On Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 9:52 AM, J. Alfred Prufrock < [email protected]> wrote:
> > > *Would your friend have some information on the groups? And whether they > are open to fat old men? > * > ** > My friend's reply: <quote> Chandru, Alfred, While I don't think it 'started off' first in Bombay, they have a practitioner who has been training consistently for the longest period of time. Unfortunately, Bangalore does not have a group that we can say is actually practicing Parkour. There are groups that incorporate Parkour thinking in their MMA training, but they're hardly traceurs... Other major cities in India (Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai) have groups, and I'm part of Chennai Parkour <http://www.chennaiparkour.com/>. We're all open to everybody. There are no age restrictions, or physical attributes that are required. I myself see parkour as a 'way to get strong and mobile'. I'm not in it for the roof-leaping. In chennai we don't encourage it either. Property damage, and trespassing are not things I want to discuss with our police force. Parkour is about steady progression, dedication, focus, and being strong to be of use to others. If you want to be able to do something, it's simple. You can't do it because you have a restriction - How do you break that? Do you need to jump higher? Then what exercise helps you jump higher? Are you strong, but too heavy - is that's what's keeping you earth-bound? Then what do you have to do to lighten up? Jog? Eat healthy? all of the above? - That's the way you need to think for parkour, similar to almost any simple problem solving, but just applied to your particular goal. The problem with 'regular' fitness is that it's too ambiguous. You go to a gym to 'get fit'. What does that mean in terms of your daily life? Do you want to be fit enough to stand around all day (or sit in your office chair)? There's no real-life application for your fitness, just a sense of well being, and the hope that you don't get a heart attack soon. With parkour, your goals for fitness are specific - To jump farther by 10 cm in the next week, because you need to jump that far to reach the other wall, else you fall and get hurt - etc. Rambling... Rambling... Let me stop now. I'm sure anyone would take your friend in. Age is no bar except for physical considerations that it puts on training. Physical attributes are not either. It's as difficult to work with skinny kids as it is to work with fat old men - but maybe more fun with their sense of humor. Hope that helps. Cheers! Susheel </quote> C
