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Last week we reported how police were called after three teenagers were seen practising 'parkour' stunts at an Ashford car park.
We have since been contacted by other youngsters who say the majority of 'traceurs' take safety very seriously and their activities should not be criminalised.
Here, 16-year-old Alex Day from Ashford explains more about the popular urban craze - and how it should be done properly.
Above is a picture slideshow of a local parkour team in action and passing on some safety tips.
Parkour is the art of displacement. It was invented by the Frenchman David Belle, who as a child lived in Lille, where the obstacles in the environment were perfect for practising the manoeuvres utilised in parkour.
The initial idea of parkour and the cornerstone of the concept is to get from one place to another as quickly as possible and as efficiently as possible.
However, the days of purely using it for this purpose are long gone.
Parkour has gripped the nation’s youth over the past few years mainly through the fame of London group Urban Free Flow who publicised the sport.
It was also given a boost by Jump London and Jump Britain; that is how I personally became enticed by parkour.
To define parkour as anything other than versatile would be a feat of foolishness. Diversity is a poignant characteristic to any 'traceur’ (somebody who practises parkour) as is an open mind to all angles of the sport. Firstly, it is predominantly an expressionistic sport, not a competition sport.
Expressionism in parkour divides all aspects of the sport; from the flow portrayed through simply moving across a set of railings, to the aggression of leaping off a building to the cold concrete.
Modern traceurs often use parkour as a way of expressing themselves, to show how they have interpreted the sport and conveyed the movements taught in parkour.
This is where the new found fad of filming clips of themselves and posting them on YouTube has come from. Local traceurs often post these videos so that others can see their abilities and notice their improvement.
This also delves deep into the heart of the community surrounding parkour. It is not uncommon for traceurs to offer advice, or for them to receive it either. The United Kent Movement is a community based around parkour where any traceurs can find others and train with them or attend 'jams’ in which people from all over Kent meet up in a town or city and go and train together. This is often how people notice parkour being performed but is also how youngsters notice it and how they learn the safety behind it.
Big communities of experienced traceurs often overlook budding traceurs so that they can monitor any dangerous movements and help to avoid injuries as often as possible.
Technique and safety are two of the most important things for any traceur. The techniques used to perform every movement in parkour are designed for efficiency in performing them but also for the safety of the movements; for example the technique of rolling out of any drop that is above head height is to absorb the impact, avoiding serious damage to joints such as knees, ankles and even hips.
The techniques have been reformed and perfected so that every traceur knows how to perform each movement safely, avoiding injury.
However, self-motivation and discipline are another side of the sport, and is often where it can be mentally and physically challenging. Some approach it as a form of exercise as well as a discipline, not dissimilar to a martial art. Conditioning certain muscles by repeating a movement continuously can build up strength and character quickly, not to mention the added benefits of improving the techniques for use when performing movements. It is not uncommon for very experienced traceurs to condition certain muscles every day, just purely as a work of exercise and an alternative to a gym.
Every traceur is expected to respect one another, a vital lesson learned as you progress when you will notice how different people’s styles are. But the issues surrounding the sport are not to do with traceurs respecting each other; it is with members of the public respecting them. On more than one occasion I have seen groups of traceurs assist members of the public and deliberately stop their current task so not to cause any problems to members of the public, so the accusations being placed on them as people who are 'practically suicidal' might want to be reviewed. Criminalising them for enjoying their lives and learning to work as a team is an approach that ignorance might entail but to a person who has an understanding of the sport, it is just another extreme sport waiting to be accepted into society.
Who is to say it is more dangerous than some of the currently accepted sports such as skateboarding and even rugby. I have never met anyone who has seriously injured themselves practising the art of parkour, but maybe that is because they have learned how to safely perform any stunts. Those who are unaware of the history and routes of parkour may observe it as a bunch of hooligans gallivanting around in groups, however maybe this is a cry for it to be publicised more so that people take it as a common place thing so we can stop wasting police time when they could be prosecuting criminals instead of people trying to express their freedom.
Correct me if I’m wrong here…
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