Wednesday 3 October 2012

‘Can you lift this rock?’
 ‘Can you move this tree?’
 ‘Can you walk on all fours for miles?’
 ‘Can we run to Paris and back?’
 ‘Can you do the KongPre at Southbank?’
 ‘Can you film this for me?’
 ‘Did you get my t-shirt in the shot?’
 ‘Are you sponsored?’
 Parkour/Freerunning/FootSkating/whatever. It’s all about the movement right?
 I welcome the evolution of our discipline. I think so many people are pushing it in so many directions and it’s amazing to watch. The Russians with their crazy rolls and flips, the Storror boys who just do EVERYTHING huge, Livewire with his Parkour Handbalancing. I love it all. But my question is this.

Who is pushing the boundaries of the principals Parkour was started on?

Parkour in its infancy was about 9 guys challenging each other physically. It was about questioning the nature of strength and overcoming their perception of human endurance. It was about setting a target and reaching it no matter what. There’s been a few. Running from John ‘o’ Groats to Paris. 1000 muscle-ups. Quadrupedie on a busy street for ten hours. A marathon on stilts.
 In my opinion the people who do these sort of challenges keep another aspect of the discipline evolving which is so important. They may get remarks like ‘whats the point’ or ‘that won’t give you a bigger jump’. Not all strength exercises need to be goal led. I totally understand that not everyone wants to do loads of conditioning, and I’m not going to tell people how to train.

 Sometimes we should just do something to see if we can. That is after all, where our discipline started and I believe as traceurs we have a responsibility to keep that alive.

 Chris