Peter Pan would be proud. A new sport is sweeping the nation – helping people never grow up. Parkour, the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one’s path by adapting one’s movements to the environment. The object of parkour is to get from one place to another using only the human body and the objects in the environment.
“The advantages are pretty much limitless,” James Redenbaugh, a parkour enthusiast, said. “A great source of confidence, great way of overcoming phyisical and mental obstacles, it’s an awesome stress release, it’s the best workout you can get. it trains you to be safe and not hurt yourself.”
Global trend turning local
The Syracuse Parkour Club practices in and the Syracuse University Campus.
“We’ll go around the city, too,” Rafe Emerson, another Parkourer said. “Armory square has a lot of great places to practice Parkour.”
Redenbaugh said while they are out practicing, they turn a lot of heads.
“Of course we get people that wonder what we’re doing,” Redenbaugh said. “People are concerned, thinking we’re going to hurt ourselves.”
Including Syracuse University.
Curtailing dangers
“If we see someone doing it, we will ask them to stop and cease.” Brian O’Hara SU safety Specialist said.
It’s a safety concern to the university. Syracuse is treating Parkour like skateboarding. It is acceptable as a means of transportation but tricks are right out.
“We got an email a couple of weeks ago, telling us to be on the look out for this kind of acrobatics and stuff. If [we see it], It goes back to what I originally said. On the spot we would ask them to stop and it would go up the ladder from there.”
Up the ladder from a warning to a meeting with the judicial board for students. And for non-students, a charge of trespassing.
But Redenbaugh said he’ll continue to Parkour.
Said Redenbaugh: “We tend to just travel around and find anything and everything we can climb on”
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