xp_logs | Sharon and Alex: parkour, lesson 1

Sharon gives Alex a lesson in the art of parkour.

Alex was stretching as he made his way back to the mansion, twisting left and right. It had been a good morning run, and he was looking forward to crashing in bed for a bit longer before the day actually started....

Only to be stopped dead by the sight of Sharon running an obstacle course.

"Ooooooh....."

It were basic exercises Sharon had admit to herself as she ran up the wall, then vaulting over it easily. But after having hardly done anything with parkour since last she started her paramedic training, it was better starting out slow. Even with her mutation giving her a boost, injuries were all too easy.

Still... the next obstacle was a far lower wall, meant to practice basic vaults and precision jumping, but she couldn't restrain herself from launching in a front handspring, her hands touching the wall briefly as she hit her feet. Damn, she missed tumbling as well.

"Coooooooooooooooool," Alex said audibly as he approached. He was fascinated. "You parkour?"

Sharon looked over her shoulder when she heard the voice, pausing her movement. "I played around with it a bit. Didn't practice for a while, so everything is kinda rough." It took her a moment to remember that he'd been in the medlab once or twice with something sports related. "Why? You play around with this yourself?"

"Uh.... I tried once." Alex laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Broke my leg. Moms weren't impressed."

"I wouldn't either if I'd been your mom I think." Sharon returned his grin. "What'd you do? Try some flips before you were ready for them? Or tried to conquer a wall that was too high or something?"

"Flipped off the porch." Alex wasn't at all embarrassed to admit it. It was funny. "My sister gave me a nine for the execution and a two for the landing because of the leg thing. I didn't stick it very well."

"Sister... mom... wait, how old were you?"

"Uh...." Alex tilted his head. "Eleven? Yeah, that was when that jerk in my math class tried to steal my crutches and I hit him with one. Got detention but moms were proud."

"Sounds like you were a handful." Sharon eyed his physique knowledgeably for a moment then added: "And you immediately lost all taste for it? It looks like you keep fit, so why'd never try it again?" She raised her eyebrow questioningly.

Alex shrugged. "I got into other stuff and kind of forgot about it. I did a lot of vaulting over small walls and benches when I was late for classes, though. I think that counts a little."

"Well, it started out from a couple of guys who though something like that, only it became a bit bigger... so what did you get into?" Sharon asked curiously. "I mean, I think I've patched you up once or twice, but I didn't really get what you're into."

"Oh, skateboarding, biking, hiking, climbing, surfing when I moved to California...." Alex ticked off his hobbies on his fingers, head tilted. "Parkour's still on the list of things I want to learn, but I promised Lorna I wouldn't break any bones before our one-year."

"I can show you some... want a lesson?"

Alex all but lit up. "Yeah!"

"It takes a while before you can do the fancy stuff though." Sharon warned. "But I don't have to tell you that." She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts and searching for a good point to start. "With what you've done, did you ever work on landing from greater heights and rolling if needed?"

"Yeah it's one of the things you learn when you climb trees a lot," Alex said. "Or wipe out skateboarding."

"Gotcha, but I'd like you to show me." Sharon folded her arms. "What might work in a pinch, might not be the best way to do things if you are jumping of or over things several times after each other. Besides, I'd rather not get Jean or Cece after my ass because they've to patch you up a lot more."

"Alright." Alex was always up for a challenge. "How high?"

"Just from the ground while standing. Like I said... boring basics." Sharon moved back a few steps so Alex had the space to jump forward and to roll.

"Alrighty." Alex fished his phone out of his pocket and found somewhere safe to toss it. He hopped up a couple times, preparing himself, then jumped, rolling into a bit of a somersault and popping back up. He stumbled slightly, but kept his ground.

"And there we already have the first issue. It's not a somersault type of roll where you roll over your head. Way too risky for your head. Watch." Sharon demonstrated the correct form of the roll. "See how I roll over my shoulder? You want to try to land on the back of your shoulder blade, otherwise you risk hurting your collarbone. Then roll diagonal over your back. See? "

Alex watched her, frowning as he concentrated. "All right," he said, bouncing again. "Lemme try again." He took a few steps and dove into a roll, managing to almost imitate Sharon. His recovery wasn't great, though; he stumbled as he he got back up, and laughed.

"Not bad for a first time." Sharon allowed with a small grin. "Use the side of this leg to push of a bit as you come out of the roll.." She tapped his thigh, then demonstrated: "And put your hands like this to help stabilize you. Try again?"

"Yup." Alex screwed his face up into a look of concentration, staring at the ground like it was the most perplexing puzzle he'd ever seen. He ran forward and rolled once more, elated when he came up and only stumbled once before sticking the landing. "Ha!"

"Better." Sharon nodded. "And now it's a matter of practicing till you can basically do it till you can if it automatically if you fall out of bed asleep. There is also the sideways roll and the roll backward. It's exactly the same with those. Learning the right technique and then on till you can do it in your sleep. Still interested in learning?"

"Hell yeah," Alex said happily, all thoughts of showering and dropping back into bed with Lorna for a few hours completely gone.

"Let me show you some more then."