My sons Darius and Javen are obsessed with freerunning, or parkour as it is known. So when they came to visit me during Spring Break, I searched on the web for parkour in Austin and ran into Matthew Lee Willis through my surfing.
More on Matthew in a second, but what is parkour? And why are my sons and so many others obsessed with this rapidly growing movement?
If you aren’t familiar, it may be tough to explain. Parkour is like gymnastics without a gym, skateboarding without a skateboard, and rock climbing without gear, all rolled into one.
Visually, it is reminiscent of those fantastical moves that Jackie Chan does in the movies – where he bounces off walls and slides standing up down a rail, only to roll into action.
Check out this short video:
In short, parkour is the art of expressing yourself via physical acrobatics. The only limits are the farthest reaches of your imagination and your immediate surroundings.
In practical terms, parkour is about taking the world around you and making it into your own private obstacle course, taming the landscape to your vision and expressing it physically through vaulting, climbing, ground rolls, running, leaping and more.
It’s also great exercise that the current generation actually enjoys. My sons both have 6-pack abs, and they are 14 and 11!
When my boys came out to Austin for Spring Break, I took them to see Matthew Lee Willis and the fine folks at Texas Parkour Academy.
Matthew is a former gymnastics coach who has followed his own passion for parkour and has created an academy for those who want to get involved. He is Parkour Federation Certified, First Aid and CPR certified and – most importantly – truly interactive and great with his students.
The Texas Parkour Academy offers workshops, bootcamps, youth parkour and a wide assortment of parkour classes for any age group and ability level.
My boys both loved the Academy. At the end of their Spring Break, though I had taken them to Six Flags Fiesta Texas as well, they said they enjoyed the Texas Parkour Academy the most. I can’t recommend Matthew to you highly enough.
Go on and check it out. You can see all the classes offered by clicking HERE.
Austinot Eric asks:
What is your favorite way to get exercise outside of a traditional gym?
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Parkour is the act of traveling from one point to another in as straight a line as possible, conserving as much momentum as possible.
Free-Running borrows a lot from parkour but is less discipline-based. Less focus on point-a-to-point-b.
Thanks Boyblunder good to know. I’m a noob as you can tell. I’m just fascinated by it. I’m sure my son Darius would probably have corrected me on this too had he read my post. He’s probably too busy perfecting his flag or something of that nature. Have you been doing either for very long?
Boyblunder, don’t want to get into an argument or a flame-war, but it’s not about traveling in a straight line.
Parkour is about moving well, moving efficiently, and generally moving with a purpose. I use the terms “interesting” and “elegant” to define the movement, though they’re subjective.
Freerunning is more about acrobatics and tricking. It does go hand-in-hand with Parkour, and if you ask me, the two are different sides of the same coin.
Thanks for your input Salil! My boys really love Parkour. I’m still learning about it, but I’m very supportive of what they are doing. They get great exercise and they enjoy it.. so what is not to love?
(I am the owner of Urban Evolution, two parkour / freerunning gyms just outside DC, and a parkour-practitioner of about five years).
Good afternoon, my name is Serhii Klymenko and in next few minutes I’ll be introduce to you!
During 11 years i do extreme sports which call Parkour and Freeruning. I took the shouting on Tv shows and musical video, also I have experience stuntman. For this long time I created and became the leader of the team which call ” Fantastic crew”. “Fantastic crew” is the best team in Parkour Freerunning and tricking field in South Ukraine.
My team touring almost in all cities in Ukraine and Russia, performed on the big stage with the most popular star of Ukraine.
In 2012 I work as coach in diving from 10 meters platform in the biggest hotels in Crimea Ukraine “Yalta Intourist Hotel”
2013-2014 worked in Chinese circus ” Luouian Bay” as a choreographer and co-producer of the show
Also team performed in the top entertainment show:
“Ukraine got talent” season 4, with act “Crazy Jump 100%.” We were the first team after our act all audience and judges and a standing ovation!
“Ukraine got talent” season 5, we were in Finally with act “Fantastic Four.”
“Dance Everybody” season 7, with act “Fantastic Four.” “Dance Everybody” is the similar show in USA “So you think you can dance.”
Since 2014-2017 Me and my team perform with what is considered the best circus in the world, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus’ show “Circus EXTREME”, traveling around the United States week after week, all year long, bringing joy to children of all ages and economic classes, presenting a world class performance rivaled by no others in our specialty.
And I’ll be available in May 2017 for new contract and for new adventure!
Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.
E-mail: just3run@gmail.com
Cellphone: +1 (904) 497-6188