Cat Leaps are a fun and very effective technique mostly used to clear the space between two building structures, while reaching for the ledge furthest from your take off and transition into a climbing position that will allow to either go down on mount up to the top of the reached ledge.
Cat Leaps required a good deal of upper body strength to be able to perform in a effective and safety manner.
We will share with you some techniques that will help you build confidence and allow you to progress safety while learning this technique.
We recommend that you often condition your body in order to really take advantage of this fun technique if you wish to perform it in more challenging situations. The more confident you feel about your overall conditioning the more confident you will feel while performing this or any other Parkour technique.
Progression
1- Find a wall your height or slightly taller than you.
Approach the wall and grab the top ledge with your fingers. Lean towards the wall and place one foot on the wall (usually your stronger leg) about 5" above your apposite knee. Put some weight on that leg as if trying to rest against the wall.
2- Using the same principal, lean against the wall but this time while assisting with your arms (as if doing a pull up), lift one leg of the ground resting the rest of your weight on the foot placed against the wall.
While your arms do hold you from falling, it is not about relying entirely on them. Your body weight should be pushing against the wall so that it doesn't pull you down if you were just hanging from your arms.
Do this as many times as needed to find the proper way to distribute the amount of force needed between your legs and upper body to rest against the wall in this position.
3- Once you feel confident holding your body in place, bring your other leg up to assist you with the rest of the weight.
This should make you feel as if you can really just sit there without much strenuous effort.
4- It is important you know the proper or more effective way to use your arms. They should be relatively bent to assist with weight and keeping you in place. Having them straight is not recommended as it may let some of the weight carry you down.
However it is good way to condition and stretch your lat or dorsal muscles if you hold that positioning for long periods of time.
5- Now that you get the fundamentals. Try approaching the wall with more assertiveness and hop onto the Cat positioning.
You can choose to leave one leg down, or bring both legs up, that is up to you. Keep in mind that both legs will absorb impact better than one. For certain jump some people leave one leg down for stability. It is a matter of what works best for you.
The more speed you carry onto the Cat position, the more you will need to absorb the impact with your legs and the more your legs should be arriving to the wall before your hands do. This will vary upon the width of the gap being cleared and the momentum you are carrying with you at the time of the leap.
6- After practicing the progression steps several times you should feel comfortable enough to start trying new things. Always remember the fundamental steps while performing the technique in any situation.
Now go out there practice safety and have fun.
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