Thanks to Sarah Skidmore for her insightful coverage of Parkour! She's written an article for Associated Press which is not sensationalist nor portrays parkour as a daredevil extreme sport. Charles Dharapak filmed the accompanying video in DC and did a good job of fairly portraying the difference between Parkour and Freerunning. Levi Meeuwenberg explained Freerunning to Charlie and this helped him discern between the two. Tyson Cecka did a few runs and some experimentation with a route which proved to be a nice demonstration of Parkour. Billy "skipper" Hughes talked about the possible dangers in Parkour and that taking risk is not what Parkour is about. Mark Toorock, as usual, just talks :P William Schultz was also there for the filming but didn't get much coverage this time. The video can be seen here and will no doubt circulate, the article is already in 4 to 5 publications nationwide and will no doubt be widely published. Read more for the complete article.
Parkour's popularity taking off in U.S.
Saturday, July 12, 2008 11:36 PM PDT
By Sarah Skidmore
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — At first glance, parkour practitioners look like modern dancers unleashed on an impromptu obstacle course.
Usually
seen in cities, parkour involves jumping, rolling and vaulting over,
under and through the objects found in a typical urban setting.
Traceurs, as parkour enthusiasts are called, strive to move as directly
and fluidly as possible, using only their bodies and the objects they
encounter to propel themselves forward.
Parkour may require
vaulting a wall, jumping off a ledge or leaping over a railing, but
devotees say there is more to it than being a daredevil.
“We
don’t want people to see parkour as something crazy,” said Adam Dunlap,
a 21-year-old in Beaverton, Ore., who teaches parkour. “It’s hard work
... the creativity comes from training.”
Parkour has its roots
in France but its popularity is taking off in the United States. The
relatively new and largely underground practice, sometimes also called
free running, requires strength, agility, discipline and guts.
“I
think it’s just humans moving the way humans were meant to move,” said
Mark Toorock, a leader in the U.S. parkour movement. “People were meant
to jump, climb, play.”
Traceurs are often self-taught or gather
in groups to “jam” in parks, college campuses, or anywhere they are
inspired by the constructs of an urban landscape.
As parkour has
grown in popularity, so have the opportunities to learn the discipline.
Parkour-inspired classes are sprouting up in gyms, online forums are
growing and Toorock wants to take it to the level of a professional
sport.
“It’s not that parkour is this new fresh thing,” he said.
“It’s kind of human rehabilitation, which is getting back to what we
are meant to do.”
Some participants say parkour resembles martial arts in the mental and physical discipline it requires.
It
tends to draw the younger, male, daredevil sector. But in the
parkour-related classes Dunlap teaches, he has everyone from young
children and 30-something women to middle-aged men.
Parkour has
caught on in popular culture, as well. The movie “Casino Royale”
featured a parkour chase scene. K-Swiss and Nike have had ads
showcasing traceurs doing their thing in company shoes.
And
Toorock, founder of American Parkour and a member of a group called the
“tribe” that dominates the American Parkour scene, says he gets a phone
call a week from people wanting to make reality shows about people
jumping off buildings.
He always says no.
To him and
others dedicated to parkour, it’s not about jumping off things.
Although many will admit that was part of the initial appeal.
“It’s very serious,” he said. “It’s about increasing your own capacity to eliminate risks.”
|
|
Users' Comments  |
|
|
Only registered users can comment an article. Please login or register.
|
|
) this article portrays. 
