echo By: Sim Wan Yong
Parkour, L’art du Deplacement, was known as a French military training involving overcoming obstacles, running, vaulting, swinging, quadrupedal movements and many more, with aims to find the most efficient way to move from point A and point B.
Although still unofficial, Sunway Parkour Club has been up and running since April 2015 with meetings up to two times a week. With the motto “Strong body, strong mind, strong spirit”, the members are taught that they can endure much more than their minds assure them of. Should the members ever feel demotivated, our coach, Han, would remind us with a phrase, “We start together, we finish together,” and urge us to support each other.
Students that inquired about the club were worried about joining due to reasons such as their lack of stamina, strength or other physical factors. Do not be discouraged by these matters! Everyone starts somewhere, and a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. As a teaching assistant in the club once said to me, “It is important not to feel discouraged or inferior when seeing the others doing much better than you are.” That was easier said than done as even now, I still feel inferior at times, being unable to do many things that others can. As I look back to myself three months back however, I can see that I have strengthened myself, both physically and mentally. The coach reminded us often not to compete with the other members, but if we were to compete, it’s best that we compete with ourselves from day to day.
What might seem impossible to you now may be something you do routinely a few months later, and this applies to parkour as well. As you progress in the club activities, you learn to apply the art of movement even in daily lives, overcoming obstacles in your path and pushing the limits of your body. Indeed, we do not just overcome our physical challenges as we overcome our mental barriers as well. We learn to assure our minds that we can do something when we have learnt the correct techniques to do a certain move.
We learnt to be confident, but never reckless. At times, our muscles would burn and hurt from the continuous practice, but we stop and listen to our body when need be. We learnt to endure our physical limits and overcome them slowly but surely. Perhaps the most important of all, we learnt to support each other in a close-knit community of people that loves the art of movement.
Club Activities Details
Registeration fees: RM20 (One-time), Monthly fees to trainer: RM20
Tuesdays : 1630 to 1800
Thursdays : Optional additional free sessions every fortnight, 1630 – 1800
Facebook Page: Sunway Parkour Club
