WAMJAM, thank you ma’am: Women in parkour
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Three weeks ago, we spoke to Eliot Duffy of the Canberra Parkour Association about their Intro to Parkour event.
We were thrilled to hear from Eliot that a third of attendees were women (including HerCanberra readers), particularly considering that there’s nothing we love to see more than women kicking butt in sport.
Cue my introduction to Kat Vincent, ACT Rep of the Australian Parkour Association and a traceuse (female parkour practicer) herself. I met with Kat is to find out more about the second annual WAMJAM: National Australian Women’s Parkour Jam, taking place right here in Canberra.
“The event was started by a really awesome lady in Melbourne called Suzi Miletic because basically, up until really recently, [there was] not a lot of female participation at all in Parkour and if they have been in the community it’s been very transient and they haven’t hung around,” explains Kat.
Like me, you might be wondering what, exactly, a ‘jam’ entails.
“It’s an organic, unstructured training event,” says Kat. “Basically how it would go is you might pick a run, which would be a few techniques, a jump or a vault, and see if you can all do that, and then build on it. You feed off each other to have a really good training session, very rarely does it ever become competitive.”
Kat says it’s the lack of competition that often draws people to participate in Parkour. It’s not formal, there’s no levels, and everyone is welcome. The first Jam was held in Sydney at the Australian Academy of Parkour, Exercise and Self Defence (AAPES) and this year the event will be starting in Glebe Park, with a number of women travelling from interstate.
“There’s about 30 people definitely coming, and most of them are from interstate. People are coming from Melbourne, Sydney, South Australia, so it’s really cool. The goal is really just to get people involved and coming along and enjoying it.”
Suzi and Kat both identify the lack of women in Parkour as an issue. So what is it that’s turning women away from Parkour?
“I think it’s a bunch of different things,” says Kat, “without being too general, and I’m not an expert, but I think it’s largely an intimidation thing. What’s online and what’s on YouTube is the best of what anyone can do, you watch that and think ‘am I supposed to do that straight away? Because I can’t!’ so there’s an accessibility issue.
“Up until quite recently, there was very little footage or online presence of female tresseurs, and if you don’t see anyone of your own gender doing it, it just seems a step further away from what you’re capable of.”
Suzi started the Australian Women’s Parkour Facebook page to make parkour more accessible to women. It’s filled with events, footage of women practicing parkour and gymnastics, and women posting questions and offering advice to one another. It’s a reassuring sign that women are infiltrating the world of parkour.
Kat says that with practice and support, her confidence has increased. “Now when I watch girls doing really hard runs, I think ‘I should be able to do that, and I can’, it’s encouraging, where it’s easy to be like ‘as a woman, I’m never going to have that strength’, which isn’t true either.
While Kat admits that she found classes very difficult when she started, Parkour is now a part of her life.
“This is my third year. I started going to the weekly classes, and I wouldn’t really describe myself as someone who would like it – I wasn’t good at it straight away. But it was insanely good for fitness and strength, insanely good for whole body fitness.”
While Kat’s reaped the physical benefits of parkour, it’s more than just fitness.
“The more I got involved, the more fascinating it became, especially how you look at normal suburbia and there’s this unspoken sort of implications and ways you’re supposed to walk and how you’re supposed to use that environment, and then seeing people challenging that– it really just makes you look at where you are completely differently. There are no weird boundaries anymore. It’s all accessible.”
If you love the sound of parkour but you’re not quite ready to launch in, you’re welcomed to attend the Jam as a spectator. On the other hand, if you’re excited to get involved, you’ll find yourself supported by the community, irrespective of ability.
“All the women that are going to the jam are really encouraging” promises Kat, “so everyone should come to the event. If that’s not an option for you and you don’t know anyone in your community, especially females that are training, I would say just try it anyway. Be brave. I know it’s scary, but everyone is super supportive, it’s really like a big family.”
the essentials
What: WAMJAM: National Australian Women’s Parkour Jam
Where: Starting at Glebe Park, Canberra City
When: 10am, Saturday 23 April 2016
Details: www.facebook.com/events/955487234547785
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