Run, jump, play: Intro to Parkour

Posted on 30 March, 2016

You may remember in Issue 3 of Magazine: The Hidden Edition we brought you a list of Canberra’s most surprising sports.

If you haven’t heard of Parkour, you should YouTube it immediately. What you’ll find is footage of incredible athletes treating their cities as their own urban playgrounds – running, flipping, leaping and swinging off whatever obstacles they’re faced with.

It’s such an incredible activity but I’ve always wondered – how on earth do you even get started? It’s a question that probably crossed Eliot Duffy’s mind when he started training Parkour a decade ago.

“I started training parkour back in 2006, and have been teaching since 2008. When I started, you really had to search for any information about parkour and there were no formal teachers. I started working closely with the Australian Parkour Association, which was founded in 2006 and aimed to spread parkour throughout Australia, and I’ve worked with them ever since as the ACT State Representative, Treasurer and Vice President (at various times). So parkour has been pretty central of my life for a long time, and I hope that it stays that way!”

Now, you can get a taste of what Parkour is all about, at the Canberra Parkour Association’s Intro to Parkour event this Sunday the 3rd of April. One of the things that that spurred CPKA to create this 16+ event is the misconception that parkour is solely for children.

“We wanted to run a workshop to show that, actually, it’s more for adults! We have run classes for many years, we wanted to offer a new experience and target those who might have overlooked parkour before. Kids have always climbed, jumped, and played; but adults are told by social norms not to do these things. We train them to break down those barriers, we teach them to control their body, learn about the parkour philosophy, and that they can play and exercise without paying $100 a week for a gym membership and PT.”

It’s not just the price tag that sets parkour apart from other activities (Eliot hesitates to call it a ‘sport’, because parkour is non-competitive). It’s more about learning about your environment through play and exploration.

“In addition to the physical aspect, parkour practitioners actively train a mental philosophy of altruism and utility; that you should do all that you can to help; that you should be able to help in as many scenarios as possible; and that training should be slow, steady and enduring to ensure you remain fit, strong and ready throughout your life.”

Like the sound of parkour but afraid you’re too uncoordinated? You needn’t fret – this an introductory class, which means all levels of experience and fitness are welcome.

“Our classes are structured in a way that everything can be scaled to suit your level of strength, fitness, and agility. Many of our students have no backgrounds at all and think they are too uncoordinated, but this isn’t the case. We take you from step one and allow everyone to progress at their own pace.”

You’ll be in safe hands, with two senior instructors (of about 10 in Australia) and two to three assistants, there will be over 20 years of cumulative experience on site.

Although the class will be starting on the north side of Glebe Park in Civic, participants will move throughout the city, so you’re encouraged to bring a backpack. Make sure you wear clothes that you can move in, a good pair of runners, water and sunscreen.

If after Sunday you decide that you want to give parkour a go, the Canberra Parkour Association run regular weekly training sessions across Canberra, and plan to run more advanced workshops in the future.

Image of ‘girl practising…‘ via Shutterstock