mental blocks

parkour first crossed my experience when my oldest boy (whose on the isle of skye as i write) told me he was trying it out. parkour has no set of rules, it doesn't involve team work, and it's non-competitive unless you consider the very obvious element of competing against yourself which i think is at its core. parkour involves the movement of a person through a rural or urban setting in a manner that stitches together a series of fluid movements that allows at times for almost impossible moves and situations that you might consider a little out there.

i like it for the same reason i like watching bike couriers work the streets and alleys and sidewalks of a major city. it somehow bends the rectangles and the lines that form the face of a city and adds wrinkles, moebius strips, loops, bends, twists and most importantly, softens the lines of the cities' face.

here's something of the philosophy of parkour:
"to understand the philosophy of parkour takes quite a while, because you have to get used to it first. while you still have to try to actually do the movements, you will not feel much about the philosophy. but when you're able to move in your own way, then you start to see how parkour changes other things in your life; and you approach problems — for example in your job — differently, because you have been trained to overcome obstacles. this sudden realization comes at a different time to different people: some get it very early, some get it very late. you can't really say 'it takes two months to realize what parkour is'. so, now, i don't say 'i do parkour', but 'i live parkour', because its philosophy has become my life, my way to do everything."
—andreas kaltei

in the film i'd like to share with you today, director karen palmer captures something of the essence of this as she films parkourist ali shelton working his way through an extraordinary mental and physical challenge.