We just released this amazing video of Mike Young, one of our new Sponsored Athletes. After picking our jaws back off the floor, we took a little time to talk to Mike about his movement, motivation and inspiration.
Where are you from?
Salisbury UK
When did you start getting involved with Parkour/Freerunning?
I started when I was about 15 after Jump Britain came out.
What are you passionate about outside of Freerunning?
Aggressive inline, skiing, guitar, rock climbing, cliff diving and anything that gets my heart going!
Top 3 favourite cities you’ve been to?
London, Bangkok and Split.
How did you learn your first tricks when you started out?
I learnt most of my tricks jumping from a tree onto cardboard boxes when I was really young, I really wanted to be a stuntman so just kept doing crazy things!
Did you have somebody to teach you or did you learn by yourself?
I started throwing myself around at the age of 10 so my mother got me to go to gymnastics, which really helped with my form and correct techniques but I was still practicing in my garden everyday so I am pretty much self taught.
What are you up to right now?
I am visiting my friend in Guernsey!
Are you still in school or do you have a job?
I teach Parkour/Freerunning full time.
If you had a free trip to anywhere in the world right now, where to would it be?
It would have to be Japan or somewhere in Asia, I am travelling China next year and have been to Thailand previously. Everyone seems nice in Asia and I love the lifestyle, I am a pretty chilled guy and so are the people out there!
Who would you take with you?
My friend Josh, we always manage to have a laugh and he is a great training partner!
What do you do to develop your movements in Freerunning?
I think drilling a sequence until its as good as you can get it. I love powerful movements but I also like fluid movements!
How did you start training and how often do you train?
I grew up in a little town so I started off by training in parks, there’s always stuff to do in parks, I have a park near where I live a the moment and I still train there and find new things to do! I currently train 4 times a week but not so much impact as I now have tendinitis, I do lots of conditioning and now tendon strengthening for my knee.
What’s the craziest thing to happen to you while training?
Probably being mistaken for robbers on top of a building in Southampton, the police came and all I had to do was show them a flip then they let us go. Recently my friend fell through a roof in an abandoned building around 3 stories high and was fine, that was pretty crazy!
Who is your biggest inspiration?
I have so many! In Freerunning it would be Pasha due to his ridiculous flow! But in general it would be people like Bear Grylls who are having adventures everyday and living their life to the fullest!
You can see more of Mike over at his Youtube Channel.