When you hear the word Parkour, what comes to mind? For me it’s the opening scene of the 2006 James Bond movie Casino Royale with incredible stunts. Or maybe the opening scene from the US version of The Office, where Michael, Dwight and Andy are filming themselves doing hardcore parkour. But what doesn’t jump to mind immediately is a 52 year old woman doing parkour and teaching parkour.
And maybe this has less to do with my innate ageist and sexist attitudes, and more with my media clouded versions of parkour. Either way, however familiar you are with parkour, I invite you join me in re-examining this creative art through a new lens.
My guest today is Dr. Julie Angel. Julie is an artist, filmmaker, visual anthropologist, an author, a movement coach, a brand ambassador for Merrill, and has the distinction of earning the world’s first PhD in parkour. Julie helps people overcome obstacles and rediscover their potential by finding a love of – and meaning in – movement. In this episode Julie shares how she found herself out of shape in her mid 30s fascinated with Parkour, and how her love and passion for human movement forever changed the arc of her life.
Because she fell in love with parkour, she also learned to move with grace and with strength from some of the best teachers and coaches in different movement worlds. You’ll hear, that she’s an optimist and how she can help us women in midlife break free from this negative cycle of extreme workouts and fad diets, anxiety and injuries so that we can find strength and balance that will stick with us for the rest of our lives. I’m not kidding, I’ve seen some of her posts on normal women in their 70s on a trapeze. If you check out her website See&Do, you’ll see that she has her own programs and videos that show how we can use what she calls “movement snacks, strong resting, positive ageing” and all these tools from parkour, natural movement, and even, my favorite, breathwork, to help people really connect to their strong bodies and their strong minds. We all have it within us. And she insists that it has to be fun and feel good.
Talking with Nikki O’dea on her podcast ‘Do life in a body you love’, about all things about midlife for women, movement, training, the demands on life, stress, creative solutions and Strong Resting.
Most of us–even the most active among us–are limited in how well we move. Sure we can run or ride a bike or lift heavy sh*t, but can we balance on a beam or jump over fallen logs? Can we move with strength and fluidity in every direction? Can we go over, under, and through obstacles with ease? Unless we practice, the answer is likely no. This week’s guest, Dr. Julie Angel, who has completed the world’s first parkour themed Ph.D., is on a mission to change that. She focuses on helping midlife women break free from the negative cycle of extreme workouts, diets, anxiety, and injuries to find sustainable strength and balance in life. By making women 360 degrees strong, she helps them learn the art and methodology of overcoming obstacles–and not just the physical hurdle in front of you, but all the stuff that’s deep inside.
In this episode of the Grace & Grit podcast, I had the awesome privilege of interviewing a woman I have admired from afar for years, Julie Angel.
Julie has lived a very textured life as an artist, author and now movement teacher. She was inspired to start practicing Parkour at 35, which opened up an entire new way of living for her.
Just to give you a small taste of her wisdom, Julie has this to say on her own website, www.see-do.com:
“I believe we can age positively by investing time in how we move, what communities we connect with, challenging our self-limiting beliefs, spending time in nature, becoming more minimalist and taking control of our health”
For more wisdom from Julie on movement, bravery, and aging gracefully tune into this episode.
Mentioned in this episode:
LISTEN HERE: Julie Angel – Merrell Ambassador
Julie Angel discusses what it means to train and what the benefits of ‘nature’s gym’ are. From adaptability to resilience and fun, everything is right outside our front door. “modern culture has made it too easy for us to get through the day. From how we commute to how we entertain ourselves, physical movement has been replaced by technology.”
The Everyday Athlete’s Guide to Parkour for Strength Matters.
Everyone can do Parkour if they are shown the right first steps for them and are invited to see the world as a series of opportunities. We all have obstacles to overcome. I’m very happy when other movement groups are happy to share the opportunities that Parkour offers.
Parkour Examined podcast with Shawn Garcia
Shawn and I had talked about me being on his podcast for the past 2 years. We eventually got around to it and hear it is! I really enjoyed talking all things movement culture, parkour, See&Do and my new projects around Positive Ageing.
Physical Living Podcast with John Sifferman
It was great to get a chance to share my movement journey and research conclusions about Parkour with John Sifferman and his audience of listeners on the website Physical Living. We covered various topics including the reality versus YouTube experience of Parkour, inclusivity and how it’s important to see it to be it.
Vital Significance Podcast with Zayd – Your Life Blueprint
It was a privilege to speak to my friend Zayd for his podcast Vital Significance. Discussing all things minimal living, simplicity, movement, parkour and writing a book. #BreakingTheJump
“Julie Angel is a British filmmaker, artist, academic and writer. After finding Parkour, Julie became interested in the idea of movement and free-running, making it the focus of her PhD and setting up the movement group See&Do.
Lets know her story more closely as she catches up with Namita Nayyar, President Women Fitness.
The Human Animal Podcast with Matt Myers
“This week I am so thankful to have the amazing Julie Angel on the podcast! Julie is an independent filmmaker, author (“Breaking the Jump”), and has perhaps the coolest PhD thesis of all time, “Cine Parkour: a cinematic and theoretical contribution to the practice of parkour”, AKA observing and talking to parkour athletes to better understand what they do and why they do it. Why didn’t I think of this when I was in school?! We cover a lot of ground here, including: How she first got started in MovNat and ParkourWhat it takes for movement “ignition”. Yamakasi: the beginnings of parkour. The evolution of coaching in parkour. Breaking the Jump. See & Do…and much much more!”
Rewilding Podcast with Daniel Vitalis
“In this interview, Julie takes us back to the early beginnings of Parkour. In researching her Parkour-themed PhD thesis, she spent time on the streets getting to know the Yamakasi — the original group of Parkour practitioners — and got an up-close and personal look into the lives of these interesting characters who shaped the modern Parkour movement. To me, Parkour represents human wildness breaking free in domesticated landscapes — the human animal in movement across urban habitat. City dwellers, take note, this can be a unique way for you to utilize your environment for your natural movement practice! At the heart of Parkour, is a message of looking past the limitations of our environment, our innate, primal drive for sovereignty and embracing our intrinsic wildness.”
Parkour’s Angel by Hal Walter for Dr. Phil Maffetone
“Joy of movement leads filmmaker-author to Ph.D., boo and transformation to a life of health and fitness. Parkour has been described as obstacle racing without a stopwatch or a finish line. For author and enthusiast Julie Angel the discipline has become a “high-flying rebellion” to a sedentary lifestyle. The 46-year-old filmmaker and artist made Parkour the subject of her Ph.D. studies as well as her new book Breaking the Jump, which serves as the unofficial historical documentary of this largely unknown story.”
Liberated Body Podcast with Brook Thomas
“Julie Angel received her doctorate researching Parkour, and she has a new book out, Breaking the Jump, which chronicles the birth of this movement. The book, and our conversation, wind up tackling the larger issues that have emerged out of Parkour- like how the origin and effects of this movement is about something so much bigger than athletics or physical training; Really how it was an is a way to evolve as a human. We also get into our cultural biases to, on the one hand, abuse ourselves with physical training, and on the other hand to be so obsessively careful and terrified of movement or of leaning into the edges of one’s capabilities that we wind up without much middle ground. We also discuss Julie’s personal journey from a sedentary academic to someone who also does Parkour and how that has changed her and how she sees the world.”
Parkour EDU Podcast with Brandon Douglas
Julie discusses how she began studying parkour. Her newly published book“Breaking the Jump” and the history of parkour. Parkour’s unique story and its transformation from private to public. On sharing parkour with future generations. What the See & Do initiative is and Women in parkour. She took some fan questions “What advice would you have to people pursuing academic careers related to parkour?”“What’s one important thing that you want the modern parkour community to learn from the founders?” “What’s one thing that the modern parkour community does well that you think would have been beneficial for the founders early on in their practice. On communication in the parkour community “Where’s the secret spot in ‘Parkour Documentary?’”
What We See Is What We Do – How Women Move And Why Not. By Julie Angel
“Let’s Play exhibition” Danish Architecture Centre, Copenhagen, Sept. 7th 2016
How we interpret and interact with the physical world around us is the result of how we think and that affects what we do. How we learn to use our bodies is a way of becoming members of society. Tradition lets us know what is appropriate in terms of our status, age and gender, but tradition isn’t always good for equality or health. All of this is transmitted across generations to make these mechanisms seem ‘normal’, eventually entering the realm of ‘natural’, but they are not.
Women in Parkour. How Freerunning helps you see the city in a whole new light. By Julie Angel
MPORA Sept. Style Issue 2016
“Beyond the physical benefits of Parkour, it will also empower and liberate you in ways that you never expected. The city becomes yours, a personal training ground as you explore and venture into less celebrated urban spaces. Adventures in a low level urban terrain can keep you addicted for years. Where once you would have walked past railings, now you evaluate them in terms of height, stability, width at the top, and the drop on the other side. Architecture stays the same; what has changed is your joy and appreciation of it.”