Stroll around the ruins of Gaza on a late afternoon and you may catch sight of airborne young men, jumping off mountains of rubble and rolling from rooftops. Their extraordinarily athletic running and climbing, swinging and vaulting makes for an urban ballet. This is parkour and free running and this is the best crew in the Arab world.
The sport of parkour developed in the late 1980s from military obstacle course training wherein practitioners aim to get from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible using only their bodies and surrounding infrastructure for propulsion. Sometimes practiced solo, but more often with others – as much for ensuring safety as for inspiring innovation in new moves.
Free running involves fluid and unrestricted movement through space, based on the act of running. It’s considered a simpler and more inclusive form of parkour.
In 2005, after Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza, two men created Palestine’s very first parkour crew in the southern city of Khan Younis. The aerial antics of Mohamed Algakhbeer and Abdallah Enshasy quickly attracted new followers and the team steadily grew. Today there are 18 official members in PK Gaza ranging from age 17 to 25; parkour demands young, agile bodies.
The athletes use parkour as a positive expression of joy and independence in a war-devastated place.
Original article by Laurie Balbo
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Gaza Parkour: positive change is in the air
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