Thank you for the update, Sha. I was signing the petition as you were typing your update, it appears! For the record, here is the comment I included:
Under existing laws (NYC Parks Department Rules, section 1-04(I)), certain areas and structures of the park are off-limits to climbing and related activities. As the parkour practitioners who use the Battery Park space are now aware of these laws, there is no need for further expansion of regulation to include the elimination of Parkour from the activities that New York's citizens enjoy in New York Parks. The distinction between climbing on a park structure, as defined in NYCPDR s. 1-04(I), and the general practice of parkour, is a critical and important distinction which, if not made, threatens civil liberties.
Please allow me to be so bold as to use this as an opportunity to share some thoughts about the necessity for proactive, positive p/r, as it affects all of us:
We all agree to and abide by the "be respectful of authorities when they ask you to leave" rule. But this is not enough. It is a
starting point, not an end.
Response to parkour from authorities is like cockroaches: for every one you see, there are hundreds you don't. I'm not saying the authorities are like cockroaches, I'm saying their responses to parkour practitioners are. For every person who sees a traceur training, who calls the police to report it, there are dozens more who don't report it. These peoples' reactions are mixed and varied. We cannot control or predict how those people will interpret parkour, or what their previous exposure has been, or what their media experiences have been.
What this means is that you cannot use police/authority reaction to your training as a barometer for the generic "public picture" of parkour out there, among non-traceurs, in your community. There are people out there who "get it" and people out there who patently don't, and the vast majority of them are silent on the subject. Hard to imagine, since parkour is so central to our lives; but for most non-traceurs they might get a blip or two on their radar, find it interesting (or dangerous, or hooligan-y, or whatever), and then forget about it.
This can be a recipe for disaster,
unless you are proactive about it.Don't wait for the authorities to come, and then respond to them respectfully. Go to the authorities and begin the education process. It's not a matter of walking up to City Hall and just walking in and asking to speak to someone. It is a long, continuous progression (that should sound familiar to most of us). You have to get your positive message about parkour into their minds and their understanding
before they have the opportunity to hear about it another way. So when someone calls the police to report your activity, the officers can respond with, "Oh, it's parkour. Yes, we know about it, we'll go check it out, but I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," versus, "There are people climbing things? We will send someone right away!"
So how do you go about it? It will vary from community to community depending on your local culture, the size of your city, and other factors. But here are some general tips:
1. Think beyond the police. The police are usually the first responders, and the first official community members to interact with us. And it's usually predisposed to a negative interaction because they are responding on behalf of a concerned citizen. It's their job to protect the citizens from danger (perceived or real), or to at least check it out. Their role as first responders makes them seem like a logical first step in your outreach efforts. But the opposite is usually true.
Instead, think of other entities within your local government who would be receptive to parkour. Public Health departments, school systems, youth groups, urban outreach programs... these are the kinds of entities that are more likely to "get" parkour and be receptive to its positive aspects right out of the gate. Seek them out and contact them. Let them know about a positive new activity that could benefit their organization (and mention specific examples: healthier citizens, better self-esteem for kids in rough neighborhoods, better academic performance, etc.) Position yourself as an authority on parkour and as a
resource for their organization. Leave it open to pique their curiosity ("I'm sure our organization can help you achieve your goals of XYZ. I'd be happy to set up a time to meet with you to discuss ways in which we can work together for the betterment of ABC."), and try to arrange a meeting. There, you can present a positive message.
2. Have a product or service already in hand to offer. Don't just show up to the meeting and talk about how great parkour is, and hope they love it as much as you do. They may need help seeing in concrete ways how your parkour organization can help their organization. So be ready to present a proposal: free workshops for youth groups, a performance/demo at a city event, etc. It helps if you can dovetail it with something the city is already doing. For instance, if the city has programs to get people more physically active (e.g. offering tai chi in the park or something), offer to partner with the tai chi group and provide balance and agility workshops (not strictly parkour per se, but it's a small progression in that direction... you get the idea).
3. Start small. If you try to go too big too soon, or try to go straight to the top, bureaucracy will get in your way. Don't start by trying to offer training to the city police and the mayor's bodyguards. If you try to start there they will ask for insurance, waivers, permits, etc. Many of these things are tough to come up with if your organization is small or informal. Instead, try to find a smaller niche to start in. For instance, offer to do a couple of workshops with Boys and Girls Clubs, or be a guest speaker/demonstrator/coach for a high school gymnastics team for a while. Through your professional delivery of these workshops and what have you, you will establish a level of "professional cred" that you can leverage for bigger fish later on.
4. Stand and deliver. From your very first "gig," whether it's a small youth workshop or a side-stage demo at the county fair, bring your A-game. This does not mean you bring your biggest and fanciest tricks. What this means is you bring a level of excellence and professionalism to the project that will wow people. Be on time. Dress appropriately. Keep safety at the forefront, always. Don't curse/swear, or use foul language. Don't spit or farmer blow. Use please and thank you and yes sir/yes ma'am. Thank those who gave you a chance to perform/do a workshop/train/get your foot in the door, and thank them profusely and repeatedly. Show that you work hard. Don't be a d00d. Even if you're doing a 10-minute demo on the side stage in the rain at the East Jesus County Fair, you are still representing all of parkour, and all traceurs, for all of us. Don't let us down.
5. Be aware of connections, and follow them to their natural conclusions. Network, network, network! Is your cousin in a bowling league with the police chief's brother-in-law? Use the next bowling night as an opportunity to plant a positive seed about parkour in the right person's ear. After your stunningly professional demo at the County Fair, do some research and see if the Fair coordinator works with anyone else in government that might be interested in parkour. Contact that person, and mention the fair.
6. Ask, and ye shall receive (sometimes, but often enough that it's worth it). Once you've made one small positive connection with a government official, no matter how "small" on the totem pole, explain the challenges that parkour is facing (don't complain, explain). Ask graciously if your connection has any recommendations for next steps, either names of other people to contact, or other outlets for your group. Most people in this situation are happy to help out and will gladly give you contact information or other suggestions that you can follow up on.
7. Give a little to get a little. You will have to stick your neck out and be willing to go 75% to get the other person's 25%. It won't usually be a 50-50 relationship in the beginning. This doesn't mean you should just sit back and get taken advantage of, but it does mean that you have to show a very obvious good-faith effort to get parkour on positive footing. Because parkour is so misunderstood, a lot of non-traceurs who are willing to support it early on are risking quite a lot. Always be mindful of that risk they are taking on your behalf, and make it clear that you appreciate it and are willing to go the extra mile to ensure their risk is minimized. They stick their neck out for you, you have to give 110% to make their decision to support parkour look good (and by extension you will make parkour look good).
8. Repetition works. We see this in our training all the time, right? It's no different for parkour p/r. Get the positive word out early, often, and in a broad sense. So the newspaper did a great positive feature on your group last year. Maybe it's time to give them a heads-up about the great community service you're doing. Like they say at Parkour Generations, "Once is Never." One article or positive feature won't cut it. If you don't know how to write a press release (properly), learn. More importantly, have something truly newsworthy to communicate. "Johnny did his first backflip," = who cares (besides Johnny and his crew)? "Parkour Group X is doing an obstacle run for the United Way" = newsworthy. This means you have to hustle to always be coming up with newsworthy events for your group, and staying on top of the press releases. Just getting together and training when people feel like it won't cut it.
9. Repetition works, part 2 (also referred to as the Chinese Water Torture). Every chance you get, put in a positive word for parkour (without being an annoying demagogue). It's like salt in food--a little sprinkle here or there enhances the flavor, too much is bad. Drop a couple positive sentences about parkour into regular conversations with non-traceurs when they become relevant. For instance, if you're at school and talking to a teacher about a large project or difficult assignment, mention that your parkour practice helped you focus during a study break and you were able to finish it. Or if you are volunteering at a hospital and your mentor brings up smoking, mention how you have seen how parkour can help people quit. Don't go on and on about it. Keep it simple, a few positive comments here and there. Over time they add up.
10. Talking points. Politicians use them for a reason. People have remarkably short attention spans. Stick to, maybe, 5 (let's say: safety, utility, respect, leave no trace, physical and mental strength). These are your anchor points. Don't get into protracted arguments with people, or go on and on like an enraptured cult member. These turn people off. Instead, respond to peoples' impressions with a corollary talking point:
"Parkour, eh? Isn't that where you jump off buildings?"
"No, actually. It's definitely not that. Parkour is a very safe activity when done properly. Most of what you see on TV is not a good example."
And STOP there. They will experience a moment of cognitive dissonance, where they thought they knew what something was, and then were told (by presumably an expert) that it was wrong. Let them wrestle with it. 90% of the time this inner conflict will prompt them to ask you for more. Give it to them, little by little, as they ask for it. But stick to the Talking Points until your audience is ready to hear the nitty gritty. This means that in order to be successful here, you will have to LISTEN to your audience more than you will have to talk to them.
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The bottom line is, as ambassadors of parkour, and we *all* are, whether we like it or not, we have a responsibility to be proactive about how its image is spread. This means not waiting until the authorities have been called (or have seen parkour misrepresented on TV), but being in control of the message they get, so their first impression is the best impression. We have to reach out to them, to everyone.
You will get the most success if you frame your message-sending in small steps, dedication, repetition, and respect (huh, kinda sounds like training, eh?).
I hope this post is helpful to people. I kinda just started babbling.
Having (so far!) established a pretty successful community in southern Wisconsin, I thought my experiences might be useful to some.
BACK ON TOPIC:
Thank you again, Sha, for this update and for your hard work with New York. Best of luck to you; let me know if I can be of any help. We have positive relations with our mayor and several police jurisdictions in our city. Madison, WI is not New York, but if anything we can do to help you out comes up, let me know and we will try.
