In the coming days and weeks at Boston College, you may notice an increasing number of people hopping from ledge to ledge in front of Walsh, casually vaulting over the wall in front of Devlin on their way to class, or scaling the stairs behind Higgins. No, the admissions office didn't favor gymnasts and acrobats when selecting the incoming class; this is the result of two brothers - Matt Milano, LSOE '11, and Greg Milano, A&S '11 - bringing parkour to BC.
Though parkour is often confused for an extreme sport or simply "doing crazy flips, and stuff," it is a noncompetitive discipline shaped around a philosophic backbone, similar in this way to martial arts. "It is a philosophical, physical discipline," Matt says. However, unlike martial arts, which trains its practitioners for the fight, parkour is training for the flight - the goal of parkour is to be able to move quickly and efficiently from point A to point B using the surrounding environment to overcome obstacles. This is accomplished using a variety of techniques and movements, including running, jumping, climbing, vaulting, and rolling.
David Belle developed parkour, also known as "l'art du déplacement" or "the art of movement," with a group of friends in Lisses, France in the late 1980s. In addition to focusing on efficient movement from point to point, parkour concentrates on the ability to maintain complete control of the body in vertical and horizontal planes. Recently, parkour has become more recognizable, with the number of views on the most popular YouTube videos reaching into the millions, and appearances in blockbuster hits like Casino Royale and commercials for Mazda, Canon, and Sony, among others. Still, the mention of "parkour" draws blank looks from most BC students.
The Milano brothers, like most other discoverers of parkour, were introduced to the art form on YouTube. Matt, a diver in high school, stumbled upon parkour while searching for video tutorials about flipping on flat ground. After getting Greg interested, the twins began training together, mimicking the videos without any instruction from other traceurs, or practitioners of parkour. As of now, the Milanos have been practicing parkour for about two years.
Their most memorable parkour experience came in while backpacking in Europe. Slated to spend a few days in Amsterdam, Matt posted a message on a Dutch parkour community's Web site asking if anyone was interested in meeting up for parkour training. Before they knew it, 30 people of varying ages, abilities, and nationalities met at a train station for a parkour "jam." "There was someone from England, someone from Germany who only spoke German, and a lot of kids who only spoke Dutch, but it didn't matter - we were all speaking parkour," Matt says. This experience demonstrated the powerful ability of parkour and the Internet to bring people together.
Now that Matt and Greg are experienced traceurs, they are looking to spread parkour by beginning a club at BC. Though the club is not yet official - the approval process begins in mid-October - the Milanos set up a table at Student Activities Day and had about 140 people express interest and sign up. No experience is necessary, and once everyone learns the basics they are able to progress at their own pace.
Many students are excited about the opportunity to practice parkour, never having been afforded that opportunity before.
"I became interested in parkour in high school, after seeing a video called 'Russian Climbing' on YouTube," says Matt Cullen, CSOM '12. "But it was really hard to form a club or anything so I was really excited when I heard that someone was trying to organize something here."
Greg is equally excited about sharing his knowledge of parkour with other students. "These guys are going to progress so much faster than me and Matt did, since they'll have someone showing them proper technique," he says. He emphasized that correct technique is the key to parkour.
"Even though the media portrays parkour as crazy jumps between buildings, nobody will even be three feet off the ground until they've mastered the technique at ground level."
Though some movements can appear dangerous to onlookers, safety is one of the most important tenets of parkour. A central motto is "être et durer" - "to be and to last." In order to avoid injury, Matt and Greg go through rigorous warm-up and cool-down routines that consist of stretching and calisthenics. This whole-body conditioning is important not only to avoid injury, but also to achieve the strength, balance, and agility required to become an expert traceur. Additionally, the noncompetitive nature of parkour means that everyone is able to progress at his or her own pace and only do what is within their means.
"We aren't going to make you jump a 14-foot gap, but if you have the ability to we would encourage it," said Greg.
One of the most interesting aspects of parkour is how it reshapes a traceur's view of the world. Before being introduced to parkour, a low wall is something that must be walked around to get to the other side.
After being introduced to parkour, the same wall becomes an obstacle that can be bypassed in a number of different ways: vaulted over using one of about a half-dozen different vaults, jumped over, or jumped onto. Greg has termed this change in view "parkour vision" and spoke of how he can be walking through any location and see the lines that he would take to pass through the environment. "It changes your perspective on life completely," Matt says.
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