An interesting thought I had one night Considering the past year we've had.

clink link and discuss,

http://nyparkour.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=243

I have to agree with Skipper on this one, some of these things are "life happenings" as I like to call them.

Having said that, it has been parkour, 'life happenings' and several people that I have met that put things such as life and death into perspective for me. I have found that many people in the PK community (especially newbies like myself) feel a need to do extravagant things like 50 foot roof drops and the such. I just recently met two people that carry a I'm-not-afraid-to-die attitude about PK that really scared me. Several times I wanted to bring up the fact that PK isn't about that, but I felt it wasn't may place to do so. As for why PK, coupled with other experiences has put things into perspective for me, is because these philosophies and ideals are part of a short life. Being a survivor of a serious illness, PK helped me to see that my true 'free' nature was constrained by societal chains if you will. Not to get all religious (because I'm more spiritual than religious), but we are not assured tomorrow. We have to take our lives and own them, do what is our nature, or we spend life like the Stepford people society will have us remain.

As for the tragedies that have occurred within the community, they are sad and it is something that we should all take into perspective. However, each and every one of us could be killed by that drunk driver after a 'fun' night out, possibly step in front of that unnoticed bus, or even die from causes such unseen health issues.

As my motto remains, "It's my life and I'm loving every minute of it. Down to the very last second."

RhayneD
Formally known as "Stepford Rhayne"

As posted on NYPK forums ...
I have a hard time calling this year's two death's "PK deaths" ...

Wa5ter had a medical condition which could have occurred at any time.

I bet if we could ask him, PK gave him more "life" than "death".


As for poor Alex, he was LOOKING at a jump, not jumping, when he fell. I am not trying to say that PK is not dangerous, because it can be. Also, I have not seen any evidence of Alex's ability. Was he sizing up a jump that he should have been capable of doing? It sounds to me more like some guys going up on a roof to see if they could clear a specific gap, as much to show off to their friends as anything. Of course its not fair for me to say that because I wasn't there, but nowhere does it say "they were doing a run" or running from here to there ... just "Went up on a roof to jump ..."

to me, that's not Parkour. It could be a part of Parkour, but lining up a single roof gap is a very narrow minded approach to parkour. I won't say that it can't be, because I think it depends on mindset, but I don't think Alex was in a state of awareness and peak mental acuity ... I think rather unfortunately his last thought was probably "oh s#$%^".

As for this adding credibility to PK? I'm not sure where that question even comes from, unless you're planning to go write an article for the Enquirer

Better ...

How about:

Yeah I think that all about sums it up.No matter what we do people will still go back to PK,(new thought?)  because no matter what you do it's very hard to stop feeling bad about. (new thought?) When things like this happen to people it is in our nature to blame something and PK was one of those things- even though it's not the most logical answer(s), it is one, and people always come up with different things don't they. (completely new and incomplete thought) Just think about when you were at school or are.  (think about what when you were at school?)

Not trying to be mean here, just trying to help you make sense of your thoughts!!!

I believe that if practiced properly, parkour is monumentally more likely to save your life than to take it.  i mean...the art of running to/away from somewhere.  also the added fitness, spacial awareness, agility, etc is likely to help you prevent falling, etc.

Sure, injuries happen, but hopefully our added physical ability will amount to more than just 'jumping around'.  Knowing how to run, drop from height without breaking your legs, and clear obstacles quickly are skills that could very well save your life.  (not incredibly likely, but hey, 's**t happens')

parkour isn't for the reckless, you wont last long jumping off of things without a proper sense of your limits. 

When it comes to pk, everytime we go out and people see us there is inevitabley someone who tells us that we are going to get hurt, i remember quite well in Toronto a man telling me i was a "f***ing idiot" and pointing out a man in a wheelchair telling me that was how i was goign to end up. But the point they are missing is that we risk our lives everyday, we could be out fighting, doing drugs, throwing rocks at each others heads or any number of life endangering things, but we do parkour because we train to do it. As we train we better our abilities to perform movements safely and in control. So through parkour we learn to control the danger we put ourselves under, rather than senselessly put ourselves in the face of death, we put ourselves in a position to control our lives. that's why it is stressed that one must only do things that one is ready for, so that they can remain in control. Parkour offers us a chance to truly live, to process the farthest extent of our lives rather than only looking on and watching it go. For the same reason that inner city school programs offer sports like boxing, so that kids can be in a controlled evironment rather than on the street where anything can happen. In that same line of thought we take the probability of danger and lower it by doing things we have practiced, trained, and prepared ourselves for.

agreed even though that was about a dumb a** amount over his limit even though it wasn't a big gap. Still feel bad but the best thing to do is to pay your respects and laugh, (it cures cancer ya know  ) lol