Parkour! How the Sport Keeps Your Body and Mind Fit | Taylor Lynn Carpenter | TED

(Upbeat music)

(Cheers and applause)

Parkour is a method of movement

in which we train our bodies and minds to overcome obstacles.

When most people think of parkour,

they often think one of two things:

young men jumping across rooftops

or that episode of the American TV show "The Office,"

where they pretend to do "parkour" all over their office and parking lot.

(Laughter)

But despite its mainstream reputation, parkour is much more than that.

At its highest and most competitive levels,

parkour is not for everyone.

But when you break parkour down to its basic movements,

it can have lifelong value for anyone.

Parkour is a life skill that helps you to navigate your environments more easily.

I'm a professional parkour athlete and coach from Hawaii.

My parkour journey started when I was 21 years old.

Having just recovered from a broken elbow and rib,

I was feeling weak and incapable.

I wanted to build upper body strength and confidence in my body

by learning to climb-up.

Before parkour, I did sports like track, cheerleading, basketball, judo, swimming,

but nothing really stuck until I found tricking:

a combination of martial arts kicks and off-axis flips.

After a few years of training,

I started teaching tricking at Apex School of Movement,

which eventually led me to start training parkour.

A question I get a lot is: Why did you start doing parkour?

And I say, why did you stop?

What I mean is we were all natural athletes when we were kids.

Remember the days where you jumped puddles, climbed trees,

balanced on curbs and played floor is lava?

(Laughter)

Those are the fundamental movements and mindsets that lead to parkour.

Somewhere along our way, we lost our sense of adventure and play.

But the good news is, it's never too late to rediscover.

One key benefit of parkour

is that it builds functional fitness,

movements that enhance daily life

and also help protect us from injury.

As we age, maintaining mobility and mitigating injuries

becomes increasingly important.

Parkour provides a fun, effective way to keep our bodies strong and agile.

It's not about recklessly pushing limits,

it's about understanding and respecting your body's capabilities.

This means training our bodies in a way that improves our ability

to perform everyday activities.

Whether it's bending over to tie your shoe,

squatting down to pick something up,

simply getting up off the floor

or climbing up to reach a high shelf.

All my shorties out there know this struggle.

(Laughter)

Parkour helps us move better in daily life.

To show how some of these simple movements progress in parkour,

let's add some obstacles.

An extension of the squat is a jump or drop to landing.

Good landings are key for anyone who does sports,

plays with their kids, hops out of a truck bed

or drops off of a rock while hiking.

If you need to take a bigger drop,

fall off your bike, or trip over a curb ...

the roll is a key skill to know.

Rolls allow you to absorb impact over more time and distance,

which may lead to less fall damage and better flow.

While everyone encounters hip-high barriers,

most people walk around them.

But what if you knew you could easily vault over?

Vaults save time, build confidence, and they look pretty cool.

(Laughter)

And lastly, the move that started my parkour journey,

the climb-up.

Climb-ups are used to get up something head high or taller.

Maybe you need to scale a building to help someone

or get over a gate, wall or fence to escape danger.

Or more likely, you forgot your keys

and have to climb up to an open window or balcony.

(Laughter)

I've had to do this before,

and it's pretty awkward when your neighbors come out

to see what's going on.

While it's unlikely that we'll ever need to use these skills.

learning movements like this help to empower me and build my confidence.

There's a big mental aspect to training parkour.

Rather than avoiding obstacles, parkour teaches you to embrace challenge.

The obstacle becomes the way.

For example --

(Applause)

Parkour helps me with my anxiety in cities.

Coming from an island lifestyle,

urban environments felt confining and stressful.

Cities are designed to funnel you into certain pathways,

often blocking the most direct routes with walls and handrails.

By always taking the sidewalks and stairs,

you end up moving in autopilot without even noticing.

Parkour changes this.

You get to reinvent your environment and move with more meaning.

What once appeared as obstacles

now appear as opportunities for movement and play.

This paradigm shift allows you to approach life

in a more positive and proactive way.

(Applause)

In our busy, structured adult lives,

we often forget the joy

of the spontaneous movement and exploration

that we experienced as kids.

With parkour, everyday objects start to seem like a playground again.

A park bench is an obstacle to vault over,

a low wall is a challenge to balance on,

and a tree branch is something to swing on.

While parkour has evolved

into an extreme and competitive sport for some,

at its roots, parkour is for everyone,

and it can enhance our physical fitness,

mental resilience, and overall well-being.

So the next time you walk around your city or town,

think of how you can move, play

and rediscover the joy of overcoming obstacles.

(Applause)

(Cheers and applause)

Thank you.

(Applause)