Welcome
I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that I feel like I’ve blinked and missed January so this will be a slightly longer newsletter than usual. It’s been a busy start to the year at Street Motion with lots of birthday parties already and of course the launch our brand new 2023 timetable; The first big timetable revision since all the coivd restrictions.
Feb Half Term
Don’t forget we are closed for the remainder of half term this week and then will be straight back into the action from the week commencing 20th Feb. If you want to plan ahead you can view our entire 2023 calendar on the website which includes all grading dates, term dates, event dates and holiday camps.
Class Bookings / Book Fit App
We have noticed that an increasing number of members have been forgetting to book into classes using the bookfit app or are doing so at the very last minute.
We would be really grateful if all members could continue to book their sessions on the app at least a few days in advance where possible so that we can plan the sessions accordingly. Recently there have been a number of occasions when the actual class size has been over twice that of the numbers booked.
If you regularly attend the same times each week then the app will allow you to book up to 10 weeks worth of sessions in advance and then you can always reschedule nearer the time if you cannot make your regular slot on a given week.
We are also aware of a glitch with the app specifically in relation to the new timetable launched this month. This is explained in more detail in the next section.
One of the biggest operational changes behind the new timetable is to overlap the warm-ups and cool downs. Much less equipment and space is needed during these times compared to the main part of the session which means the cool down of one class can coincide with the warm up for the next class. This means over the course of an evening we are able to fit in at least one extra session without starting considerably earlier or finishing considerably later.
On most evenings we are now able to offer two or more sessions in a row for a given age group. This means participants will have the option to stay for longer and get in more practice each week. As the warm ups and cool downs overlap, those staying for multiple sessions will only warm up at the start of their first session and cool down at the end of their last session which will mean more time spent on the obstacles.In total we now have 24 timetabled sessions per week available for our members. Of these, we have 6 x 7-11yrs structured classes, 6 x 12-16yrs structured classes and 3 x 17+ structured classes. In addition there are 2 x 7-11yrs open sessions, 5 x 12+yrs open sessions and 1x 17+yrs open session.So far the feedback on the new timetable has been overwhelmingly positive, however there have been a couple of points raised which had not previously been considered.In particular, the concern that on Wednesdays, families with children that fall into both age groups would have to wait around longer or make multiple journeys if the younger child(ren) were not participating in the open session on a given week. With this in mind we are giving consideration to the idea of swapping the Wednesday 7-11yrs structured class and open session so that the open session would take place first at 5pm-6pm and the structured class would follow from 5.50pm – 6.50pm.If you currently attend on Wednesday we would welcome any feedback for or against this proposal.Fridays have always tended to be a quieter time of the week so we have done a bit of an experiment here to see if operating the times ‘in reverse’ would actually make classes more accessible.
The idea was to start with the 17+ class early at 5pm to cater for those who would like to train straight after work and have later classes for younger age groups to enable those who live further away and cant normally make the 5pm sessions to arrive on time.
In March we will review attendance figures along with any other feedback and make some minor adjustments where necessary.
BOOKFIT GLITCHES WITH NEW TIMETABLE
We are aware of an issue with the book fit app where it will not allow a user to book two classes where the times overlap. As nearly all of our adjacent classes now have overlapping warm-ups and cool downs , a number of members have been running into this problem when trying to book several classes on the same day.
It’s not a perfect solution by any means, but for the time being please do the following: If you want to attend two sessions in a row, just book the FIRST session on book fit. If you are attending 3 or more sessions in a row please book the FIRST and LAST session.
As an interim solution we are going to start looking for an alternative app which solves this problem an others (any suggestions welcome) however long term we plan to develop our own in house booking app which will solve all of the problems experienced with book fit however this will not be something we can achieve overnight and as such I dare not put a date on when this might be ready for release.
Last year we introduced NERF Parties as an addition to our existing Parkour Birthday Party packages.
The idea is simple: we supply all the gear and then deliver an hour of paintball style missions such as ‘capture the flag’, ‘save the president’ and ‘team death match’ using all of our Parkour obstacles as part of the game.
If you’ve been wanting to have a go but not yet had a chance, this month we will be running an exclusive extended duration NERF Wars event on Sunday 26th Feb.
This will take place from 5pm – 7.30pm for ages 9 upward and will cost £25. Places will be limited to a maximum of 24 so book early to avoid missing out!
Level 2 includes skills such as front flips, back flips and wallflips which require a number of prerequisites in terms of both skill and strength that will have been learnt and assessed in Level 1.
From April we will start to add a number of Level 2 groups within the mixed ability time slots. These groups will be for those who have completed grade 4 and above and will teach the skills required to pass grades 5, 6 and 7. These will be coached separately to the mixed ability groups.
Towards the end of the year when we have enough Level 2’s there will be specific timetable allocations for Level 2 and above only classes and different age groups within L2 and beyond where needed.
If you have been training here for at least 3 months or at least 3 months has passed since your previous level 1 grading then your next opportunity to pass the next grade will be on Sunday 12th March. Bookings are now being taken on our website.
The Challenge:
Sketch (or make a scale model) of a quick release mechanism which would enable a standard 48.3mm scaffold bar to be securely fastened to a wooden box or another scaffold bar.
It should be able to operate effectively in all orientations (both horizontal and vertical) or if this is not possible then a variation suitable for each orientation should be devised.When locked in place there should be no noticeable movement in any axis and preferably it should be possible to both attach and remove without the use of tools.An ideal design would also have low manufacturing costs and would not require too much specialist tooling.
The design could include modifications to the bars, boxes or both, but consider that there will always be fewer bars than attachment points on the boxes so costs will be reduced if the majority of the mechanism can be integral to every bar rather than every possible hole location in every box.
The Why
Our big ‘tower’ Parkour obstacles which already have this functionality are working prototypes which were developed in house a few years ago. Overall they work very well have tick a lot of boxes – They don’t need tools to insert or remove, they are very strong and once locked in place there is no movement. They cannot spin or rotate in any direction and as such are very safe.
There is just one rather significant flaw which was not picked up on during CAD modelling. – Because of how they attach it becomes difficult if not impossible to add multiple bars between two opposing faces. Once one bar is locked between the parallel faces of two boxes, it is impossible to add another bar without removing the first.
The only solution is to add all the bars to one face first and then all the opposite ends of the bars to the second face afterwards. It then becomes really tricky as the release button for each bar needs to be pushed in at the same time whilst also pushing all the bars into the opposite box.
In addition the tight tolerance of the mechanism means that the smallest deviations in floor surface flatness increases friction and makes the bars more difficult to insert. With multiple bars between parallel faces this problem is multiplied again making an otherwise simple process time consuming and complicated.
We want to build some new and exciting custom Parkour obstacles this year but we don’t want to continue using the flawed bar connecting mechanism which limits the creative possibilities when setting up obstacle courses.
In addition we want to be able to join bars from boxes to the fixed railing that we have bolted to the floor around the outside of the gym. This will require some sort of bar to bar connecting mechanism on one end and a bar to box mechanism on the other end of the bar.
Deadline
All entries should be submitted either in person or email by the end of the month (28th Feb). Any exceptional ideas will be prototyped and tested with a view to incorporating them in our new Parkour obstacles in the gym.
Reception / Spectator Area Improvements
We have recently replaced the temperamental electric radiator in reception with a more powerful electric heater. Despite being only 1kw more than the old one it seems to have made a massive difference and now the spectator area is super warm and toasty!
We have also added a couple of new chairs to ensure everyone has somewhere to sit during the busier sessions.
There would be a small number of people who were really enthusiastic about the idea but once offered there was never enough of a majority to make it work as an ongoing thing.
That said, it has been many years since we have considered these ideas – certainly pre 2020 so I would be very interested to know how many of our current members and newsletter recipients would be interested in and able to attend regularly some of these classes.
If this sounds like something you’d like or you have another idea not mentioned here please let us know!
1:1 Parkour coaching has been particularly popular with adults who want to take a more specific approach to their training than is practical in a mixed ability class.
Additionally children who struggle in group environments can really benefit from 1:1 Parkour sessions.
We are able to provide 1:1 parkour and freerunning coaching for all ages and abilities. We have time slots allocated for 1:1s from Tuesday through to Friday 4pm to 5pm.
Currently Wednesdays and Fridays are fully booked but we have availability on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
For those with availability during the day we also can offer 1:1’s earlier in the afternoon on Thursdays and Fridays before 4pm.
Interested in a Parkour 1:1? See our website for more info or drop us an email to discuss your requirements and availability.
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