Parkour has made me feel like I’m one jump ahead

Parkour has been a big part of my life for many years now. It fades in and out in terms of my level of dedication but I feel it will always be present in my life in one way or another.

Parkour is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the sport of traversing environmental obstacles by running, climbing, or leaping rapidly and efficiently.”

Parkour is simply the art of getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Freerunning is getting from point A to point B as stylistically as possible, utilizing various acrobatic-type tricks that are not absolutely necessary to get to the end goal, but that instead demonstrate more flair and technical skill. Many times parkour is used as an umbrella term for all of the above, given the fact that most practitioners practice both disciplines and the two are rarely isolated. Practitioners are known as traceurs.

Like most traceurs, I first learned about parkour from watching videos of people doing incredible stunts online and, naturally, I wanted to try it myself. I started at age 14. I believe it was somewhere near the end of my freshman year of high school.

Of course, I started with the basics, such as simple vaults, climbs and, most notably, the parkour roll. The parkour roll was something that I had tried to perfect for a long period of time. To me, it was really what made someone a traceur because it is what enables you to be able to jump from heights, land and run away unscathed. This is due to the way it displaces the impact of a fall. I had probably dedicated months to that specific skill, perhaps never getting it absolutely perfect.

Gradually I progressed to being able to do basic flips and tricks like the front flip and the backflip. Over time I have more or less lost the ability to perform these movements due to the fact that it has just been so long since I have done them.

I would like to regain some of my skills at some point in the near future, and I am certain it will not be as challenging as learning the moves from scratch. This is because, in my experience, the body has an easier time relearning something than it does learning something new.

I believe that one of the biggest life lessons I have learned from the sport over the years is how to push your limits without going too far. In all the years I have done parkour on and off, I have never sustained any substantial injury from it. This is because I never pushed myself over the edge.

The danger associated with parkour is also a bit overdramatized. There was a study done in 2013 that asked a total of well of 200 traceurs about their injuries in the sport. The surveyors found that injuries in parkour are not very typical and the injuries that do occur are usually not very serious.

I have failed many times. If you never fail then you are not trying hard enough at something. In the same breath, if you are just cautious enough you can avoid getting hurt.

I believe that this concept can be applied to all facets of life. You should push everything to love to the limit. The key is to not go over that limit.

Parkour has taught me to face fears head-on. Whenever I was reluctant to try out a new trick (especially a flip), the only way I could start progressing was to just throw the trick. You are seldom going to land something on the first try, but once you get over the initial fear of attempting a new trick it is a lot easier. Then you can just keep trying over and over until you get it right.

This idea has also helped me in other aspects of my life. Most times when I am really afraid to do something, testing the waters and trying it out always makes it much less scary.

As David Belle, the man credited with creating parkour, once said, “Obstacles are found everywhere, and in overcoming them we nourish ourselves.”