Drive
1.To urge in some direction.
2.To compel or constrain.
3.To operate and direct the course of.
To me Drive is the momentum of inspiration. It is what inspires us to do what we do. But what is the backing force behind your Drive?
As a young tracuer I feel that I was haunted by this question. It seemed that every inspirational tracer had his or her own individual answer that was generally linked to the great philosophy of parkour. The question is why… Why do you train? Why have you adopted this demanding discipline? What Drives you to run wherever and whenever you possibly can? The answer to these questions is effectively what powers your Drive. This question is generally asked by tracer to tracer but always seems to be the hardest one to answer.
It took me a long time to honestly answer and I felt that although training was great I would not be happy until I could satisfy this question with the best answer possible. An educated opinion from another tracer had become apparent to me when observing a Yamakasi documentary. He said that ‘We are cheated out of this movement from an early age ‘don’t run in the corridor’ ‘stop mucking about’ ‘don’t vault that rail’ movement is something we deserve, we owe ourselves this movement’. I completely agreed to this great response but still felt there was more to be answered so now with more inspiration I continued my inner quest to find my Drive for parkour. With the unconscious peer pressure of role models such as Stephane Vigroux justifying his training as simply a means ‘to be strong; to conquer’. I felt confused, as I had never thought my reason for training to be this. Luckily later I established that his interpretation of ‘to be strong’ as a complex mindset as opposed to the simplicity of muscle build-up. This mindset consists of a huge mental and physical aspect allowing motivation, confidence, well-being and more all under this single strength category.
A few months later I had almost given up when all of a sudden it came to me; why look for an answer in other people's training when what I am looking for is in my mind.
I run because I love it. I love the way i now see new landscapes from a completely different horizon and want to conquer them with movement.I love the way I can take this complex philosophy and turn it into a physical expression. I love the fear I experience every time I want to try something new and the adrenaline rush I get when I have done it. I love how any newcomer to parkour becomes instantly addicted and seems to be another convert to this urban discipline. I love breaking my boundaries, it gives me self confidence to look back to when I had just started training and see how far I have come as a tracer. I love it when spectators stand in awe and when they think you are out of sight they attempt it themselves.
Parkour is completely individual and rules and boundaries are only set by and for each tracer and their dedication and need for the sport. Parkour is for you, for me, for everyone and this is why there can be no competition. The mission of parkour is to get from A to B and A to B cannot be determined by sending everyone in the same direction which is effectively what will be done with the addition of competition. This would contradict parkour philosophy and this cannot be done, with no philosophy there is no parkour. Competition is with yourself and your boundaries, it should not be done in a set environment with judges biased to certain movements. The environment determines how you conquer it in parkour you do not change the environment to suit you. With this in mind I feel that a good tracer is someone who can adapt perfectly through their surroundings and flow like water through each one. But still who am I to say this as I said parkour is individual so opinions will be different for all of us. This is not to say that competition is not aroused when training normally with other tracers. I feel that this is fairly healthy because competition of this aspect is generally mental and this does not create any boundaries or supposedly show who the best tracer is; which I think cannot be judged.
I think I have trailed off the subject a bit here but I just felt that I had to say it. So anyway parkour is for you, for me, for everyone; this is why I run. The individuality tells me not to try and beat X's record of Y seconds, it tells me to do what I feel I need to improve on and work on things that make me happy, I think this is what gives me that extra heartbeat compared to average pedestrians. I need not rush my training in order to be better than this person because their is no competition value in parkour. I have written this article to encourage you to find the 'why' in your parkour, to get you to look deeper into the great parkour philosophy and express your views on it's aspects.
So here it is; why do I train? I train because I feel driven to the sport. My body desires this action and wants more of it in greater doses. My Drive is powered by passion. The love for the discipline. I train 'to be strong!'.
2.To compel or constrain.
3.To operate and direct the course of.
To me Drive is the momentum of inspiration. It is what inspires us to do what we do. But what is the backing force behind your Drive?
As a young tracuer I feel that I was haunted by this question. It seemed that every inspirational tracer had his or her own individual answer that was generally linked to the great philosophy of parkour. The question is why… Why do you train? Why have you adopted this demanding discipline? What Drives you to run wherever and whenever you possibly can? The answer to these questions is effectively what powers your Drive. This question is generally asked by tracer to tracer but always seems to be the hardest one to answer.
It took me a long time to honestly answer and I felt that although training was great I would not be happy until I could satisfy this question with the best answer possible. An educated opinion from another tracer had become apparent to me when observing a Yamakasi documentary. He said that ‘We are cheated out of this movement from an early age ‘don’t run in the corridor’ ‘stop mucking about’ ‘don’t vault that rail’ movement is something we deserve, we owe ourselves this movement’. I completely agreed to this great response but still felt there was more to be answered so now with more inspiration I continued my inner quest to find my Drive for parkour. With the unconscious peer pressure of role models such as Stephane Vigroux justifying his training as simply a means ‘to be strong; to conquer’. I felt confused, as I had never thought my reason for training to be this. Luckily later I established that his interpretation of ‘to be strong’ as a complex mindset as opposed to the simplicity of muscle build-up. This mindset consists of a huge mental and physical aspect allowing motivation, confidence, well-being and more all under this single strength category.
A few months later I had almost given up when all of a sudden it came to me; why look for an answer in other people's training when what I am looking for is in my mind.
I run because I love it. I love the way i now see new landscapes from a completely different horizon and want to conquer them with movement.I love the way I can take this complex philosophy and turn it into a physical expression. I love the fear I experience every time I want to try something new and the adrenaline rush I get when I have done it. I love how any newcomer to parkour becomes instantly addicted and seems to be another convert to this urban discipline. I love breaking my boundaries, it gives me self confidence to look back to when I had just started training and see how far I have come as a tracer. I love it when spectators stand in awe and when they think you are out of sight they attempt it themselves.
Parkour is completely individual and rules and boundaries are only set by and for each tracer and their dedication and need for the sport. Parkour is for you, for me, for everyone and this is why there can be no competition. The mission of parkour is to get from A to B and A to B cannot be determined by sending everyone in the same direction which is effectively what will be done with the addition of competition. This would contradict parkour philosophy and this cannot be done, with no philosophy there is no parkour. Competition is with yourself and your boundaries, it should not be done in a set environment with judges biased to certain movements. The environment determines how you conquer it in parkour you do not change the environment to suit you. With this in mind I feel that a good tracer is someone who can adapt perfectly through their surroundings and flow like water through each one. But still who am I to say this as I said parkour is individual so opinions will be different for all of us. This is not to say that competition is not aroused when training normally with other tracers. I feel that this is fairly healthy because competition of this aspect is generally mental and this does not create any boundaries or supposedly show who the best tracer is; which I think cannot be judged.
I think I have trailed off the subject a bit here but I just felt that I had to say it. So anyway parkour is for you, for me, for everyone; this is why I run. The individuality tells me not to try and beat X's record of Y seconds, it tells me to do what I feel I need to improve on and work on things that make me happy, I think this is what gives me that extra heartbeat compared to average pedestrians. I need not rush my training in order to be better than this person because their is no competition value in parkour. I have written this article to encourage you to find the 'why' in your parkour, to get you to look deeper into the great parkour philosophy and express your views on it's aspects.
So here it is; why do I train? I train because I feel driven to the sport. My body desires this action and wants more of it in greater doses. My Drive is powered by passion. The love for the discipline. I train 'to be strong!'.