Elephant and Castle, R.I.P?

credible and this group does aim to get in the way of the demolition (although if some or if the ‘hotspots’ were left it would be great), but to instead raise awareness and to encourage the government and local councils to put something back into London’s parkour/free-run community…

2. …The ‘?’ stands after ‘R.I.P’. as although many spots we love to train in will be destroyed, perhaps parkour friendly areas can be built into the re-development. Through spending half of my time in the South-West of England I have come across a project where local practitioners applied for a parkour park. It failed, but the local team has been told that the redevelopment of the town will include suitable training grounds for parkour practitioners. Perhaps, something extremely similar can occur here, or if this is not a viable option, a second idea is to construct a parkour park. I am aiming for this group to get to 500 ‘likes’. I’ll then call the BBC, hoping that they can publish an article regarding this group, and then hopefully further action can be taken. As it does, I’ll keep all informed. For those who have come to this group not knowing of parkour or free-running, please feel free to join this group if you have read the above information and would like this action to be taken, as the more voices there are, the stronger position we will be in. A definition of parkour is as follows. Parkour is the 'the art of movement' where the aim is to get from A to B in the quickest and most efficient way possible using only the human body. It teaches you to be able to overcome any obstacle in your path, achieved by using as much speed, grace and fluidity as possible. All environments provide ‘playgrounds’ to practitioners. Walls, buildings, railings provide the equipment for many of us, in order to become stronger, fitter, and most importantly, happier people, expressing ourselves through movement. Many practitioners incorporate acrobatics into their training, as it can help attributes such as spatial awareness, balance and strength. Here is a video showing the community coming together in Elephant and Castle for the recent ‘Parkour Tour’. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnyEGoIHtew

Feel free to post any thoughts about this group, discuss favourite times around the area, favourite and worst hotspot, techniques and routes in the area.