Vaulting Fundamentals


I have chosen the terms I did, because I think it will be easier for most of the people who read this, because some terms don't translate very thoroughly, and because I wanted to be consistent. Look, I made a token effort. There is a mini glossary at the bottom. And a confusing diagram.


WHAT IS VAULTING?

Overcoming an obstacle, with the aid of the arms, or a pole. I'm not too concerned about the pole right now; I have yet to see a traceur pole - vaulting an obstacle, but it could be interesting to watch.


WHY VAULT?

Vaults are useful, because the movement is aided by the arms. With a vault, a more difficult obstacle can be surpassed than by jumping alone, and an obstacle which is easy enough to get past can be made easier to overcome.


HOW DOES IT WORK?

As easy as it is to say "You use your arms! Duh!", there's more to it than that. If it was that simple, n00bs wouldn't get freaked out by cat passes or dashes.

-LAUNCHING - Without a good launch, the vault is unlikely to be successful and efficient. Launching into a vault is a little different to an ordinary jump in a few ways. The jump should facilitate the use of the arms, in terms of both position, and forces required. It is hard to launch for a cat pass and land the vault as a barrel.

-ADDITIONAL IMPULSE - Firstly, and most obviously, the arms can add an extra impulse in the direction of travel. Generally, a downwards force is exerted through the arms, to counter gravity. This can be applied before, or at the same time as the launch, depending on what you are trying. Also, this can be applied as a push, a pull or even both.

-CONTROL - While the hands are in contact with the obstacle, direction of travel and rotation can be adjusted. Try to lazy without letting either hand touch the obstacle, and you'll see what I mean.
--DIRECTION - When you vault, you may wish to travel in the same direction, or you may wish to change. Sometimes you'll want to go higher, sometimes you'll want to go left or right after passing an obstacle, or sometimes you'll want to face the direction you've come from.
--ROTATION - One of the most important aspects of vaulting, as far as I'm concerned, is adjusting your shape to account for your centre of mass. Remember the pictures of the badly drawn traceur? Now, compare it to vaulting. If you are closer to being laid out as you travel over the obstacle, it is easier to get over an obstacle. You probably remain vertical while you run, so you need a 90degree rotation to become horizontal. Remember about angular momentum? If your body was not subject to any other forces, you would carry on rotating in the same direction. Which could cause problems. As it is, you can rotate about your hands and / or shoulders to return to vertical.
For some vaults, the initial rotation comes from the launch alone, while for others the arms are used more. In most vaults you see, the body rotates in one direction, and then the arms are used to rotate it back. In a few, the arms are used to keep the body rotating in a similar direction all the way through.

-GRIP - The way you grip may depend on the direction you want to rotate, how you want to push / pull, and your planned landing. Grabbing with hands already rotated in the direction of rotation can give a little extra push for the rotation, while making it easier control once you are in the air. You may wish to grab closer to or further from yourself, depending on your aims.

-POP / TIC TAC - You can kick off the object you are vaulting, or a nearby wall, in order to give yourself a little extra height. The way you kick and the relative position of the kick will affect your speed / rotation / direction as you vault the obstacle. Because of this, the pop and the tic tac suit themselves to certain vaults.


WHY ARE THERE SO MANY VAULTS?

You can look at this in a number of ways. Firstly, and most obviously, there are many types of obstacles which you may wish to get past, so there are many vaults. Looking further, you may notice that there are many situations in which you will use a vault. Are you trying to travel in one straight line, or will you take a different path? Are you more concerned with getting there quickly, or getting there without exhausting yourself totally? Is the obstacle perpendicular and level, like you're used to? Are you just show boating?

Your choice of vault will probably depend on personal preference as much as anything else. Some of this will be down to what you are physically suited to, and some of this will be down to the way you view the vault, and it's ease / functionality. Both the physical and mental aspects of vault choice will be altered by your experience and training. The same technique will be executed differently by different people. Hopefully, you will become more adept at more ways of moving as you train, and understand why you choose one over another.

An altogether different way of seeing the question is in terms of the mechanics of the vault itself. Look at all the principles involved in making a vault work, and think about the alternative ways the same end can be achieved. Are you trying to tuck or lean at the mid - point, and if so, in which direction? How do forces apply to you as enter or leave the vault? Do you have a run up? Do you want to carry on rotating in the same direction, or rotate part of the way and back?

Having looked at the similarities and differences between vaults, I drew this diagram. Yes, I know, there is no clear line between one type of vault and another, but this is just for the purposes of analysis.



WHY HAVE YOU INCLUDED UNDERBARS AND CIRCLE UP IN THE DIAGRAM?

Because I consider them to be vaults; you are using your arms in addition to your legs in order to perform an action that takes you past an obstacle.

WHY HAVEN'T YOU INCLUDED PALMSPINS, ROCKET VAULTS ETC.?

Because I don't consider palmspins, wallspins or turn vault to underbar to be vaults. They don't go anywhere. I didn't include rocket, splits or a lot of other style vaults because they don't work substantially differently to the vaults already there. For example, a rocket vault is just a lazy with the limbs extended in the same direction. Also, there wasn't much space! ;)


WHAT'S UP WITH THE COLOURS?

I wanted to show the similarities and differences in the way the vaults work, and colouring it seemed the best way. (apologies to anybody who is colour blind by the way, I could do a textured one as well if there is demand for it). I tried to include all the archetypical vaults, depending on how they work. Direction of lean should be self explanatory. I didn't colour a few of the vaults because they do not really work by leaning, e.g. you tuck for a monkey. By L/R axis rotation, I mean you rotate straight forwards and / or backwards to some extent as you vault. I didn't classify other forms of rotation, because the other forms of rotation are harder to differentiate. Some vaults rotate in more than one axis. I also haven't bothered labelling which can be executed after sprinting or kicking off a wall, because I think it's something you have to try for yourself.
You may not agree with the way I've classified the rotations, but as I mentioned already, different people execute the same technique differently. For example, I like to lean back during a lazy, but someone else might want to rotate about their hand as they do it, so they might lean more sideways.


HOW DOES THIS HELP ME?

Well, it may help you understand how and why you vault. Read and digest the ways in which vaults work, and compare it to the diagram. Then look at the way YOU vault. What are you actually doing with your arms when you turn vault?

When you go out to train, experiment with different variants on grip, lean, launch etc. See what works best for you, and see what COULD work best for you. The most effective technique may not be the easiest; the fastest technique may not be the simplest or safest, and if you are not familiar with a vault then you won't be able to use it as effectively as you could.

Whether or not you like what I write, I recommend becoming familiar with different variants on the same technique. For example, I think it is ESSENTIAL that you learn the most practical vaults on both your left and right sides. When you need to use your parkour, you don't want to be thinking "Which foot do I use?" or "How do I grip the rail?". You want to be able to adapt to your surroundings.

Do you have any fears? Is a particular technique painful or awkward? Don't just avoid it, work out why you don't like it, and think of ways to overcome the mental obstacle.

And then, of course, you must practice again and again and again.





GLOSSARY:

Side vault. Generic, 2 handed vault, travelling in one direction.

cat pass / monkey = Through vault = saut de chat. Both arms pull, then push against the obstacle, while the legs travel over the obstacle between the arms (or where the arms were). A monkey uses the arms and legs at the same time, so it goes more upwards. A cat pass uses the arms after the launch, so it goes more horizontally.

Dash. Jump over the obstacles while leaning back. The legs go over first, and the hands push afterwards, allowing you to clear the obstacle.

Double cat pass / 2 touch cat pass. The arms pull the closer side of the obstacle simultaneously at the launch, then push the far side simultaneously before the landing.

Front lazy. Like a cat pass, but asymmetrical; useful for travelling over an obstacle diagonal to your direction of movement.

Straddle = leapfrog. Both arms pull, then push against the obstacle, while the legs travel over the obstacle either side of the arms (or where the arms were).

Cash = cat pass-Dash. Rather than cat pass straight over, keep the weight over the arms, and lean back, ending the vault like a dash. Does not require as much run up as a cat pass. Can be executed with one touch, or two.

Speed. Could be translated as Passement, but that term can be applied to any way of getting past an obstacle quickly,as can Passe du Barriere. A one handed vault travelling swiftly in one direction, while traceur leans back to one side for clearance.

Underbar = Franchissement. Used for travelling through a gap rather than going over.

Lazy / Switch / Thief. All incredibly similar, I've known people to argue over which is which. I take a lazy to mean a one handed vault in which the traceur leans back, and uses more of a swinging of the legs than a run up. I think of a switch as starting off like a lazy, but switching hands behind the back to give a little more push. I think of a thief as starting off like a switch, but the whole body is rotated about the vertical axis, such that it ends like a dash.

Pop vault = passe muraille. Kick off the obstacle being vaulted to give extra height. Commonly executed with a 2 handed side vault or a monkey.

Gate vault. With one hand on top of the obstacle, lean over to put your other hand on the side of the obstacle, then bring both legs over together.

Turn = Turnover = face vault = Demitour. Vault with a 180degree rotation about the vertical axis, often finishing in a "arm jump" / "saut de bras" position.
Railspring. A front handspring using a railing or wall.

Reverse = 360. A vault involving a full rotation about the vertical axis. Like a turn vault, only more so.

540+ reverse. By this, I mean a reverse with more than a full rotation, e.g. 540 degrees, 720 degrees.

Barrel. Like a reverse, only rotating about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the direction of travel. Like an armada dupla or double leg, supporting part of your weight on your arm.

Rocket / Scissor vault / splits / grab. Variants on the lazy vault; involving a stall and some particular limb positions.

Vert. Variant on the side vault; involving a stall and some particular limb positions.

Circle up = overbar. A gymnastic method of getting onto an overhang or bar with plenty of grip. Like a chin up and back whip at the same time.

Lazy turn. Starts like a lazy, ends like a turn vault.

360 thief. A bit like trying to flare or swipe while dashing. Oh, never mind. It's a bit silly anyway.