Participant G: Familiarisation process

Experience descriptive/evaluative/reflective/clarifying (Lines 1-11)

Right, when I first started in parkour I was a bit unaware of what parkour was about with the tricks, jumps and things like that. So I used to tell people that it was like skateboarding without a skateboard. You are sort of in an urban environment and jumping off rails and following over walls and things. I moved into it more and I started to listen to and watch videos and I realised it was a lot more about personal training and making yourself stronger and more efficient. You find new routes to get through the environment more quickly and safely. So when I am training I always make sure that am moving around safely and know my abilities and limits. You know, sometimes I push my limits which is good for the mental side of parkour. If something is bothering me and scaring me I think how I can overcome the obstacle physically.

Experience descriptive (Lines 11-18)

There was a documentary on TV called Jump Britain and I saw that one and I heard about Jump London as well. So I watched that one and then looked out for parkour in Manchester. I did a Google search and Northern Parkour in Manchester came up. So I eventually got the coach down and met up with the other guys. I thought is it going to be full of kids and everyone is going to be way better than I am. I eventually got the coach to get out there and eventually met (name omitted) and (name omitted) from there.

Experience descriptive/evaluative/reflective (Lines 18-21)

Yeah it is easy to start off with, yeah because they show people the basics and like a small jump or something, to see how it can be. Like anything from jumping from one curb to another curb with no height and no fear or learning the techniques and the skills that you need and then build up from there.

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Experience descriptive/evaluative/reflective/observational (Lines 21-35) I have been into fitness and sports activities since I was fourteen and doing martial arts, kick boxing and things like that and a little bit of weight lifting and Capoeira. Capoeira is similar sort of thing to parkour and is about expressing yourself through movement. So I moved from the martial art sort of thing over to this, thinking it could be interesting going to parkour. I found it more interesting because it gave more freedom to express. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art sort of a dance. It’s something that was used to trick guards because they would think they were doing dancing when they were actually doing martial arts, like break dancing. It’s all about movement, with cart wheels and handstands. So when I first started parkour I thought it was like those kind of things. After that, I learnt it was more about developing yourself and how to progress in becoming stronger and jumping further and running a bit faster. That’s the hook that keeps me coming back. As you learn the movement you think you can do this one as well. You are pushing yourself to another level of movement and it is ongoing and you are also finding new spots to move.

Experience evaluative/reflective/observational (Lines 35-38)

I think most people - I don’t really know. I think it’s for health benefits but probably not. I think it’s for the adrenaline and then you get people who do it more for the mind and body really. I don’t really know what to say, ha-ha. Experience descriptive/evaluative/clarifying (Lines 38-45)

First time I came into parkour I expected to see everyone on the roof tops and looking at stair cases, climbing the stairs cases but I couldn’t find anyone. I found out that it’s not what I thought it was after watching Jump Britain. I spoke to (name omitted) and then I went to town thinking there was going to be loads of kids and I was apprehensive about it. When I came down they were all a similar age like and I felt at ease.

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Possibly because I had experience of martial arts I was quicker at getting to a good level and found the buzz from there. I need to focus on myself and develop myself and then I can help develop others.

Experience descriptive/evaluative/clarifying/reflective (Lines 52-60) The practice of parkour is an individual thing that develops your body and your muscles. You are moving and training in a group and learning from other people. You see someone doing something and you try and imitate them or you try that style of movement or something that you have seen before. I mean me and (name omitted) have a condition that we meet up and practise together because we are of a similar strength level. I know he is watching what I am doing. I am pushing much harder and he is going to push even harder. This then helps push everyone. Not in a competitive way but to be better than I could have been and I can still push harder.

Experience descriptive/evaluative/reflective/observational (Lines 60-65) What facilities you have in the area - if there are loads of walls and things but you do not have any rails and things, then the balance side of things will suffer. If you have spots that have rails that skateboarder’s use, your flow will be different. So like, Manchester will be different than Sheffield because the volts and environment will be different and how we practise will be different, than how they practise in Leeds.

Experience descriptive/evaluative/reflective/clarifying (Lines 65-72) I need to eat and sleep and once you have parkour in your blood it will always stay there. It could be as simple as you are walking down the street and there is a rail there on your right hand side and instead of walking around the normal way, you go over the rail and do it because it’s in your way rather than walk around it. You are always seeing how you can interact with the environment. So even if you are not physically practising the volts you would just practise how your body is going to move or volt over something really high. I am sure I can find something that my body can do another way to move effectively.

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