One of the sports disciplines that have gained more popularity in recent years is parkour. This is a physical discipline that works directly with the motor ability of the individual. Practitioners are called traceurs and aim to move from one point to another in an environment as simple and efficient as possible, adapting to the demands of the place with the sole help of their body.
Parkour can be practiced individually or collectively, in fact, more and more groups of people are dedicated to execute this practice together and take advantage of all the benefits they can get from it, which range from fun to development of impressive physical skills.
Every kind of Parkour consists of two parts. The first is a warm-up and physical conditioning, which looks quite intense and strenuous. At this stage, the students work with their own weight and do bars, quadruped, squats and push-ups, exercises that allow them to prepare their bodies for a more demanding activity such as the following…
This second part has to do with learning Parkour techniques: climbing fences, maintaining balance, jumping obstacles, passing walls, making precision jumps, among others. Here, the learner needs to adapt his body to the demands of the discipline, which involves the use of a lot of physical strength, concentration, coordination and balance.
In the case of beginners, the class gives them the opportunity to improve their fitness level by participating in a variety of creative and entertaining activities, as the main feature of Parkour. Despite being a discipline that requires the same level of dedication and responsibility as others, many of the children and adults who decide to practice it do so thanks to the fun and entertainment it offers. In this way, children, for example, are introduced to skills in rings, parallel bars, pommel, high bar, vault, fall, floor exercise and trampoline.
Like martial arts, Parkour has a philosophical dimension. “It’s not just a sport. It is a life lesson.” affirm many athletes. For that reason, it is prudent to understand that both in Parkour and in life you have to face obstacles daily and learn to overcome them. This fact can be evidenced in a Parkour class since students must strive to overcome different challenges every day. This sports forces you to get out of your self-absorption to be able to inhabit your body and travel through space in the present, also, it is a form of language that allows people to express themselves through the body and its movement.
So, yes, this is what a Parkour class looks like. For its practitioners, it is a unique moment in which they can enhance their physical abilities, get the most out of their body and, at the same time, express themselves and have fun. It is a fascinating and very peculiar practice, destined to catch the attention of more and more people.
