Everyday Struggles of a Traceur

Traceurs. They train themselves everyday for challenges. Day after day they fight against their instincts to do the impossible. Fear is the enemy and they will battle to the death. These things are just part of the Traceurs journey. Without these things he wouldn't be a real Traceur. There is one thing though that many Traceurs go through that is incredibly annoying and is just another part of parkour. The Law. Everyday Traceurs are stopped and questioned by authorities. "What are you boys doing up there?" or "HEY! Come back here!". It is probably one of the most run into problems of a Traceur. It is inevitable. You can't avoid the cops. You can't avoid the people who don't understand the discipline that call the cops, and you can't avoid spots you will get in trouble if you were caught.
Now before I go on I must remember to say that Traceurs are nothing like skate boarders. In that I mean that they aren't out to cause mischief. They aren't rebels against the world. In fact Traceurs look down on those who rebel against society. Spray paint the walls because they can't stand being "held back by the man". Well Traceurs don't do that stuff. It isn't a Traceurs goal and it hopefully never will be a goal of anyone. So in saying that I must now say, we Traceurs can't stand being caught by anyone and being forced to leave a spot. It's like a parent telling a child that he can't play on the swing set because it's to dangerous. (Trespassing is a different story).
The cops always say "We are keeping you safe." but in reality, if someone was in danger (kidnapping or someone running from the cops) then I think Traceurs could be a bit useful. Cops are bound by rules and are weighed down by loads of gear. Traceurs on the other hand are always ready. Somebody takes the stairs, well, we shoot up the wall and cut them off at the top. They jump to another wall, well, we jump past them and catch them. We train day after day to do these things. It is part of the fun. How cool would it be for Traceurs to be in the paper for catching a theif or saving a person. I mean come on! That is what we strive to do.
The real point of this whole story is, that I've run into a problem. My playground. The beloved playground that has helped me learn so much by just sitting there and being an obstacle. Well, it may have to be put on hold. Here's the story behind it. I used to play tennis. For two years or so when I was a tad bit younger. I was starting to get better eventually. I started to get at my prime. I was getting lessons from a guy. He was a great coach and a decent tennis player. He made me the player that I was in the day. Well I got better but it was football season and in the opening game I missed a tackle, flew out of bounds and broke my arm. My tennis days were over. I never again took lessons or played another match. I didn't care though, I wasn't a tennis man. So recently I have been practicing a ton by myself at the playground and with friends. I kept seeing my old tennis coach on the tennis courts which were over the playground. They were up a small hill. Not far at all. Maybe a twenty second walk max. So anyways my old coach had been seeing me down at the playground. He didn't know it was me. I noticed that he was very suspicious of us. I would occasionally see him pacing around the edge of the playground fence behind the trees (creepy I know) and I didn't know what he was doing. I didn't care much, what was he to say " Stop playing on the playground?" Well a big surprise happened today when I got home. (Remember my neighborhood is very strict and has no tolerance towards anything. It is a bunch of stuck up rich people and I'll be honest, it's no fun. I like the neighborhood and the kids but some people can be a real pain in the nose if you get my drift.) My mom had gotten a call from this guy about the tennis court. It had been vandalized. Someone puts little holes all over it. Big sad face for me. This guy thinks I am some bad kid and now might think I'm the wrong doer. He doesn't know who I am or that he was talking to the very mom of the boy on the playground. (My advantage). He begun talking about a few very suspicious boys on the playground who "shouldn't be there". (Yeah. Whatever. I am the reason that playground even has a footprint on it.) So my mom explained that I do stuff at the playground. "Well it couldn't be him, I taught him and he is a good kid." (As if what I'm doing on the playground is wrong, although the top age is supposed to be 12. My bad. You could say I've got the heart of a kid seeking movement through a playground.) So my mom still said it could be me. "No, no, this kid is about 5'10 and has a shaved head. Uh oh. I just shaved my head, but I'm 5'8. Good guess at the height though. My mom said no more. She didn't tell him it was me. "Well if I see him down there again I'll ask him what business does he have on the playground." At this point I was almost laughing. "Well sir, I take part in a sport called parkour, also known as freerunning in a more common used word. I seek movement on this playground." How do you respond to that? I don't know but he said he may call the cops if he sees those meddling kids again. Well I sure as heck can out run him. But I want to respect my mom. So I have to wait til no one is around to do parkour. Shame. A kid can't play on a playground. Well that's the news for today in this new year. Hope all your trainings are going well. Best of luck to you this 2009. God bless.
-Austin (Shadow Knight)