ban on parkour!

[Ascent]

i dont know if any one has posted it yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdWAVPYZwDQ

[2nd Chance]

Not really surprising, but it is bullocks.

[lethalbeef]

Well that sucks. I wonder if it was because of whatever event they had the previous week with "hundreds of traceurs descending on the area." I have a feeling they'll take care of it somehow. Nice that we've been able to avoid it for so long though.

[Beretta]

Old news to me... Daniel Ilabaca and his family worked pretty hard to prevent this I know. Hopefully they'll get it repealed.

[drow]

lolol "parker"... thats bull, they are saying that people are being "anti social"

of all things, traceurs are very respectful, if some douche decides to do something stupid dont blame the whole sport

[rparkour]

Yeah, when people fuck up the walls when they try to get on roofs and then do some stupid shit and hurt themselves they blame the whole sport. If someone gets tripped on the field and tears their ACL or something, do they blame soccer? If someone gets hit and twists an ankle, to they blame football? No. This is a perfect example of prejudicial profiling. Because we don't conform to the norms of society, not only we, but the whole parkour world is blamed whenever something goes wrong. There is risk in everything anyone does, whether it be the risk of falling off a skateboard or dirt bike or miscalculating a cat leap and hitting your head or slipping off a rail on a precision. The problem is, the risks in the 'accepted' sports are all ignored or put off the the side when the risks in less mainstream sports such as parkour and freerunning are exaggerated by people who don't like what we are doing even though it does nothing to harm or inconvenience them in any way.

All in all, traceurs as a community are very respectful and nice people. As there is in any sport, there are the few isolated idiots that will make us look bad, but that's not us. If there one teenager does ecstasy, does that mean all do?

Notice how I said 'community.' This is because we are most certainly not antisocial. In fact, my parkour friends are as good, if not better friends than the ones I've known my entire life. Traceurs are very accepting and are ready and willing to make new friends, help out beginners and just help out others in general. Look at the bunkers project SFPK did (I wasn't aware of SFPK when you guys did that). We help out not only each other, but the Bay Area communities we live in, and that's why we haven't been banned.

All in all, people should not judge others based on what a few idiots do. If you judged football by Terrel Owens, you would think all football players were assholes. If you judged soccer (the real football) by Christiano Ronaldo, you would think that all soccer players were wimps who dive to much. This is why parkour should not be judged by the few bad apples that DO cause damage and ARE a nuisance to the community.

[BENNY]

Rage against this shit!

[drow]

sigh, i think its probably one giant misunderstanding. what i want to know is how this ban got passed...

[Bagheera]

Thank heavens for nature :)

[Red Beard]

I thought the newscaster did a very good job with it personally. She explained how the ban wasn't because of the traceurs, that their philosophy would discourage any such behavior. She said it was because of people that were doing it just because they'd seen it online and that they didn't understand what it was really about.

[drow]

you cant blame the newscasters in times like these, they are the messengers.

think about it, if its a bunch of idiots doing things on youtube, whats a ban going to stop? except for the people who actually CARE about parkour

[BENNY]

In our time of now, we are seeing a rapid decline in civil liberties in all facets of our society. the threat of terrorism has the government terrified, and with their fright they are taking a grip more firm than we've seen in the past decade.

If this is the controlling response, then we must go underground.

Join the resistance.

Join ProjectBARF.

[hillexallen]

This is a direct result of misunderstanding of parkour due to improper representation by the media and traceurs.

Didn't I predict this like two months ago?

Anyway, the only way to get rid of this ban and prevent further bans is to improve our image. That means less showing off, less recklessness, less competition (which leads to injuries, and therefore a poor image), and less media. We should be able to influence our image more than the media, if we leave our fate in the hands of MTV, the corporate news, Motion Inc, and other big media companies, we are doomed. We need MORE respect for other people and places, more dedication, more philosophizing, and so on...

For now, let's hope that they repeal this, I doubt they will though.

[lethalbeef]

The best solution would be to figure out a way to convince them we never break things and never hurt ourselves. Not sure if that's going to happen. They're going to keep thinking that whether or not we have competitions, that's for sure, and there's nothing to stop them from thinking that if we just try to be meek and stay out of the way, stay out of the spotlight. IMO though, a completely different problem.

[2nd Chance]

This is a direct result of misunderstanding of parkour due to improper representation by the media and traceurs.


I disagree. This seems more like a misinterpretation of what parkour is. It seems like the ban was less because of the true traceurs, and more on retarded hooligans trying to emulate us.

[drow]

i think there isnt enough info to determine the cause.

it could be people misrepresenting parkour, it could be idiots imitating parkour, or it could be that the government doesnt understand parkour. we really dont know for sure

[Messenger]

I've personally come across a few individuals who claim to be "true traceurs", and are just in it for the thrill and excitement of showing their friends that they can do a backflip. Most of the actual traceur's, in our community at least, are dignified enough to understand where the authorities are coming from in situations like this. But there are a lot of people who see it on YouTube, and give us a bad name because of their recklessness.

I think if the media, or the authorities took time to understand the difference between "kids who do parkour" and traceurs, they would understand why we do this, and why they shouldn't restrict, let alone ban us.

[Beretta]

This is a direct result of misunderstanding of parkour due to improper representation by the media and traceurs.

Didn't I predict this like two months ago?

Anyway, the only way to get rid of this ban and prevent further bans is to improve our image. That means less showing off, less recklessness, less competition (which leads to injuries, and therefore a poor image), and less media. We should be able to influence our image more than the media, if we leave our fate in the hands of MTV, the corporate news, Motion Inc, and other big media companies, we are doomed. We need MORE respect for other people and places, more dedication, more philosophizing, and so on...

For now, let's hope that they repeal this, I doubt they will though.

That's silly.

1) There are many possible ways to overturn the ban. The best to me seems to be engaging in a dialogue with the authorities like Daniel Ilabaca has.

2) That is, unless Ilabaca's the anti-Christ for trying to support himself through his incredible talent. This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZZdShTFvtk) clearly shows how he's using to MTV to fool the masses into thinking parkour is anti-social.

3) I don't quite see the connection between television shows that haven't aired and a ban on parkour in one town. Perhaps I'm blind.

4) Pessimism is pointless. Thought is the father of action, if we believe we shall fail, certainly we will. I am confident that there is no better ambassador for parkour than Mr. Ilabaca, and I'm sure he'll get this overturned.

5) You seem pleased to have predicted this. Only, your prediction turned out backwards, this ban was enacted before mass media exposure. It will fall after the world sees how beautiful our discipline is.


STOP THE PRESSES!!!

I just found more evidence of the vast media conspiracy to destroy parkour. See here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g64padYzrz8) how Ryan Doyle and Ben Jenkin misrepresent us as anti-social people who like to do things like teach inner-city youth parkour for free!

[drow]

4) Pessimism is pointless. Thought is the father of action, if we believe we shall fail, certainly we will. I am confident that there is no better ambassador for parkour than Mr. Ilabaca, and I'm sure he'll get this overturned.

aye, what has happened has happened, no point in pointing fingers, all we can do is to make sure WE dont misrepresent parkour

[msgr33]

It's quite clearly stated in the video that the actions that caused the ban weren't because of tracers, but because of "associated antisocial behaviour [by] people who are engaging in the sport element, not understanding the philosophy." So even though there was an understanding government in place, there was still a ban enacted because the practical reality is that non-tracers are going to have an even tougher time than tracers in differentiating someone is practicing parkour- the discipline with the associated philosophy- from someone who is jumping around and disrespecting public space. I mean on an executive level (cops, general public), not a legislative one. Props to the local pk community there (no doubt lead in some way by Danial Ilabaca) for establishing that much, and good luck finding a workable solution. Let's hope it something better than licensing tracers and making them wear identifying wardrobe or something.

I understand that some would rather not draw any line and shut out anyone from being under the pk/fr umbrella, but I think the practical question, not the hypothetical one, is just where does the line get drawn when the actions of others, even distantly- or incorrectly- associated others, has a real impact on the freedom of the individual? Can we be trusted by legislators and law enforcement to regulate ourselves when we haven't done so to this point and many community leaders might refuse such an offer?

On the topic of whether there is mass media exposure, I think it's important to understand the difference between mass media (such as YouTube) and mainstream media. While mainstream media is part of mass media, people are consuming media in new ways, especially younger people, which is most of the newcomers (not as many people are drawn from NPR or newspapers, esp since the average age of their listeners/readers tends to be twice that or more of the average new tracer). Maybe if more noobs watched this video instead of (or in addition to) endless showreels and realized how their individual actions affect parkour in general, we would all be better off.

[drow]

i had a skater ask about freerunning today. he didnt seem like he thought it was reckless/just for the flips, he was actually asking about how long you train for, what training was like, and what kind of dedication it takes.

you need to remember, not all people who see parkour are going to think the way you expect them to. when you go to any parkour oriented website some of the first things you see are safety and philosophy references, you would have ot try pretty hard to find a source of parkour videos w/o anyone talking about safety and training

[hillexallen]

This ban had absolutely nothing to do with misrepresentation of parkour in the media or the commercialization of parkour. The fact that the rise of commercialization of parkour and the ban on parkour came at the same time is a complete coincidence. The fact that the UFF Freerunning Championship, the only major freerunning competition to date, was held in England, the same place where parkour was banned, is also completely coincidental. YouTube also played no role in this. Videos of people doing flips, tricks, and dangerous stunts do not make younger, less experienced people want to try them too. Any claims to the contrary are ridiculous and honestly, really stupid.

Daniel Ilabaca and everyone else who competed in the Ultimate Parkour Challenge obviously did the show because they wanted to be able to get together with other traceurs and gain experience. I have confidence that none of them care about the $10,000 cash prize or the publicity. All the injuries/falls that happened on that show (which are shown in the preview) were pure coincidences, and were not results of competition.

Parkour is also not headed the same way as skateboarding, and even if it is, it is not for the same reasons.

We can do nothing at all to help younger traceurs be less reckless and competitive. We can only improve ourselves, we cannot positively influence anybody else in any way.

[Chris McMillin]

The beginning of the end.

[drow]

long help pessimism i see... im just going to throw this out there, but hasnt this sort of thing been happening since the beginning of time? people jumping off crap, people getting hurt, people being dumb. im not saying there is no correlation, but you have to remember that people have been doing stupid things for a long time, its just now there is a name and cause behind it, which makes it more accessible to the general public.

again, not saying commercialization has nothing to do with it (quite to opposite) but i think that it IS inevitable (but we can control where it goes and to what extent) and no matter what happens there will be a transition period where things that this are bound to happen

and explain your skateboarding statement... i said nothing about parkour going the same way of skateboarding, i just said that someone got into a serious talk about pakrour. i was just saying that he was a skater.

[hillexallen]

long help pessimism i see...

The idea that this ban has anything to do with commercialization is totally pessimistic. I don't even need to explain why, it should be self-explanatory.

[drow]

i think this discussion is more or less over. everything that needs to be said has been. its basically just a matter of opinion now, and theres no point raising blood pressures over something like this.