Run, jump and hurdle faster doing

parkour
By The Raleigh News and Observer, adapted by Newsela staff on 11.23.14
Word Count 553

Cru Mahoney, 13, goes through a parkour workout in Raleigh, North Carolina, Aug. 7, 2014. Parkour is a
training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle courses. Practitioners aim to get
from A to B in the most efcient way possible. Photo: Chuck Liddy/Raleigh News & Observer/TNS

RALEIGH, N.C. A young man runs full-speed down the sidewalk. He jumps
clear over a bench and keeps running. He comes to a wall. He jumps at it,
grabbing the top with his hands. In a second, he is up and over the wall,
running again.
This young man isnt being chased by police. He is doing parkour, a sport that is
becoming more popular around the world. People who do parkour are called
traceurs.
Traceurs run and jump through the city. They bounce off walls, jump over
fences, hop off roofs.
Their goal is to get from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible.

Some Superhero Moves

Nick Faircloth is 23 years old. He rst discovered parkour when he was 16. At
the time, he was not very active. I didn't do a whole lot, he remembers.
One day, Faircloth was in the woods behind a relatives house. He began to run
and jump among the boulders and fallen trees.
Soon after, he saw a video on the Internet that caught his attention. It was
French teenagers doing the same moves he did. The only difference was they
were doing them in the city.
Faircloth was hooked. Doing parkour made him feel like a superhero. Today he
teaches at a gym where people learn parkour.
Parkour is about training hard to enjoy the freedom of play, he says.

Running And Jumping In The Streets

Parkour started as a French military training program in Vietnam in the 1950s. In
the 1990s, French teens took parkour and changed it for city life.
Soon, towns around Paris were lled with young people running and jumping
through the streets. For awhile, the sport stayed there. Then videos and YouTube
allowed the sport to go global. Now there is a worldwide community of traceurs.
In North Carolina, young traceurs practice at a gym called Enso Movement.
On a recent Tuesday evening, teacher Alan Tran led a parkour class for young
people. The gym is full of obstacles the students can jump over, climb on, or
crawl through.
Tran guides the traceurs over platforms and walls. He reminds them to use good
form and to stay safe.
Lets work on nice and quiet jumps, he tells his students. Tran reminds them
that landing at-footed is loud. It can also be painful.

Parkour Makes Being Active More Fun

Cheland Sportsman, age 10, practices parkour. He loves it. Cheland goes to
parkour classes twice a week. Hed go every day if he could, says his dad,
Don.
Faircloth says its no surprise that young people want to do parkour.
Kids want to be active, he says. Sometimes they dont have options. If youre
not into team sports, your options are limited.
Parkour is like how kids have been playing for thousands of years, Faircloth
says.

Parkour 101
There is parkour, and there are other similar sports. The differences:
Parkour It is about moving from Point A to Point B in a safe and speedy way.
That means going over obstacles fences, walls, benches whenever safely
possible.
Freerunning Like parkour, freerunning involves running in the city. But
freerunning is more about performing. It is related to gymnastics, martial arts
and dance.
Tricking It is about doing tricks like kicks, spins and turns. Tricking's moves
are similar to break dancing.

Quiz
1

Select the paragraph from the section "Parkour Makes Being Active More Fun" that
describes one reason kids might be drawn to parkour.

Which section of the article describes other sports similar to parkour?

(A)

"Parkour Makes Being Active More Fun"

(B)

"Some Superhero Moves"

(C)

"Running And Jumping In The Streets"

(D)

"Parkour 101"

Read the sentence from the article.

One day, Faircloth was in the woods behind a relatives

house.
Which denition best ts the use of relative above?

(A)

a person related by common blood or marriage

(B)

an animal related by common origin

(C)

an object that is similar to another object

(D)

an idea that is similar to another idea

Read the sentence from the article.

Their goal is to get from Point A to Point B as quickly as

possible.
Select the word than can replace "goal" without changing the meaning of the
sentence.
(A)

plan

(B)

habit

(C)

aim

(D)

target

Answer Key
1

Select the paragraph from the section "Parkour Makes Being Active More Fun" that
describes one reason kids might be drawn to parkour.
Paragraph 17:
Kids want to be active, he says. Sometimes they dont have
options. If youre not into team sports, your options are limited.

Which section of the article describes other sports similar to parkour?

(A)

"Parkour Makes Being Active More Fun"

(B)

"Some Superhero Moves"

(C)

"Running And Jumping In The Streets"

(D)

"Parkour 101"

Read the sentence from the article.

One day, Faircloth was in the woods behind a relatives

house.
Which denition best ts the use of relative above?

(A)

a person related by common blood or marriage

(B)

an animal related by common origin

(C)

an object that is similar to another object

(D)

an idea that is similar to another idea

Read the sentence from the article.

Their goal is to get from Point A to Point B as quickly as

possible.
Select the word than can replace "goal" without changing the meaning of the
sentence.
(A)

plan

(B)

habit

(C)

aim

(D)

target