Davis x Point A, Minoo on the Mic, Brazilian Beasts, and more
Welcome to mid-January! January and February always seem to be a pretty slow time of the year, at least up north, while we wait for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere to bring us the heat.
Still Here: Davis Vasconcellos x Point A
We’ve been chasing sunshine out in San Diego recently filming for our newest project, Still Here, featuring Davis Vasconcellos (@_davisvasconcellos_). The first trailer dropped yesterday but don’t get your hopes too high for an immediate release - Davis has quite the bucket list of challenges he’s trying to get ticked off for this project so we’re thinking this will be a late fall deal. But we’re looking forward to cutting at least one more trailer in the meantime, and our newsletter fam will be the first to know. Plus, you get additional juicy details on how the project is going…like, did you know that this shoot started when Davis dropped on The Motus Prodcast that he was shooting a Point A film? Completely unbeknownst to us?
USPK Circuit Starts Up
If you’re caught in frigid temps, it’s gym days for those lucky enough to have one nearby. Starting at the end of this month, USPK is getting the national competition circuit started with competitions at Outrun Parkour and Sessions gyms on January 27th. Last year was the first really successful circuit I’ve seen in parkour, and it’s exciting to see that they’ve nearly tripled the amount of participating comps for 2024. I’m not much for competing myself, but it brings a level of exposure and perceived legitimacy that parkour in the United States desperately needs.
Jason Paul Beginner Tutorial
If you’re more of a street rat, Jason Paul has added another impressive beginner tutorial to the long (and often completely useless) video library of beginner parkour tutorials. Don’t worry, this one is actually awesome. It’s the tutorial I wish I’d had access to when I started training, and felt really similar to the online stuff he’s been doing with his Parkour Roadmap…I mean Levels system. It’s fun to skim through even if you’re an advanced practitioner, and one of the few videos on YouTube where I’d actually recommend reading the comments. He’s doing some good work helping share his perspective on training, philosophy, and movement exploration with folks all over the world - heartwarming stuff.
Gettin’ Strong in Serbia
On the more intermediate/advanced side of parkour education, Petar Smash (@smash_training) has been sharing samples of his upper body workouts recently. If there’s one person in the parkour community I’d take push/pull advice from, it’s Petar. The man knocks out 90 degree handstand pushups and one-arm chins with the same rep schemes I use for like, normal push ups and chins. He also offers programming, which - full disclosure - I paid for and used throughout most of 2022/23.
Brazilian Beast
Moving to the countries where it’s warm, I wanted to share this week’s undercover beast André Vilela (@andre_vilela.pk) from Rio de Janeiro. I found out about André a few months ago and he is consistently pumping out insane training clips. If you like hybrid athlete stuff, give André a follow - you’ll pretty much be seeing massive kong pres and beautiful side pre sticks on the daily. He’s also got some wild stamina and line-building skills. Seriously, check him out.
Athlete Chat
We’re sweeping way across the Atlantic for today’s athlete interview and checking in on Minoo (@ddarvag) in Tehran. Minoo has been training for quite a while but really started popping off last year after appearing in a few of Hazal’s videos. She’s regularly posting gnarly training clips and sharing videos from other quiet beasts in the Tehran/Iranian scene so definitely give her a follow if you’re not clued in already!
Hey Minoo! Thanks again for doing this…so to get things rolling, what is your full name?
My name is Minoo Nasiri.
How long have you been training parkour and how did you get started?
Almost 6 years. I started parkour in June 2018. I have a friend who was in my neighborhood at that time. One day he suggested that I go to the park with him. It was the first time I saw some people doing parkour. [Back] then I was in professional athletics. When I got home, I sent a message to my coach that I don’t want to train anymore. This is how it started.
I didn’t know you were in athletics! What was your main event/what did you mostly train?
I was a sprinter.
I should have been able to guess from how explosive your run-ups are. Any tips for athletes who are starting out now or just want to progress?
Yes. Weight training helped me a lot to improve in parkour. [Also] the more time you spend training, the more confidence and experience you will gain. Watching videos of other athletes will help you learn how to perform the movements correctly. And at the end, when I get injured, I give it enough time and let it heal completely, then start my training again.
I love that, such a good approach to progress but also maintain your longevity in the sport. The community in Tehran looks amazing. What is the community like over there? Are there a lot of big jams or is it mostly smaller sessions with people you know really well?
There are no [major] jams here. But Fridays in Tehran [are] like a Parkour jam. Almost every week many parkour athletes gather in the spots and train together.
What are some challenges the Iranian community faces that people in Europe or North America might not experience or know about?
Traveling to Europe and America is one of our biggest challenges. We must have an incredible amount of money in the bank account, which is impossible for a parkour athlete who has a normal job or is a student. We do not have the opportunity to visit countries, participate in events and be part of projects.
And yet folks across Iran are still killing it and contributing a ton to parkour culture online. What is something about the Iranian community that might surprise people?
Iran has quite a big and active community. Also, we have so many great spot[s] in Tehran.
Who was inspiring to you when you first started training?
Hazal Nehir is someone who has inspired me [since] I started parkour.
Who inspires you now?
Currently Nico Vanhole is my inspiration, his technique and creativity impress me.
A few quick and simple ones to finish up - favorite shoe, favorite movement to train, and favorite parkour video ever?
My favorite shoe is Adidas Galaxy 4
My favorite movement to train is Arm jump :)
My favorite video is Capstone, Swarm
Good choices! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat a bit and share a window into your training with the folks reading this newsletter.
The Iranian scene - and women’s scene in Tehran particularly - has always been so impressive. It was awesome to have a short chat with Minoo about her training…with longer ones hopefully in the not so distant future!
That’s it for this week’s newsletter. If you have pieces of community news, athletes, or videos from around the world that you’d like to bring to our attention feel free to DM us on Instagram @pointaparkour or email us at hello@pointaparkour.com
See you next week!
Max and Sean