TAMPA – “Parkour isn’t a sport. It is an exhibition of one’s life through movement where there is no right or wrong,” said Red Bull Art of Motion 2007 champion Ryan Doyle Saturday afternoon.
Last weekend, Centro Ybor was transformed into a parkour course, including a grand staircase and several obstacles for the athletes to utilize in their performance in the Red Bull Art of Motion 2010.
The competition started in 2007 and includes a mixture of the disciplines of free running, parkour, martial arts and gymnastics.
They take what discipline they know and make their own style with their unique way of getting from “point A to point B,” Doyle said.
The name parkour comes from the French word “parcours,” which translates as “the way through” or “the path.”
Parkour’s origins come from an actual training program for French Special Forces known as “Parcours du combatant” or “The Path of the Warrior.”
It was a son of a Parcours Warrior David Belle who began this body- and mind-challenging craze.
Judging this event was Ryan Doyle, Solomon Brende, Brian Taylor and Daniel Arroyo, all parkour athletes themselves.
“This is playtime for us. There are no rules here, and I can do whatever I want,” competitor Dan Hust, 22, from Los Angeles said. Dans discipline is gymnastics.
At 3 p.m. the athletes came onto the course to warm up and test the obstacles.
They flung from one platform to the other by doing flips and walking on their hands.
Some warmed up on the grand staircase, clearing several steps effortlessly by soaring through the air and rolling into a somersault.
Others simply worked on tricks in the center like “helicopters” and “gainers.”
There were athletes from the USA, Sweden, Germany and, of course, France.
The competition started at 4 p.m. and one by one the athletes went through their 90 second timed runs.
Besides the jaw-dropping flips from the top deck, the competitor’s support for one another surprised viewers.
“There was respect and encouragement for one another within the competitors.
They didn’t have your typical ‘dog-eat-dog’ attitude in the competition,” UT student Carol Cahem saidq.
As Travis Wong, the host of the event, announced each athlete’s name, fellow competitors whooped and hollered in support.
Among the spectators were parkour artists in training who went to see their idols at work.
Connor Hughes, who takes tumbling classes at East Coast Gymnastics, was one.
He almost made his way into this fall’s Red Bull competition.
“Parkour is part of a lifestyle. It has no restrictions in what you do or who does it. It’s about helping anybody who wants to learn.”
As the preliminaries ended, the 20 athletes were narrowed down to eight finalists.
Once again it was them against the course. This time the competitors were tired, but they performed to their best ability.
It wasn’t long until the judges announced the champion and two runners-up.
Yohann Leroux, who represents the fast growing organization WFPF (World Freerunning and Parkour Freestyle), was titled the Red Bull Art of Motion’s 2010 winner.
Jason Paul came in second place and Kyle “Epic” Mendoza ranked third.
As the winners were announced, the remaining, anxious athletes cheered for each other.
The three winners were given Red Bulls, which they shook up and sprayed each other with in good humor.
There seemed to be no regrets or hard feelings.
“I never go in with a mindset of winning,” Leroux said with Red Bull dripping off his body.
“The world is a playground and all you need is your imagination,” Mendoza said. “It’s good to be a part of history in the making.”
“The art form of Parkour is growing and people are becoming more aware of it through organizations like WFPF,” said cofounder David Thompson. “Parkour honors difference in style and individuality, and we want to bring it safely to North America.”
Next Friday another competition will be held in Boston.
For more information about Red Bull Art of Motion visit http://www.redbullusa.com/artofmotiontampa or http://www.redbulusa.com/artofmotionboston.
For more on the WFPF organization and even Parkour itself visit http://www.WFPF.com.
Ellen Kotapish can be reached at ekotapish@yahoo.com.
SO SICK. I hope they bring something like this to the NYC area in the next few months…