We're not daredevils or idiots say bus station balance boys - it's Parkour
Sep 8 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner
King James’s School pupils say new craze Parkour isn’t dangerous
TEENAGERS filmed balancing on a bar 20ft above the busy ring road say they weren’t up to no good – it’s just the latest craze.
King James’s School pupils Jason Allison and Reece Holmes were filmed by a friend as they walked along a barrier at Huddersfield Bus Station.
The footage of them posted on Youtube shows the teens performing acrobatic flips back on to the pavement at the end.
If the friends had made the wrong move and lost their footing, they could have instead landed on the concrete car park below.
Jason and Reece, who are both 15, have spoken out after concerns about their safety were raised in the Examiner.
Jason, from Berry Brow, said: “We wanted to let people know about what we were doing and that we weren’t making a nuisance of ourselves or putting ourselves in danger.
“We’re not causing trouble, we’re just doing something that’s called free-running or Parkour.
“We’ve been doing it for about three years now and we train for it.
“We go to gymnastics classes at Paddock gym and we don’t do anything that we haven’t prepared for.”
The sport, which originated in France, sees the practitioner navigate their way around by running and using flips and jumps.
It is often done in urban areas where there are buildings and rails that are used in order to perform tricks and stunts.
Reece, from Kirkheaton, said: “Of course we know there’s an element of risk – we’re not claiming there isn’t.
“But we weigh that up and we are careful and safe about where we do it.
“We’re confident that we won’t fall and we don’t attempt anything we’re not sure of, or that we haven’t trained for.
“My mum knows that I wouldn’t risk myself and she likes the idea that I go to gymnastics.
“Before I got into this I was hanging around with the wrong crowd and doing bad stuff.
“This has saved us from getting into all that – we train nearly every day.”
The friends, who are in Year 11 at school, became interested in the sport after watching documentaries Jump London and Jump Britain.
Since then, they’ve formed the club, Huddersfield Free Runners, and have their own website where they post clips and news about local events.
