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Jump Britain

Clik The Mouse

Friday, January 7th, 2005

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Come mid May
in Cardiff
at the Millennium Stadium
we’ll see ’em running, jumping, leaping –
football’s finest
and the victorious
will come away
with the FA
Cup trophy.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 But last night
I saw team ‘Parkour’
on the move, all energy, jumping, climbing
‘free running’
and the awesome, incredible, scintillating sight
of their talisman, Sebastian
jumping across a gap
in the sliding roof
of the self same FA Cup final venue –
no safety net
no safety harness
and hundreds of feet below
the centre circle
marking certain death
if he gets it wrong.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 It was filmed.
How many takes, I wonder?
A wrap in one bound, I’ll wager.
And just think of the insurance costs?!
(Did they bother?)
And so it was, all across the UK,
this intrepid team
running, jumping, leaping.
Awesome.
But the one landmark
that they couldn’t tackle?
The Angel of the North …
Alan ‘Big Beum’ Shearer!

© Clik the mouse, 7th January 2005

Notes

‘Big beum’?
The fore runners of this remarkable movement, are French. It was their comment.

le parkour, an extreme sport created by Frenchmen David Belle and Sebastien Foucan.

Is the discipline a sport or an art? It’s sometimes referred to as : Parkour, Le Parkour, Freerun, Free running or plain old PK.

Last night, Channel 4 screened ‘Jump Britain’ which showcased this fascinating lifestyle / subject.

So simple, they said.
Just put on a pair of runners
and then run and jump, anywhere.
Oh! If only I still had the agility.

PS
Anyone ‘free running’ in Ireland?

Suspect it may be ‘pub parkour’!

Some useful websites :

http://www.parkour.org.uk/

http://www.urbanfreeflow.co.uk/

And as the main proponents will tell you –
practise, practise, practise
practise the basics to lessen the chances of getting hurt.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/jump-britain/