Jason's Blog for Parkour/FR, Music, and Technology

So I am going to step out and take a swing at Take Flight today.  I am not out ot start any sort of qualm but merely express my opinions on this.  They posted the picture above on their page and gave it this caption:

This sign is actually a blessing in disguise.

It means:  #1. Cities are recognizing what Parkour and Freerunning are. So… #2. When enough of these exist, cities will start proactively building Parkour parks. 

Consider it the birth pains of Parkour. Soon Parkour will be brought into the world on a new level, and after this the discipline will grow in a whole new way.

Basically, there are so many things wrong with this caption and this picture. 

Yes, this sign is a sign that the community has acknowledged the existence of parkour… but in a negative light.  They see it as a destructive force, a thing that needs to be banned and controlled and limited as much as possible.  They do not RESPECT parkour, nor its practitioners.  And I am sure that practitioners have not respected the community either, for signs like these only emerge when there is this type of reckless and irresponsible training.  The only thing this sign says is that the community doesn’t want to see much more of parkour.  We’ve been marked on the same level as dogs and drunks.

Second, the building of parkour parks.  By no way does this suggest such a thing happening.  It perhaps will give practitioners a better argument when motioning to build one, but it is a flawed fundamental.  Furthermore, parkour parks, while they’re lovely on occasion, would be absolutely horrible if you could ONLY train on them—and no where else because you’ve annoyed the community enough that you’re not allowed and these signs are everywhere.  Parkour parks are often over designed and have some form of pre-prescribed motion in them.  Blocks, bars, boxes are all oriented for specific movements to occur and yes, while you have the ability to think and move outside the box, you are still limited in the very fact that you are moving around in an artificial environment designed by another person who was thinking about parkour movement while designing it!  It defeats the purpose.  You are not learning to see new, but see what others have saw.

Furthermore, the fact that take flight has posted this—a page and company that is in the sight of so many practitioners—and has viewed this sign to come with some sort of silver lining?  It is irresponsible.  Plus, the comments left by some of the viewers is obnoxious, talking about flipping off the sign or not respecting the wishes of the community and the likes.  It just reinforces why they community should not respect us—because we are not respecting them.