Culture
Can Parkour Teach Older People to ‘Fall Better’?
The sport isn’t just about extreme jumping. It also focuses on balance and agility, which are important for avoiding injury as people age.
In a 10,000-square-foot facility full of crisscrossing metal pipes in Alexandria, Virginia, kids swing from one bar to the next. They bounce off walls and somersault into a foam pit in the back. Near the front, a guy in his 20s leaps across the room from one vaulting box to another. At one point, he does a backflip.
Among the crowd at the Urban Evolution parkour gym is 51-year-old Dan Scheeler. The only thing that makes him stand out among the younger crowd is his full, greying beard. Scheeler easily scales an eight-foot wall before “circling over” the ledge and landing lightly back on the ground. That’s one of his favorite moves, he says. It could come in handy if he ever finds himself stuck on the roof, an onlooker jokes with him.