Headway PArkour Blog
This is the tale of a boy named Joey Rodriguez. his adventure begins in the humble town Grandville, Michigan. At the age of five he has made it thus far into his life without a hitch. Then one day his mother announced that it was time to move. Imagine how a boy of his age felt after receiving such heavy news, his life would soon be flipped onto it’s head and shaken about. Joey was plucked up from the safety of the known and dropped into the realm of mystery. It was a sink or swim situation but this boy had the fire in his heart to stay above the surface. He soon found himself encompassed by a plethora of unknown faces with equally unknown names. Worse yet was school due to him being relatively new in the area. One day whilst attending preschool little Joey noticed another young chap flaunting a sweater that was identical to the one he himself was wearing! This phenomenon blew Joey away, he had finally found someone who he held something in common with. The two got to talking and soon it was revealed that this dapper fellow in the other sweater went by the name of Parker. To his astoundment Joey discovered that Parker lived directly across the street from him, from then on the two forged a friendship that was nearly unbreakable.
The duo soon had a routine that they executed seamlessly everyday after school: Joey would trek over to Parker’s homestead, after a brief meet and greet they would brainstorm activities to partake in on that particular day, once a worthy idea was acquired they would act on it and have a joyous time! This daily meetup continued for many months which is quite a long time when looking through the eyes of a child. Joey now considered Parker his best friend, his only friend. It was a normal spring day like any other and Joey had journeyed over to Parker’s house expecting to be welcomed in by his long time friend, unfortunately things were once again changing in Joey’s life; For when he knocked on that door he was not greeted solely by Parker, instead he was ushered in by two figures. One was familiar and one was unknown, Parker had invited a different child into his house prior to Joeys arrival. At first Joey was uncomfortable with this child, so much so that he was too afraid to ask his name. By taking advantage of his analytical skills Joey learned that this child called himself Brandon. Brandon was not the type of guy that Joey usually associated with; He was a crude trouble maker who caused Joey to feel inadequate. It is common knowledge that kids are quite open to new friends even if they are not suited for them, so even though Brandon was a troublemaker Joey still wanted his friendship. this is how Joey came to call Brandon his other best friend. After a few months of general tomfoolery things were dulling down and the group was getting bored. Then without warning a lightbulb went off in Brandon’s head, his eyes seemed to light up as he opened his mouth with jubilation to utter a simple request “Wanna meet my friend Dameon?” Joey thought for a brief second before replying “Sure, why not”. Lucky for them Dameon lived just down the road which made for an easy trip. Before long the trio were face to face with the pudgy child named Dameon. As with all childhood meetings it was an awkward encounter which ultimately resulted with everyone going inside to play video games together. This experience sparked Joey’s interest in games; Soon he was coming over to Dameon’s house interminably while the other boys were off exploring life. Eventually Joey had a single best friend: Dameon. The friendship grew and so did the size of their guts, by middle school they were both fat slabs of meat who stayed indoors most days playing games. The two rarely slept in order to game on even longer. Occasionally they would get so entranced by a game that they would forget simple human needs like eating and drinking, it was a truly destructive lifestyle but the two were caught in a fixed mindset which resulted in no effort to change their foolish ways. Joey’s father saw what was happening to Joey and In a feeble attempt to combat the size crisis enrolled him in many school sports; Joey loved the sports and put forth full effort but without a healthy diet, the fat wasn’t going anywhere. With high school approaching quickly Joey knew that change was necessary if he planned on salvaging his body. It was at this time that him and Dameon decided to enroll in an experimental high school appropriately named Kent Innovation High. The school was built around the idea of freedom and teamwork. In an environment like this change happens quickly and lives are often revolutionized. Joey experienced such a revolution first hand when Dameon announced that he would now begin practicing Parkour and adopted a plant based diet. Joey was surprised and confused by the sudden development but quickly seen the benefits in his friend’s life. Dameon dropped twenty pounds in the first two weeks while on the plant based diet and stopped playing video games all together. For a time Joey considered adopting a plant based diet but wrote it off as too extreme for him; He felt the same way about Parkour and was skeptical of Dameon getting anywhere with it. As Joey’s weight increased his passion for the sports he played faded. So much so that practicing for them become more of a chore than an exciting experience. He would often skip practice to hang out with Dameon, it was during one of these hang out sessions that Dameon convinced Joey to come out and film him while he trained. Joey was reluctant but agreed since there was nothing else to do. With a camera and a Traceur Joey set out to get his first taste of Parkour. When they arrived at the training location Dameon began throwing simple movements that impressed Joey as much as they encouraged him, soon enough Joey had forgotten about the camera all together and began learning from Dameon. The two jammed for many hours and Joey was hooked, Parkour was what he wanted to do. Another thing he yearned to do was get in shape so he too adopted a plant based diet. Within weeks the fat was melting off but he still wasn’t where he wanted to be so he began working out incessantly to get fit. Around this time he and Dameon collaborated to create “Headway Parkour” their initial hope with the team was a simple way to have fun and belong, but it quickly took hold of them and became the focus of their lives. By his sophomore year Joey was fed up with sports and quit them in order to focus entirely on Parkour. This one decision skyrocketed his skill level as a Traceur, with time to train everyday after school he was progressing at an astounding rate. Not to mention he was getting in the shape of his life, no one seen this coming from a man like Joey. Joey and Dameon made the startling decision to go to college a few years early due to where the college was located, Grand Rapids. They had only ever trained in suburban towns like Grandville, so it goes without saying that the two of them were stoked to find out they would be going to the city everyday to attend college courses; This means that they could jam after school for a good six hours. It was this city that brought Joey’s skills to the next level; It got to a point where Parkour was the only thing he ever thought about, and with good reason too; this was an opportunity for him to live the life he had always hoped to live. A life free from oppression and open to anything! The only thing he had to do now was train, hard. And train hard he did, by the end of highschool the team had racked up over ten thousand hours of training time! They were now producing a video every other week and the subscribers continued to pile in. It was clear at this point that Parkour was the career which they were meant to pursue. For this reason the Headway boys began working fervently on a clothing line. The clothing line took many months to complete but upon it’s release a steady source of income was born. After high school Joey and Dameon rented a humble apartment in the heart of the city. This apartment contained the simplest of items, just enough to get by. Although it was rough at times Joey was committed and held steadfast to his dreams and ambitions. This persistence paid off in the spring of 2019 when Dameon invited Joey on a European Traceur Tour. Joey couldn’t believe it and nearly fainted upon hearing the news. The trip yielded many videos that would later get them nominated to compete in Red Bull art of motion 2022. I suggest you read this article to learn how that turned out for us. With AOM behind them Team Headway forged on to new frontiers. The most notable of these frontieres being the opening of the team gym in 2026. It was a gym like no other with a creative design that would puzzle even the most competent artists, truly one for the books. Joey and Dameon spent their whole lives working to leave a dent in the universe and they certainly did with the wonderful things they gave back to the Parkour community. If you are interested in seeing some of their greatest accomplishments then be sure to keep an eye on the team, there is always new content in the works.
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