Josh Brown thought slacklining was good practice. It was a testament of his balance and he even had the opportunity to brush up on his acrobatics since his high school days at Thunderbird Adventist Academy in Scottsdale.
However, slacklining is not his true trick of the trade. Parkour, or what Brown defines as urban gymnastics, consumes his life. This is where slacklining contributed; this is how Brown will progress.
“I was like heck yeah,” said Brown when he found out about the sport of Parkour. “I’m open to new ideas and give everything a try before I say ‘no’ to it.”
Following high school, where he played varsity basketball and was on the acrobatics team, Brown had become interested in the potential physical and mental gains from this unique sport. This is when PK 9,000, Arizona State University’s club answered the call.
In part, the club is Parkour. Another facet to “urban gymnastics” is free-running. Parkour is the chance to creatively travel from point A to point B while free-running, involving all that aerial awesomeness: flips, spins… the whole enchilada.
“We see it (ASU) as a playground,” said Ian Turk, a former ASU student. “We see it as an obstacle course.”
Turk prefers the obstacle course although the sport in total gives him the chance to relive elementary-school recess. The sport involves effectively moving up, around and all over walls, buildings and staircases — essentially whatever you can find.
Turk sees this constant motion as much of an art as it is a sport. Turk said that it is the art of overcoming obstacles both mentally and physically. Mental toughness seems to be the brunt of the speed bump that may slow down the learning curve.
The sport is about being aware of yourself and being comfortable within your environment, Turk said.
This process of comfortableness takes baby steps. Turk said that a beginner should start off with low-impact, simple structures and techniques. Then as you gain confidence, more stunts are attempted at higher heights. What follows simple jumping and climbing techniques is the ability to land and have and overall body awareness.
Through the six years Turk has done Parkour, he still is in the phase of overcoming his mental fear. He psyches himself out every now and again but Turk said that, like martial arts, focus is key; he sees Parkour as the flight to mixed-martial-arts fight.
Turk has this “Parkour Vision.” Whether it’s Hayden Library, the Student Recreation Center or any other infrastructure for that matter, he sees it as another thing to overcome.
On a personal note, I tried to look through the Tempe campus with “Parkour Vision.”
When trying to keep up with the club during one practice, I found myself staring down increasingly bigger steps. To put it lightly, the club jumped while I hesitantly sat back and overanalyzed everything. Needless to say, the jumps and mental strength that go into the sport could be underrated.
Looking at how I figuratively “flew away” from attempting anything more than a curbside, Turk reinforced his claim that mental toughness can be the utmost benefactor; physical prowess helps to a smaller degree.
“I tend to think in the future but you have to think in the moment (for Parkour),” Turk said. Thinking ahead would be pointless if you cannot reach that point and Turk knows this.
The only mentality about the future that can be taken from the sport is the drive that Brown has exercised. He uses Parkour for his future aspirations.
“I don’t want a mediocre life,” Brown said. “I want the best life possible.”
Brown, if he follows through with business at ASU, wants to open a gym that specializes in Parkour and free-running. He said he thinks that it would be pretty sick.
So, as Brown walks the slack line and Turk transfers like a ninja from staircase to staircase, they look to not only to harness the world of Parkour, but to harness life itself.
Let’s keep transitioning from cool sport to cool sport, shall we? E-mail me something cool at bcapria@asu.edu.
