American Parkour

Its not age so much as attitude. When I was 14 I was very independent, but also very immature. I would have probably killed myself if I had either gotten the motorcycle I wanted so badly or if I had seen some of the Parkour videos out there!

What's most important is your patience, and willingness to train correctly and safely. There is NO need to ever go on a roof, and nothing about being on a roof that makes you any better at Parkour or Freerunning. What makes people good is practice, consistent, safe practice. Going big leads to injuries which leads to less consistent practice. Going too far outside your comfort zone leads to hesitation, leads to injuries, leads to less practice. Parkour and Freerunning are not about balls or guts, they are about honing your abilities so that more things are within your realm of safe possibilities. Even then there is a risk of danger, "even monkeys fall from trees".

So, I can't tell anyone a specific age is right or wrong, but here's a guideline: if you are disciplined (yes, Parkour is a discipline, funny how bad words and good words are the same words :) ) enough to train for three hours a week by setting up a goal or plan and sticking to it without jumping off anything over your own chest height for a month straight, then you are suited for Parkour and Freerunning safely and will probably get good at it. On he other hand, if you go out to train precisions, and ten minutes later you're jumping off 6' walls and rolling before you knowhow and doing running jumps, then Parkour and Freerunning are not for you, you will only end up hurt.

Don't go out training alone, and if you're less than 18 don't go meet "people from the internet" without at least a few friends or even a parent. There are a lot of other pieces of advice about starting to train that aren't included in this article but exist in others, like whether to start in a gymnastics gym with padding, training alone or with friends, etc.

 thx this answer my question perfectly come to think of it a new YMCA was built two blocks away from me...you think they might be interested in teaching parkour?

They probably wouldn't but you could try.
They would have to be certified or what not....

Well... they could always call it "Movement Class" or something like that. and teach parkour and free running in it.. but I think a gymnastics center would be more likely to do it... for instance.. TumbleTime Gymnasium.

im 12 and i do it the olny problem  is im not full size and do not have alot of arm strength i can do like 15 pull ups

On the opposite end, of this, I'm 26 and just getting really interested in this, but I look around the net and at videos and things and I wonder if I'm almost too old to just get started as it seems most people doing it are like 20ish. Out of curiosity, what is the average age of the people around these parts?

Dude, don't worry about it. What you see on YouTube vids and such is often only the big-air/dangerous stunts that only the most experienced traceurs are conditioned and prepared to do. In fact, this is only an extremely small portion of parkour. Many of us[including me] on this forum don't do 'big tricks,' but we "keep it simple, stupid" and like to practice more of the technical, precise movements, that are mostly low to the ground and safe. Take Mark[that one that wrote this FAQ] for example. He is in his mid 30's[right?] and is better than most of us. I've watched him at jams. He enjoys doing precision jumps and balance maneuvers, and almost always low to the ground. As long as you take it slow and listen to your body, you'll do fine.

Maybe someone older than 17 will have more insight.

M2? Muse?[not that I think you're old ;)] Somebody help me out.

PS: Also, check out the 'Over 40 - or even over 30' board lower down on the main forum page. There's some inspiration for you...  :P

Just click here:
http://www.americanparkour.com/smf/index.php?board=145.0

Thanks :) I guess it's not so much that I feel too old to do it, and I wouldn't let that stop me really anyway, but rather I just feel like I would be 'that older guy who sucks' or something lol.

im 14 im not that good actualy i suck im horrible but i love parkour if my arm wasnt broken i would be out practicing every day and will soon be doing just that so i believe it is maturity not age that we should justify this with ive met some pretty stupid 20 year olds and some increadably(spelled wrong) smart ones and the same goes for kids my age so i think its stupid that were talking about age in this but size is a different matter but thats just my opinion ( i hope i didnt  offend anyone)