Parkour In Jayanagar

An expression of freedom… beating the pace of the wind…  feet pushing against the roads, and sands and dust… Running, something that leaves you out of breath and sweating but as time goes, it becomes a much needed drug… and what gives it a higher kick is Parkour.

The art of movement, the aim of moving from one point to another as swiftly, smoothly, efficiently and quickly as possible. Parkour makes you feel nimble, light, strong, powerful and yet amazingly free! Every Saturday and Sunday mornings begin with this awesome feeling, for the students of Independent Shootfighters Inc in Jayanagar. Hold on! even after being a part of class for sometime, if you are wondering what has Parkour got to do with Martial Arts… let me clear your doubts today!

Martial Arts and Parkour fit perfectly and compliment each other rather well! Er… well you see, we shootfighters aren’t like Rajanikanth who fights 20 people, and has not as much as a scratch on his body! But if its a race against 20 people we sure can win, cause obstacles do not exist… we just jump, leap, vault, climb, roll and carry on running! Parkour trains the body and mind to act as one single unit (which, is a crucial part of any martial art. You understand the body better, and helps avoiding injuries. Parkour is a statement, a condition of the body and the mind, there is no giving up, you need to be persistent and need to practise each movement till it is etched into your skull.

“From a martial arts point of view parkour improves your footwork to a great extent, you also learn aiming and the use of your whole body in punches and strikes. You suddenly get control over muscles, over which you had no control over.” Adds Ashwin.

The weekend morning classes begin with a run to Madhavan Park, with excessive leg work of going up and down the massive steps… we kick- start our parkour session- after which the real fun begins!

Wall climbs, vaults, parallel bar pull-ups… jumps and leaps… everything seemed like a wonder in the beginning. Understanding the concept of using both the leg and shoulder muscles to climb over a wall was difficult in the beginning. Well, the barriers and obstacles in the mind seemed bigger than any of the other obstacles in the park!  But many trials, scabby elbows and forearms, broke the mental obstacle and then climbing the walls was not that difficult anymore… (there is no greater feeling of freedom than getting the  body and mind to work in unison!)

Now that the wall was climbed… getting down… and with a jump…. sounds fun right! But then when you are up atleast a 5-7 feet high wall and you decide to jump… No I am not joking! You have somehow managed to climb one obstacle, another seems to cloud your eyes… FEAR! You vaguely hear Ashwin telling you come on! break your ankle or your spirit… you still sitting on top of the wall… and then you just decide and take that leap! No feeling is better than breaking the obstacle of fear!