Their most memorable parkour experience came in while backpacking in Europe. Slated to spend a few days in Amsterdam, Matt posted a message on a Dutch parkour community's Web site asking if anyone was interested in meeting up for parkour training. Before they knew it, 30 people of varying ages, abilities, and nationalities met at a train station for a parkour "jam." "There was someone from England, someone from Germany who only spoke German, and a lot of kids who only spoke Dutch, but it didn't matter - we were all speaking parkour," Matt says. This experience demonstrated the powerful ability of parkour and the Internet to bring people together.

Now that Matt and Greg are experienced traceurs, they are looking to spread parkour by beginning a club at BC. Though the club is not yet official - the approval process begins in mid-October - the Milanos set up a table at Student Activities Day and had about 140 people express interest and sign up. No experience is necessary, and once everyone learns the basics they are able to progress at their own pace.

Many students are excited about the opportunity to practice parkour, never having been afforded that opportunity before.

"I became interested in parkour in high school, after seeing a video called 'Russian Climbing' on YouTube," says Matt Cullen, CSOM '12. "But it was really hard to form a club or anything so I was really excited when I heard that someone was trying to organize something here."

Greg is equally excited about sharing his knowledge of parkour with other students. "These guys are going to progress so much faster than me and Matt did, since they'll have someone showing them proper technique," he says. He emphasized that correct technique is the key to parkour.

"Even though the media portrays parkour as crazy jumps between buildings, nobody will even be three feet off the ground until they've mastered the technique at ground level."

Though some movements can appear dangerous to onlookers, safety is one of the most important tenets of parkour. A central motto is "être et durer" - "to be and to last." In order to avoid injury, Matt and Greg go through rigorous warm-up and cool-down routines that consist of stretching and calisthenics. This whole-body conditioning is important not only to avoid injury, but also to achieve the strength, balance, and agility required to become an expert traceur. Additionally, the noncompetitive nature of parkour means that everyone is able to progress at his or her own pace and only do what is within their means.

"We aren't going to make you jump a 14-foot gap, but if you have the ability to we would encourage it," said Greg.

One of the most interesting aspects of parkour is how it reshapes a traceur's view of the world. Before being introduced to parkour, a low wall is something that must be walked around to get to the other side.

After being introduced to parkour, the same wall becomes an obstacle that can be bypassed in a number of different ways: vaulted over using one of about a half-dozen different vaults, jumped over, or jumped onto. Greg has termed this change in view "parkour vision" and spoke of how he can be walking through any location and see the lines that he would take to pass through the environment. "It changes your perspective on life completely," Matt says.

< prev Page 2 of 2

Article Tools