Berkeley: UC Berkeley Parkour Club?

[chicken]

So after reading several articles regarding parkour becoming widespread and to universities around the country etc., I (along with other pk folks at Cal) have been really interested in attempting to start an official club on campus next year. I feel that this would really spread the word about parkour and educate not only the people that choose to participate in it, but also the general public's opinion and misconceptions about it. I am rather tired of the giant majority of people who first see parkour and say COOL and come out to jam once and never come to jam again. For them, parkour is only some sort of physical feat that they would much rather watch some other person do. But of course, parkour is much more than that, and it comes with its own nifty philosophical and personal meaning.

Here are a short list of issues that should be addressed regarding the formation of a club:

1. We have an extreme shortage of representatives at Berkeley. As of next year, with Geoff gone, it will only be myself, lethalbeef, pi and Pierre. If we even hope to obtain some club status, we will certainly need a larger gathering. Most importantly, these people MUST BE DEVOTED if we are to be taken seriously.

2. We need other endorsement such as through other clubs, the ASUC senate, the police, the administration at Berkeley, faculty etc. It is important to gain the approval of different groups of people. One possible club I had in mind is the Excursions group at Cal which does pretty cool outdoor activitites, such as bouldering, kayaking, sky diving, etc. Campus security must be addressed due to the fact that we interact with the architecture around campus in ways that normal pedestrians do not.

3. We need to educate the public about what it is exactly that we do. Most of the negativity to parkour I think stems from the misconception that we are some band of hooligans that disrespect the very buildings and structures that we live amongst, which is quite the opposite to what we actually think.

Wow that list was shorter than expected :happysad: I'll add more when I think of them.

I would like to heart people's thoughts and comments about this issue so post away!

[lethalbeef]

I concur.

[Corndogg]

rock it! build it, and they will come.

[2nd Chance]

to an extent, if the fuzz will go for it.

[lethalbeef]

They allow people to play football, which breaks more bones than us, probably. The allow people to pull and strain muscles in the gym. The only difference between us and them is a waiver, which is what we need to achieve.

[(Pi)]

My thoughts, after some pondering after the jam today.

1. We have an extreme shortage of representatives at Berkeley. As of next year, with Geoff gone, it will only be myself, lethalbeef, pi and Pierre. If we even hope to obtain some club status, we will certainly need a larger gathering. Most importantly, these people MUST BE DEVOTED if we are to be taken seriously.
We need to advertise, but not in the conventional sense. I get the feeling that if we do like other clubs and flyer people on Sproul, all we'll get are those exact kind of people who show up once and never again. What we need to do is communicate by word of mouth, to people we know would be more likely to be interested. Talking to people in Excursions, gymnastics, the breakdancing groups, the martial arts clubs; those kinds of people. Heck, even looking up parkour on the Berkeley facebook might get us some names. Quality over quantity.

2. We need other endorsement such as through other clubs, the ASUC senate, the police, the administration at Berkeley, faculty etc. It is important to gain the approval of different groups of people. One possible club I had in mind is the Excursions group at Cal which does pretty cool outdoor activitites, such as bouldering, kayaking, sky diving, etc. Campus security must be addressed due to the fact that we interact with the architecture around campus in ways that normal pedestrians do not.
This is going to require communication and outreach, and most likely a lot of it. Setting it up with ASUC shouldn't be too difficult, and I'm sure the Excursions group would love to help us out. The police will be our main obstacle, but (as we saw today) there are those on the force that are cool with what we're doing. We need to talk to the police and iron out what we can and can't do on campus property, and what kind of forms we'd need to draft up, and any specific issues that we would have to work out with the faculty of certain buildings (as we've seen at Boalt and Haas, they aren't exactly keen on what we do).

3. We need to educate the public about what it is exactly that we do. Most of the negativity to parkour I think stems from the misconception that we are some band of hooligans that disrespect the very buildings and structures that we live amongst, which is quite the opposite to what we actually think.
This is going to be key, and it's going to be difficult. However, I think this could provide us with a focus to the group. Putting on demonstrations, performing at events, or just talking to people as we practice are all things we can do to reverse the misconceptions that people have. We want to show people that we're not punks; we're intelligent and responsible Cal students with a passion for movement. This would also help us out with number one, and get our name out to the public and future traceurs.

Let's do this guys.

[Corndogg]

try hitting up Lance - Lancemhendrix@aol.com (Lancemhendrix@aol.com)

he emailed and is interested in getting started.

[NoSole]

Be careful with this guys, it's really important to do all your research first. There is more than just a waiver involved. Plus we are outside climbing on stuff, which acts as a catalyst for building deterioration. I can think of a bunch of other reasons, but I feel like if this is done properly you guys can get what you want and UCB can maintain some sort of oversight to mitigate any liabilities. The big thing to keep in mind is that when you approach this issue, you have to look at it from the University's point of view as well.

Keep me posted on anything you find out. I'm starting work on a project that I think could be a great asset to you guys as well as you guys being an asset to me/us! This a great idea though, so keep it movin forward!

[lethalbeef]

I sent him an email, he said he wasn't interested anymore, and his post was "months and months ago" so we're sort of on our own. But on another note, we got that James kid now, which is another addition.

[Meatlad]

In that TIME article recently they talked about at least a couple campuses where officially-sanctioned clubs have sprung up. And another about a guy who got a $4500 leadership scholarship to spread the word about parkour.

Here are a the guys who set up succesful college clubs. Try contacting one and finding out how they countered objections:
-"Tony Heinz, 19, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee..."

-"Ryan Ford, 19, a business major at the University of Colorado at Boulder, set up a similar club in November."

-Doesn't mention a contact but maybe you can look one up on Facebook: "Students at Maryland's McDaniel College told its campus safety director, Michael Webster, how much planning goes into what he remembers their calling "architectural acrobatics," and they stressed that they wouldn't "create an unnecessarily large amount of first-aid calls." Their entreaty worked. Today Webster says there is no official prohibition against parkour."


Also, I wouldn't bring up the perception that we're hooligans, because I think that's more our fear than the public's perception and we don't want to tell them that's how we're percieved if we're not yet.

[chicken]

Thanks for the names jeff, I messaged Ryan on facebook. Hopefully he responds.

[victoriamonster]

i'll definitely be around to help out whenever you decide to start this club :)
just tell me what to do! i'm super interested for this to be official at our school.

[NoSole]

And another about a guy who got a $4500 leadership scholarship to spread the word about parkour.

Here are a the guys who set up succesful college clubs. Try contacting one and finding out how they countered objections:
-"Tony Heinz, 19, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee..."

-"Ryan Ford, 19, a business major at the University of Colorado at Boulder, set up a similar club in November."

The scholarship guy is Tyson Cecka of Washington Parkour (goes by the name Undaunted), a Univ. of Washington student, and the newest addition to the Tribe. The nonprofit that he set up is called the Pacific Norhwest Parkour Association (or PNWPA). It's not up and running yet, but he's working on it. I've spoken with him about this already. He's a good guy and a very good traceur!

Ryan Ford is Demon of Colorado Parkour. He founded COPK and is one of the guys in charge of organizing the COPK jam in August. He's also on the Tribe and is an admin on APK. I've spoke with him frequently too about various things and def has a good outlook on the sport. He and some of his buddies are teaching PK classes at a rock climbing gym in CO for the summer.

These two guys are really on top of their shit and I'm sure could offer some great advice! They also have a lot on their plate right now, so don't be worried if it takes time for them to get back to you. Just tell them that I've been whoring them out for info, if/when you contact them. :tongue:

Don't know who Tony Heinz is though.

[chicken]

I actually sent a msg to Ryan Ford, and he said that the club he made was independent from the university, like not really an official thing, and that he hasn't done much with it because he's been busy.

[Meatlad]

I met Tyson! I jammed with them up on the UW campus way back when a long ass time ago when I was first starting. Yeah, that guy's good.

[chicken]

This is an email that I sent to the security advisor at McDaniels college, which was mentioned in the Times article:

Good Morning Mr. Wang:

I want to apologize for taking so long to reply. I was away at training
for two weeks.

My contacts with parkour enthusiasts at McDaniel were quite informal.
There was no club. The young man referred to in the article simply made
an appointment to see me and we talked. Given there was no prohibition
and he assured me of his desire for a strong safety concern I could see
no reason to prohibit something that was not violating any college
rules. To me, it was sort of like if a student or a group of students
had read that vigorous push ups on the brick quadrangle was especially
healthy and they came to me to talk about it. We'd have a conversation
about hydration, not getting in people's way, etc but in the end there
would be formal rule prohibiting such an activity.

I hope this was helpful.

Mike Webster, Director

Timothy Wang wrote:
> Dear Mr. Webster,
>
> My name is Timothy Wang and I am currently a freshman at UC Berkeley. I'm
> sure you are aware of a recent Time Magazine article entitled "Student
> Stuntmen" in which you were quoted about the interest and practice of
> parkour by the students at McDaniels University. I am emailing you because
> I am an active participator in parkour activities and we actually have a
> large group of people who organize practice sessions and training all over
> San Francisco. This is fantastic, but I wish to take it one step further
> by officially establishing a student government funded parkour club at
> Berkeley. Since the parkour enthusiasts at McDaniels approached you about
> the issue of free practice of parkour around campus, I was wondering how
> exactly did they go about doing this? Did they draft up a lengthy
> statement with signatures and attached waivers and liability forms? Did
> the students have to appear in a hearing before administration and
> security personnel? In other words, what rigorous processes did the
> student's have to go through in order to gain the trust of the university?
> I am very excited about the idea of a parkour club being established at
> Berkeley, and I thank you very much for taking the time to read this.
> Thank you for your help.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> -Timothy Wang
>

[ilyarussianFR]

names ilya
16
live in alameda
went to a jam in San Jose
looking for more
lemme know if you guys go on weekends or whatever
ilyasoutrunning@gmail.com