The Movement Lab Collective
Dollamur’s Fitness segment is rapidly growing because of the versatility of our mats – most notably, FLEXI-Roll carpet bonded mats. We’ve seen these used from the traditional cheer and gymnastics gyms to playrooms, obstacle courses, bootcamps, kids museums and so much more. Here to add to the list is The Movement Lab Collective – a gym designed specifically for parkour practice.
The Movement Lab Collective is the first *dedicated* parkour gym in the state of Maine. Ed, CEO and Program Director of MLC stated, “While we offer chase tag and ninja warrior instruction, our philosophy is to use parkour as the foundation for all natural movement disciplines, and to cultivate a community or “collective” of movers and doers in the greater Portland area. We want to show our clients that they can unlock their true potential, and that of the human body, through parkour training, and that sky’s the limit. Parkour has the potential to prepare individuals for a multitude of different sports and activities, and we want to share it with world. We want to break down the barriers that may prevent individuals from trying parkour, like fear or lack of understanding, and show them that they’re far more capable than they give themselves credit for.”
A bit about the team at The MLC -
“I, Ed, have been training parkour for 12 years, coaching for 8, and have a master’s in education. With these tools, I put together programming that’s developmentally appropriate and progression based for all my clients. I’m also an ISSA certified personal trainer and use my knowledge of functional fitness to guide our clients through the correct movement patterns to ensure best practice and safety.
Caleb is our head coach and has competed on the international stage in competitions such as the NAPC (North American Parkour Championship) and the SPL (Sport Parkour League). He has a strong foundation in calisthenics too and is a level 2 certified WFPF (World Freerunning and Parkour Federation) coach.
Trevor, our other coach, has been training parkour for the past 6 years and specializes in acrobatics. He’s a Windham local and has his finger on the pulse of the community.
Jake, our social media manager, is an avid parkour film maker. Being an athlete himself, he understands how to capture the essence of parkour through film and has helped us communicate how we view parkour to the public at large.
As far as mantras go, parkour’s mantra is, “étre fort pour étre utile” which translates to “be strong to be useful.” Parkour has evolved into a much more expressive discipline in recent years but the mantra is still at the heart of what we do in the sense that we want to be able to do cool things with our bodies as opposed to lifting weights and hitting the treadmill for the sake of it. We also seek to reconnect our clients with their inner child and show them that they’re not too old to play.”
They’re trusting Dollamur with the safety of their athletes. “We purchased the 1 ½” thick carpet bonded foam for our spring floor system… I am very pleased with the rolls. They are firm enough to drive appropriate power off the floor while being very shock absorbent simultaneously. They have definitely aided in the longevity of training sessions and when we have messed up a flip here and there, it’s soft enough to cushion landings to the knees and such. I’m pleased with the product and I look forward to working with Dollamur more in the future!”
They’re a brand new gym! “We’ve only been open for about 6 weeks and thankfully haven’t been too badly affected by COVID-19. One of our coaches had contracted the omicron variant (presumably) and was back on his feet pretty quickly. We want to keep everyone safe and want to provide a safe space for folks to train in.
We would love to expand our obstacle offerings and programs, extending into calisthenics, tumbling, and host parkour competitions. We ultimately want to rebuild the parkour community in Maine to the point where it was 5 years ago and eventually surpass it, laying down a legacy for the next generation of parkour athletes.”
Ed finished up the interview by adding, “I’m very impressed with the quality of the carpet bonded foam mats and would definitely recommend this product to any business that engages in any acrobatics and/ or obstacles.”
See what else Dollamur can offer for Fitness facilities:
