The Kong Vault (also originally known as the Cat Pass) is a vault used in parkour for moving over an object and gaining distance. It is an advanced variation of the monkey vault. Kongs are useful for moving over long objects, such as large barriers. The same movement can be used to move over rails and fences. Kong Vaults are commonly used for distance and power, instead of speed. Though they take extra time to learn, they are one of the most common and should be trained early on. There are a number of variations of the Kong Vault. Take note that when you use the Kong Vault, you have to dive towards the obstacle the Kong Vault will be performed on such as a picnic bench.
Guide[]
Prerequisite[]
It is necessary to have a good understanding of the monkey vault before attempting to learn the kong vault.
Technique[]
- Launch with your legs and dive.
- Place hands down on the obstacle
- Push off the obstacle.
- Bring legs into a tucked position.
- Use an appropriate landing
Usage[]
The kong vault is most useful when trying to traverse long flat obstacles. Because the move is based on starting from a forward dive it is not useful for tall obstacles, where a monkey vault should be used instead.
It is also the most efficient vault when there's an obstacle that can't be touched in front of another obstacle, such as a fragile table beside a concrete wall where you can dive over the fragile table and perform a kong vault off the concrete wall.
Tutorials[]
Parkour Variations[]
The Kong Vault has many variations. Normally, each type of Kong Vault can be used over the same object, but each has different uses.
Diving Kong[]
A Diving Kong is kong vault where the user first dives over another obstacle to reach the obstacle they are placing their hands on. It is often used in place of a double kong and is essentially just a very long kong vault.
Traveling Kong[]
The Traveling Kong is a movement in which quadrupedal movement is displayed. The technique is similar to the Kong Vault but the hands are split, as if the traceur was walking on his hands. A travelling kong will usually have two to five hand placements over an object.
Double Kong[]
- Main article: Double Kong
It is possible with the Kong Vault to not only push through once with the hands but to push from multiple times before touching the ground with the feet. Popular variations are the double and triple kong.
Freerunning Variations[]
Kong Gainer[]
- Main article: Kong gainer
A kong gainer is performed when a traceur executes a normal kong vault, but then pushes into a forward-moving backflip (i.e a gainer) before landing. This movement is extremely difficult, and should be executed with extreme caution and confidence in one's own abilities.
Kong Front[]
- Main article: Kong front
A kong vault followed by a front flip. A common misconception is that a kong front would simply be a front hand spring over an obsticle, however, that is a different vault known as a rail flip so it is important to make sure the horizontal dive before flipping is present.
Screwdriver Vault[]
- Main article: Screwdriver vault
A standard kong vault, but when the hands are placed a 360° twist is done.
Stinger Vault[]
- Main article: Stinger vault
A diving kong vault with a 360 degree spin before the hands are placed.
Video[]
Trivia[]
- The name of this technique likely originates from notable giant monkey characters, such as King Kong and Donkey Kong, due to it being a larger version of the basic monkey vault.