Post by kidkunjer on Mar 5, 2008 17:25:08 GMT
I wrote a little thing about what parkour means to me, and how I think it fits into the world as a whole. I guess I should title it “what happens to tracuers minds when they get plantar fasciitis and have to sit down all bloody day” I hope readers get something out of it, or at least do some thinking of their own on it.
It seems to me that imagining the “Free-flow” state without first experiencing it would be like scratching an itch on your foot without first removing your trainers. Maybe it cannot be talked about. This could be because any attempt to describe it renders it meaningless as language does not possess the same distinct qualities as Free-flow. In my opinion, it must be achieved and experienced to be truly understood.
In much the same way, language and/or mental language (symbolic, pictures, sounds, thoughts, etc) alter our perception of obstacles.
I think it is well known that a Traceur must train themselves to see a rail not as a barrier, but as a gym-horse, or a pull-up bar etc. Their perceptions are altered as they interact with their environment in a non-standard, non-socialized manner. But this seeing of objects as possessing other definitions may mark merely the first step to acquiring true Parkour Vision. The Parkour Vision I am referring to is acquired when we see not the environment’s symbolic nature in our minds, but the true nature of the environment. When we perceive but do not interpret, we are free to move through the environment as it truly is, and not as we are told or tell ourselves. Some may believe the Vision is a replacement of the conceptualizations ‘normal’ (non-practicing Parkour people) create, but my experience suggests that it is a deletion of any conceptualizations we create. “Empty of desire we perceive Mystery”…
My own Parkour practice has clearly demonstrated to me on many occasions that all obstacles we come across are only defined by their opposites. The wall is tall as it compares to a wall that is short. A distance is far as it compares to a distance that is near. Flat/curved, Grippy/Slippy, difficult/easy, yin/yang etc. Although these dualities at first may seem oppositional, I have come to the realization that they are in fact complimentary sides of the same coin. Through time and practice one side may become the other. In this way anything becomes possible. My Parkour Vision is one where no obstacle possesses qualities; it is really me who holds the qualities within myself.
Somehow I have always instinctively known that to contend is to lose before you start. Meaning in battling others, you battle yourself, and nobody wins that fight. If this is true, then it follows that the best course of action is where the Traceur empties his heart and learns the skills; weakens his ambition and strengthens his body, finds his path, and follows it.
I hope I do not sound too mystical when I say I believe that the path to follow already exists. It was there before the obstacles and is what shaped them and put them there. I try to find my path, catch it, and move within it. The only time I fail is if I work against it or outside it.
Nature embodies all that I seek to achieve in Parkour. Leaves float past trees, the wind drifts between spaces, water flows over rocks, and monkeys swing through trees. Nature is so perfect for the same reason a bubble is round; economy of effort, least resistance, following its path as I try to follow mine.
Water never fights, but it is near impossible to contain.
Remember; Dogs chase, Snakes slither, Monkeys swing, Swine root, Ants crawl, Birds fly, Humans Parkour.
It seems to me that imagining the “Free-flow” state without first experiencing it would be like scratching an itch on your foot without first removing your trainers. Maybe it cannot be talked about. This could be because any attempt to describe it renders it meaningless as language does not possess the same distinct qualities as Free-flow. In my opinion, it must be achieved and experienced to be truly understood.
In much the same way, language and/or mental language (symbolic, pictures, sounds, thoughts, etc) alter our perception of obstacles.
I think it is well known that a Traceur must train themselves to see a rail not as a barrier, but as a gym-horse, or a pull-up bar etc. Their perceptions are altered as they interact with their environment in a non-standard, non-socialized manner. But this seeing of objects as possessing other definitions may mark merely the first step to acquiring true Parkour Vision. The Parkour Vision I am referring to is acquired when we see not the environment’s symbolic nature in our minds, but the true nature of the environment. When we perceive but do not interpret, we are free to move through the environment as it truly is, and not as we are told or tell ourselves. Some may believe the Vision is a replacement of the conceptualizations ‘normal’ (non-practicing Parkour people) create, but my experience suggests that it is a deletion of any conceptualizations we create. “Empty of desire we perceive Mystery”…
My own Parkour practice has clearly demonstrated to me on many occasions that all obstacles we come across are only defined by their opposites. The wall is tall as it compares to a wall that is short. A distance is far as it compares to a distance that is near. Flat/curved, Grippy/Slippy, difficult/easy, yin/yang etc. Although these dualities at first may seem oppositional, I have come to the realization that they are in fact complimentary sides of the same coin. Through time and practice one side may become the other. In this way anything becomes possible. My Parkour Vision is one where no obstacle possesses qualities; it is really me who holds the qualities within myself.
Somehow I have always instinctively known that to contend is to lose before you start. Meaning in battling others, you battle yourself, and nobody wins that fight. If this is true, then it follows that the best course of action is where the Traceur empties his heart and learns the skills; weakens his ambition and strengthens his body, finds his path, and follows it.
I hope I do not sound too mystical when I say I believe that the path to follow already exists. It was there before the obstacles and is what shaped them and put them there. I try to find my path, catch it, and move within it. The only time I fail is if I work against it or outside it.
Nature embodies all that I seek to achieve in Parkour. Leaves float past trees, the wind drifts between spaces, water flows over rocks, and monkeys swing through trees. Nature is so perfect for the same reason a bubble is round; economy of effort, least resistance, following its path as I try to follow mine.
Water never fights, but it is near impossible to contain.
Remember; Dogs chase, Snakes slither, Monkeys swing, Swine root, Ants crawl, Birds fly, Humans Parkour.