Octogenarians show it's never too late to learn Parkour
16.7 هزار بار بازدید -
9 سال پیش
-
(1 Jul 2014) LEADIN: Teaching
(1 Jul 2014) LEADIN:
Teaching an old dog to do new tricks is supposed to be difficult, but a group of elderly people are showing it's never too late to learn parkour.
Prowess at parkour usually means free running, leaping off buildings and swinging from lamp posts, but now there's also a more sedate form of 'perambulating parkour'.
STORYLINE:
George Jackson is showing that playgrounds aren't just for children.
The 86 year old is one of at least twelve pensioners out here for every parkour class.
Not only is he the most senior, instructors say he's usually the most adventurous.
He's an old soldier, keen to show his injured ankle and dodgy knee aren't holding him back.
Most fitness classes aimed at seniors focus on gentler activities like dance or yoga, but exercise specialists say parkour is a reasonable, if unorthodox, option.
The Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health at University College London says these exercises are helping class members increase their strength and flexibility to help them with their daily activities.
But the Institute also warns that parkour could potentially be dangerous for people with serious heart problems and it warns anyone with a joint replacement or muscle weakness to be careful.
Jacob Peregrine-Wheller is a trained parkour instructor.
He says each movement is especially tailored to what each individual is able to physically achieve, but he say that doesn't mean that people aren't being challenged.
According to Peregrine-Wheller: "Every single technique can be changed so if fifty per cent of the class are finding it too easy, we adjust it. So everybody is finding a technique and challenge, because that's what parkour is, challenge through physical movement."
The class has been specially adapted so the main elements of the sport also known as free running are brought down to a level that can be handled even by those over 60 who have replacement joints or other medical conditions.
The idea for the class came from Jade Shaw, the founder of Dance parkour.
In the past she has used her dance training create movement therapies for the elderly, but she believes the parkour practiced here generates more interest.
But she also says safety is paramount:"If someone has arthritis, or a knee injury problem, or a hip replacement, or dementia we know that, so we're aware of what they maybe can do and what might be a limitation for now, but we always try and bring them through those limitations if possible to make them the most capable they can be."
The class sprawls over a childrens playground, weaving through swings and climbing frames, crouching through whatever nooks and crannies they can find.
Not everyone who signed up for this knew what parkour really was, it might have caused some anxiety, but not 78 year old Lara Thomson.
She says: "I knew it was French for jumping over buildings and I quite enjoyed walking in there and saying are you really going to make us jump over buildings and I wondered whether it was a government plot to get rid of older people (laughs). Sort of right one down you go."
Like children the class takes mischievous pleasure leaving through a hole in the fence rather than walking sedately through the gate, they say they're feeling the 'spirit' of parkour.
Octogenarian George Jackson happily rolls over a concrete bench despite having some aches and twinges when he arrived, he says it makes him feel better:
For Thomson the class is about celebrating the movement you still have.
Shaw believes the social bonds engendered by parkour are important.
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Teaching an old dog to do new tricks is supposed to be difficult, but a group of elderly people are showing it's never too late to learn parkour.
Prowess at parkour usually means free running, leaping off buildings and swinging from lamp posts, but now there's also a more sedate form of 'perambulating parkour'.
STORYLINE:
George Jackson is showing that playgrounds aren't just for children.
The 86 year old is one of at least twelve pensioners out here for every parkour class.
Not only is he the most senior, instructors say he's usually the most adventurous.
He's an old soldier, keen to show his injured ankle and dodgy knee aren't holding him back.
Most fitness classes aimed at seniors focus on gentler activities like dance or yoga, but exercise specialists say parkour is a reasonable, if unorthodox, option.
The Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health at University College London says these exercises are helping class members increase their strength and flexibility to help them with their daily activities.
But the Institute also warns that parkour could potentially be dangerous for people with serious heart problems and it warns anyone with a joint replacement or muscle weakness to be careful.
Jacob Peregrine-Wheller is a trained parkour instructor.
He says each movement is especially tailored to what each individual is able to physically achieve, but he say that doesn't mean that people aren't being challenged.
According to Peregrine-Wheller: "Every single technique can be changed so if fifty per cent of the class are finding it too easy, we adjust it. So everybody is finding a technique and challenge, because that's what parkour is, challenge through physical movement."
The class has been specially adapted so the main elements of the sport also known as free running are brought down to a level that can be handled even by those over 60 who have replacement joints or other medical conditions.
The idea for the class came from Jade Shaw, the founder of Dance parkour.
In the past she has used her dance training create movement therapies for the elderly, but she believes the parkour practiced here generates more interest.
But she also says safety is paramount:"If someone has arthritis, or a knee injury problem, or a hip replacement, or dementia we know that, so we're aware of what they maybe can do and what might be a limitation for now, but we always try and bring them through those limitations if possible to make them the most capable they can be."
The class sprawls over a childrens playground, weaving through swings and climbing frames, crouching through whatever nooks and crannies they can find.
Not everyone who signed up for this knew what parkour really was, it might have caused some anxiety, but not 78 year old Lara Thomson.
She says: "I knew it was French for jumping over buildings and I quite enjoyed walking in there and saying are you really going to make us jump over buildings and I wondered whether it was a government plot to get rid of older people (laughs). Sort of right one down you go."
Like children the class takes mischievous pleasure leaving through a hole in the fence rather than walking sedately through the gate, they say they're feeling the 'spirit' of parkour.
Octogenarian George Jackson happily rolls over a concrete bench despite having some aches and twinges when he arrived, he says it makes him feel better:
For Thomson the class is about celebrating the movement you still have.
Shaw believes the social bonds engendered by parkour are important.
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Twitter: Twitter: AP_Archive
Facebook: Facebook: APArchives
Instagram: Instagram: APNews
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
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