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Scare Mongers - TIME Magazine

Friday, 06 April 2007

The title of this story barely beat out "Why Journalism Sucks" and "How to Make a Buck Off People's Fears". Funny, not being a very current events driven person, I thought that TIME magazine was a factual reporting publication, not something like the Star or Enquirer. Unfortunately, my naive little world has been shattered again- by this article "Student Stuntmen". Apparently, posting once on facebook is enough to link your death to an activity - I thought this had been readily dismissed, and clearly anyone who understands the first thing about Parkour wouldn't link it to a death from 140 feet up on a tower (with a pair of eye glasses and scarf left behind). Oh well. Then we have insurance claims, and the best mention of Akh's efforts at McDaniel (the first sanctioned Parkour club at a college) is about "architectural acrobats". Tyson comes off rather well, but even Demon is quoted with a slant towards danger, citing a line that appears in waiver forms for all kinds of activities, including, if you've ever read it, the one in hospitals and your doctors office "I AGREE TO EXPRESSLY ASSUME ALL RISKS OF INJURY OR DEATH". I'm sorry, but this is no more exclusive to parkour than a poor student jumping or falling off a water tower is related. When I spoke briefly with Julie, she said she was a dork and not familiar with Parkour, I had figured (ass u me) that she would become familiar before writing an article for TIME.

Users' Comments

Display 33 of 33 comments

1. 04-06-2007 14:26

*sigh*
so much for that.

akh

2. 04-06-2007 14:40

She definitely was biased toward the danger aspect which is unfortunate. She led us all to believe that the focus was going to be on the positive things being done with parkour at universities. An unfortunate spin for the article, but there are worse things that can be done in parkour articles.

New Yorker Magazine is coming out with an article on Monday that will truly show what quality journalism is about. They invested over 6 months of research, interviews, and fact checking into their article. This will show people what parkour is really about.

demon

3. 04-06-2007 14:45

I am disappointed by the mocking bash at the end...

"What if somebody came up with some kind of French term for dodging traffic?" Minger asks. "Dodge le traffique is great as long as I don't get hit by a car."

that just tick's me off

jag

4. 04-06-2007 15:40

Dodge le traffique? Runners called it "death tangents" 15 years ago. It's nothing new...

I'm looking forward to the New Yorker article.

btay

5. 04-06-2007 17:10

This kind of stuff really pisses me off. "Dodge le traffique." Barely any one stops to think about the point of things anymore.

Fantome de Vengeance

6. 04-06-2007 17:35

the kid was from U of I oh man. I'm at an IL college. I hope this doesnt make it harder on me to start a club. What was he doing on the tv tower? can anyone explain what move that could possibly have been?

YoungOne

7. 04-06-2007 18:29

I'm afraid your statement only perpetuates the problem ... "What move" is not a very apropriate question, as there is no "move" in Parkour that involves climbing a 140 tower for any reason. Unless he somehow saved someone else, this is nothing more than a tragic death, but that in no way relates it to parkour.

m2.

8. 04-06-2007 18:34

yeah... that was pretty bad, especially the "dodge le trafique" part. Still, at least she put some things about necessary training and fitness, like that part where new traceurs had to be able to run three miles. It does look like she tried.. kinda

Nate

9. 04-06-2007 19:15

People like this really need to get their facts straight, it's sad. And this happened like 5 months ago, and their just writing this now? I don't see how they could link it to parkour just because he's in a pk group on facebook. How retarded is that?

Sonikdude750

10. 04-06-2007 19:31

Is there any way to contact this "journalist"? I'd like to counterpoint her view of Parkour, and maybe remind her of a "dangerous" sport called racecar driving...

Rispearski

11. 04-06-2007 19:55

Its America, no one cares about anything except what they are gonna get sued for.

HCPK

12. 04-06-2007 20:09

This is why I hate to read/watch the news. this was the worst peice of garbage writing I've read in a while. If you find out how to contact this parson leave me a pm

zeus

13. 04-06-2007 21:47

Sorry to hear about this guys, I know a lot of that was taken out of context. Seems like she probably had her own agenda from the start.
I'll just wait until the New Yorker piece...

Kipup

14. 04-07-2007 00:07

d.jaafl;kh
I feel bad that my picture is in this.

bigninjapimp

15. 04-07-2007 04:22

No blame. You took the picture for a good reason, someone used it for a bad reason, it will happen, it will happen again.

m2.

16. 04-07-2007 05:19

the new yorker article will clear this up a bit

pete

17. 04-07-2007 14:48

Everyone email the author and politely point out the mistakes. With enough emails they might just print a revision.

Sorry you guys got so screwed on this. Its obvious that this is bad journalism and not the participants fault.

kaos

18. 04-07-2007 18:45

I just wrote this letter to the editor, and it was very hard not to just write HEY FUCK YOU DID YOU EVEN TRY TO GOOGLE SEARCH IT.

Dear Editor,

As a dedicated traceur, I was appalled by the ignorance displayed by the author of this article. She clearly has no idea what Parkour stands for or promotes. Even something as simple as going to the largest website devoted to Parkour in the US (www.americanparkour.com) or a simple search online for the term would have cleared up any confusion about the sport.

Had the slightest bit of interest been shown in the actual circumstances of Christopher Fu's death instead of writing it off as the end-result of Parkour, perhaps we would get an informative article. Parkour stresses the importance of safety and observing one's limits and in NO WAY encourages recklessness, a fact that was not only totally overlooked, but contradicted.

We are having a hard enough time getting campus authorities to understand what our goal is when we do Parkour, without having a story like this making us seem like delinquents.

Sredni Vashtar

19. 04-07-2007 22:37

I'm sorry this turned out like that guys

Shame it had to be TIME magazine too, ya know.

I'm praying that the New Yorker article uses a little more respect. I've got high hopes but this has left me a little uneasy.

quazar

20. 04-08-2007 08:21

Parkour is just the latest target for scare tactics. Several months ago there were news articles and journalism pieces regarding the "Dangers Of Leet" (for all you computer nerds out there).

What journalists fail to say, or fail to fully emphasize, is Parkour or Leet or Martial Arts or whatever is not inherently dangerous. It depends on how it is executed. A student is interested in Parkour, Parkour sometimes involves jumping off things, therefore the leap from the 140 ft. water tower was Parkour related and thus Parkour is dangerous.

Leet speak is used via chatting on the internet, predators on the internet know how to speak "Leet", therefore Leet speak is dangerous.

While the logic is obviously and horrendously faulty, it's one of the most commonly used "Scare Tactic Interest Pieces". Because Parkour is still in the underground and rising, it's going to be prone to mainstream attacks. In the age of the information super highway, one can get access to a multitude of Parkour Media. While this does help the Parkour community grow and expand, it also opens us up for further attacks by people who see David Belle taking a 20 ft. jump or see Chase Armitage perform a twisting wall flip and automatically assume that Parkour and Free Running is an insane and dangerous activity.

It is our responsibility as Traucers to educate the ignorant and the curious. Parkour will continue to be attacked, while we may be filled with anger and sheer amazement at the statements made in print, on television or in general, we need to respond with what we know versus what the attackers DON'T know or refuse to accept.

It must be emphasized again and again that the Parkour community contains some of the most dexterous and athletic individuals in the world. The ignorant must know that Parkour never ever, under any circumstances, pushes you to do do something life threatening or potentially crippling.

Above all else, Parkour is about flow, both in and out of the concrete arena. It's about grace and the path of least resistence with your environment. No matter if your environment contains brick walls and rails, or if it contains criticism and ignorance. As Lao Tzu wrote in the Tao Te Ching "The best way to live is to be like water..."

Carl Jibbs

21. 04-08-2007 08:24

I'm working on an email, but just for the public record here, there are a few glaringly false, or at best pitifully under-proofed points that really stood out:

"Grisly parkour injuries--from broken face bones to a bruised liver--have been reported to United Educators Insurance"

In what way were those associated with Parkour? Does an insurance company assume that an injury that happens while jumping a set of steps is Parkour? This is a blatant jump between two points to attempt to prove a point without any factual evidence...

"Participants must sign a liability waiver that is "valid forever" and includes such boldfaced statements as 'I AGREE TO EXPRESSLY ASSUME ALL RISKS OF INJURY OR DEATH.'"

Funny...that sounds like every other waiver I've ever seen...gymnastics classes, kids football, karate, dance...strange how their waiver of liability isn't so extreme...oh wait...it's exactly the same.

Haha, here's a great example of that:

http://www.sae.org/students/ waiver-liability.pdf

Seems like a waiver form for special events at a university has much of the same language! And here I thought that school was safe!

Ugh... :roll

gearsighted

22. 04-08-2007 09:48

This is not the first time I've been a part of something that's maligned by the media and misunderstood by the masses. I've been facing it in religious circles my whole life. I can't decide which becomes more frustrating or detrimental over time: the outsiders who skew the facts, or the insiders who are poor representatives. This TIME article is a classic example of the first. Truth wins out at the end of the day. You can speak up, through actions and words, and prove them wrong. Some of the letters written here are great. We should all try to send something in.

lauriejennifer

23. 04-08-2007 13:53

Don't get in to much of an uproar. Yelling at this writer won't make here change an bit other then to give here a resolve to bad-mouth Parkour again.

The 2 things we can do is find those better writers out there who will write the truth - like what is supposed to come out in the New Yorker and secondly, continue to practition Parkour with the UTMOST INTEGRITY.

These two actions will bring out better reviews and by our actions people will understand Parkour better and then that writer will have hung herself by her own words. This happens all the time. Anybody or any group that sticks its head above the crowd (does something different) is liable to catch a few tomatoes. And anyone who wants to moan about nothing and spin lies will but Truth WILL stand Testing.

Keep Running, Keep Practicing, and Keep yourselves Right!!!

Saint 7

24. 04-08-2007 15:21

Well, by no surprise, I have a very similar response to the rest of you. I thought the article was good... well the interviews at least... or the part about traceurs trying desperately to safely promote the sport. I think the rest was probably researched and written in about an hour. And of course the cheap shot at the end isn't helping. I'm so disappointed that TIME, of all credible magaizines, published such and INcredible story!

Back to the part of the non-profit. I'm just now beginning to do the same out here in San Francisco and would be totally open to any help or advice on how get moving and where to take it. I don't check APK as often as I should, but you can always find me on SFParkour.com in the forums.

For everyone else, keep fighting the good fight and let's do our best to prevent these demonstrations of ignorance from every being displayed rather than just reacting to them!

NoSole

25. 04-08-2007 16:31

i feel somewhat lame being quoted in this article after reading it. i was disappointed just as everyone else is in how it was mostly on how you can hurt yourself doing parkour rather than how interesting and great of an activity it is.

v3rt

26. 04-08-2007 18:53

I'm new to Parkour and apk. However, i've been a snowboarder for about ten years. I've been to various mountains throughout the U.S. and at each one (the big ones, anyway), whenever you buy a lift ticket, you have to sign a waiver that pretty much says if you get hurt and/or die, they won't be held responsible. But nowhere do you see people voicing their concern for people who partake it that activity. They may have 10, 15 years ago, but now they don't, because they've seen that for the most part it's safe. Hopefully, as word of Parkour spreads, the general public will see how beneficial it is for those who engage in it as well as how it can benefit the community. We, as traceurs, just have to do our part to make sure that each time someone sees Parkour it's given the best and most positive impression possible. We also have the resposiblity to not allow the ignorance of one article to leave a bad taste in our mouth. Remember, there are those whose first impression of Parkour was distasteful, but they kept an open mind and are now full supporters of it. One article is just that. Let's see what the future holds. It is, after all, up to us.

krakentech

27. 04-09-2007 08:26

Well at least he's wearing 5.10's

LOL

seriously, this article is messed up. there are some positives, but they are greatly overshadowed by the negatives.

Todrick

28. 04-09-2007 09:22

Being a journalist myself, I found the Time article amazingly offensive. A very biased article that I certainly wouldn't call "journalism." It's unfortunate that Time, of all magazines, had the audacity to publish such a piece. On the upside, I just got done reading the New Yorker article, and thought it was fantastic. Great journalism, and very positively looks at the people involved in Parkour, particularly Demon, Mark Toorock, and David Belle, as well as shining some great light on the philosophy of Parkour.

Tarrius

29. 04-09-2007 09:28

I feel for the family of the deceased. Hopefully this is be a reality check to the posers and those obsessed with 'stunting'. Leaving Parkour to the purest who are hopefully training hard but keeping their sanity. Parkour is not dangerous! But jumping off a 6 story building is. Even if you CAN do it doesn't mean you should, unless you have to. There are not too many occassions where we will have to jump from insane heights but it's great to be able to when it means saving a life or two.

daedal

30. 04-09-2007 10:12

What are you talking about???!! I'm sorry, but you're not making sense. Nobody jumped off a six story building, and nobody CAN, no matter what they are trying to do.

m2.

31. 04-09-2007 15:30

I hate all these ways they use to describe Parkour! Sneaker Clad Samurai? Steeple chase without horses? It sickens me.

The spread of Parkour is getting a bit out of hand. The more we get kicked out of places, the more of a bad rep we, as traceurs and Parkour gets.

Neon

32. 04-18-2007 15:11

So what could we do to change the view on parkour in the eves of society?

TheSheeve

33. 04-25-2007 12:37

I what form of parkour are you going to do from a tv tower?!?! Not even someone who knows how to do a perfect landing would try that shit. no matter how good you are there is a thing called intelligence that keeps you from climbing to the top of a five story TV tower to jump of off. I think this was suicide because no traucer in there right mind would ever think they could make that landing. I hate reading these news article's where they completly misinterpret parkour! it's a god damn travesty