concentrate on these	Charlie lands the big rail-to-rail precision out side The Odeon.

Le Parkour

Le Parkour, Free Running or PK for short is a relatively new urban activity conceptualised by Frenchman David Belle. First seen by us in the UK in the BBC promotion Rush Hour. In it we watched Belle swinging and leaping from roof top to obstacle flawlessly like a real life Spiderman. It was then brought to the masses by Belle's childhood friend Sebastien Foucan amongst others, in the 2003 Channel 4 documentary Jump London and more recently the explosive Jump Britain.

In many ways parkour is more akin to dance, tai chi and the discipline of martial arts than it is a sport. It embraces the philosophy that urban obstacles no longer act as barriers but as a challenge, a series of playthings tempting us to find an alternative route from A to B... in other words over, under and above in the most fluid manor possible. Keeping the flow between obstacle and moves is as important as any aspect of your free run. Sometimes stylised tricks borne from gymnastics are used to add flair and expression en-route.

Through parkour we run free from the restraints and rules laid down by civil planning and architects, we take the short cut and in doing so increase our awareness, fitness and our frame of mind. It is often commented on that Le Parkour is what many of us did as children before social restraints and inhibitions where instilled into us as we grew up. Next time you are in the street watch how a kid will climb, jump and run along pretty much anything. This is possibly evidence that it is an innate, instinctive way for man to move about his "jungle".

Disclaimer

Please read and understand the following;

If you wish to associate yourselves with Fat Tuesday then it is important you agree with the following; We do not partake in parkour/free running with the intention to injure ourselves or others, we do not promote dangerous or illegal activities, we practice at ground level, we do not trespass or damage property, we move on if asked to do so by officials and we bring with us to every session a friendly attitude free manner. Were as we are happy to have anyone who is serious along to train or watch I must point out I am not a trained or qualified teacher of parkour. If you come to Fat Tuesday you train in the street at your own risk. Although the guys and I will happily give tips and encouragement, we are not responsible for any injuries sustained at Fat Tuesday training jams nor the actions of those who do not agree with this disclaimer.

Thanks

We'd like to say a big Fat Tuesday thanks to Ez and the guys at Urban Freeflow. They have let us train with them, they have filmed us, they have given us essential tips and pointers and generally have had the most amazingly friendly and helpful attitude ever. With out them we would not have progressed this far this quickly in terms of our skills. My photos wouldn't be as impressive and Matt and I wouldn't be on the Extreme Sports Channel and BBC1 respectively and minor back ground appearance in Jump Britain.

News

Matt in Lisses at the stone circle in Lisses, France doing the "first jump"	Matt on the famous Dame du Lac, Lisses, France

On Saturday 19th Matt and Spiky visited the Mecca of parkour, Lisses a quiet suburb of Paris, most will agree the birthplace of free running. Home town of Sebastien Foucan it is the setting for many of the original French web based free running videos. We found the Dame du Lac first off and then ventured into town and easily spotted the areas featured on Jump London and Jump Britain. There where not hoards of kids lining up to do PK but some youngsters did turn up at the Dame du Lac and start wall running on it! All in all a very warming pilgrimage, we plan to go back in the summer with other Fat Tuesday regulars.

Zac is shot by free lance photo journalist Andy for Monocle magazine	Zac being interviewd for Adam's student documentary about parkour

Sunday 13th February Fat Tuesday had a student film maker and photo journalists both tagging along to a training jam with Spiky and Zac. Adam from Guildford college was there to grab footage and interviews for a documentary he is making while Andy was on hand to get some still shots for two double page spreads in Monocle magazine. We hope to be able to bring you video clips and images from this weekends shoots very soon.

Saturday 12th February saw the Fat Tuesday guys in and around Southbank and Tramp's Kitchen shooting some footage on Super 8 with Jerry Lesnick of Stunning. He intends to enter the parkour film he has made into a charity film exhibition/festival held for London homeless charity "Centre Point". What we did felt amazing and we jammed hard all day. Jerry is pleased with what he has and we look forward to being able to bring you a video's page soon with movies of our BBC piece and the Jerry Lesnick film.

Well the BBC South piece went out on Thursday the 3rd and it looked very good indeed. It should have been longer but hey it painted an excellent picture of the thriving parkour scene in Guildford and the explosion of interest in free running these last few months.

Spiky was on the radio on Friday 28th January at 7.25 am. BBC Southern Home Counties breakfast show is conducted a short interview with Spiky regarding free running and the Fat Tuesday collective. The frequency is 104 - 104.8 FM

Some of Fat Tuesday's regulars being interviewed for BBC South's regional news program to be aired soon.

Sunday 23rd January 2005 saw Spiky and five regulars of Fat Tuesday being filmed for BBC South's regional news program. The piece will be about three minutes long and features Jake AKA Spikyjumper, his professional life and his life as a free runner and naturally the guys show off some parkour around the usual Guildford hot spots. The program will be aired soon, dates and further details to follow.