Charles’ Parkour Training Blog

I came across this video from the American Parkour forums. At first I just dismissed it, called it stupid recklessness, and went on my way. However, then I came to the full video which shows not only the first jump, but also the second. Here it is:

The jump was performed “to spread the word of parkour” and that is why I feel a need to comment. This jump was reckless and simply put, a dumb idea. It’s a dumb idea in any situation, let alone in front of cameras. As I keep saying to everyone, if you are not 120% confident in your technique, do not do it front of cameras. This video read “amateur who is not ready to do this jump” all over it.

Look at how the first traceur handles himself in the air. Does that look like a person who is in control of his body? His limbs flail, his legs in particular go in every which way and it is very apparent that they are not ready to take the landing. The landing was ill-prepared, technically deficient, and horribly sloppy. Thank god he had mats. He most certainly would have destroyed at least one of his limbs.

The second traceur got hurt. He tries to play it off, but look at the guys face directly after impact. He is in shock and he’s lucky he was able to get up and walk after a landing that bad.

I’m writing this article to drill in a point: drops are not parkour, as is a go big or go home attitude. Big drops, crazy stunts, and death defying tricks are not how we want to expose parkour to the mainstream media. It’s simply not worth it. I’d rather see him do a simple kong than risk his life for the sake of a media story. Also, if you need a mat, chances are you shouldn’t be doing it, or are not ready for it.

Train safe and train smart. It really hurts me when I see media pieces like this coming out more and more every day.