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Statement on the Red Bull ‘Art of Motion’ Event

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7Erik7:
February 2011

''Parkour UK in its role as the National Governing Body for the sport of Parkour / Freerunning would like to issue the following statement regarding the event entitled Red Bull ‘Art of Motion’ which will take place on Sunday 20th March 2011,
6 – 9pm at the Royal National Theatre, London UK.

Parkour UK is in no way affiliated with Red Bull or the Red Bull ‘Art of Motion’ event and its opinion as the National Governing Body is that the event does not accurately reflect the core principles and values of Parkour / Freerunning. Parkour UK, believes the ethos, philosophy and spirit of Parkour to be concerned with individual strength and well-being and that the sport should be practised in an environment of co-operation and not competition.''


Note for Editors:

''The sport originally termed Art du Deplacement, now also referred to as Parkour or Freerunning, was founded in France in the 1980s by a group of nine young men who called themselves The Yamakasi. Yamakasi is a Lingala word loosely meaning 'Strong Man, Strong Spirit', and summed up the original and still core aim of the discipline - to be a strong individual: physically, mentally and ethically.

The Yamakasi founders were Yann Hnautra, Chau Belle, David Belle, Laurent Piemontesi, Sebastain Foucan, Guylain N'Guba Boyeke, Charles Perriere, Malik Diouf and Williams Belle. The term ‘Parkour’ was first introduced by David Belle in 1998. Parkour derives from the French word Parcours meaning ‘route’ or ‘course’
The term ‘Freerunning’ was the creation of Guillaume Pelletier, a representative of a group of French practitioners involved in the production of a Channel 4 documentary, Jump London, in 2003. This term was used in order to communicate this amazing new sport to an English-speaking audience. As Parkour UK is a sport’s National Governing Body (NGB), we refer to Parkour as being a Sport. Our description*, of Parkour as a Sport is:''

What is Parkour / Freerunning / Art du Deplacement?

• Parkour / Freerunning / Art du Deplacement is the non-competitive physical discipline of training to move freely over and through any terrain using only the abilities of the body, principally through running, jumping, climbing and quadrupedal movement. In practice it focuses on developing the fundamental attributes required for such movement, which include functional strength and fitness, balance, spatial awareness, agility, coordination, precision, control and creative vision.

• It is a sport that encourages self-improvement on all levels, revealing one’s physical and mental limits while simultaneously offering ways to overcome them. It is a method of training one’s body and mind in order to be as completely functional, effective and liberated as possible in any environment.

• The sport aims to build confidence, determination, self-discipline and self-reliance, and responsibility for one’s actions. It encourages humility, respect for others and for one’s environment, self-expression, community spirit, and the importance of play, discovery and safety at all times.

The description above is to describe Parkour as a sport and does not fully describe the art / discipline / philosophy of Parkour as a whole.

*The description of Parkour as a Sport is currently under consultation and is open to amendments. This definition is to define the sport of Parkour and not the discipline / art / philosophy as a whole. Amendments’ can be submitted to Parkour UK by 30th June 2011.



Parkour UK 7th Floor, 90 High Holborn, London WC1V 6XX
www.parkouruk.org


For PDF:
http://www.parkouruk.org/download/redbull.pdf

Ryan Sannar:
This is very very well written, thanks for the info.

Ian Want:
Its been a while since I read this so I thought I would hit it up again.

They are saying the event doesn't reflect the core values and principles of the sport, which may be true. It doesn't REFLECT them to the public very well.

However, (IN MY OPINION) I think that the Red Bull AoM is a very good presentation of cooperation. Its companies, athletes, and fans all coming together to have a good time, watching/doing what they all love!

Athletes doing what they do for tons of people.
Fans having a great time watching something insanely cool.
A company sponsoring something WE ALL LOVE, and getting some advertising in during the event.

Does Red Bull's presence REALLY change what everyone is there for? How they see it? What makes the event awesome? If we wanted PK/Free Running on the world stage so people could make a living doing what they love, SOME ONE had to sponsor an event like this. At least it wasn't something silly like Microsoft or Google. RB is at least relevant with what we are doing. (Keep in mind I said RELEVANT... not necessary.)

7Erik7:

--- Quote from: Ian Want on April 05, 2012, 12:00:36 PM ---Its been a while since I read this so I thought I would hit it up again.

They are saying the event doesn't reflect the core values and principles of the sport, which may be true. It doesn't REFLECT them to the public very well.

However, (IN MY OPINION) I think that the Red Bull AoM is a very good presentation of cooperation. Its companies, athletes, and fans all coming together to have a good time, watching/doing what they all love!

Athletes doing what they do for tons of people.
Fans having a great time watching something insanely cool.
A company sponsoring something WE ALL LOVE, and getting some advertising in during the event.

Does Red Bull's presence REALLY change what everyone is there for? How they see it? What makes the event awesome? If we wanted PK/Free Running on the world stage so people could make a living doing what they love, SOME ONE had to sponsor an event like this. At least it wasn't something silly like Microsoft or Google. RB is at least relevant with what we are doing. (Keep in mind I said RELEVANT... not necessary.)

--- End quote ---

I see your point, and of course there is good things about competition. But the problem is that competition doesn't neccessary go in line with long term training, not showing off/impressing people, and the core built of altruism etc. The other obvious problem is that its not a parkour competition. Its a competition restricted to movements representing itself as a parkour/freerunning competition. So in that case its not true at all. These people are liars because of that and also because its not a world champion competition, because not everyone is present.

Parkour isn't supposed to be cool. I don't think the fact that people want to do a living out of what they love is an argument for competition. It's a reason, and that reason rather have to do with ego. Ego doesn't justify it. Nor does 'having fun' justify it.

And yes, competition do change the view people have. Parkour is generally seen as a performance aspect in the media which glorify roof jumping and acrobatics. Look on youtube. People upload seems to upload videos just in order to show off their skills, with no real purpose than just that. Because I honestly don't think many people think ''Hmm, why do I want to upload a videos?'' You ask them about the origins of parkour and they will most likely understand nothing or refer to Jackie Chan or something. You question them more, they may tell you not to argue but to train (yet they dont know what they train and yet they call it parkour) If you could see why they did acrobatics, the answer would most likely be because it looks cool. There is no doubt why there is so many injuries. Just look at the injury section at this board. Then think about all non-reported injuries.

Competition isn't going to spread the principles of parkour. Its going to spread the competitors personal principles about it, and it does not go in line with parkour. As a matter of fact it goes in the opposite direction.

First, do not allow any cameras or specators. Throw away the red bull can. No talking either. Let these competitor go hungry 24 hours, with no food, no water - nothing. Then put them through hard physical conditioning until their muscles pump battery acid and they can barely walk. Let them walk in monkeywalk until their hands, feet blister and bleed, and their muscles hurt. Let them crawl through dirt until their fancy clothes isn't visible. Inflict pain on all of them, then let them train alone in the woods while its cold and raining for a few hours. Then then can all go home, change clothes, take a icecold shower and sleep on the floor instead of in the bed. Since they're eager to prove themself, and since they're World Champions, they better prove themself in front of themself only, with no form of recognizion or reward. You put yourself through all this just for yourself.

So if these people really wanna label themself as World Champions and stop being hypocritic showoffs just looking for a good time and personal pleasure, please, they can at do some of the basics of parkour. Why not hitup with David and learn the real parkour? See if these people last for a week with him.

Not trying to say I am better than someone else. Just saying that these people don't have a clue what they're talking about. At least I don't go around and brag about myself and glamorize myself in the media and/or label myself as some kind of master, and at the same time saying: Its a competition but its not uh, a competition.

If they want to do it for real let them do it for real.

I realize many people see parkour as a form of physical movement only. Some people in the competition aspect sometimes argue its- 'doing what you want'. This is not true. It is by fact a certain method of training and thinking that derives from various sources such as George Hérberts teachings. Its the same with the people who believe Jeet Kun Do is ''doing what you want''. This is not true either. As a matter of fact there is a reason why Bruce Lee gave out ranking systems and a certification. Its the same thing with parkour. There is a certain understanding of it.


So the conclusion is: These people understand less of parkour than what I do.

Jason C. Astor:
"First, do not allow any cameras or specators. Throw away the red bull can. No talking either. Let these competitor go hungry 24 hours, with no food, no water - nothing. Then put them through hard physical conditioning until their muscles pump battery acid and they can barely walk. Let them walk in monkeywalk until their hands, feet blister and bleed, and their muscles hurt. Let them crawl through dirt until their fancy clothes isn't visible. Inflict pain on all of them, then let them train alone in the woods while its cold and raining for a few hours. Then then can all go home, change clothes, take a icecold shower and sleep on the floor instead of in the bed. Since they're eager to prove themself, and since they're World Champions, they better prove themself in front of themself only, with no form of recognizion or reward. You put yourself through all this just for yourself."

This actually sounds fun to me!!

You should go on youtube and check out "MovNat" then go buy a book about Kung-Fu, then meditate, then realize how competitive you actually are, then go do all the things you were talking about up top. Then search the web for ANY of the original Yamakazi boys saying AoM competitions are bad. Then look Up Sebastian Foucon "Dancing on Ice" which is a competition

Just saying

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