Saturday 11 May 2013

Freemove Event


Hey everyone,

There's a great parkour event happening next Tuesday 21st May/5th Week). The summary is:
  • one-day parkour park with great equipment and coaching
  • 1400-1500 talks; 1500-2000 parkour
  • It's at the Oxford United Football Club's Kassam stadium. 15 minute bus ride + 5 minute walk
  • You have to register (link at bottom)
  • You should definitely come, it will be awesome

Here's the more detailed explanation; alternatively, watch the video linked at the bottom for what it looked like last time.

The company Freemove makes parkour equipment, probably the best in the world, and is doing a roadshow/tour for publicity. They're rocking up in Oxford with some low-loaders and setting up a parkour park for the day. There will be an outdoor park and also indoor equipment set up, and there will be coached sessions run every hour (and the option of just doing your own thing, I think).

If you haven't done parkour, that's no reason not to come. Trying new things is generally good and you have nothing to lose. It's basically just a playground but for adults. You can climb on things, swing on things, jump between things, etc – in part, that's all parkour is. It's also good exercise as it uses your whole body in different ways, and the idea is to move in a natural way. There's no such thing as “not being any good” (unless also as a child you never went to a play area) because the idea isn't that we stand around judging you on how good you are, it's that you have fun and join in. Enthusiasm is all you need. It's also not dangerous like everybody thinks it is – yes, if you try and jump off a 10ft wall or do a backflip you will hurt yourself, but beginners start with the basics and they are pretty safe. Nobody's forcing you to do anything so whatever you do is controlled by you – it's only dangerous if you do silly things.

If you're interest in coming to talks by the national governing body, the coaching group Parkour Generations, and the company, then they start at 1400. If you just want to jump around on things, that's from 1500-2000. I don't mean you have to come for the whole thing, just that the event is during those times, so come any time during that period. To make the most of it I'd say come for a couple of hours, but longer is good too (I'll be there the whole day). There's some bus routes which go from Oxford to quite nearby (link at the bottom) taking around 15 minutes, which really isn't much. The event is free but you have to register (link at end).

It's going to be really good and everybody should definitely come and bring their friends/ family/tutors/etc. If you have a tutorial/lecture/class in the afternoon, get on the bus afterwards (bring food with you, don't wait for dinner); if you have work to do, get it done in advance or do it afterwards. If you're a finalist, then it's a shame you'll miss it and best of luck.

Here's a video from the roadshow they did 2 years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxjMclkzdiY

The link to the event: freemoveoxford.eventbrite.co.uk/
How to get there: www.oufc.co.uk/tickets/gettinghere/