spk_ben

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If backflips and other gymnastics are what you want to learn, definitely go to Steel City Gym on Broadfield Road. The sessions are Thursdays and Fridays 6:30-8:30 for £6 each. It's a really great session and you'll have fun and the guys there will teach you what you want to learn! Say hi to Danny France! However if what you want to learn is parkour, which is the art of practising efficient movement, getting from A to B, then you're best off practising this outside (for free) with the Sheffield Parkour guys on Saturdays in town.

Hi Ryan. We meet regularly (Saturdays are your best bet) and anyone is welcome to join, we don't charge - if you come along you'll just be training with us and practising the moves we'll show you at your own pace. Our new meeting spot is at the University of Sheffield (we've moved away from Hallam now) so if you're interested just go to http://www.northernparkour.com and post in the Sheffield forum explaining that Ben pointed you there from here. The same goes to anyone else. Any questions just shoot here.

I was one of the Parkour coaches at the event. I'd really appreciate any feedback about how we ran our base! Did you or your kids enjoy the com-and-try-it sessions? Did you enjoy our demos? I know we were a bit limited, as there were only two of us at one point, and the fact that we weren't provided with any apparatus - we merely borrowed bits of scaffolding the climbing people had used to put the bouldering wall together! We did our best to be entertaining in the demos, and we did our best to give as many kids a good session as possible. If anyone would like any further information about coaching sessions for parkour, contact Dave: dave(at)northernparkour.com - he's hoping to get some set up in Sheffield in September. A big hand to Matt and Julie for organising the event, they did a great job! Well done to everyone who pitched in with their specialities and thanks to everyone who attended! Bring on Cliffhanger 2009!!

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Oh and if there's something in the paper about Scouts it's usually asking for money or volunteer leaders.

Exactly. All the "cool kids" think it's sad, but think about it - would you rather be learning how to do all these activities, learn navigational and survival skills and plenty of other useful life stuff, or hanging round street corners with nothing to do but "try new things" like cigs, drugs, vandalising, and generally getting upto no good - and with nothing to show for what you did in your youth?

I didn't mean we'd got bad coverage like negative articles, I meant whenever we're in the paper there's always something cheesy - a really awful photo (uniform, parade, giving badges out, etc.) or a cheesy headline like "be prepared" or some pisstake on that. It's always the way - the one I did with Richard Marsden in the Star last week, it was a positive article all the way saying about how modern Scouting is not what people think and how it's a great thing to be a part of, and the pictures were quite good, but the headline (which I tried to protect but apparently the final editors write them and we had limited control over it) was based on "be prepared". Tere was a really good letter in the Daily Mail last Saturday from a woman who's a leader and she explained about how great it was for the kids to be involved in, what they got upto and it being exactly what kids want to do these days, but then there was a picture of her in a necker holding her fingers up in the Scout sign. It ruined it for me, gave a bad impression - no-one would see that and want to read it!

Also note that I live in Killamarsh and travel to and from Woodseats at least once a week to take part. Oh and I'm also Assistant Scout Leader at Mosborough Scouts [10.5 - 14], which is my former group.