Patrick..
It's a good and passionate message BUT:
Before you turn that in...proofread it!
Possible revisions in blue: (sorry, I'm a teacher..couldn't help myself)
Dear Mrs. Stordeur,
This is Patrick Holten, I came in today to
speak to you about starting a Parkour club,
not a Free Running club, which was my regretful mistake. I was just thinking it over and I am sorry
for your inconvenience to inconvenience you but I just didn't really sell it to you or even show you the video of it I had in my backpack, because I was so let down at the news you shared with me, so hopefully this will clear everything up for you and will make up for
the lack of information I told you today.
Now I know
you mentioned you knew what the sport of Free Running was; I presume because of the flips you have seen
people do on TV and
stuff other media. However less than 9/10 people
couldn't could tell you what the discipline of Parkour which is what I do, actually is,
being Parkour is totally different from Free Running. Most people associate Free Running with the huge flips you see
men people do off of 12 foot walls, or jump off of buildings for fun, so it has made a bad reputation for itself, being seen as reckless or being just for the adrenaline rush. In Free Running all you have to be able to do is a simple flip, or jumping from height, which many people can do. However many people are not dedicated enough to take on Parkour which in and of itself is a discipline like martial arts and dance. Free Running is just regarded as a hobby or sport if you will.
I see the point you are trying to make, but be careful in contrasting the two too much...they are, after all, nearly parallel disciplines. But Parkour is almost 100% different from Free Running, but is were spawned from each other. Parkour, sometimes called, "The Art of Movement, or Displacement", is the art of clearing all obstacles in their path in the most fluid like manner possible. From point A to point B and back, you might say, as efficiently and effortlessly as possible, using only the abilities of the human body. Parkour is a physical activity which is difficult to categorize, some say it is like skateboarding just without the board but that is still very very far from what it is. It is not an extreme sport, but an art or discipline that resembles self-defense in the martial arts. It is often said that
Parkour is in its own category: "
Parkour is
Parkour." Each obstacle a traceur
(someone who practices Parkour) faces presents a unique challenge on how they can overcome it effectively, which depends on the, speed and angle of approach, the physical make-up of the obstacle, etc. Parkour is about training the body and mind to be able to react to those obstacles appropriately with a technique that works. Just like how like a traceur clears obstacles and challenges in Parkour, and in life people also try to combat their problems and challenges.
However in the discipline it may be less difficult to Utilizing Parkour, it is possible to overcome ones doubts and fears, and then
one can re-apply the same
mindset as in Parkour to life. Parkour mindset to life. For Parkour one must have a strong mind and body
, and through Parkour it strengthens both. Because of Parkour, today I am in the best shape of my life. What most people don't know is that the majority of the
stuff activities we do is conditioning, because
the way to excel in
the disciple this discipline is through repetition and
, yes
, conditioning. So for the club
's first semester we
will would spend
doing mostlymost of our time conditioning combined with the basic movements, and second semester the same
thing but more focused on honing members
personal technique. My whole summer I spent in Boulder, CO in a Parkour school and we spent 85% of the time conditioning, and running
. They also taught me all the precautions and training methods. So in this club daily we would do various exercises, such as running, stretching, and conditioning (building muscle memory and muscle mass). Other than that
, for the club
, all we really need is a mat, which we already have and a box or low object to vault (to pass over an object especially with the use of the hands) and a narrow object to balance on. And I remember you said today that the club will encourage the members to go out and hurt themselves, but the members who are joining have been training for years with me in a supervised gymnastics facility, where we are safe with pads and foam. So when we practice the moves for the first time we will regularly meet at a gymnastics center as a club every Saturday, for all members even experienced ones.
Along with the whole insurance and safety issue, is one point, the high Regarding your concerns about safety and insurance, let me assure you that the majority of the things we do
itare at ground level
. So if we do mess up we only fall two feet if at all, so like I was saying before it is not at all a reckless or extreme sport. As of now Cheerleading is ranked as the most dangerous sport
., so I GVH has much more dangerous activities, and clubs (Roller Hockey Club which I was on) than Parkour
, not saying that it is really dangerous at all .
It Parkour mostly consists of three movements: running, jumping/ leaping, and vaulting,
simply, no flips or highly dangerous movements will be performed. I myself was prohibited to jump above 4 feet my first year until
youI could build up the strength to take impact from higher
drops. so everyone else will be prohibited as well. It is my intention to exact this same attention to safety in the members of the club. So really my overall point is that Parkour is my only passion in life, and I want to share my discipline with others. Now weatherwhether or not we are allowed to make a real, true club, or even a "club" like frisbee club who just meet, is up to you, but I truly hope that you would reconsider making Parkour a true GVH club, possibly being the coolest and certianlty certainly most interesting club GVH has seen. Make this your closing argument, or use the one I typed below However the most important part of understanding Parkour
not Free Running is to see it, so here is a link to Colorado's Own Parkour Association videos including 2 videos of the many times Parkour has been in the news and media-
http://www.coloradoparkour.com/media_videos.html - click on the 3rd and 4th videos from the top for the news segments. And check out
http://www.coloradoparkour.com/index.html - and under NEWS on that page you can see all the many events they have been involved in, Most recently, the
principle principal of Skyland Community High School in Denver, read about Parkour in the Rocky Mountain News and asked the Colorado Parkour Association to come to their school and show the students what it is all about, and now they are going to incorporate it into their school. Just look at the first topic under NEWS for the whole story. And if you want to read more about it, here is what the New York Times wrote about it, click the link bellow -http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/travel/escapes/29Parkour.html?8dpc
You should also link the Jump Westminster video GVH has the opportunity to be at the forefront of the Parkour movement; bringing good fitness and health to students who are not as attracted to traditional sports. I urge you to please reconsider allowing us to practice Parkour at GVH. I am sure that, once you see the safety in which we practice, and the positive effects it has on student's health that you will agree that Parkour has a place at GVH.-Thank you
very much for your time Sincerely, Patrick Holten
:-) Kill the happy face, it's no good in a formal letter
