Parkour aka "The Height of Stupidity"

[turbojet]

So local British tabloid ran an article about reports about kids jumping off rooftops in Brighton.

These reckless thrillseekers are risking their lives by scaling the city's rooftops.

 

The actions of the daredevil group have been slammed as the “height of stupidity” after The Argus tracked down their boastful pictures online.

 

Andy Reynolds, director for prevention and protection at East Sussex Fire and Rescue, said the climbers were “irresponsible and reckless”.

 

He added: “It's the height of stupidity. We cannot afford to be attending potential callouts to people like this when there are serious emergencies taking place across the county.”

 

 

The apparently fearless youngsters, aged between 14 and 24 and mostly from Brighton, defended their behaviour by claiming they were “experienced” and “knew their limits”.

 

The Argus has uncovered videos and pictures of around ten parkour freerunners jumping on rooftops, freestanding pillars and industrial cranes.

 

During the latest stunt on Saturday night, a group of boys were snapped climbing on the rooftop of the 17-storey Hereford Court tower block in Hereford Street, Kemp Town.

 

Sussex Police received a complaint but said no criminal offence had been committed.

 

Eyewitnesses at the nearby Sidewinder pub described how the boys were “jumping from the rooftop to a pillar”.

 

When The Argus tracked the group down, they admitted previously scaling other terrifyingly tall structures, including the Brighton Wheel and a crane on the building site of the New England Quarter development site in Fleet Street, Brighton.

 

In a video posted on YouTube last week, the group can be seen scaling the giant crane without any safety equipment.

 

 

 

They dangerously dangle their legs over the top of the crane, peering perilously down to the street below.

 

In other pictures uploaded to a photo sharing website, they can be seen dangling with one arm from the top of another tall building in Brighton.

 

The photo is captioned: “Sorry Mum”.

 

Sacha Powell, a member of the group, said scaling structures was “simply fun”.

 

YOUR VOTE

 

Do you think the police should crackdown on parkour enthusiasts who climb buildings?

 

Yes - it's dangerous: 

Blue bar used for ballot results 51%

 

No - it's harmless fun: 

Yellow bar used for ballot results 45%

 

Don't know: 

Purple bar used for ballot results 4%

 

Thanks for voting - this ballot is now closed

 

The 19-year-old, freelance filmmaker, said: “We do this simply because it's fun. When you overcome a new challenge you are filled with a great sense of achievement.

 

“We assess every situation with great detail and only proceed if everything is okay.

 

“We've been training Parkour for seven to eight years now. I started when I was 12.”

 

Asked whether he thought his group's actions were reckless, he said: “We say we're experienced, we don't do anything out of our limits and we know our limits perfectly.

 

“We climb for the lovely view at the top.”

 

 

 

Brian Snow, of Avalon Guest Accommodation in Upper Rock Gardens, Brighton, saw the group dangerously standing on top of the Hereford Court tower block on Saturday evening.

 

He said: “I just thought 'wow.' They had their arms out stretched and were jumping back and forth from a pillar to the roof.”

 

Gill Mitchell, Labour Councillor for East Brighton, said the group's behaviour was “reckless and akin to jumping from the groynes into shallow water”.

 

Inspector Gareth Davies, of Sussex Police, confirmed officers received a call from concerned residents in Kemp Town after the group were photographed on top of Hereford Court.

 

He added: “By the time we arrived they had gone.

 

"Our message is don't climb buildings and structures. It is extremely dangerous and a concern to the residents living in those buildings or nearby."

 

BOX - Sacha Powell, 19, a freelance filmmaker and Parkour enthusiast.

 

Parkour is about overcoming physical and mental obstacles whether at ground level or up at height.

 

It covers a great range of movements taking inspiration from other sports and art forms.

 

“It was founded in a suburb of Paris called Lisses but has evolved and grown worldwide into something much more broader than any of the founders anticipated.

 

 

 

“A common training day is based around simply having fun and going out, finding personal challenges and overcoming them.

 

“You only try what you know you're capable of doing. Knowing your limits comes with many years of practice. The fundamentals should be trained and drilled at ground level before taking it to a height.

 

“It might seem and look dangerous to other people. That doesn't mean it's dangerous for us. We've literally been living this stuff for years. We've practiced the techniques and movements required for the climbs a thousand times before taking it up at height.

 

“We know what surfaces and stuff to trust and it is important to know as we're trusting our lives with it. We rarely take risks with challenges at height. If it were really as risky as the public perceive it, the death toll of Parkour would be a great deal higher than it is.

 

“We try to limit little missions like this for night time to stay discreet and not to raise alert of the police, but sometimes it's hard to resist getting some amazing pictures and videos of the sunset over the city skyline.

 

“We have no great fear of the consequences enforced by police. They are usually very nice and understanding, and usually a bit shocked, but we usually stay discreet because we don't really want to have our fun at other people's expense.

 

“We appreciate that the police may have more important things to deal with.

 

“Some of us have normal jobs, like working in Tesco and I'm a young freelance filmmaker, and we vary between the ages of 14 and 24.”

 

 

 

What is Parkour?

 

Parkour is described as a “holistic training discipline” that develops one's ability mental and physical ability overcome obstacles.

 

It's thought to have been developed in the late 1980s in Lisses, a suburb of Paris, by Raymond Belle, David Belle and Sébastien Foucan.

 

The Argus used image manipulation detection software to check the authenticity of these amazing Parkour photos.

 

The software uses a range of methods to analyse a photo to see if there are any signs of the photo being altered.

 

The photos used in the newspaper were run through the software and no alternation was detected.

Before anything is said, I'd like to direct anyone with an opinion about this to their video blog site. As one can see, these kids are extremely skilled at what they do. These aren't a bunch of knobs climbing buildings as if they don't know better. They are less likely to fall down than one is likely to get in a car accident. If anything, they are kids doing something productive with their lives outside of doing drugs and etc. However, I am bothered by this assumed danger about this discipline, and yes, it is a discipline, that what these people do is dangerous. It is no more dangerous than driving car. Matter of fact, driving a car is far more dangerous. There is always a propensity of getting hurt and falling, but that danger is somewhat mitigated when the practitioner has been preparing for years knowing what they are capable of. Parkour related injuries are minuscule at best and they take more assessment in scenarios than anybody else does.  

[Tornado]

I like how 4% of people just couldn't decide if jumping off of buildings was dangerous or harmless fun.

[Old dead account]

I can see fox news reading this article and then reporting on how Sonic Lost World promotes dangerous stunts because of parkour gameplay.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I like how 4% of people just couldn't decide if jumping off of buildings was dangerous or harmless fun.

Maybe they thought it was dangerous fun and it wasn't an option?

[Vectorman]

Edited July 12, 2013 by King Grimlock

[Tara]

I think the main thing is that, if I read the article correctly, they're doing it on public property or property that is not entirely their own.  If something happened to them while they were doing it, the owners can be held responsible for it under the clumsily put together "negligence" laws.

 

I have nothing particularly against the sport in and of itself, but even if it's in a public place, you do have to be mindful of other people's property.  Now, again, if I misread this, please let me know.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Akito

[spinny]

As soon as I read "kids jumping off roofs", I immediately thought of that exact "HARDCORE PARKOUR" scene. I should probably feel bad.

[Blue Blood]

Frankly, I do think that parkour like this is pretty stupid. I don't care about how 'disciplined' or skilled participants may be, at the end of the day the sport bears a very high risk in public, urban areas. I've seen videos of Storror, the group in question, before and it's plain to see just how skilled these individuals are. But I really don't think this sort of thing should be going on in public property at all. Especially with things like climbing cranes. They're just asking for trouble there.

 

I don't know where to stand on the whole matter really. Plenty of other extreme sports pose high risks and if people are willing to disregard their own safety then so be it. The main problem is as I said before- public property and urban areas. Maybe we should just send our police force onto the rooftops with bows and arrows and arrows to stop them?

 

A link to the original source, btw.

[Clouder]

Kids/Teens jumping off roofs using parkour.

Sonic Lost World uses parkour.

A lot of Sonic fans are British.

 

Put two and two together.

[Blue Blood]

Kids/Teens jumping off roofs using parkour.

Sonic Lost World uses parkour.

A lot of Sonic fans are British.

 

Put two and two together.

 

Parkour is French.

[Clouder]

Parkour is French.

But this took place in England.

[Mollfie]

It is dangerous and I can understand people thinking it's stupid, that it could potentially waste the emergency services and hospitals time if they had an accident etc. But you can say that about a lot of things. Most people who do parkour probably spend a lot of time training, also do things like gymnastics and do these sorts of things indoors first or at least build up to it. They don't just go out one day and decide to jump across buildings. Some might, and those people really are idiots.

 

I dunno, I'm a little bias because a guy I knew at college has been doing parkour for years, he has travelled around the world doing it, been on TV doing it, teaches other people how to do it etc. So to me, it's just another street sport.

 

It treads a thin line though considering it will generally take place in public spaces.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Mollfie

[Tani Coyote]

While they are within their rights to do it, they shouldn't be be able to do it in any public location without the consent of the owners and signing a waiver that means the owners won't face charges if they injure themselves. It's the threat to other people that is the key issue, ultimately.

[Mauro Fonseca]

The whole point of parkour, assuming we're talking about actual parkour and not freerunning, is to be a means to move faster and directly from one place to another, especially in urban environments. Not seeing how they'd be able to do it without doing it in others' property.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Captain Harlock

[Tani Coyote]

The whole point of parkour, assuming we're talking about actual parkour and not freerunning, is to be a means to move faster and directly from one place to another, especially in urban environments. Not seeing how they'd be able to do it without doing it in others' property.

 

Unfortunately property rights trump one's personal satisfaction. It would probably be satisfying to torch a structure but that's illegal for a reason. Consent is key in everything.

 

A publicly-owned place like a park is slightly more of a gray area; that ultimately rests with the relevant governing body as governing bodies normally hold public places in trust.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Ogilvie Maurice

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

It's almost like the issue with Skateboarding on someone else's property, except more suicidal to regular folk.

[Tani Coyote]

It's almost like the issue with Skateboarding on someone else's property, except more suicidal to regular folk.

 

And far more dangerous to those below. A person falling from that height is going to kill someone.

 

We could argue that's the case with airplanes, but airplanes serve an economically-useful purpose. This does not.

 

To perform such feats you should have to obtain the consent of the owners where applicable (once more, I'd say public parks probably are an exception given it's not really a threat to anyone but yourself, and I doubt the local government will care), and if it's private property in a public place you're even more screwed since that would mean waivers for any person who goes through the area...

 

Overall, parkour sounds like it needs to be kept to areas made specifically for it (with waivers signed by all involved) or games with cartoon hedgehogs. Sucks but a lot of Daredevil acts need to be regulated for the good of public safety.

[tenchibr]

I personally think parkour is cool BUT these kids should be wearing safety equipment of some sort; not a big-ass helmet but just something, you know?

 

Gloves for example or some kind of cushion mask. They need to invent that and be safe.

[Tani Coyote]

Parkour is THE anarchist extreme sport. Nothing is more better for a person to challenge their limits than to perform this urban gymnastics. It's good for coordination and balace. A noob should perform in their yard and successively level up to a point they can perform in public though.

 

Anarchism would explain a lot about their disregard for legal procedure.

 

Unfortunately, laws still apply to you no matter how much you hate them. They are to be followed, or one risks being sanctioned, whether it be fines or imprisonment. No matter how professional they are, they are creating a risk of danger to other people in those areas should they fall; accidents happen.

 

If they're real professionals, surely they'd be able gain permission from some owner of property somewhere; it would be a great publicity stunt. The company could just assume legal damages that would theoretically be outweighed by the increased profits from more attention.

[Mr. Taxi]

We could argue that's the case with airplanes, but airplanes serve an economically-useful purpose. This does not.

 

 

Parkour may very well be economically exploited as an alternative means of transportation and cultural heritage. Do not associate "economic purpose" with "associated corporativism", please.

[Tani Coyote]

Parkour may very well be economically exploited as an alternative means of transportation and cultural heritage.

 

I'm sure driving through a public park with sufficient offroad capabilities might be more efficient in transportation than going on the roads around it as well.

 

If this really does serve a purpose, they should take it up with the relevant property owners. If they're as professional as they claim, they should have no problem obtaining permission or even convincing the owners

 

Otherwise I'm fine and dandy with law enforcement serving them a few fines.