Good
Recently I was asked why we must do good. Why as humans should we should help our fellow man, our planet, why is our job to right the wrongs of the world? And why as a traceur should such things matter to us? It truly is inspiring to see how as a community we have bonded together to push forward towards so many incredible causes, helping each other on the forums, helping our local areas by picking up garbage, reaching out to our local communities and to the world, proving time and time again that it is not the singular purpose of one or even a small group of us that is driven to work towards a better world, but it is a defining characteristic of the entire body of the parkour world.
So why is that? What is it about a bunch of people who like to run and jump and climb on stuff that motivates them to do these extracurricular outreach activities? I may not be able to say for each individual but as an entire movement I feel like some of it can be understood by looking back on our history.
Parkour grew from the training of the Natural Method and it's mantra of being strong to be useful, it was an idea of not only functional fitness but of being a functional human being. The training was done not only to help make oneself a better person, but to be prepared to be of help to other, that when one saw a need for aid one would be ready and able to do what is required. In the past this meant training naked in the woods so no matter the situation one could run, jump, climb, or carry without the aid of anything else. As cities began to populate the planet and our lifestyles evolved and adapted to them, so did the training. So came the birth of parkour, a rebirth of functional movement based training. But rare are the times that we as practitioners find ourselves called upon climb into burning buildings or escape from zombie lions. But that does not mean that we do not see a call for help, and it does not mean that we are not prepared to answer. Practitioners come from all walks of life, all varied backgrounds, philosophies, and beliefs, but for some reason we are all able to come together and work together towards positive goals, I believe it is because what connects us all is not just a love of movement, but more importantly by a drive to find things that we see can be improved, now matter how daunting the task, and to work towards that goal. This is why we can spend hours working on something as simple as jumping between two rails until we can understand what allows us to control our bodies and fears and perform the movement precisely and efficiently. It is also what allows a group of strangers to gather in a park or schoolyards and pick up trash that no one there left in the cold and rain. We don't have to do these things, no one is asking us to or forcing it upon us, we choose to do them because we can see the value of it, and we can all recognize that parkour is more than just jumping off stuff, it's more than a personal journey of self improvement, it is a dedication to progress, to moving forward, to being a positive force. We believe in ourselves, we believe in each other, and most of all we believe in what we are doing, so when you are asked: "Why?" you can know that it is because this is who you are, and this is what you do, and you are not alone.
So why is that? What is it about a bunch of people who like to run and jump and climb on stuff that motivates them to do these extracurricular outreach activities? I may not be able to say for each individual but as an entire movement I feel like some of it can be understood by looking back on our history.
Parkour grew from the training of the Natural Method and it's mantra of being strong to be useful, it was an idea of not only functional fitness but of being a functional human being. The training was done not only to help make oneself a better person, but to be prepared to be of help to other, that when one saw a need for aid one would be ready and able to do what is required. In the past this meant training naked in the woods so no matter the situation one could run, jump, climb, or carry without the aid of anything else. As cities began to populate the planet and our lifestyles evolved and adapted to them, so did the training. So came the birth of parkour, a rebirth of functional movement based training. But rare are the times that we as practitioners find ourselves called upon climb into burning buildings or escape from zombie lions. But that does not mean that we do not see a call for help, and it does not mean that we are not prepared to answer. Practitioners come from all walks of life, all varied backgrounds, philosophies, and beliefs, but for some reason we are all able to come together and work together towards positive goals, I believe it is because what connects us all is not just a love of movement, but more importantly by a drive to find things that we see can be improved, now matter how daunting the task, and to work towards that goal. This is why we can spend hours working on something as simple as jumping between two rails until we can understand what allows us to control our bodies and fears and perform the movement precisely and efficiently. It is also what allows a group of strangers to gather in a park or schoolyards and pick up trash that no one there left in the cold and rain. We don't have to do these things, no one is asking us to or forcing it upon us, we choose to do them because we can see the value of it, and we can all recognize that parkour is more than just jumping off stuff, it's more than a personal journey of self improvement, it is a dedication to progress, to moving forward, to being a positive force. We believe in ourselves, we believe in each other, and most of all we believe in what we are doing, so when you are asked: "Why?" you can know that it is because this is who you are, and this is what you do, and you are not alone.
posted by Frosti at
2:12 PM
1 Comments
