are there any currently active groups in taipei? i have a ferocious need to jump over things of variant sizes, but feel i need more training first.
Good luck. That stuff’s nuts.
Personally, I prefer to get a workout without breaking any bones.
With tennis or cycling or whatever you can take part at a pretty low skill level and not look ridiculous. I always think the problem with parkour is that if you are anything other than highly skilled and professional you look like a complete twat.
If you have a high tolerance for public ridicule then there’s a group with a Facebook page you should check out.
All true, Taffy, but tennis is a pussy sport and those attracted to parkour would surely prefer not to wear lycra. Parkour’s an insane pasttime for juveniles with no interest in common sense. That’s not to say it can’t be incredibly impressive, even awe inspiring – it definitely can be. But the youtube clips tend to focus on the successful stunts and not all the broken wrists, sprained ankles and other injuries and embarassments that must be far more common than those great successes. Anyway, to each his own.
I grazed my knee once playing tennis. It really really hurt!
That maybe true for someone like you, but it certainly isn’t true for many youngsters who grew up in the ghettos of france’s less fortunate neighborhoods. You need a lot of common sense and quick thinking to be good at PK and of course be in good body shape.
i’m not especially interested in anything involving roofs quite yet, nor in stunts of any kind. what i am interested in is changing the way i experience my own body and it’s possibilities in the urban environment. it seems to me that parkour, as a developed skill, offers the ability to look at barriers as routes in themselves, which is pretty damn cool.
re: insanity, there are a lot of sports out there that carry a substantial danger of physical injury and offer considerably fewer practical benefits/applications. i suppose it depends on one’s individual sense of risk and reward.
thanks for the links. i’ll see if i can get more info through the facebook group.
Actually, if you do a google search it’s surprising how many results one finds for parkour in Taiwan. I expect it shouldn’t take much searching to find some contact info.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qrbTS7OkDk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxzc-5PNki8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMSX_M6nXl0&feature=related
And there’s this
[quote]Here more about Jump Taipei from Myspace:
What is Jump Taipei?
We are a collective of individuals who train in the art of parkour and freerunning. Some people skateboard. Some people ride BMX. We jump over stuff. Using efficient movements and disciplining our bodies and our minds to overcome physical and mental obstacles. We move throughout Taipei using walls as running spaces, park benches as vaulting points, and rooftops as playgrounds.
This page is still under construction. Videos to come soon. Check out our photos. Jam to the music. Courteousy of Mr. Bird Take a peak at our friends and enjoy!
If you’re interested in training with us please drop a line at jumptaipei[at]hotmail.com[/quote]
I agree completely with your comment about risk and reward and I agree parkour can look really cool and I can see how it could be good exercise and feel very satisfying when done well and could come in handy when the cops come after you during a drug deal, etc. It just seems to me parkour involves an almost certain risk of injury (not serious injury perhaps, but high degree of risk) and lesser rewards than one can gain from other lower-risk activities. But, that’s just me. Go for it. I’m sure you can find it here if you look.
They should really be jumping over scooters and old grannies with recycled cardboard.
hell i do that every day…thats not parkour thats just par for the course round here… 