In response to recent tragedy
On August 15th, 2022 a 17 year old fell from a rooftop in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong and passed away. First of all, his death comes as a shock and is extremely tragic. I can only imagine how his friends and family feel at this time and my heart goes out to them. I personally only met him once or twice in passing, but his death weighs heavily on me just the same. I’m saddened because a young man lost his life, and also because I know his passing will be used as fuel for the fire of endless debates about parkour. I’m also saddened because I know some will judge this young man for the circumstances of his death, and unfairly believe that he brought it upon himself. I think the main takeaway from such news is the tragedy of the loss of life, and it is important to mourn this loss without passing judgment nor casting blame.
In response to this news I recently said I would share my feelings and opinions on the subject of parkour, training on rooftops, and what it all means for parkour and parkour practitioners. In short, here's my opinion: we must recognize that parkour is dangerous, training on rooftops even more so, but not in the way you might think.
Cambridge defines “dangerous” as, “A person, animal, thing, or activity [that] could harm you.” So can you be harmed in the course of practicing parkour? Yes, you can and It would be lying to claim otherwise. Parkour can involve hard obstacles, sharp edges, fast movements, and even heights. So some injuries can and do occur. But there are two things to keep in mind based on the surveys and studies available to date: 1) the rate of injury does not appear to be significantly higher than other more “mainstream” sports and 2) the vast majority of those injuries are minor, such as scrapes, contusions, and sprains. Research on the topic is lacking but here are two studies: Epidemiology of injuries in parkour and review literature (in Spanish), Parkour--"art of movement" and its injury risk (in German).
At the same time, parkour on rooftops undeniably involves a greater level of risk. In his video titled, “Parkour Is Dangerous, But It’s OK,” Rene Scavington from Origins Parkour rightly points out that some parkour practitioners often try to distance themselves from the more spectacular feats performed by high level athletes by saying it’s not true parkour, because true parkour is safe. I know I used to fall prey to this line of thinking. But the very founders of the discipline were doing huge jumps from and between rooftops since before the name parkour existed. Huge jumps, rooftop gaps and flipping on narrow ledges are all a part of parkour, even if it’s not part of everyone’s parkour.
So practicing parkour carries risks, but it also engages with risk in a way that few other disciplines do. Unlike other disciplines and sports, parkour specifically engages with risk in order to be capable of analyzing it, understanding it as a variable, and adapting accordingly. The very essence of parkour is to overcome obstacles, and every practitioner does so to the degree that is appropriate for themselves. For many, their parkour practice takes place 99.99% of the time at ground level, and focuses on technique, strength, and building confidence. But there are others who are already so strong and technically proficient, that rooftop training is an appropriate challenge for them. To quote Rafe Kelly of Evolve Move Play, “To denounce [parkour] in its entirety based on [its extreme elements] would be similar to refusing to drive your own car because you saw a dangerous looking NASCAR race.” So in the end, all we can do is mourn the loss of a member of the community, and accept that some will engage with greater risk than others.