By Heather Barnes and Rebecca Eberhardt
As music floats through the gym, bouncing off the walls and gymnastic equipment, junior Dylan Nichols rebounds off of a trampoline and into the foam pit with a twirl.
Nine teenagers crowd by the foam pit at SIGS gym, as they have done every Saturday afternoon for the past four months. This variety of students and friends make up the local free lance parkour team (give or take a person every other Saturday) started by Nichols on a whim.
“I was the only one that did parkour at this school and I wanted to see if anyone else would do it, instead of being a loner,” said Nichols.
Parkour, according to Dictionary.com, is the sport of moving along a route, typically in a city, trying to get around or through various obstacles in the quickest and most efficient manner possible; this is accomplished by jumping, climbing or running. Senior Aaron Turner defines it otherwise.
“Parkour is finding ways to control your body to go over obstacles in a hard to do manner. You could express parkour as more of an art than a sport. Everyone does it their own way. It’s your own,” said Turner.
Two members attend FC and are a part of Nichols’ team, along with five others outside of the school.
Sophomore Elise Mann is the only girl on the team and the most recent to join following senior Derek Weiss and Turner into the “front-flip frenzy.”
“Aaron told me about it and I figured I’d be good at it and have fun,” said Mann.
Mann has been cheerleading for eight years and has been on the parkour team for three weeks. She joined the team, she said, mainly because of the adrenaline rush and knowing how to do something no one else knows how.
“It puts you in incredible shape all while you’re having fun doing it,” said Mann.
Turner came to the team through Nichols, bringing along his experience from diving in the seventh grade and years of skateboarding. He’s only been on the parkour team for two months but has already created a signature flip among the team, “The Squirrel”.
“Most people see it as a stunt-man thing, doing flips, but to us it’s art. Self-expression free running. To push your body in ways that’s hard to do. You feel really accomplished when you learn a new move or flip or go higher,” said Turner.
Founder Nichols has a signature flip himself that is a favorite of the team, “The Suicide”; he dives to the trampoline to pull up last minute and bounces, then flips once again in the air. He is also famous for his creative use of the front flip and “The Turtle”.
“I just go and out and do it. If I fall down I just get back up again,” said Nichols.
Parkour is dangerous, however, so students need to be careful by wearing the proper clothing and using the proper setting. A novice, or an experienced athlete, could easily break something or earn some scars in this sport where head injuries are also common.
“I haven’t seriously hurt myself, yet,” said Turner.
SIGS co-owner, head coach and competitive team director Joe Cooper says that while there is some risk to all gymnastics, what the parkour team is training to do has a much higher risk factor.
“These guys are doing this on concrete; if they fall or come up short the consequences are much more severe than if one of our [gymnasts] were to come up short here on the mats. We have foam pits, spring floors where our gymnasts can learn to perform, fall down, land short, crash, what have you, and be fine. Completely padded, safe as can be,” said Cooper.
While the parkour team is using SIGS open gym and Cooper admits to having limited knowledge of the sport, he states that they use the same gradual buildup and steady progression as the gymnasts they train at the gym.
“It’s a lot safer [at SIGS]. Also, most of these kids are coming in with diving or gymnastic background. You need a basic understanding of kinetic movement to do these tricks,” said Cooper.
To do parkour the recommended outfit is light clothes; basketball shorts, Under Armor, sleeveless shirts and tight fitting clothing that won’t catch or snag.
And while parkour keeps you physically fit, you have to stay healthy to do the strenuous workout.
“I eat a lot, but not too much because I don’t want to get a tummy ache,” said Turner.
The team invites anyone to come out and join them during open gym at SIGS, every Saturday between 12 and 2 pm, but the team warns everyone of an eight dollar entry fee.
Nichols expresses that he is willing to teach anyone how to do simple flips and to join the team and learn more.
“[I] tell them what they did wrong and tell them to try again. Don’t give up,” said Nichols.