How to Practice Parkour: Questions, Challenges, and Play
Parkour isn’t just about impressive flips or daring jumps—it’s a mindset that revolves around curiosity, problem-solving, and creativity. To get started, you don’t need to master any specific techniques or skills. Instead, focus on three essential elements: asking questions, embracing challenges, and engaging in play. Let’s break it down.
Step 1: Asking Questions
The foundation of parkour begins with curiosity—asking questions about your body, your abilities, and the environment. This is how you start exploring what you can do and where you can grow.
For example, start with a simple question: “Can I sit down on the floor without using my hands?”
You won’t know until you try! If it turns out you can’t, that’s okay. The goal isn’t to succeed immediately, but to explore your capabilities and turn curiosity into action. By asking questions like this, you’re learning to navigate your body in new ways.
Questions extend beyond your body to the world around you:
“How can I climb that wall?”
“Can I balance on that narrow ledge?”
“What’s the most efficient way to get from here to there?”
Parkour begins when you allow yourself to ask and explore these questions. Each one opens the door to discovery and growth.
Step 2: Embracing Challenges
Once you’ve asked a question and tried it, you might discover that the answer is “no, not yet.” That’s where challenges come into play. A key part of parkour is viewing challenges as opportunities—not barriers.
When you face a challenge, take a step back and break it into smaller, manageable pieces. For example:
If you can’t climb a tall wall, focus on the individual components: jumping higher, building upper body strength, and learning how to use your feet for friction.
If sitting on the floor without your hands feels impossible, start smaller—use a chair or a raised surface and gradually work your way down.
Approaching challenges this way creates an exciting and productive process. Instead of seeing what you can’t do as a failure, see it as a journey of progress. Challenges also give you clear goals to work toward, helping you measure your growth over time.
And remember: challenges aren’t just physical. They’re mental, too. You’ll face fear, hesitation, and self-doubt. Try to give yourself some leniency and remember that with patience and effort, you can eventually succeed, and it doesn’t have to happen right now.
Step 3: The Importance of Play
While parkour is full of questions and challenges, its heart lies in play. Play is how you learn, grow, and stay motivated. It’s also how you discover new ways to move and interact with your environment. I don’t only mean engaging in an activity purely for enjoyment. Play also refers to the process by which animals test their limits and prepare for real situations without the high stakes.
Play is about experimenting and having fun with the process. For example:
Try the same challenge in three different ways.
Find a creative or unusual way to tackle an obstacle.
Explore your environment and see how many different ways you can navigate it.
Play makes parkour feel less like “training” and more like exploration. It’s a chance to let go of expectations and enjoy the journey. Every time you try something new, you’re learning—whether you succeed or not.
Play also encourages creativity, which is a key part of parkour. There’s no one “right way” to solve a problem. The more you experiment, the more you’ll discover your unique style and approach.
Final Thoughts
Parkour is about more than physical movement—it’s about how you think, approach challenges, and engage with the world.
Ask questions to explore your body and environment.
Embrace challenges as opportunities for growth.
Play to keep the process fun, creative, and engaging.
With these three principles, you’ll not only improve your parkour skills but also develop a mindset that helps you overcome obstacles in all areas of life. So, start small, stay curious, and have fun—the world is your playground!