Below is the a rough transcription of a talk delivered at The Feast in 2013.
Can we have a heart to heart for a second? Exercise can suck! I’m sure many of you agree that getting fit and staying there can be a pretty tedious task. Running on the treadmill for hours can be mind-numbing, as can strapping into exercise machines, and lifting weights…over and over, day in and day out, all in the name of meeting some unrealistic standard of beauty…
When approached like that, yes, fitness is absurd. When we are forced to do such repetitive and simple movements, that sometimes are so physically enjoyable, of course we just zone out, stop paying attention, and try to just get through it. We find ourselves counting down the minutes, the seconds, until we can leave the gym and just go home!
We miss out on all the joy movement has to offer. and to me–that’s whats absurd.
The human body was designed to move, and designed to enjoy movement. Our ancestors ran through trees, climbed over rocks, and play games. Movement was a defining part of life. And somehow over the last century we’ve redefined it as a chore–no more important than doing the dishes or taking out the trash or mowing the lawn, if you’re lucky enough to have one!
So I’m here today to change the way you think about exercise–to give you an alternative to the fancy gym memberships, expensive equipment, and ultra competitive team sports. I’m here to give you a tool that can turn the hard work of exercise in to play… and that tool is Parkour.
Parkour is a discipline focused on natural human movements. Movements such as crawling [action] balancing [action] jumping [action] swinging [action] and vaulting [action] Beyond the movement, Parkour is a discipline of overcoming obstacles, both mental and physical. You can be both creative and critical. You learn the difference between good risk and bad, and how to cope with the uncertainties in your life. You can begin to understand your capabilities and where your limits lie.
Lessons from Parkour
I’m sure at least a few of you are wondering–How can the practice of Parkour teach you these things? Well–lets take a closer look:
1. You can first practice Parkour in its safest form–by staying low to the ground and focusing on control, patience, and building an understanding of your body in space.
2. With time, you can advance and begin setting yourself isolated challenges that are either more physically demanding, which requires a deeper understanding of your abilities, or more mentally demanding, forcing you to face fear and trust in yourself
3. Alternatively you can utilize dynamic movements and focus either on: (a) building greater efficiency, which forces you to problem solve and quickly resolve a path over under through or (b) fluidity, which gives you space to be creative and innovative with your body.
4. You can even just opt to practice Parkour through games, which lets you to think less on the technique and focus more on just enjoying movement.
The list goes on. There is no right or wrong in Parkour, for utlimately you set the rules. We have no standards of success or gold medals to win. You need only to come out and try your hardest. Because in Parkour we celebrate effort over achievement. It doesnt matter if you cant balance your first day or jump. Maybe you wont be able to get up and over your second try or third. Inevitably you will fall but you will also learn to get back up and to try again. This is because you are not working to be better than everyone else but better than yourself.
And therein lies the first, and most important thing you need to know about Parkour, and movement in general, and that is–that there is no barrier of entry. There is no such thing as being too old, or too weak, being too busy or not good enough!
But I dont expect you to completely believe me when I say fitness can be fun, especially after 5 short minutes. As Buckminster Fuller once said that “If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool the use of which will lead them to new ways of thinking.”
So, after a short demonstration by members of our community, I’d like to invite you all over to play, and, perhaps, pick up that tool that will change the way you think about fitness and yourself.
WANT MORE?