ALEXANDRIA, Va. — An Alexandria playground became a training ground for a group of third graders who recently began their first lesson in parkour.
Non-profit organization 'PK Move' is giving kids an introduction to parkour which incorporates running, balance, climbing, swinging and more.
"Everybody does parkour before they know what it is," said Sean Hannah, President and Executive Director of PK Move.
What I witnessed on the playground was a group of children playing like normal, but they were getting instruction on how to control their bodies, their balance and how to land properly after jumping and hitting the ground as an effective way to avoid injury.
"We have a partnership through the city of Alexandria Parks and Recreation and Alexandria Public Schools to bring parkour lessons on site to places like Chick Armstrong (an Alexandria recreation center) to teach them about parkour," said Hannah.
Mention the word 'parkour' and perhaps the first thing you envision are young daredevils leaping from rooftop to rooftop at dizzying heights. YouTube videos have popularized the sensational antics of some of the world's top parkour athletes.
"When people think of parkour they think of high up, high risk, big gaps. Crazy stuff on YouTube. But it starts down here," explainedHannah while referencing the ground. "If you don't understand the consequences at one foot off the ground then you're not allowed to go two, three or four feet up and endanger yourself. This isn't about adrenaline. This isn't about being a daredevil."
Interestingly, PK Move actually began by teaching older adults about parkour in order to help with fall prevention.
Hannah says that the organization's founder, Nancy Lorentz, was a student in his parkour class several years ago. She was the only 40-year-old mother in a class of teenagers learning about parkour.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer, Hannah says Lorentz was motivated in her recovery by being able to return to doing parkour.
Shortly after that recovery, according to a Tedx Talk that Lorentz delivered, an elderly friend of hers died after suffering a fall.
Lorentz surmised that if seniors were able to learn some of the fundamental elements of parkour, they could possibly avoid serious injury in falls by understanding HOW to fall and how to get back up.
The group has three weekly classes available in Alexandria and they offer the first one for free.
"I think it's going to be running and jumping," said one little girl in the program.
"Do you do that a lot?" I queried and she nodded her head.
"Then you should have no problem with this at all," I replied.
"It's the very first skill anyone teaches themselves," said Hannah, who acknowledges that we all did elements of parkour long before any of us could even pronounce the word. "You're just curious about your body. How to move. How to explore and pretty soon you're walking, you're running and climbing on things and threatening to jump off of it and being told no."
As the kids tried to balance curbing and played freeze tag with one of the instructors, Hannah underscored that parkour is a sport that anyone can do anywhere.
"We go on-site and show them that you don't need special obstacles. You don't need anything," said Hannah. "You just need the right frame of mind and some experienced people to show you how you can use anything -- you can use your whole world to make a playground and to build a strong capable body."
Learn more about PK Move HERE.