You are young . In a small town in Western Uttar Pradesh with not much to do . Someone starts copying Jackie Chan stunts . And the adrenalin of youth finds a new route to combine danger and discipline . Parkour. Mohammad Al Attar, a Kuwaiti champion-exponent of Parkour, also called free-running, has been so impressed by Rampur boys talent that he travelled to the town in mid-July to conduct a three-day workshop. His interest was sparked after as many as five contestants from Rampur made it to the finals of an all-India competition held in Mumbai last year, organised by Red Bull, an Austrian brand of energy drinks that promotes extreme adventure sports such as air-racing and ice cross skating. Needless to say, Mujahid Habib, the winner, is a native of the small town in northwest Uttar Pradesh with a population of less than four lakh. In fact, so obsessed was he with practicing his back flips and front flips that Mujahid failed in his class 9 examinations. No wonder, his schoolteacher mother and lawyer father were opposed to his interest in the sport. But Mujahid got over that setback, and kept up with his studies even as he continued to practise the moves that he saw internationally-renowned Parkour athletes perform on videos posted on YouTube. Soon, he was making his own videos with a handycam, and posting them on YouTube. That brought him to the attention of Bollywood fitness trainer Ziley Mawai, who was choreographing a song for Yashraj Production Ladies Vs Ricky Behl. Mawai got Mujahid and the Rampur boys to execute the Parkour moves that were part of the song. Mujahids achievements attracted others to the sport, and today Rampur has a Parkour group called Leonine with 25 members -- all boys between 14 and 25. Parkour is a social sport with practitioners working together, egging and challenging each other to improve their skills. Mujahid is mentor to this group which practises on the sandy banks of Kosi river that flows past the city, at construction sites, at an old, abandoned cold storage on the outskirts or out on the streets early in the morning. Thanks Ratnesh Mathur , lovely film and story. dnaindia/lifestyle/report-french-military-regimen-parkour-finds-an-unlikely-home-in-rampur-2013116
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 09:01:57 +0000
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