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How "Good" are you?

on Friday 05 June 2009
by Taylor

in Parkour Articles > Philosophy

8.8 - 13 votes -

How do you determine who is "Good" in Parkour? Taylor lays it out for us in his words.

This great article is written by Taylor.
Discussion for this article can be found in this thread
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What comes to mind when you read the question?

"How Good are you?"

Probably in terms of movement, correct? Do you judge your ability based on your peers around you? Do you consider yourself "Good" because you can land that Kong Precision? You can hit that cat leap? You can reach that 12 foot wall climb? Because you can vault over something your peers cannot?

Well, this has nothing to do with how "Good" you are in terms of movement. As important as being able to move through our environment is, I think it's time to take a step back and ask ourselves what we consider "Good," and why we consider others "Good" based on how well they can move.

When I joined the community 2 years ago, I remember my first couple jams. I was new to group sessions. I had been training mainly by myself for 8 months before-hand. Immediately, I remember being able to point out who I thought was "Good" just based on how well.... how big they could go with movements. Yes, it's taken me a while to realize this now, but I was totally wrong.

Our ability to move well doesn't make us "Good". What we take from the discipline, how it betters our daily lives, how it makes us a better person, not forgetting that we must build up our "body armour," and also be able to move well through the environment. To me, this is what makes someone "Good" - The journey, and what they get out of it.

I remember seeing a post from Teige (someone I highly respect), stating how "the original Traceurs aren't that good anyways ;)" and I remember thinking to myself... well wait a second, have we forgotten how long they have lasted? In a discipline that encompasses itself around the motto "To Be and To Last" they sure have lasted, they love what they do, they enjoy life... I don't understand how they "aren't that good."

This is where I see problems arising... People judging how "Good" others, or themselves are, based on their movements. I've seen some really new, crazy guys do some crazy moves, but I doubt they will last half as long as some of the originals. Sure they can move "better," or at least do cooler tricks and all, but are they really... "Good?" How long are they going to last? What is their goal by doing these crazy, yet dangerous moves? Establishing themselves as "Good" to their peers and friends? Yeah yeah, I'm sure they enjoy it as well, but have we lost sight of the motto "To be and to Last"?

When will Parkour go from a discipline for life, to an activity for fun and recklessness? Is this what we want?

I remember posting on APK for a while, and whenever I would post about a video, and critique it, not agreeing with everyone in there saying "omg you are soo Good man!!", "You are crazy!!! Good job man!!" I would get negative karma up to wazoo, and to me... this just shows how poorly we've come along, and how much people hate telling them that their training is flawed, and that what they are doing is dangerous to their body - because I didn't tell them.. they we're "Good."

This is why I no longer associate the word "Good" with how well someone can move. It honestly, means nothing to me, how well someone can move, it never really has, but I don't think we should be praising people on how well they can move. We should take a step back and look at how they are bettering themselves as a person; Are they training to last? Are they helping others progress as well? etc.. etc.. No point in training all crazy for 1, 2 maybe 3-4 years, then ending up with jacked up knees, ankles, shoulders etc... rendering yourself useless to someone that may need your help one day. What then is your excuse? "Sorry, I could've helped you before, but not now, I was Good but I'm jacked up now"...

Discovering whether or not someone is "Good" or not, in terms of everything we've covered, training to last, becoming a better person, helping others etc... Just ask yourself, Why you do Parkour? Yes, this question is all over the place.. "Why?" It's a very good question...

Why do you train Parkour?
Why do you train the way you do?
etc..

Find out your reasons for training, and why you do the things you do and see if you can adjust your training so you are bettering yourself as a person, as opposed to the movement.

Any-who, to wrap up, just remember not to judge someone based on how they move. Do not compare yourself and assess whether you are "Good" or not to your peers based on movement. We should all be striving to be and to last, along with becoming a better person, and helping others. If these aren't of any concern to you, then you aren't Good.

-Taylor

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