You used to hear horror stories growing up about kids who dressed up as superheroes and then killed or injured themselves jumping off the garage roof.
I used to be fairly skeptical about those sort of cautionary tales – but my mother always insisted that a) it was quite true, and b) I was not to copy people I see on TV who put themselves in precarious situations – cape or no cape.
There was a TV show on quite late the other night called ‘Jump Britain’ (from the makers of ‘Jump London‘). It looked fairly interesting, so we taped it for Jake.
We thought he’d be fascinated by the running, jumping and general gymnastics of the guys who leap from building to building. It is, after all, interesting stuff [pdf link].
The ‘sport’ is called ‘Parkour‘ or ‘Free-Running‘. It’s a bit like extreme skateboarding, only without skateboards. Naturally, the parkour aficianados hate the analogy. It’s a philosophy, a martial art and an expression of the inner self. Apparently.
Of course, Jake liked the programme in much the same way that those kids who jumped off their garage roofs liked Batman.
He needed to try it for himself.
There’s a page of the basics, which apparently is sufficient preparation for jumping over and around urban obstacles at considerable speed (and height) without any safety gear whatsoever.
Only natural for a 12 year-old. Impressionable. Energetic. Indestructible. Invincible.
“Dad – I NEED you to do it with me.”
Naturally.
You can, of course, guess which of us has grazes on his hands, sore knees and the feeling that he’s going to be very stiff when he goes to work in the morning. Seriously – 37 years old, and I have grazes from playing outside.
What worries me is that Jake’s enthusiasm for the sport hasn’t waned at all despite discovering that it’s not nearly quite so easy as the professionals make it look.
“Dad – tomorrow, let’s practice jumping off walls and landing in a roll…”
I’m expecting a week of aches and sprains. Possibly much worse.
I think I liked it better when he discovered chess.
He can beat me 2 games out of 3, but intellectual humiliation beats physical injury, wouldn’t you say?
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When I wasn’t leaping from bus shelters, I listened to:
18. Lou Donaldson – Mr. Shing-a-ling Blue Note (1967)
19. Steely Dan – Gaucho Geffen (1980)
Where’s the bloody thing on this blog where you can send the blog’s inimitable author an email? Is it missing? Silly Bear…
(it’s Damian, Dubber – send me your UK address please)
Click on ‘View My Complete Profile’ on the sidebar (which I’ve only just noticed hasn’t been displaying properly in evil IE – fixing now) – and then follow the link to ‘My Email’.
It’s all in your head (the bruises ?!) most extreme sports are about 80% mental 20% pysical, you just have to BELIEVE you can do it! I know i’ve busted my ankle no less than 8 times falling off skateboards….
Okay – tonight, I jumped off a wall, and rolled to lessen the impact. More than once.
First – what I feel now is not in my head. Mostly my hips and shoulder. If 80% of Parkour was mental, I’d be happy just doing four-fifths of it from the couch, and leaving the other 20% alone.
Second – it’s an EXTREME sport?!! I swore never to do one of those.
Third – how did my 12 year-old get to be this persuasive? Because you know what? I bet I’ll be out there again tomorrow…
Your supposed to practice your rolls to the point that if your about to fall asleep and collapse that you’ll go into a roll. And practice in a more soft area at first, like carpet, or a blue matted floor like you see in many martial arts gyms. Then you practice jumping off a small block and rolling. Then running, jumping and landing. Then a bit higher. You cannot jump off a roof at the begining since you have developed the muscles from all the practice you getting that could wistand the impact. Also try getting a feel for climbing up a building. After that, it tends to fall into place.
Start small! It’s suitable for anyone at any age, just got to take small steps and try and enjoy yourself. ;)
Glad you enjoyed the show. :)