ABOUT WAMJAM
WamJam is the Australian Parkour communities’ National Parkour gathering for women, girls and enbies, and has been running annually for five years. The inaugural WamJam was held in Sydney in 2015, and has since been hosted by communities in Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide. WamJam was scheduled to return to Sydney in 2020, but a global pandemic meant that's been postponed until 2021.
But that can't stop us! This year, WamJam will be entirely online! So women, girls and enbies from all over the country (and abroad) will converge to train, learn, jam, connect and play all things parkour and movement!
Stephania on wamjam
"The women’s Parkour community is really important to me because I feel it provides a helpful and less intimidating environment for women to enter the Parkour community, especially somewhere like Australia where Parkour isn’t as developed as other countries.
As women’s Parkour communities started to become more of a thing I really did notice more women, new and old, coming together within my own community and it’s been great having more women around me to train with than a few years ago where it felt like I was the only active traceuse in my community a lot of the time.
WamJam always has been and always will be free for participants. Our coaches and organisers donate their time, and any required resources (like zoom or web hosting) are donated too. If you can contribute anything to support this project, it's much appreciated! You can contribute to via Paypal here, or send us a message if you'd prefer to contribute another way!
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All donations go directly to staging this event in 2020, and anything over and above those costs will go towards the next year's event.
Women of Sydney Parkour are still going full steam ahead with the the massive task of organising WamJam 2021, which will include international guest coaches. So, if you can, please contribute to that amazing cause to make future WamJams happen!
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WamJam. It’s the National Parkour Gathering for women, girls and non-binary people. Now, that’s not a perfect way of expressing what the event aims to do, or of describing our audience, so we wanted to take a little extra time to talk about it.
We acknowledge that the phrase “women and non-binary” has its problems. It is often and rightly criticised for implying that all non-binary people are assigned female at birth; or for ignoring masculine-of-centre and AMAB non-binary people. That’s not what we want to suggest at all, but we haven’t found a better phrasing yet (feel free to make suggestions! Send an email to womenofmelbourneparkour@gmail.com or message our insta/ FB)
Non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid, demigirl/boy, sistergirl and brotherboy, no label, or any other of the many gender identities under the non-binary umbrella are most welcome in parkour and at WamJam, regardless of assigned gender at birth. WamJam centres the experiences of those whose gender is in the minority in parkour communities. The purpose is to create a safe space for everyone, within a normally cis-male-dominated discipline.
We’re not a women-and-enbies-only event: all sessions this year sessions are open to people of all genders to participate, and we hope that men do join in to listen and support our communities. If this post has left you more confused than before, feel free to send us questions!
The TL;DR version is that all genders are valid regardless of assigned sex or gender expression, and you’re welcome to attend every WamJam event this year. If you're a man or boy, we ask that you respect this WamJam as an event that centres and celebrates people with other genders, and to listen.
EVENTS
WamJam Online will feature a online talks, panels and discussions, including:
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Distanced Jams around Australia
chloe on parkour
"I love the physical and mental strength building, the philosophy of non-competitiveness, the inclusive nature, being inspired by people younger than me, that I do it with my son, and we share the time together, that it is outdoors, the graceful movements"
SATURDAY 18 OCTOBER
Intro to the Scavenger Hunt Challenge
Self Massage: How and Why
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SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER
Mapping for Parkour
How to Get Qualified with Liam from the APA
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SATURDAY 24 OCTOBER
All about Trees for Tree Climbers
Intro to parkour for older people
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SUNDAY 25 OCTOBER
Distanced Jams
Inclusion and Diversity with Lima
Mobility and Flexibilty for Parkour
JUSTINE on parkour
"Fun, flow and freedom - I love that feeling of returning to play. Why did we ever stop playing? Who decided that adults should not be able to climb, jump, swing, vault, roll, balance and explore like kids? Parkour allows you to see the world around you through new eyes; to explore the environment using movement habits which are so good for the body – moving like human beings were meant to.
All events for this year's WamJam are online. That means you can join in from wherever you are! (Please be sure to adjust for your timezone - all times listed AEDT first)
We'll post zoom links on this page, and on the Facebook events of each session. Please note, some sessions may require you to book in or reserve your place.
