Abstract / Excerpt:

This study was conducted in order to discover the experience of parkour practitioners before and during their engagement in parkour, their perceived effects in life because of parkour and their motivations; the views of the parkour practitioners on the difference of parkour form other sports, the importance of parkour society, the use of parkour against the bad side of social life and the Davao City government and other similar institution to recognize parkour. To gather the needed data, a focus group discussion and in-depth interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to arrange the information given by the respondents. The respondents stated that, before they engaged into parkour they frequently stayed at home and were physically inactive, during their parkour practice, they felt a lot of body pain yet still accepted it as part of the learning process and felt fulfilled every time they successfully do a parkour move or overcome an obstacle; parkour made their life better where they became more physically fit and/pr mentally stable and their lives also became more interesting, challenging and fun due to their new found capabilities and learning and fun or the exercise and physical development can be benefited from engaging in parkour. The respondents view that parkour is different from other sports for various reasons; is useful for physical fitness, self-defense and emergency situations; can be an outlet for activity for young people to avoid the bad side of social life; and should be recognized by the Davao City government and similar institutions because it can be used for military and police training and for a routine for fitness programs. Hence , the people should engage in parkour if they cannot afford to go to the gym to exercise or if they don't want to be pressured in their training. Moreover, parkour should not be labeled as an "akyat bahay" group or a bunch of show-offs because it is contrary to its philosophies and principles. Once in a while, different studies regarding sports sociology should be conducted.

Info

Source Institution	Ateneo de Davao University
Unit	Social Science and Education
Authors	Valdez, Baian Miguel Karlos L.
Page Count	65
Place of Publication	Davao City
Original Publication Date	March 1, 2013
Tags	Parkour Culture, Research

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