Bleachers' Brew #107 The Liberation of Free Expression

(This appears in my Bleachers' Brew column Monday, May 12, 2008)

Run don’t walk

There was this print ad done by Leagas Delaney London in 1996 for adidas that gave an accurate glimpse of what goes on in a runner’s mind when his feet are leaden and he’s moving on sheer will power:

“Just to the signpost. Just to the car. Just to the crossroads. Just to the curb. Just to the truck. Just to the signpost…”

The ad’s visual showed a street at dusk with the copy -- written by David Dye who also art directed it – vanishing down the road. Dye’s creative partner, copywriter Will Awdry penned a companion ad meant for outdoor running that read every bit similar: “I can’t stand straight lines.”

Both ads were an astute and powerful discernment of running and the triumph of the human spirit. And obviously, they’ve made a lasting impression on me for more than a decade later, they remain as fresh and vibrant a memory.

And that leads me to parkour where it isn’t simply “just to the car or the signpost.” To be more accurate, it’s about going above or through the car and around the signpost. For many people, their introduction to parkour was that fantastic chase scene in Casino Royale when the latest James Bond model, actor Daniel Craig tried to apprehend Mollaka, a small time terrorist played by Frenchman Sebastien Foucan, one of the founders of Parkour along with fellow countryman David Belle. The scene, filmed in the Bahamas, featured some snazzy yet dangerous free running through a high-rise construction site that included climbing up a crane and jumping onto another one several feet across then leaping down to a sandpit. I almost didn’t want 007 to catch Mollaka just to see how else he’d turn the place into his own playground.

There’s a preconceived notion that one has to get into sports to get fit. It’s actually the other way around – you’ve got to be fit to get into sports.

But technically, parkour isn’t a sport. It’s a form of free running that uses elements of acrobatics, martial arts, and jumping while traversing an urban landscape from one point to another. Parkour is one such discipline that requires more than knowing the basic running techniques. There’s no stopping or taking any detours for traceurs, as the practitioners of parkour are called. They go through fences, walls, stairs, buildings, and even cars that make parkour fun to watch. Stripped down, it was like in my grade school days when my classmates and I hopped around in the rock garden and used the monkey bars to swing across.

Foucan, who is a global ambassador for free running, stresses the importance of proper training for traceurs for there are a multitude of safety concerns and parkour’s fundamentals that should be grasped, learned, and understood. “It is important for to respect others and the environment. There’s no right or wrong way for free running. It’s all about expressing yourself in your environment with no limitations. It’s about moving like an animal or being fluid like water. Remember, the journey is more important than the goal that also helps in the social acceptance of parkour.”

Dan Edwardes, is one of the world’s foremost authorities on free running who co-runs Parkour Generations, an academy dedicated to the training and popularization of the discipline in England and the rest of the world. “One does not have to start fit and strong, but the training will result in one becoming extremely fit and functionally strong, as well as confident, spatially aware, and generally much healthier than normal,” says Edwardes who is also proficient in various fighting disciplines. “No protective gear is worn, and basic running shoes will do, which make it a very accessible discipline - hence us being able to reach a lot of inner city children who have limited resources but a great deal of energy.”

Parkour isn’t without danger hence the hours spent training and mastering one set of obstacles and terrain or free movement over a larger area. “It’s all about moving, getting from one place to the next using only your body and the environment,” adds Edwardes.

The beauty of parkour caught the eye and heart of independent filmmaker Julie Angel who made a name for herself doing observational documentaries and sub-culture sports films. “Parkour has so many elements to it that I feel as though I am just scratching the surface of what can be communicated about it through film and video,” says Angel who is currently undertaking a part-time Audio Visual PhD at Brunel University in England. As it is, several of her videos have been uploaded on youtube which has certainly increased the awareness, profile, and participation of people in parkour.

“Most of the documentaries that are online have really been observational pieces of work, so my aim is always to be as unobtrusive as possible and not interfere with what the traceurs are doing. This is most obvious in the 'Visions' film, but it was pretty much the same for most of the sections of 'Jump Westminster', 'Rendezvous', 'NYC' and many others (all which can be seen in youtube). If they are running a workshop or seminar, the last thing anybody wants is to have a filmmaker stop and direct people and ask people to repeat something so you can get another camera angle.”
“One is never done with parkour,” sums up Edwardes. “The training is the means and the end. It is the one goal. There is no end, nor conclusion or perfection - only daily improvement, hardship in training and the pleasure of pushing oneself farther than one thought possible.”

And like running, it’s pushing oneself -- “Just to the signpost. Just to the car. Just to the crossroads. Just to the curb. Just to the truck. Just to the signpost…”

Drive don’t shoot
There’s something about the spherical shape of a basketball that reminds National University coach Manny Dandan of a clock. “It’s my life – twenty-four hours a day,” he says with a sigh. A bottle of San Miguel Light and the company of friends and family lightens the burden. “We might not have a big program like Ateneo or La Salle, but basketball is a full time occupation in every sense of the word.”

Dandan jogs and plays recreational tennis “to beat the stress of it all,” as he describes it, but the one endeavor outside basketball that he’s most passionate about is driving. Car racing to be more specific.

He has that sheepish smile of someone about to divulge a deeply buried secret as a result of a game of Truth or Consequence. “I was into illegal racing before,” he whispers with a Cheshire cat grin. “You know, Ortigas, White Plains… I was there.”

This coming Sunday, May 18, Dandan will reclaim a portion of his youth on the race track near the High Street mall in Bonifacio Global City (The Fort) in Taguig. The coach will be making his racing debut in his souped-up Opel Manta (Aguilar will be driving his Mitsubishi Mirage) in Team Nitro Motorsports Bridgestone Super Autocross Series.

“There’ll be a collegiate category for the competition and Raymond and I will be representing NU,” he announces. “Raymond” is the NU Bulldogs’ second year forward-center Raymond Aguilar who will be driving his Mitsubishi Mirage.

Bobby Paguia, National’s Vice President for Administration, plunked down some of his personal money to co-sponsor Dandan’s vehicle. When Paguia asked his basketball coach’s chances of winning, Dandan, laughed somewhat excitedly, “We’ll see, sir! I’m the rookie here!”

“It’s all about the experience,” the coach admits of his modest goal for the competition. “I need to soak it in – the atmosphere, the tension. And from there aim higher or better my performance in succeeding races. And it’s my venue to vent my basketball frustrations.”

Somehow it seems just right. The spherical shape of the basketball now reminds him of a steering wheel.

At the Team Nitro Kick Off party last Thursday, May 8 at Guilly's in Tomas Morato. In the picture are some friends Ateneo Basketball School Director Ricky Dandan, good buddy and former Ateneo Lady Eagles coach John Flores (with hand raised), NU Bulldogs coach Manny Dandan, and NU Bulldog forward-center Raymond Aguilar who is the second from my right.

Thanks to Julie Angel and Dan Edwardes for the parkour interview. And to Sebastien Foucan for inspiration.

Hi Rick,
It all looks good to me, good luck with the parkour and thanks for the exposure.
cheers,
Julie

Thanks Rick, looks nice.
Let me know when the full interviews go up, that would be great.
Best
Dan