The 7 Play Rhetorics – ideologies that have been used to explain, justify, and privelege certain forms of play as identified by Brian Sutton-Smith.
The Modern Rhetorics:
Play as Progress Play for healthy human development and education, from child to adult
Play as Imagination Play as a means to access imagination, creativity, and innovation
Play as Selfhood Play as a form of self expression, relaxation, and escape. The pursuit of individual hobbies
The Ancient Rhetorics
Play as Power Play as a contest of players in competition or conflict–in sport, economics, law, war, philosophy.
Play as Identity/Self Play as a means of constructing and understanding social identity within a community through activities such as rituals, festivals and events.
Play as Fate and Chaos Play as games of chance and gambling, under the belief that human life is controlled by destiny (gods, luck, etc… not by free will).
The Seventh Rhetoric
Play as Frivolity Play as a defense against all attempts at social authority and power–laughter, subversion, tomfoolery, etc.
We feel marginalized, unimportant, defeated by our circumstances. There is a constant sense of being ‘less than’ and not good enough, and an even stronger story that suggests we have no power in this world to meaningfully create the change we want to see. Our personal success is measured only against the success of others, and there is always someone more powerful than them, exerting, controlling. We are victims or failures, always falling short.
We can see this mindset manifested in our lives every day as we cautiously navigate harsh office politics, struggle quietly through school, work, & test anxiety, burn out in unforgiving sporting competitions, and ruthlessly pick apart our imperfect social lives & families.
It’s a mindset that is unforgiving, and leads to a sense of depression, insecurity, and powerlessness.
We need a way to break free.
Cue: Parkour
This is why parkour has resonated deeply with so many people, especially those who regularly face stress and externally-driven competition in their lives. When you confront and overcome a particularly difficult mental or physical challenge in parkour, when you lift something very heavy, when you send a problem you’ve been working towards for hours: you feel powerful. You have a deep, direct, embodied experience of that shows you to yourself that yes, you can.
Can you recall that exuberance, that exhilaration of achievement that expands in your chest when you overcome a physical or mental challenge encountered in your practice—your jumps, climbs, and lifts? And how you are not only ready but eager for the next?
You feel strong, capable, and satisfied. You feel a sense of fulfillment and hunger. Joy.
And through parkour you can go out and feel that any time you want.
You Have The Tools
Through the practice of parkour, you begin to deeply understand that YOU have the tools and the power to overcome your obstacles & challenges by
The consistent training of your body and mind,
Embracing failure as a healthy part of the process of growth (and subsequent patience in those failures)
Seeking reconciliation with yourself & others in those shortcomings, and
Creatively and openly seeking new paths to old problems.
…And that power you feel? It is gold. It is clean and honest. It is not the power you find through the domination and control of others, but rather the mastery and control of yourself. This personal power is more than an attitude or state of mind; it is a sense of vision, of personal generosity, creativity, and self-assertion.
These critical skills, this positive mindset: This is where the magic of parkour really happens.
Through the emergence and nurturing of your personal power and your practice of parkour, you will eventually also start to realize you have the power and ability to face any of the obstacles in your life with a similar mindset. The skills and sense of power developed originally by jumping on things can spill over into other areas of your life: work, love, family, finances, etc. If you can learn to channel that power and repurpose those lessons from parkour, you will be unstoppable.
…Ok ok. So let’s just be real here for a second.
No, the world will not change because you are doing parkour, climbing, or lifting, or whatever it is you do to get to this place. The obstacles you will face will still be real, painful, ugly, brutal, and sometimes unjust. Your boss might fire you, your work might be unfulfilling, a coworker might take advantage of you. .Your exams may overwhelm, your student debt might feel crushing, your peers will still compete against and compare you. Your family may fall apart, your lover may cheat, and your health may end up failing. The people in your life, including those that you love and trust, may end up judging you, belittling and marginalizing you, betraying and abandoning you.
So don’t get carried away. Parkour cannot change the world.
But it can change your world.
Parkour can give you a new mindset, a deep, personal sense of power to overcome obstacles in your world—where you will be able to approach those obstacles not as fearsome walls blocking your way but rather opportunities for growth and learning. You will be prepared to face a challenge from a place of patience, calculation, self-honesty, and love: and a knowing that you willsucceed—even if it is not how you expected.
Because you are powerful. You are strong, capable, focused, in control of your emotions, and creative. Powerful is not a state of being but a way of living and thinking.
So there it is. Finally, I understand. This is why I want to share parkour with others. This is why I took up the helm at Parkour Visions, and continue to run the Women’s Gathering andThe Art of Retreat, why I helped found The Movement Creative, the Movement Game Library, and the Movement Snacks initiative. Why I run around like a crazy person, working 80, 90, 100+ hour weeks trying to increase access to opportunities for parkour and play.
I’m not here competing with anyone. I’m here living my vision for a better world, trying to give to others a taste of their own personal power.
Because everyone should have a way of living that empowers them.I want to help them find their power.
This is my calling.
This article was updated December 2018, and originally published in 2017.
Movement & Play is an antidote to most of the personal suffering that human beings experience. On some deep level almost everyone feels insecure, afraid, separated, isolated, and unsure of his or her own authenticity and value.
Unstructured play or movement for the sake of movement is a highly authentic form of self expression. By setting our own challenges and seeking our own solutions we engage in a very deep and personal form of self-empowerment and honest communication. It may take a long time to move without fear of judgement, unknowing preconception, or need for external feedback, but ultimately this process of discovering your movement and creating and exploring your body is one that leads to an truly honest understanding and expression of self.
Through long term movement and in overcoming our challenges we release ourselves from our insecurities. The universal nature of movement as a fundamental human activity helps break down barriers of isolation, for all need and participate in movement on some level.
Movement reaffirms our sense of individuality while welcoming us into a larger global community.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
Physical & Psychological Health
It goes without saying that there are serious psychological benefits to integrating movement into your everyday life. Movement releases chemicals and hormones that positively impact your mental state. It also of course positively impacts your body.
Physical Intelligence.
Movement is a path to physical intelligence: being able to use your body in any scenario effectively. You fine tune the various senses and abilities, from balance to explosive power generation. Your body is like an intelligent machine, and the more frequently you use it, the better you get at handling it.
Upkeep of the Vessel.
Take care of your body; You only receive one body in this life. Your body is kind of like a car. The longer you have it, the more miles you put on it, the more worn out it will become. It is of the utmost importance that you take care of it to the best of your ability, by putting in good fuel, winterizing it correctly, repairing parts as needed.
You only get one body in this life. It is your responsibility to take care of it. Your body is the vessel of your soul; the more healthy the vessel, the better off the soul. We move to keep the vessel healthy, and in turn the soul happy.
Privilege
If you have the use of your body, you have the responsibility to use it. Do not be so frivolous to take advantage of a privilege you have been given. Not everyone has the use of their limbs.
Social Development
Movement, especially in the form of play with others, is an amazing medium through which to explore and develop a social identity. Movement with others will begin to reveal to you your own insecurities and fears, as well as your personal strengths and confidence. Social movement allows you to explore different fantasies, as well as test out various versions of potential interactions. You are allowed, within the safe space of play, to explore who you are.
Joy
I move because it brings me joy. Movement is one of the greatest pleasures, the use of our human bodies. It can be as satisfying as physical intimacy, as pleasurable as difficult mental puzzle, as gratifying as any great pleasure in the world.
Movement is joyous because movement is primal. It is essential to our human nature. To move is to return to that primal nature, to tap into some larger, historical energy that spans time & space. Everyone moves, before and after. Movement is apart of culture, society, our history as human beings.
Movement is joyous because it is mine. No one can take movement away from me. Even if I had to sit still, I move. My spirit moves.
Power
I move because it makes me feel powerful. The task of facing an obstacle, creating a strategy, testing that strategy over a course of time, refining, retesting, and ultimately overcoming (in one way or another)… this kind of mental and physical endurance to achieve a physical goal. I love it. It makes me feel like I can accomplish anything I set my body and mind to.
Movement is one of the most all consuming and providing sources of power. Through movement, I am capable of anything. In Movement I am as capable as the next human being; nothing can hold me back. I don’t need a degree, I don’t need past experience. Everyone comes to the table with everything they need to excel and achieve human greatness: their bodies and their minds.
And you don’t need to necessarily have full or healthful function of either of those things in order to derive the power that comes through play. Again, the truest form of power in movement is the setting and achieving of personal goals, the realization that you are capable!
POWER.
Purpose
One of my favorite quotes from Marcus Aurelius goes as follows:
“In the morning, when you rise unwillingly, remember this thought: I am rising to perform the work of a human being. Why am I dissatisfied if I am going to do the very thing for which I exist? Or have I been made for this; to lie in my bed-clothes and to keep myself warm?”
You speak words, and they alter the universe. By merely speaking you can create damage and pain, cause tears to fall, drive people away, make yourself feel better, make your life worse.
