Parkour Classes as a Second Option in a Busted Economy

The 17 year-old parkour athlete just got his ticket paid, literally.  The World Freerunning and Parkour Federation is flying him out to L.A. , 5000 miles from his home, to teach parkour lessons after spotting his awesome parkour video.While I’m thrilled Marcus is off to the big city, part of me wonders: When is parkour going to take the suburbs?  I get emails all the time from people from not-so-small towns, looking for parkour lessons and instructors.  These towns have lawyers and doctors and pharmacists and gyms and thousands of people fighting for a handful of jobs , but no parkour classes.  Which got me thinking . . .There is an imbalance.  A handful of the largest cities have some stellar parkour classes: NYPK in New York, Primal Fitness in DC, Tempest Freerunning Academy in LA, but for all of the Americans in medium-sized towns, there isn’t a lot of professional instruction available.  That’s why we made our beginner DVD and why we’ve gotten such an eager, positive response.  But what does that mean for you, young parkour padawan?The Current State of AffairsYou could spend $100K and 4 years on college.  Then for another $150K you can go to business or law school.   If you’re lucky, you’ll leave in 3 years with a CHANCE at working 60-hour weeks in a job that you don’t even really like.  $250K + 7 years = what most people think is wise.  Oh yeah, plus your fitness will have gone to shit since you’re sitting inside with terrible posture for 12 precious daylight hours 5 days a week.The ChallengeDo differently. Get outside today and LEARN PARKOUR.  It’s a legitimate skill and from my own experience, I can promise it is in demand.  I’m not saying everyone will be like Marcus Wilson, flown across the ocean to star in Hollywood movies.  But I AM saying that with some practice you can obtain a free—okay, 29.99 for the DVD I helped produce ;-)—and valuable skill.  One that is viral by it’s totally awesome nature.  Less than 2 years after his start with parkour lessons, our trainer Mike, was teaching parkour classes. No skill to legit trainer in half the time of college, and it’s not an either/or.  So get out there.  Maybe in two years, we’ll be sitting here, mouths wide in awe of your parkour reel.