Parkour Ban?

I just read a post from Parkour Generations that said that there is a ban of parkour in New York. This is outrageous, in my opinion. Parkour promotes not only physical wellness, but also mental and social well being. I wonder what were the reasons such bans occur.

The parkour ban in New York is not an isolated case. Another case of banning happened in other places such as in Moreton, United Kingdom (hometown of the very famous Daniel Ilabaca). Parkour has been banned because of, according to the police notice, anti-social behavior and damage to buildings. (Check the flyer detailing the ban).

Antisocial behavior? According to wisegeek.com, "antisocial behavior can be generally characterized as an overall lack of adherence to the social mores and standards that allow members of a society to coexist peaceably." Coome on, part of the philosophy of parkour is respecting others and respecting the environment. Parkour is also a very social activity. Have they observed how practitioners interact in the community? I can say that the very positive, encouraging energy and atmosphere of the practitioners are global in nature. You can see it through the forums and videos. If you have a parkour group near you,observe how they interact with each other and to other people. You'll see that they are more than willing to share the philosophy of parkour and how it has helped them grow.

Anyway, more examples of bans. Who among us practitioners have not experienced getting shooed away by guards? Even in the most public parks, we are shooed away. In Rizal Park, Manila, when traceurs are training, we are watchful for the bike-riding guards. If they see us doing some particular moves, such as gap jumps, they shoo us.

On the other hand, the actions of the "outsider", is understandable. I refer to the uninformed individuals on parkour. Some parkour moves are not the outsider's everyday moves. Naturally, he/she would either be alarmed, shocked, or amazed. From the view of the outsider,he can conclude that practicing parkour is dangerous. But it isn't. It is not.

Of course, it is entirely up to the practitioner himself how he does the disipline. A lot of practitioners are doing the discipline haphazardly. This too, could have contributed to the bans that the parkour community are suffering with. So we practitioners have a responsibility to do our discipline in the right way. Only we should discover what the right way is. Parkour is actually, a journey, right?

 To help our fellow traceurs reclaim their right to practice the discipline in those spots, you can sign these online petitions. It will take just a couple of minutes.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/antinycparkourban/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112150254429#!/group.php?gid=112150254429&v=info