Parkour gains popularity in Taiwan / 移動藝術"跑酷"運動 挑戰空間.體能極限　　　　　　　　　　

You might have seen it on TV shows such as American Ninja Warrior or in movies such as Casino Royale where you see people moving through an environment jumping, climbing and vaulting over obstacles in their path. I'm talking about Parkour. Some say it's the act of moving from point A to point B as efficiently as possible. The extreme sport has been popular in Europe and America for a few years, now it's also quickly gaining popularity in Taiwan. This is not what you usually expect to see in a park, but these youngsters are out here learning how to do Parkour. Some say Parkour is a method of physical training that develops one's ability to overcome obstacles. Another definition is that Parkour is the act of moving from point A to point B by leveraging obstacles in your path to increase efficiency. ==SONA EYAMBE Parkour Instructor== Parkour originally started as "art of displacement" in France, with a group of 9 guys called Yamakasi, and they just started as a game between friends and it slowly became like this giant thing that is called Parkour, free running. Art du deplacement, Parkour, Free Running it's pretty much all the same thing just different ideas on what movement should be done. Sona is from United States, and he's been in Taiwan since 2006. He's currently a music producer slash DJ, and he spends the rest of his time doing Parkour. ==SONA EYAMBE Parkour Instructor== When I have free time I would just train. And try to... because living out of a suitcase and being on airplanes all the time it's very difficult to take care of your health. So I was just training and doing what I did as a kid. And from there people would just start asking me...Hey can we play with you? Can we train with you? I didn't know that much at the time, so I just shared a little I knew and we just slowly started to grow into this community. Before going outdoors, Sona suggests beginners to practice in a controlled environment to get the moves down. For example, doing warm up movements such as monkey walk, walking backwards, and jumping through obstacles. ==LIN GUAN-TSUN ADD Academy Taiwan Assistant Instructor== Parkour is all about controlling your body movements. You need to control core muscles and at times you might use your right hand while stretching your left leg. There is danger involved in every sports. You might see some people doing Parkour on the internet and they just fly over rooftops. They might already have 10 years of practice to be able to perform such difficult tricks. We need to start by exploring what we're comfortable with, for example by doing the precision jump or other movements. Starting slow and master the basics, then you move on to the more difficult moves. Aside from these practices, Parkour is also about knowing your limits and slowly working your way up to it. The activity involves running, jumping and climbing over anything and everything. While some say it is a super hero sport, others believe it's pretty dangerous. The undeniable fact is that there is a growing attraction towards this sport, and many people are dawn to Parkour even though they're not entirely sure what it is. ==YAN CHEN Member of ADD Taiwan== I have been attracted to Parkour ever since I was little. I like how free spirited it makes me feel. It's amazing to see someone running around and passing through different and obstacles. ==YI TAI Member of ADD Taiwan== Mostly I would like to be able to feel like a kid again. When we can just run around whenever and wherever we want, it's that simple. Little kids learn to walk at their own pace and in their own way, and that's what these youngsters are doing. They don't start by jumping off rooftops, instead, they do it step by step. No matter how many times they fall, they never give up. Some of them believe Parkour allows them to push themselves physically and mentally. As they overcome these challenges, they gain more confidence which carries over into other parts of their lives. TRANSLATED BY：STELLA TU