Will I be able to fly like Superman?
Could I leap off buildings and climb walls like Neo in the Matrix ? Will I fall at the first hurdle and injure my spine?
These are some of the questions that run in my mind as my cab driver negotiates the crazy traffic on the Outer Ring Road.
I am on my way to my first parkour class, conducted by Chaos Facktory, one of the premier parkour training institutes in the city.
Parkour is a fitness regime that uses movement to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without assistive equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible. It was developed in France.
It includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting and rolling. Over the years, thanks to the proliferation of YouTube videos and high speed internet, parkour has become popular in namma Bengaluru, with thousands of professionals signing up for this unique fitness programme.
As soon as I reach the training centre, Chetan De Souza, one of the founders of Chaos Facktory, tells me, “Get ready for exercises. We make everyone participate in our classes. I am sure you will enjoy it.”
I start the exercise with stretches and am nervously eyeing a bunch of people jumping from one of the hurdles with apparent ease. Chetan says, “We have developed a regimen that makes it easy for people to adapt.
“These are students are attending their first class and they are able to perform such exercises with relative ease.”
He adds, “We start with strength exercises before moving on to movements. It is important to leave fear behind. Parkour is all about testing the limits of your body."
“You start with stretches, move on to hurdles, then basic jumping and vaulting exercises and finally more serious routines. It uses body movements to provide a creative workout.”
“We do not see Chaos Faktory as a business venture, but as an avenue to spread more awareness about this art form.
“We started in 2007 and have grown in leaps and bounds. We have trained thousands of students and have played an important role in bringing the parkour community in Bengaluru closer. We deal with our careers during the week and meet to practice during the weekends.”
As I make attempts to leap off the first bunch of hurdles, I am guided by one of the trainers, law student Dhruv Uttappa. “I started with parkour when I was 14. I loved “Assassins Creed”, a video game and was fascinated by the manner in which the characters in the game could just move about so freely climbing and jumping roof tops. I soon discovered more about the art of movement known as parkour and saw there were tutorials available on YouTube and started off with trying stuff I would learn on tutorials.
A year later, I saw the members of Chaos Faktory these other guys who were practicing similar stuff in a park and so I went and talked to them. I have been training with them since.”
After about 15 minutes of jumping through hurdles, and being trained in different manners of crossing or bypassing objects, we reach the end of the session with a series of stretching exercises that not only ensures all muscles undergo a workout, but also provides a strenuous yet fun workout. One of the students, Aishwariya S., an IT professional points out, “I was a dancer and learnt about parkour from my friends abroad, when I was in the States for a course. I chanced upon these classes after searching for good classes in Bengaluru for almost eight months. I realized that much of parkour was doing something we used to do as children, run, jump and stretch. We learnt the same techniques. It has helped in me a lot in strengthening my body and I can do more than 50 push ups. It has helped me as a dancer as well. I feel that parkour combines a good exercise regimen with a superb art form.”
