One of the biggest critiques of Parkour and Free Running is that it is dangerous. While Parkour and Free Running can certainly be dangerous, they are not as dangerous as you might think.
Let me ask you a question: Do you learn to run before you learn to walk? Do you learn to walk before you learn to crawl? No, so why would you learn to jump down from 8 feet before you learn to jump down from 2 feet? The simple answer is that in Parkour, you actually don't -- you learn to jump down from 1 foot first, then 2 feet, then 3 and so on.
The problem with everything is what we see on television, movies, and the internet are these amazing stunts and everyone assumes that is what Parkour is. This is far from the truth. While this can be a part of Parkour, Parkour is much more than that (which I will get into much later). The guys we see on these videos are almost professionals and have been doing Parkour and Free Running for many, many, many years.
In Parkour, we progress very very slowly. Remember how I mentioned in a previous post that the aim of Parkour is to get from point A to point B as efficiently as possible? If we were to do something that's an almost certain danger, the aim of Parkour could be diminished. We cannot get places very efficiently if we are injured. How do you overcome that? Practice, practice, practice, more practice, and even more practice. Also though, we have to analyze what we're doing. Do we really want to always jump down from something 12 feet high, or is there an easier and safer way down that's almost as efficient. Function should always be ahead of entertainment.
Want an example of this practice? At a part of campus at Iowa State to never be named (and known to only those who recognize what I'm about to say), there is a staircase outdoors. On both sides of this staircase is a wall. However, one wall is about two or more feet taller than the other. This presents us the opportunity to do a cat leap. What I mean by this is standing on one of those walls, jumping across the stairs, and catching the hands on the ledge, feet on the wall, and pulling yourself up over the wall. At the very far end of this is a 12 foot drop onto concrete. At the other end is a huge drop of 6 to 9 inches (of course I am being facetious). When I first saw this, I practiced at the 6 to 9 inch drop part literally over 200 times. I drilled it into my mind how to do this. Slowly I moved to a drop that was 2 feet and did the same 200 times. After that, 5 feet. Eventually I ended up at the 12 foot area and completed it with ease the first time I tried without much nervousness at all.
Actually, many of us would just walk through various parts of campus and scout out areas that might be good for Parkour. We are not doing physical activity, but we are going through various areas, inspecting certain things that might be suitable for Parkour. For example, let's say there is a railing on top of some 2 foot high concrete block. We might see it and say "hey we can jump over this!" We will go to the railing and see how sturdy it is, as well as the ground where you might land, and the actual concrete itself.
The last thing we want to do is to get injured. Many have asked us if we run through campus without inspecting anything. This would not be very good. If there was a 20 foot drop on the other side of a wall we could not see, it might be almost certain injury. By analyzing and slowly practicing upon certain areas over a large period of time, we minimize the risk of injury as we prepare our bodies to know exactly what to do. The result of the videos we all see are hours upon hours of practice in each place as I have outlined above.
With Parkour, you get more acquainted with your own body, get much stronger and fitter, and realize what this great unit we call the human body and mind is really capable of. You slowly discover that "hey, if I train for this correctly and know the techniques, Parkour really isn't that dangerous, and it's very fulfilling and fun."
Now, in my day I have played and competed in numerous sports: Football, Gymnastics, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Softball, Tennis, Weight Lifting, Swimming, Skateboarding. You get the point. If you want me to be completely honest on which sports I've had the most injuries in? Gymnastics.. It is almost inevitable that you will get injured in gymnastics.
More honesty? The most serious injury I have gotten from Parkour is a banged up knee because I hit concrete trying to jump up a loading dock, twice. I went home soon after and soaked in a hot bath for 30 minutes because warmth increases flexibility. Two hours later I was walking almost completely fine and doing flips in a gymnastics center (not full force though to make sure I did not re-injure). My knees did not hurt the next day, or the day after, or the day after. Other than that, I've had a few small twisted ankles that I have had in almost every other sport which I could walk on a few hours later. Scrapes and a few small bruises, which I have gotten in almost every other sport (except scrapes in swimming). To be honest, after playing 10 years of competitive shortstop and centerfield in baseball, I had many more knee injuries, more twisted ankles, and more scrapes than I have had thus far in Parkour.
I remember in January on campus, someone slipped on the ice, hit their head on the ice/concrete and had to be carted off in a stretcher. All they were doing was walking to class. If we become fearful of everything, we become paralyzed to everyday life and our function and productivity could go down. I am coming to you from over 3 years experience in Parkour and about 22 years experience in other sports that Parkour really is not that dangerous as you might think, and it's not as dangerous as many other sports.
Let's think about it for a minute here. Injuries in Football, Hockey, Soccer, etc...what do they have in common? Well think about it, your injuries are most likely dependent on somebody ELSE. There are guys coming at you full force wanting to hit you, so it doesn't matter how great your body is, if theirs is too and they hit you hard, you're probably going to be hurt. In something like Parkour (just as gymnastics), your injuries are dependent upon your own fitness and skill levels. Ultimately, you are responsible for your injuries, which if you think about it can be safer if you're smart about it.
In short, think before you judge. Think of the training that actually goes into what you see. Personally, I am not a thrill seeker, but I find warmth if you will in Parkour. It is very possible within the limits of the human body.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Introduction to Parkour, Myself, and Thoughts
Hi, welcome to this "blog" of sorts. I figured I would start one of these things just to put my ideas down onto paper and maybe someone can come across it and understand a little more where we in the Parkour and Free Running world come from.
First and foremost, an introduction. I am Mike and am currently the president of the Iowa State Parkour club. I started the club with a friend back in the summer of 2007 as a means to expose people to the disciplines, but to also provide them with a safe learning environment for them. We generated a lot of excitement from the Clubfests and over the months, a handful of people still remained and VERY VERY passionate about Parkour and Free Running.
One of our highlights was gaining the acceptance of Jay and Mary Ronayne. Jay is the head coach of the University's gymnastics team, and his wife Mary is the director of gymnastics operations. Jay and Mary also "own" (is that the right word?) the gymnastics center at one of our physical education halls where the university team practices. Turns out Jay and Mary are fans of Parkour and let us use their facilities.
This was the highlight of most of the members' weeks as we got to use the facilities one night per week for the whole school year. It turned people apathetic about gymnastics into fans, but more importantly gave them an outlet to practice their skills in a lower risk environment (much lower than outdoors). It was some of the most fun I've had in a very very very long time, and every week I looked forward to Wednesdays.
Of course, there were miscommunications with some of the university and police. Many police expressed that they did not care if we were doing it as long as we weren't climbing up buildings and not severely hurting any property. Some university officials also expressed they did not mind, while some did. We are trying to work out everything though.
Oh yeah, I forgot to say what Parkour is. In short, it is a discipline using your own body and surroundings to get from point A to point B as efficiently as possible. Free running is similar, except the need to get around as efficiently as possible is not there. Instead, free running is more centered on aesthetic movement such as flips and twists.
In short though, this blog is to provide a little more understanding of what exactly we do and why. Many people cannot understand much of what we do and I hope this blog can make a little bridge of understanding.
First and foremost, an introduction. I am Mike and am currently the president of the Iowa State Parkour club. I started the club with a friend back in the summer of 2007 as a means to expose people to the disciplines, but to also provide them with a safe learning environment for them. We generated a lot of excitement from the Clubfests and over the months, a handful of people still remained and VERY VERY passionate about Parkour and Free Running.
One of our highlights was gaining the acceptance of Jay and Mary Ronayne. Jay is the head coach of the University's gymnastics team, and his wife Mary is the director of gymnastics operations. Jay and Mary also "own" (is that the right word?) the gymnastics center at one of our physical education halls where the university team practices. Turns out Jay and Mary are fans of Parkour and let us use their facilities.
This was the highlight of most of the members' weeks as we got to use the facilities one night per week for the whole school year. It turned people apathetic about gymnastics into fans, but more importantly gave them an outlet to practice their skills in a lower risk environment (much lower than outdoors). It was some of the most fun I've had in a very very very long time, and every week I looked forward to Wednesdays.
Of course, there were miscommunications with some of the university and police. Many police expressed that they did not care if we were doing it as long as we weren't climbing up buildings and not severely hurting any property. Some university officials also expressed they did not mind, while some did. We are trying to work out everything though.
Oh yeah, I forgot to say what Parkour is. In short, it is a discipline using your own body and surroundings to get from point A to point B as efficiently as possible. Free running is similar, except the need to get around as efficiently as possible is not there. Instead, free running is more centered on aesthetic movement such as flips and twists.
In short though, this blog is to provide a little more understanding of what exactly we do and why. Many people cannot understand much of what we do and I hope this blog can make a little bridge of understanding.
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