[picture from crossfit.com]
Okay, this is the roll. The roll is perhaps one of the most important parkour techniques out there. Forget about vaults and and all that for a moment. That's the easy part. Often in parkour you'll have to land from high areas far more then you'll have to vault over anything. And if you perform the roll in the wrong way, you could seriously hurt yourself. Now there are several rolling techniques and the major difference is in the hand placement. Now before you go jumping off of anything, I want you to go to your carpet and squat down. When performing a roll, its all about your hand placement.1. One technique is to form a sort of circle with your arms, placing them off center on the ground and tucking your head against your opposite shoulder. This allows you to roll from your shoulder to your opposite hit.
DO NOT ROLL ACROSS YOUR SIDE! The point of the roll is to alleviate pressure from your legs, but if you perform the roll incorrectly you risk serious damage to the spine if you land from a high distance. The point is to roll FROM YOUR SHOULDER TO YOUR OPPOSITE HIP.
2. Another technique (if you are right handed, if left handed do the opposite) is to place your left hand on the ground as a bracer and scoop your right arm under your left armpit as you roll forward.
There are other techniques but these are the two most commonly used. Remember do not roll across your back. Do not roll completely forward. By rolling from shoulder to opposite hip, it reduces contact with the spine. Practice your roll on the carpet until you get this SHOULDER TO OPPOSITE HIP technique down so you can do it each time. Once you get it every time you'll be ready to start from jumps. Remember, start from low heights. Take it slow, train low. In case this wasn't clear, or you want a video or picture tutorial, here are some links I think might help.
American Parkour
An interesting tutorial with a technique I've never seen before. Not my style, but maybe it'll work for you: The Ryan Doyle Progression
