Take a very experienced, very skilled tracuer: his muscles are incredibly powerful and explosive, yet capable of finesse, grace, and control, he is flexible, not only with his physical from, but in the sense that he is adaptable, and he has great endurance and boundless stamina that has been crafted through many arduous training sessions. He knows his limits because he has suffered many injuries that have taught him that he isn’t indestructible, and he much to learn; he is human. Though he is confident he will exceed those limitations with hard work perseverance.
This man is capable awe-inspiring feats of strength and acrobatics, but he is what I like to call an “empty tracuer”: this man’s trainings are not inspired by a certain person or group of people, he trains merely for sport.
There is absolutely nothing wrong training just for fun, it doesn’t mean you’re any less deserving of the title “traceur”, and it doesn’t mean you have any less to share or teach in terms of techniques or ideas. Parkour should be first and foremost for enjoyment. Like me, you enjoy the freedom of movement and the challenges it brings, and by no means compromise that feeling for anything. If you’re not out there enjoying every moment of your training then I don’t think Parkour is for you.
But imagine if this very skilled, very experienced traceur trained not only to better himself, but to better himself for the sake of others. He would push himself so much harder, he would strive for so much more if he had it set in his mind that was training to be strong enough, be useful enough to protect others in a time of need.
I don’t think it’s necessarily why you train, or who you train for, but how you devote that reason to your training to inspire you through the toughest of times. I urge you to find a reason; whoever or whatever it may be, believe in it with all of your being and use that belief to inspire you to work to be the absolute best you can possibly be physically and mentally.
I run with a reason a reason. Do you?
