Parkour – a trend that sees individuals using typical, everyday items as obstacles as they traverse the environment by hopping, jumping, climbing, and running. The reason the sport has this name is that it’s taken from the French phrase for ‘obstacle course,’ parcours du combattant.
In particular, it has a special place in the hearts of young people…but why?
Freeing and Fun
First and foremost, there’s a sense of liberation and freedom that comes with parkour. After feeling cooped up playing games consoles for days and days, kids enjoy going outside to explore the world in a new way. Suddenly, the ramps and railings that they walk past every day take on a new meaning.
For parents of kids into parkour, you will have noticed a shift in confidence in your child. The world is suddenly full of new opportunities, which every parent wants their child to have.
Climbing, running, swinging, rolling, and jumping from object to object is fun for kids. Some call it exercise, and others call it art – either way, it’s both freeing and fun.
No Rules
Children are always told to get down off the railing, stop climbing on walls, and slide down from the tree. Suddenly, young people have opportunities to do everything that was previously discouraged. If your child shows an interest in parkour, encourage them to attend organised classes and sessions so that they can practice safely.
Nowadays, many gyms and sports facilities offer parkour classes and lessons. They will offer safe equipment as well as competent staff (trained in first aid!). These gyms are growing in popularity, and we are seeing more and more people investing in these indoor parks. You can open your gym franchise in Brisbane, the U.K., and even the U.S. if you desire. It doesn’t matter where you are, there is a market for this fast growing sport.
Show Creativity
Often, the goal in parkour is to get from one point to another as creatively as possible. Every child has an abundance of creativity just waiting to come out, and some release it through parkour. While some children are good at writing, drawing, or playing an instrument, others have physical creativity with activities like parkour.
Time with Friends
Another reason why so many of today’s youth gravitate towards parkour is that it allows them to spend time with friends. They can be creative with friends, show off to one another, and challenge each other to perform different jumps and moves.
Parents should encourage this type of exercise with friends because they build bonds that last for many years. Even if they don’t stick with parkour in the future, they learn valuable social skills and how to show confidence around others.
Sense of Control
With the lack of rules, some youth love parkour because it gives them a sense of control that perhaps doesn’t exist in other areas of their lives. Not only do they have control over themselves, but they also have control over their environment.
In a class, for example, the teacher might bring out a particular obstacle. From here, it’s up to the student to choose a method of overcoming this obstacle.
Embrace Failure
Finally, many young people find that parkour allows them to release the shackles and finally lose the pressure placed on them from parents, friends, relatives, teachers, and other adults. Nobody in the history of parkour has ever avoided falling over and failing – it’s a natural part of the sport and one that’s expected.
However, people participating in parkour are encouraged to learn from failure to keep honing their craft.
With all of these benefits, parkour is often something encouraged by parents and, when done safely, a brilliant activity for all young people to embrace and let go for a while!
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