2.5.07

PARKOUR IS NON COMPETITIVE

This community supports PARKOUR, not COMPETITION -
Run Without Rivals!
The members of this community stand firmly against the idea of organized parkour competition.

Our reasons:

ONE:
We don't believe in elites.
We don't believe in any form of selection among practitioners.
We don't believe in the necessity of any form of hierarchy of performance among practitioners.
We believe to be "the best" doesn't mean anything in parkour, because winning or losing don't mean anything in parkour philosophy.We do not accept such a drive as part of the parkour philosophy.

Instead, we believe the drive to train should always and only come from within.We strive to be stronger for ourselves and others, not against people, but with and for others.Therefore, we reject and disregard any form of rivalry between practitioners.Instead, we value mutual respect and solidarity in making progress as individuals and as a community.

TWO:
We believe it stands against the philosophy of parkour to compete to win or earn anything that is not part of parkour values, such as medals, prizes, trophies, money, fame, recognition, or glory.
Same goes about showing off for a crowd.

Instead, we look for priceless and beneficial outcomes to our actions.We also look for benefits we all can share.
We are givers, not takers.

THREE:
Competition encourages the unready to sacrifice their health for early victories, or to reach a ranking that has no true meaning.
It forces elite competitors to constantly and repeatedly endanger their most precious good, health, because of obsession and obligation of victory, and whatever is at stake as a direct consequence of it, including money, rank or status, pride, and also professional or sponsoring contracts and profitable commercial deals.
It leads competitive practitioners to unbalance their training and focus only on the specific skills needed to win, leading to chronic injuries.D
espite official denials, doping is most of the time involved in every level of competition, that money is involved or not.
We believe the physical consequences of competing at high level goes against the philosophy of parkour which emphasizes on moderation and the necessity of enduring.

Instead, parkour is a humble, patient and lifelong discipline, and the human body requires incremental conditioning to ensure its resistance and longevity.Moderation is a truly important value of parkour and an indispensable quality in order to preserve oneself and for the body to endure.Therefore, we reject whatever goes against moderation and that impairs the body.

FOUR:
Parkour doesn't belong to corporations, sponsors, medias, and people sitting at home to watch.
We believe we must not accept activities and plans that are abusively called parkour, that misuse its name and hijack its image to draw public and medias attention to something that is NOT parkour, despite the resistance of the majority of the community against such intentions.
Instead, we affirm parkour is a non-competitive discipline that belong to all practitioners, to the local communities, to the teams and friends, and to the human race as a whole.

We believe we must stand together against ambitions that do not reflect the original philosophy of parkour and that are disrespectful to the parkour philosophy and the parkour community.

Competition is not inevitable - it is just another obstacle! Support original parkour, keep our discipline free!

(written by TK17/Erwan)

9 comments:

  1. your just scared i might beat you! lol jk
    But seriously this is a really good post, it really expresses the true meaning behind parkour. herbertiste and tk17 are really speaking from the heart.

    btw check out the freeflow frontpage, you got a little mention!

    Blake

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  2. Good post, but what bought this up? Love the new layout =]

    Will you be out on... SAturday the 5th i think? Yeah thats the one.

    Jak

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  3. hey jak:
    http://parkour.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=9539&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0

    No i wont be out on saturday im afraid, im going to leicester, just remembered i had arranged it last week :/
    have a good session tho,

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  4. OMFG I just read the article on The Independant site you linked to for Jak. That's awful what UF are planning. It's giving the UK a bad name in the parkour community and is giving everyone the wrong impression as to what we're really about.

    Good post, well structured and explained.

    <3 the new layout!

    Shame you can't make it on Saturday, you big gay. Might see you tomorrow for conditioning.

    Ben

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  5. Yeah, wasnt my article was written by TK and Erwan.
    Yeah, would be cool to see you tomoro, bear in mind its more individual now so its up to you what you wanna do, dont have to destroy your legs again lol,
    glad you like the new layout :)

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  6. Anonymous5:07 PM

    ANSWER YOUR PHONE!!! lol, what time saturday, 11 sound cool?

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  7. Hello mate, it's tim from france :)
    hope everything is ok for you !
    maybe see you soon !
    Byeeee

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  8. Hello,

    Just a quick comment.

    This whole "war" will, in my opinion, be summed up to the religion issue. Who's more of a believer: The pope or the shepperd, the priest or the business-man, one who shows all around to be a believer and is not, or one who passes by unknow but prays everyday?

    Save your breath, Parkour will have competition. Better to think it will be "their" Parkour, not ours...

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  9. Morbitur,

    Some people may argue that the stance which you promote in that comment is very passive and perhaps selfish. It is an option to turn our back, because afterall, we have found parkour and so know the path we are on (perhaps not) and are content in our own world.
    However, I think those who are passionate for parkour should care that such actions are being taken against it. I want to see parkour preserved in the right way, ie) with its core values and principal concepts intact. This is what makes parkour unique, that it has more of a purpose than to simple 'move', but there is a reason for this movement, a practicality to be derived from its training.
    Competition will see these values destroyed in that particular sphere, the sphere which will attract more people simply through accessibility and initial excitment, but the values will be lost. More and more the reasons that people practice will become aligned with competition and along with that we will see the values and unique positivity of parkour become 'diluted' through those who are training in a way in which parkour was not meant, as well as the body.
    Its like the environment, we can hide in a shell and not care, or make an effort for its future and those who are involved in it.
    At the end of the day I want parkour to remain how it is so people can let it grow in the right way with its values, the fundamental concepts, intact. I hope for this because I believe that more good can come from this kind of direction for everyone as a whole including myself, than pushing it toward competition where such a unique activity will become something else.
    j

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