By; Henry Collie

It's everywhere isn't it? That electricity in the air. It's almost as if every nerve has been replaced with copper wire all being powered by a sub-atomic car battery!... Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but you know what I mean. Parkour has exploded into society and is still expanding rapidly. Everyday something new pops up which is related to parkour. It's an amazing example of how persistence and a supportive community can change the world. One of the main contributors to this is the huge amount of coverage, not just by the media, but by traceurs! There are a lot of videos and articles all saying parkour should be used as more than just a training method, but also as a principle for life. However, none of the articles that I've read have actually explained exactly what that means.

I don't presume to know, but I think maybe it's a good idea to explore the concept. Yes, let's all start to apply it to our daily lives and take a step towards mental happiness and future success! That's great, it's a wonderful idea. But, er..... How? Yes we can all take the philosophies and the principles and take everything as an obstacle to be overcome. But again, er..... How exactly does that apply to something "every day" like a job interview? I mean, it's not as if showing my possible boss some "killer" moves will make him say "You know what, I think you're perfect for analytical accountancy!"... Ehem.

Imagine you're faced with that age old dilemma of hearing something that was said by a friend (let's call him Tom) about another friend (let's call her Sue).  You're unable to tell Sue what you heard because then you would be betraying Tom and Sue would quite obviously cease to be Tom's frie-, I'm going to say pleutonic companion. What can you do? Just as in parkour, if the approach to this obstacle is wrong then the outcome will be uncomfortable.  Just like with a physical obstacle, there are usually many different ways of overcoming these types of social barriers. Also, like parkour, when working on dilemmas like these you have to leave wherever you tread structurally sound.
 
It can sometimes be demoralizing to see those who are able to simply breeze through life no matter what happens. The ones who don't appear to have a care in the world. These people in terms of parkour would probably be the same as those traceurs who just seem to pick everything up instantly. But, how do we take the millions of problems that present themselves in life and make them applicable to the ideas which parkour and free-running represent? The same question could be asked of the physical sport itself. How do we make each obstacle just as passable as the last? In both cases, I feel that the answer probably lies within a hell of a lot of practice and determination!
 
What if, instead of training for parkour and life as separate entities, we join the two together and cross-train for both? For instance, we take the mental aspect of life and think of every obstacle as another dilemma and we take every dilemma as an obstacle. Again the question might be how but just as in parkour it's something that has to be worked at and every approach must be thought of differently. Just as in parkour there is no definitive response it's all up to your own imagination!
 
Parkour is about thinking outside the box! Instead of walking the pavement we tread our own way and that's what we have to do with life!
 
So, what about Tom and Sue? Well quite frankly, no-one knows the answer to this dilemma. These kinds of situations are individual, tailor-made obstacles. Like parkour, you can try to take someone else's advice on how to proceed, but in the end it's probably not going to be quite what you're looking for. So, what about that interview? The best thing to do is to do what's natural, because if  you aren't naturally right for the job, then the entire (career) movement will end up being a shoddy waste of time anyway! I mean, what the heck is analytical accountancy? I think I made that up! (If not I'm sorry to any analytical accountants out there. I'm sure it's a lovely job!)

At the end of the day, I think that the idea behind using parkour training in life is for us all to try and see everyday hang-ups as just another critical thinking problem. That's all parkour is anyway, right? It's an excercise in thinking outside the box in order to be at harmony with one's environment.  I'm going to start a thread on the forums so everyone can discuss what this means, because if we can find a way to feel as good in life as we do in parkour... em... Well, you catch my drift right?
 
Henry Collie is a student at Gorey Community School in Co. Wexford, Ireland. He trains wherever he can, but mainly on the rather docile streets of the town. He writes for The Freerunner when he's not acting or playing guitar. If you have an article you'd like to see Henry write or comment on something he's written feel free to contact him at Henry_and_jonathan@hotmail.com (this e-mail address will be changing soon).