History
Wisconsin Parkour was founded by Alissa Bratz in Madison in 2007, as a loose collective of individuals who were passionate about parkour. The organization's purpose was in creating a community of practitioners across the state to share training ideas, experiences, and philosophies. Alissa was joined by Joseph Kluz, Travis Tetting, and Jonathan Allen in developing Wisconsin Parkour during its earliest stages. In these early days, Alissa sought training opportunities from many sources, including training with Ryan Ford of Apex Movement in Colorado, as well as with members of The Tribe/American Parkour.
That same year, Wisconsin Parkour hosted a national parkour jam in Madison, in conjunction with American Parkour, which welcomed practitioners from all over the United States for a weekend of training, sharing, and fun. During this time, Alissa continued to collaborate with the leadership at American Parkour to help develop parkour in the United States. In addition, she leveraged her education background to briefly consult for them during the development of their coaching certification process.
In 2008, our colleagues and friends at Parkour Horizons in Ohio were the first organization to host members of Parkour Generations and the Yamakasi -- parkour's founding practitioners -- in the US for a weekend of training. Wisconsin Parkour sent a delegation to this event, which would profoundly shape our ideas and approach to training.
2010 was a big year for Wisconsin Parkour. Recognizing the need for leadership within the discipline, Wisconsin Parkour formally incorporated as an organization and sought coaching certifications through Parkour Generations' ADAPT certification program. Wisconsin Parkour's founding members were among the first US cohort to achieve this certification, and our certifications were supervised and issued by Stéphane Vigroux, one of the earliest practitioners of the discipline in France. 2010 was also the year of the first Jubilee -- an annual event similar to that first 2008 jam, but with structured trainings, interactions with world-renowned guest coaches, and a celebration of parkour.
In 2012, Alissa, Jon, Joe, and Travis traveled to London and Paris to visit the "cradle of parkour." During that pilgrimage they had the chance to continue their training with the founders and first-generation practitioners, visiting such legendary training sites as Vauxhall in London, and the Dame du Lac in Evry (pictured above).
The following two years, Alissa, Jon, & Joe traveled to Gerlev, Denmark, to train with the Street Movement team and practitioners from around the world at the Gerlev International Gathering.
All of these travel experiences led to new friendships, the strengthening of parkour bonds internationally, and most importantly, the development of a strong and diverse training foundation that would yield world-class parkour coaching. This enabled Wisconsin Parkour to provide outstanding coaching services to the people of the Badger State, whether through regular classes or our annual Jubilee event. In addition, these experiences contributed mightily to our understanding of parkour as a discipline that can unite and strengthen our human family.
2016 saw the addition of our first generation of coaches, welcoming them to our movement family as our class sizes continued to grow.
In 2016, Alissa, Joe, Jon, and Travis found their goals and connections to parkour changing, and decided to part ways in order to pursue their own expressions of parkour more authentically. As such, Wisconsin Parkour is returning to its original purpose: that of a community resource. While no longer offering parkour classes, Wisconsin Parkour will continue to exist as a hub for ideas, philosophy, and reflections on parkour as a way of life.
That same year, Wisconsin Parkour hosted a national parkour jam in Madison, in conjunction with American Parkour, which welcomed practitioners from all over the United States for a weekend of training, sharing, and fun. During this time, Alissa continued to collaborate with the leadership at American Parkour to help develop parkour in the United States. In addition, she leveraged her education background to briefly consult for them during the development of their coaching certification process.
In 2008, our colleagues and friends at Parkour Horizons in Ohio were the first organization to host members of Parkour Generations and the Yamakasi -- parkour's founding practitioners -- in the US for a weekend of training. Wisconsin Parkour sent a delegation to this event, which would profoundly shape our ideas and approach to training.
2010 was a big year for Wisconsin Parkour. Recognizing the need for leadership within the discipline, Wisconsin Parkour formally incorporated as an organization and sought coaching certifications through Parkour Generations' ADAPT certification program. Wisconsin Parkour's founding members were among the first US cohort to achieve this certification, and our certifications were supervised and issued by Stéphane Vigroux, one of the earliest practitioners of the discipline in France. 2010 was also the year of the first Jubilee -- an annual event similar to that first 2008 jam, but with structured trainings, interactions with world-renowned guest coaches, and a celebration of parkour.
In 2012, Alissa, Jon, Joe, and Travis traveled to London and Paris to visit the "cradle of parkour." During that pilgrimage they had the chance to continue their training with the founders and first-generation practitioners, visiting such legendary training sites as Vauxhall in London, and the Dame du Lac in Evry (pictured above).
The following two years, Alissa, Jon, & Joe traveled to Gerlev, Denmark, to train with the Street Movement team and practitioners from around the world at the Gerlev International Gathering.
All of these travel experiences led to new friendships, the strengthening of parkour bonds internationally, and most importantly, the development of a strong and diverse training foundation that would yield world-class parkour coaching. This enabled Wisconsin Parkour to provide outstanding coaching services to the people of the Badger State, whether through regular classes or our annual Jubilee event. In addition, these experiences contributed mightily to our understanding of parkour as a discipline that can unite and strengthen our human family.
2016 saw the addition of our first generation of coaches, welcoming them to our movement family as our class sizes continued to grow.
In 2016, Alissa, Joe, Jon, and Travis found their goals and connections to parkour changing, and decided to part ways in order to pursue their own expressions of parkour more authentically. As such, Wisconsin Parkour is returning to its original purpose: that of a community resource. While no longer offering parkour classes, Wisconsin Parkour will continue to exist as a hub for ideas, philosophy, and reflections on parkour as a way of life.