Parkour everywhere

Everywhere I look now, I see Parkour or Free running being used in some way or the other - be it Advertisements, movies, shows, events..whatever you can think of. My thoughts and feelings are torn into two realms. 

First is that I get excited seeing it evolve and become popular as it enters the mainstream media. On the other hand, even though I have trained for more than 4 years, I haven't progressed much and watching videos of others progress to extreme heights saddens and disheartens me.

Anyways, just a couple of videos I wanted to share that caught my eyes the past month.

• My friend Shaun and Anan's latest video. Truly amazing.

•  A dog doing Parkour!

• John Morrison from WWE trains Parkour. I found that quite interesting and exciting. I am/was a huge WWE fan. 

• A workout video I came across. I wish I had the stamina to workout like this and get a rock-hard-abs physique.

 I just know I can not wait till my elbow heals 100% to get back to training and gain back what I lost and hope to progress further quickly.

4 years of Peaks and Pitfalls

It was the year 2006 when I was first introduced to the concept of Parkour - this emerging new age sport that was becoming a worldwide phenomena. I remember watching the movie 'Tom Yum Goong' starring Tony Jaa and leaving the theater - astonished, mesmerized and speechless. A few hours later, after returning to my dorm, me and my roommate looked up Parkour videos on Youtube, keen on discovering more about this 'so-called sport'. We quickly went straight into it, jumping around the halls like clumsy monkeys, oblivious to what lay ahead.

 It was not till almost a year later - that involved a semi-major elbow injury, a couple of ankle sprains/cutes/bruises, and a very amateurish video - when I finally realized my full potential and understanding of this sport-turned-discipline. I began training seriously and doing it the 'right' way. Soon enough my hard work paid off when I got a series of local and international exposure.

We were first featured in One2Go Magazine, which was quickly noticed by a Malaysian ad agency who needed parkour practitioners for a 7-up Revive Ad in 2008. Not only did it pay well, but to be able to star in an advertisement doing what I love was truly an experience of a lifetime! Parkour was ever since my true passion as it helped me release stress, aided me in facing my fears and anxieties and most of all, it allowed me to look at the world in a whole new perspective. Shortly after I was again approached by the same writer who wrote our first article to do a special interview on me - about my Parkour journey and experience and this time it was on the CNNGo Bangkok Website.

Unfortunately, ever since then the my experience in Parkour has faced pitfalls after pitfalls, which lead me to a deep ditch of self doubt and setbacks. With several more injuries, most of them reoccurring, it gets harder and harder for progression. With years of acquiring the skills and mastering them, only took me a few months to lose. Coupled with new sets of responsibilities and priorities such as career, it became even harder to find decent time to train.

However, with a diminished vigor, I am reminded of the whole reason I got into Parkour and what it had taught me - never to give up and to overcome any obstacle in my way.