Good news and bad news coming from New England Parkour this week. The bad news is that the charity event rescheduled for last weekend had to be relocated with very short notice due to some complications with the location. The good news is that Boston-area traceurs have a whole different event to get excited about.
In terms of the charity event, apparently the Boston Redevelopment Authority had a change of heart and decided that holding an “event” at the Charlestown baby pool would not be acceptable. As a result, the traceurs moved to Government Center in downtown Boston. I was sad to hear the event continued to hit speed bumps, even when things seemed to be coming together so nicely.
And though the event for the American Cancer Society did not unfold as expected, the New England traceurs are now talking about Red Bull’s Art of Motion competition scheduled to hit Boston this week. Ryan Doyle, a representative from the World Freerunning and Parkour Federation (WFPF), came to Boston earlier in the year to scout the environment to see if it would be suitable for Art of Motion. He and many other traceurs plan to return to Government Center for the event this Friday.
Art of Motion is a parkour/free running competition sponsored by Red Bull. The original competition took place in Vienna, Austria in 2007. A group of expert traceurs were brought together to do what they do best in a constructed area, which utilized scaffolding, bars, walls, and other obstacles to vary the environment. The winners of the competition were chosen based on technique, execution, fluidity, creativity, and style.
Word is that many tracers found the competition to be a poor representation of the art of parkour. A lot of tracers dislike the idea of turning parkour into a competition, and others prefer to use use natural environments rather than specially made arenas. However, many boston-area traceurs are putting their initial feelings about the competition aside this Friday, September 17 when Art of Motion comes to Boston. This time around, the competition will use only the natural structures in Boston rather than the constructed arenas used in previous events, which makes many traceurs happy.
The event is scheduled to begin at 4:30pm and run until 9pm. If you are interested in seeing some of the most talented tracers around show their stuff, head to the Government Center City Hall Plaza downtown on Friday, September 17 and check out the action!
You Want More?! Find out more about Art of Motion and the WFPF on the Red Bull event page, the WFPF website, the New England Parkour website, or Ryan Doyle’s YouTube page
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