AdventurousLad

Go Karting - Part 2 - Even more drama After the first round (See PART 1 in my profile) AK (the driver with the GoPro camera on his helmet), his brother and father to go for another round full of adrenaline and drama. The catch here was that the three of them were driving Honda Karts - 270cc, 9hsp, Max speed: 65km/h (BLACK KARTS), while there were a few more people driving Honda GX 390cc, 18hsp, Max speed: 90km/h (GREEN KARTS). The Black Karts are easier to control, as they aren't that powerful, but obviously they are slower, while the Green Karts are more difficult to control, though they have the speed advantage. Check the video to see whether AK managed to overcome the big boys in Green Karts. The Kart track is located in Varna, Bulgaria, and it's 1050m long, with 15 turns - It gives every visitor the opportunity to get as close as possible to the emotions of a professional driver. Every year, it hosts national and local amateur championships, motorcycle races and shows, as well as excellent events such as the RedBull KartFight. Hope you enjoy both Part 1 (you can find it in my profile) and Part 2. Thank you.

Go Karting - Part 1 - Lots of drama AK (the driver with the GoPro camera on his helmet), his brother and father went on a Go Karting track and had lots of fun together. The three of them along with a few other random participants were all driving Honda Karts - 270cc, 9hsp, Max speed: 65km/h. The Kart track is located in Varna, Bulgaria, and it's 1050m long, with 15 turns - It gives every visitor the opportunity to get as close as possible to the emotions of a professional driver. Every year, it hosts national and local amateur championships, motorcycle races and shows, as well as excellent events such as the RedBull KartFight. Stay tuned for Part 2, which involves more powerful carts and even more drama on the track.

Parkour – Freerun – Tricking on a hot summer day in Eastern Europe Travelling and doing sports is something that this young man likes doing all the time. Though is it not better when one manages to combine both travelling with sports? Of course it is better. Well, that is exactly what this agile Parkour/ Freerun/ Tricking athlete did on his lovely trip to Eastern Europe. All the footage in this video were recorded in a really beautiful area, located on the Black sea coast. Plenty of sunshine, blue skies, warm and clean sea… and serenity that this whole place evokes. What more would one need when on holidays – Perhaps a camera with which one could capture/record beautiful moments that one can look at in the future? Who does not like creating memories? :) In this particular video the Parkour/ Freerun/ Tricking athlete went to visit a good pal of his who lives in an astoundingly beautiful place, overlooking the Black sea. The athlete then found some time for a lovely “grass session” under the hot sun. :) Oh, and by the way… The Black sea is not as black as some of you might think it is (chuckle). :)

There is a small, but quite united Freerun/Parkour/Tricking community in the capital of Ireland – Dublin, where the agile athletes really love wandering around the city, seeking for different spots in order to [A] escape the boredom and the monotony, due to the current situation (pandemic) that is going on at the moment around the world, [B] to get to do things that help the adrenaline to climb at a dramatic rate and [C] to simply keep themselves in a good physical and mental shape. The way that these jumpers would normally describe what it feels like, being in the air, when flipping, practicing Freerun/Parkour/Tricking would be: “Being up in the air, having that air-awareness mastered… It simply feels like setting our souls free.” This, at first glance very chaotic sport, is in fact like an outlet, a vent. A really good way of getting rid of bad thoughts, negativism and any sort of anxiety that one might have, or most likely has as pretty much everyone on this earth would have something on his mind that troubles him. These activities in fact make the athletes much happier and much more united and friendly, having a positive outlook towards all sort of things in life. Though being a Freerun/Parkour/Tricking athlete comes at a cost – it is a bit hard on one’s body as there is a lot of impact involved when landing these jumps or flips. So one has to constantly try and maintain a clean technique when doing these jumps or flips. That means one has to have the ability to take off in a more efficient way, tuck/rotate/twist/spin as quickly as possible, in order for the athlete to have enough time to spot the ground so he could stop rotating and land softly, without injuring himself. There is a lot that could be said about all that, though that might be the topic for the next video. Hope you enjoy.

Jumps in a cold morning in the city - Freerun - Parkour – Tricking. The young man in the video aimed to show that no matter what the weather is like (in this case it was quite nippy and windy, which is a typical weather in Dublin, Ireland during the winter months), you need to be able to adapt and find a way to keep practicing, if you want to get better and more skillful at what your passion is. That is not about sports only, it can be about anything, such as business, studying, training, achieving goals and etc. “Hard work beats talent.”, says the young athlete with a smile, while warming up for a short but pleasant enough outdoor training in the centre of the capital of the Emerald Isle - Dublin. The athlete in the video normally trains with friends as the Freerun/Parkour/Tricking community is fairly big. Though during the cold months quite often this young man trains either by himself or just with 1 more person (maximum 2, depending on the level of motivation the other guys have). That in itself is a bit challenging as training alone is more difficult due to being less hyped and excited to do these jumps that require lots of enthusiasm and energy. “As long as there is progress, I will keep practicing. I don’t think I will quite anytime soon. Well… hopefully that would be the case!”, says the young athlete when he was asked what kept him motivated to keep practicing Freerun/Parkour/Tricking for so many years (for over a decade now). Passion, self-motivation and constant progress seem to be the key things in order to keep you going, grinding, figuring it out, trying to get better than your previous version of yourself. Hope you enjoy the video and the caption. Sláinte.

Daredevil does Rooftop jumps and stunts in Norway - Parkour and Tricking and Freerun ‘’Travel as much as you can and be part of what surrounds you.’’, says the young and swift lad on his arrival in the capital of Norway – Oslo. It was in the middle of the summer and the middle of the day and it was rather hot, which was not very usual for a country like Norway, where summers tend to be a bit nippy. ‘’It is what it is!’’, said the young athlete, while heading off to the roof of the Opera House, seeking for a bit of a fresh breeze as the air was a bit stagnant in the narrow streets nearby. The rooftop was not exactly what the youngster was expecting. ‘’People see an Opera House, I see a playground for my jumps, isn’t that wonderful?’’, said the Parkour athlete. The Oslo Opera House (Norwegian: Operahuset) is the home of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighbourhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. It is a really pretty and magnificent sight when looked at from afar – it looks like an iceberg. An iceberg, that isn’t cold at all and definitely not as slippery as real icebergs. The place was way too good for the athlete to just sit still and enjoy the view. A sudden urge of energy occurred and he began to warm up, getting ready for a few jumps (Parkour/Tricking/Freerun training). Sometimes the least expected locations are the loveliest and the most picturesque places for shooting a few decent footage of Parkour/Tricking/Freerun stunts. ‘’Everything that one needs is an adventurous spirit, an action camera, and last but not least… a pair of comfortable shoes.’’, says the young chap with a big smile on his face.

Escape the boredom. – Jumps in the city – Parkour, Freerun and Tricking athlete enjoys training in the city. ‘’A normal life is boring!’’, says the young and agile chap, while getting ready for the next somersault. Parkour, Freerun and Tricking are urban sports/ disciplines where one has to have the ability to blend in with the environment that surrounds us all. Every city has great spots where these athletes can practice, and Dublin, the capital of the Emerald Isle is no exception. These urban sports are not only about blending in with the environment, but overcoming all the obstacles with ease and finesse without hurting oneself, such as rails, walls, cement blocks, fences, trees, stairs and etc., you name it. Training outdoors on a hard surface such as grass and concrete has its own risks and requires many years of mental and physical preparation. Why mental preparation, one might ask? – ‘’You can do anything you set your mind to!’’, the young lad tells us. The athletes need to believe in themselves in order to perform tricks that are more difficult or a combination of tricks when overcoming a few obstacles at once, just like in the video. Though believing in oneself has its limits as well – the athletes need to know what their bodies are capable of. The risks have to be calculated and here comes the physical preparation where one has to be strong enough to withstand the pressure when landing somersaults on a hard surface and not only when landing, but when taking off as well. It takes lots of strength to lift your own weight high enough in order for the athletes to have enough time to do the rotation of the somersault they are performing. A lot of technique is involved in those movements as well. ‘’It is a learning curve and as long as there’s progress, there’s no reason for one to stop expressing oneself through movement.’’, says the snappy boy with a smile in the video while leaping off high walls in a nice warm day in Dublin.

Grey Squirrel Enjoying a Snack! The National Botanic Gardens of Ireland is a truly lovely spot in the north side of Dublin, Ireland, where the squirrels (mainly Eastern Grey Squirrels) are in abundance. If you sit very patiently and quietly, the squirrels tend to even approach you. They have definitely not learned to fear humans, because many visitors of the Botanic Gardens tend to feed them with all sort of nuts that they bring with themselves. The person behind the GoPro camera waited until the squirrel was close enough and then he began throwing peanuts on the ground. The squirrel would not want to miss this opportunity so it went close to the camera where the peanuts were and here the camera man managed to record a few close up footage of the squirrel enjoying a snack. Squirrels are so sweet, lovely and agile, and they indeed evoke lots of happiness even in a typical grey day during the Autumn season in the Republic of Ireland. The Eastern Grey Squirrel is native to eastern North America, though it is widely introduced to Europe, where it is regarded as an invasive species. Here in Ireland in particular, the native Red Squirrels have been displaced in several eastern counties, though it still remains common in the south and west of the country. The main cause behind the decline of the Red Squirrels is the introduction of Eastern Grey Squirrels from North America. There are a few main reasons why the Grey Squirrels are a threat for Red Squirrels: [1] Grey Squirrels carry a disease, a Parapoxvirus, which does not appear to affect their health but often kills Red Squirrels; [2] Grey Squirrels are more likely to eat green acorns, so unfortunately they tend to decimate the food resource before the Red Squirrels manage to get to them; [3] When Red Squirrels are put under pressure, they tend not to breed as often, unlike their Grey cousins who seem to never have the issue to breed.

Rooftop Jumps – Parkour/ Tricking/ Freerun Please, take a look of what a regular training day of a Parkour/ Tricking/ Freerun athlete in Dublin, Ireland looks like. The video clip shows a young and very agile lad doing different vaults, somersaults/ flips and jumps mainly on a rooftop of a really tall building on a fine and warm day with blue skies, in the city centre of Dublin. ‘’Movement is a universal language.’’, says this young chap, with a smile on his face. How can this person even do something that is so dangerous like that? Does he not get scared of getting injured or even worse, getting killed? Well, what we do know is that this makes for one entertaining video! In fact, this young man has well over ten years of experience of doing these flips and jumps and he had to go through a lot of struggles, grinding, beginner’s mistakes due to lack of knowledge, and quite a few injuries (mainly mild injuries), in order for him to get to the level he is at today. It takes years of mastering key techniques of taking off, rotation, twisting and landing smoothly, without getting injured. Yet even with all the experience this athlete has got, injuries still occur due to overtraining or slippery surface/ wall/ rail or whatever the athlete is overcoming as an obstacle, or simply a miscalculation that leads to an injury, though it happens rarely as he gains more experience. It is a learning curve and whatever does not kill him, makes him stronger, more experienced and adaptive to the environment that surrounds him. Parkour, Tricking and Freerun are urban sports that are extremely dangerous. The vaults/ jumps/ somersaults/ flips are performed by an experienced athlete with well over ten years of experience of the above-mentioned urban sports. Please, do not try any of the above without a proper physical and mental preparation. Please, attempt these stunts only in gymnastic gyms where you could be coached by a certified coach. Thank you.