The Truth Between

Originally posted at: p-pardus.tumblr.com

• Find a tree. (Obviously). The tree should be strong enough to carry your weight, and it also should look healthy. If it has many branches near the ground, that generally means it’s rotting or drying up. DON’T climb on these; they break way to easily.
• ONCE AGAIN make sure that tree is a good choice. I cannot stress this enough.
• When you made sure the tree is healthy and dry (don’t climb wet or mossy trees, it’s way too easy to slip and break your bones.), start by stretching a little. I don’t mean excessive yoga moves, but simple exercises to warm up your body. If you don’t do this, you’ll end up pulling a muscle on the way up. Remember that climbing puts pressure on your body, and you shouldn’t go unprepared.
• Start climbing. The branches are thicker near the trunk, put your weight on there. Try using the three-point system (Three points (Hand and feet) on the tree, another point moving). This will most likely prevent you from falling if you lose your grip on one point. Use branches, treeholes and gnarls to get up.
• If you’re a therian or otherkin (most likely), think of how you would climb this tree as an animal. I don’t mean you can start jumping from branch to branch, because you’ll fall, break your bones, and if you’re really unlucky, die in the forest because nobody found you. I mean, let yourself be inspired. You’re a cat? Ever watched a cat climb a tree? Unless they’re on the run or hunting, cats climb elegant as hell. (Except me, Leopards work their way up with basically just ‘walking’ as high as they can, then they start ‘hugging’ the trunk with their frontlegs and pull themselves up like this.) Try imitating that grace; it should come naturally,  of course. Climbing is way more fun like this, and it’s good for getting a m-shift.
• When you’re finished, get back down. Try to remember your route up, so it won’t take you ages to get back down. DON’T TRY TO JUMP from high points. Only try to jump if you’re like 1m away from the ground. If you jump from any higher, you MUST roll. If you don’t know how to roll, teach yourself first. It’s really important, otherwise you’re just severely ruining you ankles, calves, knees, basically your entire legs.

• Be creative. It’s not like climbing a ladder. Use your legs, wrap them around the trunk to pull yourself up. Go wild.
• Don’t be a scaredy cat. If you came up, you definitely will come back down.
• Use your legs rather than your arms; they’re stronger and don’t tire as quickly.
• Make sure you’re fit. (Climbing trees is also a part reason of why I want to lose weight. It’s logical, I’ll be able to climb higher and I don’t carry around as much. Simple science, not anorexia, dear parents…)
• If you’re comfortable with that, try to wear gloves. (I personally can’t climb like that, but I guess I’ll pay for that with calloused hands and splinters.)
• Try to wear tight fitting, yet comfortable clothes. Baggy pants will most likely just get caught in the bark, but leather pants will decrease your flexibility.
• AVOID ROTTING TREES. They look sturdy, and may even be on the first branches, but if you get any higher, they’ll break. This is why I don’t recommend climbing in winter, you can barely tell if a tree is just leafless or dead.
• Try to avoid Pine trees. They look stronger than they are, and sometimes not even the trunk supports your weight.
• Be responsible for yourself. If you go climbing alone (which I assume you will), know your limits. Don’t go any higher than you can, if you fall alone in the wilderness, chances are, you’re dead meat.
• Avoid breaking branches, for obvious reasons.
• Try to learn parcour. Not only is this an amazing sport, it’ll also help your body to become more flexible, and, most important, it’ll teach you how to roll.

LINKS that can help you:
http://www.wikihow.com/Climb-a-Tree
http://sirushunt.hubpages.com/hub/A-comprehnsive-guide-to-climbing-trees
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RBNaiNnNRfU  (In the beginning, it shows how incredibly important it is to land safely when jumping. Also, try to ignore the flip, the most important thing is the roll. And don’t get too distracted by Ryan Doyles amazing accent. Had to rewatch the video.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgPd29MlHpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iICtT7ycUs ( I looked like an idiot training this on the living room carpet, but it was worth it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0cYJWWhxCg (thats a how NOT to climb trees, but I nearly wet my pants with laughter, so I thought I could share it with you)

And... that’s it. Be careful.