parkour coach Matěj Srovnal Mates

I started parkour when I was 8/9 years old. I’d always wanted to be able to do flips, so parkour was the ideal choice. At the time when I started (we’re talking roughly around 2009), there still weren’t any parkour clubs, classes, camps, etc., so I had to start learning everything on my own. But that was the biggest motivation for me, and parkour completely captivated me—I had to figure out all the progressions for tricks by myself, and that took some time. But the joy was even greater afterward when I managed to learn a trick. Since then, I haven’t taken any longer break from parkour, except for minor injuries. Training still excites me just like it did at the beginning all those years ago. Over the course of my nearly 14-year sports career, thanks to parkour I’ve made it to many parkour competitions all over the world, including the first official world championship in Japan. Among my greatest achievements are winning the World Urban Games 2019 in the speed run category and several tricks that I was among the first in the world to perform.

About 6 years ago, I got the opportunity to help with a parkour workshop in Ostrava. Since then, I’ve also been teaching parkour regularly and passing on my experience. I found a similar passion in it as in my own training, because I can empathize with the feelings of the “students” who learn a new trick. At the same time, I’m studying at a sports university, which helps me both improve myself and refine training methods for others.