Tranquil Movement is about ensuring the positive progression, promotion, and education of parkour. This is what I'm here to do, I want to see parkour become an acceptable behavior. I have seen how parkour can change people's life. When you decide to teach your body the elements of parkour, you develop an attitude that obstacles are not burdens in life, they are opportunities. The training can provide people so many opportunities to grow, whether that's simply getting in shape, finding something to focus and progress on, or re-connect with your inner child, parkour has something for everyone. 

The world we live in today encourages us to sit, eat unhealthy food, watch television and put on masks to please other people. The way of the world is of systems. There is a way things should be. We are taught from a young age to do well in school so that one day we can get a good job and make material gain to ensure our safety and happiness However, as we strive and strive and strive, we never seem to feel content. There's always something missing. So we go on finding things to satisfy our need to feel okay. Tranquil Movement approaches problems differently. We use parkour simply as a method to remind ourselves that everything is okay, there are no problems. There is nothing special about parkour in relation to running, swimming, biking, soccer, or any other sport, the only thing that's different is how you approach your method of training. We train because we love to, nothing else is needed! We feel liberated when we practice. We don't have to use stairs the way their intended, we see the system of the world and we bend it, we play with it. The world is our playground. People who take parkour to heart are very child-like, not childish. We explore our fears and boundaries, we look for unique ways to have fun. We are people with passion and a love for life. The real beauty behind parkour is anyone can tap into this energy, everyone can live confidently and at peace with themselves. Parkour is simply a tool. Use the tool to craft a masterpiece, then once your finished, put the tool down and move on. 

Philosophy vs. Method

I often hear people describe parkour as an, "awesome philosophy." This is very misleading. Parkour of course, like anything can be seen as a philosophy. But philosophy does nothing for helping us grow. It is simply a mental game. Tranquil Movement sees parkour as a method, it is not a way of thinking, it is a way of moving. Moving and thinking are very different, how many times have you seen somebody do something really cool and you think to yourself, Wow! that's awesome! I want to try it, and you realize how difficult it actually is. It's when you physically do something you actually understand what your doing. Parkour needs to be physical, if you approach it from a mental or philosophical standpoint, you'll never grow. What's great about parkour too is anyone can do it, literally anyone. Parkour is not just about jumping from one building to another. At it simplest level, its about learning to move well again and parkour is a method to do this. 

Overcoming vs. Blending

Another misconception that I see and hear about all the time is parkour is the art of overcoming obstacles. This is a great misunderstanding. The definition of overcome, literally, is to succeed in dealing with; or to defeat. Parkour is not about succeeding because succeeding implies you have conquered failure, and when practicing parkour, you never fail, you just learn. Think about water flowing in a river, water never stops to think to itself, "YES! I conquered that rock! Yo, water next to me! Did you see me blow past that rock?! That rock's got nothing on me!" ....    NO! That's absurd! Water just flows, it keeps moving, just blending with it's environment. Parkour should really just be like water flowing through a river. No obstacles need to be conquered, in fact, with parkour, obstacles are your friends, they help you grow, you don't conquer your friends do you? 

It's all perception

Overall, parkour is about developing a vast perception that life is not something to fight, it's here for us to learn and grow. Through the raw physical training of parkour, you will eventually begin to realize that physical movement is the least important element to master. Through physical progression, mental progression follows. If you can say, I feel confident jumping from here to there with a 50 ft. drop in between, then you can say, "I'll ask this girl out," "I'll take a risk," I'll ask my boss for a raise," and so on and so forth. All fear is the same. Parkour is about being an actualized human being, it's about being honest with yourself, it's about knowing your fears and realizing they're irrational. If I have any thing else to say it's don't be afraid to open up and try something new, you just might experience happiness.