A Place

to Move

Northside Missoula Warehouse mixes athletics and education

Laughter echoed from the open roll-up door of a bustling warehouse on Missoula’s Northside. A clump of teens gathered just inside, enjoying the last of the mid-October sun on their backs as they watched each other maneuver through a jumble of wooden towers and chalk-covered bars.

In the far corner of the warehouse, unconcerned with the surrounding chaos of movement and sound, Micah Marino ran the vacuum over mats on the floor.

“Look at Micah, cleaning up the gym, trying to make a good impression,” someone laughed to the group.

While a small city in Western Montana seems an unlikely place to find some of the best in American parkour, Unparalleled Movement and its athletes are considered to be just that.

Marino founded Unparalleled Movement in 2011, with his friends Kent Johns and Michael Graef.

“We started the gym for selfish reasons. We wanted a place to train that was our own,” said Marino.

It became a place for those interested in the sport to gather and learn from each other on a daily basis.

“Without the gym, there would be kids seeing it on YouTube, training on their own,” said Marino. “But we wouldn’t be collectively getting better faster. It would just be on our own, and we can only learn so much on our own.”

To build the parkour community, Marino has also focused on youth education in the gym. It offers four levels of youth classes, as well as a basic flips class and all-ages open-gym hours.

“Passing the torch down and having them grow the flame is a big part of it.” said Marino. “We are trying to cultivate an environment where the younger community can be born.”

It’s also important for business. The future of the gym relies on the growth of the sport, and without an ever-growing pool of athletes interested in paying for classes and memberships, it’s hard to stay in business.

Parkour gyms are not always successful investments. Several gyms in the west have been unable to keep their doors open due to lack of rent or being pushed out of the space by higher paying clients. Gyms often can’t attract enough clients to pay for the amount of space they need.

Despite financial challenges and location changes, Unparalleled Movement recently celebrated its seventh anniversary. Marino believes cultivating interest before building a gym is the key.

Several athletes observe Linkin Orth practicing tricks on the trampoline in Unparalleled Movement on Oct. 19, 2018. Orth, from Couer D'Alene, was in town for Balls Jam, an 3-day event held in the parkour gym and around Missoula.

The event brought athletes from around the world to Missoula to train and socialize for the weekend. The gym hosts "jams" to allow athletes to learn from each other in person.

"You're physically seeing someone doing those things, and they're real," said founder and co-owner Micah Marino, "and it's really powerful when that starts to happen in younger generations."

Marino vacuums the back corner of the gym on Oct. 19, 2018. Behind him, Balls Jam, the annual fall meet-up of athletes, starts up.

Unparalleled Movement was a massive financial venture for Marino, who lived and slept in the gym after first opening it to save money on rent. He says it was worth it, and that he enjoys the ability to be self-employed in a sport he cares about.

Marino shows his basic flips class students a video of student Rex McMormick's flip attempt.

Using video for teaching allows Marino to slow the action down and point out specific issues with form and momentum, and then show his students what they should keep in mind to fix the problem.

But, Marino says it's important not be too overbearing, "I don't want to influence them too much or narrow their view... who is to say that our version of how we are doing things is the best way to do it- maybe their lens is better than ours."

Sidney Mohorovich watches YouTube videos of athletes from other gyms, looking for inspiration and technique while Hans Heileson flips from the wall behind.

Heileson, only 15 years old, is part of a new generation of younger athletes that have been able to benefit from having a gym in the community while they grow up.

Ian Thornblade, left, Patrick Marsolek, and Colter Fellin, basic flips students, play around after class. Micah Marino watches, ensuring kind behavior and safety, but doesn't believe in hindering their movement too much.

"You don't see animals coddling their young... you don't need to worry about a squirrel falling off a wire, they're fine because they have always done it." Marino wants to encourage that ease of natural movement in his youth students.

Micheal Holt moves along the wall on the east side of the gym, through the sunlight coming in the open garage door at the front of the gym.

Sara
Diggins

sara.diggins99@gmail.com

385-259-5860

A Place

to Move

Northside Missoula Warehouse mixes athletics and education