Parkour

In following with yesterday's theme of the crazy and inspiring things people do (you can see yesterday's post on bicycle polo here) I wanted to share another fringe hobby that is quite simply a delight to watch. Parkour is sort of a combination of running, obstacle maneuvering, and ninja prowess. While not really a spectator sport, Parkour is both a mental and physical art in which practitioners use their bodies to fluidly interact with the world around them in an efficient, quiet, and natural manner. The back story for how Parkour was started is actually very interesting, and you can read more about the founders of Parkour on the Wikipedia entry here. The brief (very, very brief) version is that inspiration for the practice came from a Frenchman's (Georges Herbert) observations of the abilities of Africa's indigenous peoples and was put into practice largely by the Belle family (Raymond and his son David).

What's really cool about Parkour is that the entire practice is based on the natural movements and abilities of the human body. It is by not exactly a sport, and there is a push among many within the Parkour community to keep the activity competition free - after all, the practice is about self-development and it would kind of be like making yoga competitive... you just don't.

Now, since it is really hard to describe what Parkour actually entails (and I have likely done nothing but confuse you so far!) let's get on to the videos, shall we? Quickly, though, disclaimer: don't go trying to jump off a building or climbing up some sculpture at the park because you saw someone do it on my blog, okay? I admit, it makes me want to go jump over something too - but be smart and think of this as motivation to explore more of your body's abilities next time you go for a jog, not a confirmation that you can be reckless, scale the side of your neighbor's house, and not get injured. These people have been working on their craft for a long time.

This first video is a good intro, and especially good for the faint of heart:

Some great female Parkour:

And here is Daniel Ilabaca, simply amazing:

Bicycle Polo

I am continually amazed by what the seemingly fearless fringe of humanity is able to do physically, and create conceptually. Next time you are feeling uninspired just Google search yourself some "inspiring people", "craziest artists", or "extreme sports videos" and you will be amazed what people are doing on this tiny planet.

I cannot credit a Google search with my own bizarre and totally awesome inspiration tonight - the gem of a hobby known as Bicycle Polo was introduced to me this evening by my boyfriend. Initially I thought he was making it up, but according to one New York Times video I found on YouTube, Bicycle Polo has been around a long while (it was actually a demo sport in the 1908 Olympics!). The sport itself is pretty self-explanatory: think horse polo on a bike. Granted, the speed of the game is not too rapid and the talent is as much in the cyclist's handling skills as it is in the explosive power of his or her gams. Nevertheless, what a totally odd and surprisingly (well, at least to me) popular international sport! Check out the clip below to see what the traditional bicycle polo game looks like. There are street polo versions of the game too - think small asphalt courts and single speed road bikes or fixies as the mounts. Intrigued? Fortunately there's a U.S. Bicycle Polo Association Website and the Bicycle Polo Organization Website to get you started.

More crazy and totally amazing inspiration to come soon!