Catch da Flava Radio - Parkour

For our Thursday, March 15th show of Health Talks Radio, we talked about the death defying sport known as Parkour. Parkour is a training discipline using movement developed from military obstacle course training. It’s the idea that the person wants to get from one point to another in a complex environment without assisting equipment, so they just use their bodies in the fastest and most efficient way possible. It includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling and such- so movements that involve using your arms and legs all at once.

It was developed from the military and gives it some aspects of a non-combative martial art. It can be practiced alone or with others and usually in urban spaces. What’s great about it is that it involves seeing the environment in a new way, imagining the potential for movement around the space. It was developed in France mostly by Raymond Belle and then his son and their group of friends during the 80's. It has since been popularized in the 2000's like the recent movie "Brick Mansions".

Ironically enough, it turns out that there is a place where one can learn some of the basics in Toronto! They offer classes for youth, adult and teens. There’s also a class specifically designed for all females as well, which is very interesting. Some of the questions we asked were have we participated in Parkour or know anyone who has and what was the experience like, and what type of background do you think the type of people who do Parkour are from? Like average homes, their culture, gender that stuff? You'd be surprised at what some of our responses were, one of us mentioned that they believed some of these guys came from mid-average homes. For example maybe some of them do this because they've achieved everything else school wise and still aren't sure what they want to do for the rest of their lives. It can be stressful and this activity could be the happy place for them.

We hope you've taken something positive from all of this, and have learned something. We’d like to thank the panel for participating and hope it motivates everyone to find their inner wild side.


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