Eastbourne Herald Article

[Lonemorf]

Noxsta pointed me in the direction of a letter published in this weeks Eastbourne Herald, which to be frank wriled be somewhat. Here is the letter:
I am writing as I am very concerned about an aspect of the Extreme Weekend. I think it is great that we encourage kids to have fun, but.....
At the beginning of last week one of our hall renters caught some children on the roof of the community centre. They were jumping from roof to roof When confronted and asked what they were doing, they said that they were copying the free running from extreme weekend.
I do not think that things like this should be encouraged as it could lead to serious injury or even death.
It should be made clear that such things should be left to the professionals

Now, I have mixed views on this, as I see her point to her degree. So, I reply in 3 sections.

1. Jacqui, if you read this (I will be pointing the Herald in the direction of this website and this thread in particular, so hopefully you will) let me set your mind to rest. Parkour/free running is indeed a potentially dangerous sport, and should not be undertaken without some form of supervision in the infancy of learning. Urban Shadows and any other chapter in Parkour do not (or should not, we cant speak for everyone) advocate people watching then attempting to imitate the inimitable. Parkour carries a learning curve like every other sport, and needs guidance from the beginning, even just to learn the ethos of respect for you body, other peoples property and the basic safety. Parkour is not just for professionals, it has many levels of ability. People just need to know their limits, and train/learn.
I hope you see my point on this.

2. Probably the most important. To the kids who were attempting to "copy the free runners". Please do not scale any buildings on your own. Come to one of the gym days we hold, and learn the basics: Knowing your limits, how to land, how to roll, and basic moves. Once you have these under your belt, you can practice at a realistic level for your abilities, and if you still enjoy the sport you can join us at our weekly jams to better yourself and learn more from experienced members.
We hope to meet you soon :)


3. To the Urban Shadows. This highlights just how desirable this sport is, and how many more people (age irrelevant) want to take up the sport. Keep it real, keep it safe, and help anyone you know who "wants in".
Furthermore I would encourage any of you who feel strongly about this, to write into the Herald, to put across your point of view. You can email them at eastbourne.herald@trbeckett.co.uk however they do require a postal address to make it possible to submit your letter for publication.


J

[Noxsta]

Also, i point out: Exactly how were they copying what they saw at extreme??? There wasn't a roof in site there! More likely they were copying Casino Royale eh, This woman is quick to blame the wrong people, no doubt those kids have also watched Spiderman??? TV is the biggest ideology creator out there, Kids associate what they see on the box with real life - many examples in the media. As mentioned, The Shadows practice carefully and we promote an understanding for our surroundings and our abilities. This is why as members of the Urban Shadows we all have a big responsibility - Kids WILL copy us because what we do is very vogue, it looks cool etc. A code of practice is to be drawn up soon as we need to protect ourselves from things like this. As a Shadow you set an example so things like:
Trespassing, Loutish behaviour and 1-up-manship are not to be done. Remember this Shadows, and take care... :):)

[Shinrai Shinzou]

i must admit Noxta's gotta point - their was no roof work involved in eastbourne extreame and the shadows as a whole, very strongly implied that "training" for parkour should be done with the shadows themselfs - this for the reasons
1.
that we can ensure that they are learning from proper professionals and acquiring a 'real' technique that works rather than learning something that after while damages the body but "looks cool" for example someone who jumped off something high and rolled badly - a shadow could easily spot the bad landing and help perfect it - where as rowdy laddy friends jump up and down saying "again again" - if u get my point?

2 the shadows also will stop anybody trespassing and as a group we frown upon such behavior as it could lead to injury or property damage
and because these youths were showing a possible disregard to their own safety or that of the public just goes to show that they actually had nothing to do with U.S. (urban shadows) OR were even at the eastbourne extreme - the most probable explanation for their excuse is that they being youths most probably wanted to shift on the blame to somebody else as quickly as possible - if i was to guess the gave you our contact details? but not their own? - every man is responsible for his own fate people should quit blaming other ppl and just grow up in my own personal opinion - i suppose its not my place to say either but if anybody is concerned about the health and safety aspect of how we do things then by all mean contact noxta and arrange a time and date when you can come along to one of our "jams" and see for yourself.