So, I've been looking into Parkour recently and I find I really like the philosophy it presents. Parkour is not really a sport. It's not a game. It's practical gymnastics. It's elegant, efficient motion. It is an art. But it's not a martial art; it's not about fighting. It's about the other aspect of adrenaline: the flight. The only reason it has been labeled a "sport" is to make the powers that be think it's legit. But it's really not about competition, it's about creativity, having fun, making yourself stronger...and most impressively about altruism. The idea is so that you can become strong in order to help others. (See the wikipedia entry for Parkour... it's inspiring! .)
Nevertheless, it seems to be a sort of rebel sport. It goes against conventions in many ways; against the conventional methods of movement, and against architectural conventions themselves. No longer is a wall a wall, but instead a method of reaching higher ground. Clearly an architecture that integrated this kind of motion would be something else than what we have. But I think it would be a lot more interesting. However, despite the fact that it tends to attract rebels and be labeled by authorities as some kind of illegal thing, the philosophy of it is creative, proactive, and altruistic. Revolutionary is, I think, the word I'm looking for. But will society ever accept, even embrace, this revolutionary art form? Some societies have. France for example. But then, they invented it. I'm a bit doubtful at America's ability to accept it, at least here in Texas, but there are beginnings. And it strikes at the heart of some of the major problems Texas culture is facing.
I used to climb all over stuff as a kid, jump between things, and try to do things that looked interesting. I can't do that stuff now. Why did I stop? Because no one wanted to play, and because I wasn't "supposed to" and because they took away recess. For obvious reasons, because by that time, kids aren't really innocent, and the crafty ones would find a way to sneak away and do whatever they wanted. (I think you know what I mean.) By the time I got to 8th grade, I was an indoors type of person, and not by desire. Mental exercise replaced physical exercise. While I think that it's good to improve your mind, you have to keep your body active too. I found my spatial awareness exercised in video games, but they're sedentary so it did nothing for my physical abilities.
I really think the American educational system needs a severe overhaul in this regard. They need to find a way to make PE fun, i.e. let kids do what they want to do, as far as exercise is concerned. It needs to be a lot more laid back, less structure. Like recess! Less sports-oriented, because there's plenty of reasons many of us don't get into sports. I just don't really care about the competition, I care about the problem solving, the creativity and the spatial awareness. Sports tend to weed out the people who are less apt at them, which also discourages those people from playing. The key to fostering a physically fit society is to allow each person to exercise in their own way, and I believe Parkour could be the key to that.
Americans, and especially Texans are plagued by obesity, even childhood obesity. They get their spatial exercise and fun from video games, or entertainment from TV, neglecting the real world and all the adventures they could be having every day. They don't see themselves as the hero, they don't see themselves as proactive and able to do things. On the other hand, you get people who are nearly obsessed with physical fitness. These sad cultural norms are fostered by many things, among which is the way people are raised, the way sports are taught, and even our very infrastructure and architecture. If you're going to exercise, you have to do it in a very focused way by going to a gym; you can't really walk places normally or take a bike because the cities are designed for automotive traffic and nothing is within walking or biking distance. Not only does this take up more land, destroying our environment, but it prevents us from getting the exercise we need to have in our daily routine! Cars are great for long distance travel, but not for the daily commute! I doubt parkour will go so far as to create a revolution in architecture, but we definitely need to change the way we think about buildings and about our daily locomotion. Parkour is a great way to exercise, play, and be creative, all at the same time. I would encourage every active kid not to give up the pursuit of fun.
I'm just glad this Parkour thing has caught on somewhere. Hopefully Americans, and especially Texans, will continue to pick up on this revolutionary new thing =)
