Reposted from Undaunted's weblog: Seattle PI Parkour Article - A look back
by Undaunted
The article Athima Chansanchai wrote for the Seattle PI is still one of my favorite articles done in the Pacific Northwest. It was written way back in December 2005 before this blog was even started but I’m surprised I never put it up before.
These are the instincts of traceurs, adoptees of a French-inspired sport called parkour that is part obstacle course, part pushing the limits of urban architectural functionality and all adrenaline-pumping excitement.
Here’s the history on the epic jam we had that day ...
It was planned originally as cross-borders jam #2 since we were trying to get some of the guys from Canada to come down. They never came but people from all over Washington and Portland did and it turned into one of the best jams we’ve ever had. Around 22 people ended up showing at Freeway Park, with 3 professional photographers and ton of general camera devices and media people. Having so much media around was pretty fun, but my favorite part was just jamming with all of the amazing people there. Click here to see the photos.
Parkour allows big kids to channel Spiderman with the fearlessness of younger days, balanced with the wisdom of adult discipline and safety. Traceurs range in age from the late teens to early 30s and they typically have some kind of background in gymnastics, martial arts, break dancing or acrobatics. But they can also come in cold, like Sam Wilson, 25, of Mukilteo, who joined a group of experienced traceurs at Freeway Park on Sunday afternoon.
I met a lot of great people that day and forged some very lasting friendships. It’s funny to look back at how far the people mentioned have come. Rafe, Sam, Janine, and I are all now on the board of representatives for the Pacific Northwest Parkour Association. Rafe is now teaching obstacle course classes at the gym he works and has traveled to France to learn more about natural method training. Janine has gone from one of the only women training at that time to one in a growing great community of female traceurs due in large part to her great leadership. Sam has injured himself like fifty billion different times ;-). And I’m…well, explore around and see for yourself. "It’s a great sport for them to be involved in" she said, shivering as her sons ran up and down the immense concrete waterfalls at the park, "it teaches them how to use the environment around them and to challenge themselves."