It’s called Parkour and is a cult rage among a section of youth. But on Wednesday, when an engineering student slipped and lost his life while following his friend leaping from one building to another, questions are being raised about this underground activity.
Vinay Sagar, an IT professional and Parkour practitioner from the city, says that they follow “a strict no-rooftop rule. New-comers are first made to learn basic fitness exercises like running, jumping, swimming etc. Most of them are only attracted to the crazy part, which is not what Parkour teaches you,” he explained about the activity which he picked up while in college in 2007.
For those who have not heard of it, Parkour is a training discipline that involves physical activity like climbing, jumping, vaulting and swinging and uses those movements to get past obstacles, mostly in urban areas.
Parkour, which was developed from a military obstacle training course, is a discipline that might ‘seem cool’, but is intended to basically help us in our everyday life, say its practitioners. The fact that it looks like a freestyle workout, where people come together and practise moves, is what makes it intriguing, as the only thing a person needs to practise is some natural obstacle.
“It is more of a philosophy, like Kung Fu, which says ‘To be strong, to be useful’. That is the difference between Parkour and other things like gymnastics. Humility is also a core principle here, because we don’t believe in competition,” said Vinay. The idea of the discipline is to be efficient and fast to move from point A to point B without the help of any objects.
What draws people to Parkour perhaps is some of the moves which involve jumping from rooftops. YouTube videos/tutorials are often where those interested look for tips, and then play it out. Sridhar Thaduri, another practitioner from the city, who was inspired to practise Parkour after watching the documentary ‘Jump London’, also looked up YouTube to learn some of the moves.
“We do research about what we do on YouTube and break down the moves. We practice them at natural obstacles like Moula Ali or public parks on weekends,” said Sridhar. Some of the better known moves among practitioners are the Monkey Vault, Kong Vault, Cat Leap, Speed Vault, and the Wall-Run. Both he and Vinay said that a lot of safety and precaution would be taken before any of them are attempted.
While Sridhar is part of a group called Team Karma, Vinay used to conduct sessions for interested people in the city. “I am recovering from an injury, after which I will start practising again,” said Vinay. He added that so far they have not been stopped from practising by government officials. Both of them stated that a lot of caution is taken before any activity, and that practitioners ensure that no one is disturbed and that vandalism is a strict no-no for members.
