Parkour in the Park
On 10 January England was the first country to classify Parkour / Freerunning as an officially recognised sport. This means that it could also soon be practiced in schools after it gained support from both the Youth Sport Trust and the Association for Physical Education, who described it as an exciting and motivating activity.
The objective of Parkour is to find ways to navigate to your destination in the quickest way possible; utilizing your surroundings to perform stunts and tricks. Not only does it provide you with a fantastic work-out, but is also great to watch for any spectators that may be nearby to admire your skills.( Parkour is becoming increasingly popular and freerunning skills are even being seen on the big screen in movies such as‘ Brick Mansions’ and‘ Assassins Creed’).
Goodmayes Park opened their very own Parkour area in August 2011 which can be used for practising; allowing you to use jumping, balancing and agility to navigate, putting your body, flexibility and reflexes to the test. There are signs located all around the area in Goodmayes Park explaining how to perform key moves and it features a number of units designed to make practising Parkour easy. The park is easily accessible and open to all, bringing in people with a range of skillsets from those who wish to learn to professionals and semiprofessionals.
Come down to Goodmayes and try Parkour for yourself: www. redbridge. gov. uk / goodmayespark