Parkour practitioners host Spring Jam in Sandton

It was a celebration of everything parkour when the sport’s community gathered in Sandton for a Spring Jam.

The fourth annual event, held at George Lea Park in Parkmore, saw parkour practitioners from across the country meet up to promote the sport, encourage each other and introduce parkour to new people.

“We started the Spring Jam in 2016 after one parkour student committed suicide and we decided to commit the day to her,” said Bjorn de Klerk of Concrete Foundation Crew which hosts parkour programmes and lessons at the venue.

“We wanted to bring the SA parkour community together. We have new people visit every year and we get to introduce them to the sport.”

The day started with a casual ‘jam’ on the various obstacles to get everyone warmed up.

Then the group played chase tag, which involves a game of tag on these obstacles and sees people outmanoeuvre their opponents until only the fastest and most agile are left.

After this there was a style competition.

“We had people moving from point A to B and they were judged on their style, flow, technique and execution.”

The final competition was one requiring endurance.

“Parkour first began as French military training over an obstacle course. To stay true to this, in the final competition participants had to prove their fitness with lifting, pull-ups and training.”

De Klerk said the three competitions resembled the evolution of parkour and exemplified the sport’s promotion of a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

“The highlight for me was that people came from as far as Botswana, which shows me how amazing parkour is and how we in Sandton are reaching more countries.”

Details: Concrete Foundation Crew info@concretefoundation.co.za; 076 103 6725.

Related article:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/126665/parkour-spring-jam-comes-to-george-lea-park-sandton-sports-cluborparkour-spring-jam-to-commemmorate-klara/