Each week reporter Jeff Darge searches campus for a new club to join.
The shortest route between two points is a straight line, but backflipping from one point to another is a lot more fun.
I had the opportunity to learn to do so when I joined the brand new Parkour Club at ASU for its first official meeting.
The club of six members met me outside of the Tempe Sun Devil Fitness Complex. Each stood along a freestanding wall while getting ready for the day. I was introduced to the group, and I was welcomed.
It was at this point that the club members began jumping over the five-foot wall. I wondered to myself how I would do any of this? I'm not athletic, and I have a knee that has been hurt for about four years, which I injured during a speech and debate camp in high school. After about ten minutes, they finished all of these high jumps and began moving to a new location.
While we walked, education freshman Eric Klein, the club's president, told me that the last exercise was a little advanced and that the next location would have something for beginners.
"Most people are usually intimidated by parkour when they first see it, because they see all these crazy guys jumping off of rooftops," Klein said. "While that does come into play, that is not what it is. Everyone has a level. Everyone can start anywhere."
At that location near the footbridge on Palm Walk, members of the group began jumping from one curb of the sidewalk to the other. This was where I would learn to jump. On my first attempt, I couldn't clear the distance so Klein encouraged me to move a bit closer while I was learning.
Eventually, I had mastered the shorter jump and was on my way to becoming a parkour master.
Then the club moved to the outside of Old Main. I began to appreciate this flowing meeting. No location was completely certain, rather, we just kind of flowed with a goal of reaching Mill Avenue while doing some parkour along the way.
At Old Main I learned four ways to vault a wall, in order of least to most difficult. A natural-born teacher, Klein showed me not only what to do but also how to do it. Anyone could have shown me the technique and moved on to working on their own thing, but Klein watched me and commented on my form.
He showed interest in my improvement. This is not to detract from the rest of the club, who also gave me a fair amount of encouragement, but I have never seen someone so willing to teach a random stranger as much as Klein.
In the parkour community, you can walk up to the best in the world as a beginner and still receive the same praise and encouragement that Klein showed me.
From Old Main to the Sun Devil Marketplace, the group finally made its way to Mill Avenue, all while doing parkour along the way. I was thankful for the low expectations given to me at this point, as I began to feel my legs protest. Thankfully, Klein and the rest of the group advised me that if I felt like I needed to stop, then it was perfectly fine to do so.
I finished up a bit before the rest of the group and stuck around. The club itself is extremely nice and welcoming, so it was hard to just up and leave as the practice began to end. Having the opportunity to jump over walls and the like is a lot of fun.
"It's the closest we'll get to ever being superheroes," Klein said.
I would have to say that Parkour Club's first meeting was a huge success. Those interested in going to Parkour Club's second meeting and beyond should sign up for updates on the club's OrgSync page.
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Reach the reporter at jdarge@asu.edu or follow @jeffdarge on Twitter.
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