2008 Woodie Awards
Parkour jumps its way to Rowan
Erica Bauwens
Issue date: 10/2/08 Section: Features
Only twenty minutes after my first meeting with sophomore Gabe Arnold in front of Bunce Hall, I already had him running away.
"O.K, this is a fence, but I look at it and I think, I can do something here," he said, before jumping over a rail and into the bottom of a basement stairwell, only to climb up the wall and back over the rail.
Arnold, a health promotion fitness management major from Cape May Court House, was practicing Parkour, a new trend emerging all over America and Europe. Parkour, or "the art of movement", is quite difficult to explain, but involves running, jumping, or climbing over obstacles to get to your destination.
"Parkour is a sport, but it's not a sport. It's an art, and a discipline all rolled into one… involving efficient and fluid movement all while moving through your environment," Arnold explained.
Parkour first started to evolve in Lisses, France in the late 80's, when a man named David Belle took the techniques he saw in the French military training courses, or parcours, and brought them to the streets. It became popular in the late 90's, and began to spread across Europe, making its way over to the United States. From Parkour stemmed Free Running, a British practice involving more decorative stunts, like flips and spins.
Arnold was first drawn to Parkour around 2004, when it was featured in a video game.
"When I was a kid I loved playgrounds. I was always getting yelled at for doing 'Jackie Chan' things, and it seemed so cool to me."
He began training more seriously for Parkour around 2006, traveling to New York City several times for Parkour "Jams".
"Jams are when Parkour practitioners, or "traceurs", get together at a particular host city to train and learn together. It's a bunch of guys working off of each other, creating their own things, and helping each other along… In skateboarding or surfing there's a hierarchy, this person's better than this person… The people who started Parkour wanted to spread their love of it… we want people to realize how great it is," said Arnold.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
Gabe Arnold
posted 10/02/08 @ 3:11 AM EST
I had high hopes for this article and it went beautifully. Well written, I think Erica really got the idea and spirit of parkour across nicely. Hope everyone reads it and gets as worked up about it as me. (Continued…)
Alexandra Harcharek
posted 10/02/08 @ 10:10 AM EST
Beautiful article Erica! Your writing makes me want to get up and move.
Cool but...
posted 10/02/08 @ 7:03 PM EST
The article was very well written, but in the true spirit of Parkour, since I was the one who started it all, pour gasoline on your feet and light them on fire. (Continued…)
Gabe Arnold
posted 10/03/08 @ 1:17 AM EST
I noticed in the newspaper that the sessions were listed as Wednesdays and Fridays. They're not on Fridays, they're on Saturdays.
Carl Harz
posted 10/04/08 @ 7:09 PM EST
"Arnold hopes to PEAK Rowan students interests with his Parkour sessions, as well as give students the same thrill that Parkour gives him."
Pique. The word is 'pique. (Continued…)
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