I want to start this article by first prefacing that I do not know Sean Hannah personally, nor do I have detailed knowledge on his training programs or knowledge of parkour.
The reason for this article is to give my personal response to CNN.com’s recent feature of parkour classes taught by Sean Hannah. To get another perspective, I want to refer readers to APK’s response which came out several days ago.
I first want to address CNN, in particular the author, Val Willingham, for publishing one of the most misleading pieces of journalism I have read as of late. To trained eyes, it is very apparent that Val did little research on the subject and also took extreme liberty with wording. Because of the many mistakes, I want to go through this article piece by piece:
(CNN) — Most people know him as Sean. But to his best friends, Sean Hannah is “Spiderman.” Since he was a child, Hannah has been scaling fences, climbing trees and skinning knees — all in the name of fun. He says he just likes to keep moving. “I am very active. I like to change my routine. Keep it different,” he says.
First off, his best friends may call him “spiderman”, but to the rest of the parkour community, they call him “reckless.” The parkour shown in the video reel is sub-par at best and demonstrates a severe lack of basic concepts.
Now 27, with a degree in kinesiology, Hannah has taken his rambunctious childhood pastime to a new level: Using the skills he developed as a kid, Hannah has parlayed his passion for motion into mastery of a popular physical discipline known as parkour, which he has started teaching to others.
Here Val alludes to Hannah’s degree in kinesiology, a clause which inadvertently symbolizes authority. The fact of the matter is, although a background in exercise science, kinesiology, or physiology is helpful, that alone doesn’t translate into aptitude. Some of the best martial arts trainers have had no formal education in strength or conditioning and are still capable of teaching martial arts in a very practical and safe manner. A degree in kinesiology implies a higher potential for understanding, however, does not necessarily mean he knows what he is doing.
Next up? “Mastery.” You must be kidding me. Who paid you to say this, Val? I feel extremely sorry for Mr. Hannah because no doubt is he going to get a lot of negative NATIONAL attention for this one statement. Mastery in anything takes decades of practice. I know personally most of the leading traceurs in the country, and I can assure you, not a one of them will call themselves a master. Any sort of research would have brought you to the yamakasi or early pioneers of the discipline who are the only one’s at this moment who may be called masters.
This statement not only undermines parkour and Sean, it also makes a very dangerous claim that Hannah’s class is something that it simply isn’t.
Parkour, which in English means the “art of moving,” is a physically challenging practice designed by French athlete extraordinaire David Belle. The idea is to have participants run along a route or course while navigating obstacles that may be in the way, such as walls, tree branches, steps — even buildings. The obstacles can be (and often are) used to propel the runner and gain speed. The idea is to get from one place to another using only your body and the objects around you.
Parkour does not mean the “art of moving.” It is an adaptation of the French word “parcours.”
Hannah became so good at the “art of moving” he recently began teaching a class in parkour at The Sports Club/LA in Washington. Starting with the basics, he helps his students work their way up to performing parkour routines that are not just fun, but safe as well. Judah Kelly, a client of Hannah’s who played football in college, says he loves parkour because it’s different. “It’s tough but cool,” says Kelly. “I’m not used to throwing my body around that way.”
Again, an empty statement of quality. Just because someone begins teaching classes, does not automatically make someone an authority. I feel a statement on this needs to be announced because CNN’s audience is a community who knows nothing to little about parkour. This article, no doubt, reached a very large, very diverse audience who’s first visual experience of parkour is Hannah’s very reckless and juvenile technique. I have worked hard to ensure that the media only sees safe, effective, and technically proficient examples of parkour. In one foul swoop, this was potentially destroyed by a man I have never heard of before.
Neither are most people; that’s why classes can help. “You just can’t start a parkour routine. You have to train for it,” Hannah warns. “There are parkour moves that can help you break a fall, and avoid injury. That’s important.”
Classes can help! They can indeed, and so can FREE JAM SESSIONS hosted by almost any local community. How will you find these communities? By visiting www.AmericanParkour.com. But sadly, APK was never mentioned in this article.
I want to be very direct with this next statement: Anyone can start a parkour routine. Anyone. As a fitness professional, I will be the first to denote Hannah’s claim. This is a clever trick you will find used in the fitness industry. By telling potential new-comer’s that not anyone can start a prospective fitness routine, it implies that you must utilize a professional, or a trainer, to help you start out. This creates demand where there may be none. Seeing a professional or learning from an experienced individual is definitely a path, but it is not the only one. I can think of many examples where my direct instruction has actually limited an individual’s progress in parkour.
Hannah should know. In his quest for the perfect parkour routine, he’s suffered a few injuries. “I broke my hand, pulled muscles in my feet,” he says. “But that was before I started really conditioning for my routines.”
Once again we see journalistic liberty come into play with the word “perfect,” implying that Hannah has “discovered” parkour perfection. I assure you, there is no such thing.
To provide a different angle, in my two and half years I have sustained zero injuries from parkour. I’ve definitely done some stupid stuff in my 22 years, but I am still broken bone free, strain and sprain free, and dislocation free. Parkour can be as safe, or as dangerous, as you make it.
Former Olympian and orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Johnson says the activity is risky. “One wrong step or one wrong jump can lead to a serious injury. It’s not for the weekend warrior,” he says.
On the contrary, Rochester Parkour has numerous “weekend warriors” who participate in the weekly jams. They come and train techniques, run circuits, and crawl and climb with the rest of us. The age of these weekend warriors range from 18-65. We have had one minor injury in the past.
Not everything in this article is bad. I want to outline some parts where I really think Hannah has hit the nail on the head:
Hannah says it’s a full workout. “You need agility, you need endurance, you need strength, you need power, you need balance and coordination, you need a lot of mental focus. Parkour forces you to move intelligently.”
“You need to be focused with each movement that you take and never second-guess yourself.”
“It’s like being a kid again,” beams Hannah. “I love it.”
Very good quotes here, Sean. If you come across this article, I hope you realize that I am not personally attacking you. I hope you take this criticism with an open mind and learn from this experience. First and foremost, NEVER TRUST THE MEDIA. Val screwed you, I’m sorry.
Second, whenever a camera is involved, never do anything you are not 120% confident with. I’ve had this problem come up several times in the past year as Rochester Parkour gets more and more media attention. Everyone wants to show off for the cameras, but you need to resist this urge. Parkour is going to be met by a lot of scrutiny from the public and it is of utmost importance to only show them the best parkour you can possibly do.
To address trainers as a whole, unless you can demonstrate complete control and aptitude in the basics of parkour, you should not be teaching. I’m sorry to say, that from my perspective, Hannah should not have beginner’s in his hands.
The time is coming when parkour makes its big boom in the American economy, and no doubt there’s going to be a lot more of this coming about. American Parkour is preparing for this by getting a certification in place as soon as possible. However until this happens, be extremely critical of anyone who asks for money for formal parkour training.