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We all knew a muggle to be a normal human – no magic – in Harry Potter terms. Some have started using the term muggle to mean someone who doesn’t know how to do Parkour or isn’t good yet. It is often used in a derogatory way by people who don’t practice inclusiveness. We say it is a new parkour practitioner; someone new to the sport, like we all were one day.

We know there will always be people thinking of ways to divide us or put us down. At APEX San Diego we focus on everything that unites us, our shared love of movement, fun, and our sense of adventure.

We understand everyone is on a different journey. We don’t judge, or make fun of, or peer pressure you or make you feel less worthy because of your parkour abilities, how long you’ve been doing Parkour, how old you were when you started, or any reason.

Instead we encourage you to do your best to challenge yourself where you are and push yourself to where you want to go. We believe everyone can get moving. Jump, dance, flow at your pace. You have nothing to prove to anyone but yourself.

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You may remember as a kid jumping from rock-to-rock near a stream, climbing trees or swinging on the monkey bars in the local park. Or you may remember simply running and playing full tilt all day long until it was time for supper. In essence, this is Parkour. You also may remember taking a tumble off a bike, leaping from a swing (unsuccessfully) or tumbling along the ground after a trip at a full sprint. Safely accommodating such unanticipated mishaps is also Parkour.

 

Imagine a “gym” environment where running, jumping, swinging and leaping in a large “playscape” burns calories, builds strength, improves coordination… and is fun! This is Parkour and a description of a well designed Parkour gym!

 

Since a Parkour class requires movement and strength, each class begins with warmup exercises as well as stretching to prevent injuries and insure readiness for the actual moves. Then it builds to drills and skills lessons.

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As in any sport, muscle memory is a key component so that the desired movement becomes automatic and with little step-by-step thinking. This requires repetition. Consider any repeated motion, such as a simple forward roll from a squat position. Now do that 20 times. Consider running full tilt, jumping over a small object, landing and executing a forward roll. No do that 20 times. After a 60-90 minute class, you can expect some pleasantly sore muscles the next day.

 

It’s little different than running in a playground for hours on end, except there is structure in the movements learned and a philosophy that accompanies the discipline. One of Parkour’s founders, David Belle, has the attitude that parkour is a method of self-refinement, used for learning to control and focus oneself.

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If kids don’t take an occasional spill, then they are spending too much time playing video games. Taking an occasional tumble is part of an active lifestyle. Taking the tumble so one can “tumble another day” is part of Parkour training. The ideal Parkour facility has numerous structures and obstacles which are used in training students—boxes, platforms, bars, walls, etc. Since Parkour is, in part, the ability to move fluidly, efficiently and safely through the natural environment, learning how to safely fall—and recover – is part of the skill sets taught.