It's been a long time I've been around these parts... Gaia, I mean. Haha.
Anyway, I happened to stumble upon this thread when randomly searching for some Parkour pictures.
While I was a very active member before, I never saw anything about Parkour, so I think it's great that the art had spread here. I've been doing Parkour for a year now, and have, somewhat recently, become an official Parkour and Free Running teacher.
But, unless you guys live in Florida, that wont be much help to you. Lol.
Well, if you guys are really into the movement, you should check out Zoic Nation. Their the Parkour and Free Running organization I work and run with. If you follow our page on Facebook, you can get lots of updates on the movements going on throughout America.
I also run my own little Parkour team called Cataclysm. We're working on a new video, since we've gotten a lot better since our last; so if you guys are interested, I could link you to some videos when we get our newest one up.
To all you against the Parkour movement:
I think you're against it because you don't understand what it truly is. Firstly, Parkour and Free Running are two different arts. They are similar in design, but have two opposing core philosophies. More than that, what you should understand is that Traceurs and Runners alike follow the code "Leave no Trace." If you don't know what that means, I'll explain it. "Leave no Trace," means to respect your environment and the laws imposed unto it. Parkour is not actually illegal; some people just get a slap on the wrist for being where it is considered "dangerous." For example: roof tops.
Another thing you should understand is that Parkour and Free Running do not advocate for people to jump around, flip around, or anything of the sort where they could get hurt. At the core of their philosophy, each art asks of the practitioner to respect their bodies and never attempt that which they are not comfortable with. The goal of Parkour and Free Running is to change the practitioners physical abilities and push them past what their previous limits were. This, however, doesn't come without many hours of training, preparation, and confidence building. We Traceurs and Runners never do what we're not sure we're capable of; because to do so is to ignore our instincts and place us in the way of unnecessary risk.
We don't do what we do to look cool or show of; we do what we do in order to break the schema of social norms and show people that conforming to what society says is normal and accepted isn't always the best way. Obesity and poor health are running all over the world, but Parkour encourages you to keep moving, to keep training, and to change the way you view the world. Back to my point: injury in Parkour happens, sure, because injury can happen while you're just walking up he stairs. But major injury such as breaking bones is very uncommon. The most common "injuries" are scratches, cuts, maybe the occasional bruise, and some callouses on the hand.
You shouldn't out-right reject something unless you're fully aware of what that entails. If you found this informative and it changed your view a little bit: cool. That's great. If it didn't do anything for you: that's great, too. Just remember to educate yourself before rejecting something. Open your mind and you open the world.
To those of you who already train and do Parkour, feel free to message me, add me as a friend, or whatever. Remember to check out Zoic Nation, and if you've got a Facebook, I'd love it if you liked our page. If you want to give a shout out to me personally on that Facebook page, just ask for the admin of the page: Patrick. I check the page daily, so I'll get to you quick.
It was great stumbling on this page and seeing all you Traceurs and Runners. Maybe one day we'll get the chance to train together!
Have a great day, everyone.
- Cypher
