For PDF of # 20 right click here and - Urban Freeflow

share common interests with me. They are an amiable
bunch. When I decided to hang around with a group
about ten strong, I noticed a transcendence in how I
perceived reality. Because I could relate to the peers
there so much, I was losing myself in their crowd. My
soul felt like it was floating up to heaven and I was
losing control of my conscious being. This implication
frightened me and I quickly tried to throw myself back
into reality, but now I realize it is not such a bad thing to
lose yourself in the crowd, particularly the
well-mannered one I was with.”
Thus, one stops being an individual and becomes a part
of the whole body of Parkour, a mere hand or foot if you
will, which is still important for the whole to work, but
forces the control and inhibition of one’s individuality
to become broken and lost. The energy of the “many”
takes over, and you find yourself capable of movement
you have never experienced before the group. This is
the power of the Parkour community, and one that each
practitioner must experience in order to progress any
higher within the sport and life itself. Parkour needs all
of its practitioners to realize that in order for it to
become greater, each member must become greater.
The Best Community is an Educated Community
“A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be
prepared to take the helm.” - Henrik Ibsen
And the best way to achieve a higher level in anything is
through education. I would be the first one to admit that
there is great power in knowledge attained from reading,
whether that is reading your local newspaper or studying
Kantian ethics. There are plenty of resources available
to us traceurs, and we should continually read these
resources, reminding ourselves of the basic moves and
learning about the newest ways to overcome obstacles
throughout the world.
But, do not be fooled by popular university-models;
education is much more than text books and classrooms.
Education comes through experience as well, and one
can never have too much experience. Thus, training
should be an every moment practice, seeing through the
obstacle of stress and capturing the meaning of every
sliver of time. The body should be prepared at all times,
as the traceur experiments with every weather, dress
code, and environmental condition. The traceur must
venture outside of the safe walls of the security illusion
and absorb the world around her: the bad with the good.
Most of all, the greatest education comes from
interacting with other human beings. To learn about
the human condition straight from the mouths of those
who are within it is the best way to gain access to true
humanity. There is not one human being who has failed
to teach me a grand lesson, and there are still times that
reflection on past interactions and conversations with
other persons helps me in my current and future position.
Other people help each of us grow and reach higher
levels, as well as help the group on the whole evolve.
For me, this is the true meaning of community.
Thus, an educated community is a great community, and
great communities can occur anywhere. But, where do
you find the best community? Is it outside or in a
gymnasium? Is it in the downtown heart of an urban
center or the tree-riddled landscape of nature? Next
month, I will explore the physical presence of Parkour,
examining where it occurs in the world and why. So, tell
me, where do you Parkour/Freerun and why? Should
Parkour be practiced only in the outdoors, or should it be
practiced within the safety nets of a gymnasium? This
article relies on your help, so let me know the GPS
coordinates for your Parkour training ground and we will
see if we cannot get a bearing on where Parkour occurs
and why. I look forward to hearing from all of you!
Until next month…keep training, shine on, and share
what you know with someone new!
Suggested Further Reading: Ralph Wilcox – Sporting
Dystopias: The Making and Meanings of Urban Sport
Cultures
JC “Sage” Greening can be reached via email at:
james.greening@urbanfreeflow.com or Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/jcgreening