Parkour: The Art of Movement

Ozzi Quintero first cleared his mind before he took his jump.  He knew he had bills to pay, a car to register, but he could not think about it then.  The jump was only about five feet from ledge to ledge, but the drop was more than 20 feet deep.  He emptied his mind, focusing on the patch of grass he needed to land on. He took a breath and jumped.

Ozzi, as he prefers to be called, is a 31-year-old Venezuelan who initially came to Hawaii to continue his desire for breakdancing.  As a student of several different disciplines of movement, he soon learned about Parkour, the art of movement in both the natural and urban environments. The focus of Parkour is to move around obstacles with speed and efficiency.

For four years, Ozzi studied Parkour, and he learned that besides the workout, the ability to stay in shape and live a healthy lifestyle, Parkour is the ability to embrace obstacles and challenges.

“A lot of people would kind of run away from obstacles, the unknown, the challenges that life throws at us,” said Ozzi.  “With the concept of Parkour I’ve learned that with these challenges, these obstacles, we learn to grow whether it is you’re trying to broaden your jump distance or you’re trying to get a job.”

Today, Ozzi is A.D.A.P.T.  (Art du Deplacement and Pakour Teaching) certified and the founder of Hawaii Parkour.  He has since been a big influence on the development of Parkour in Hawaii, and he teaches Parkour to more than 20 students at a time at Ala Moana Beach in Honolulu.

“It’s super fun,” said Ozzi, “because not only am I teaching people to tune into their body to get in shape, not only do they learn how to be mindful of their bodies, they learn to accept difficulties in life and taking it as an opportunity to use it as a stepping stone for whatever next goal, whatever next life is going to throw at you.”

Leanne Jenkins, a New Zealand native, was a former gymnast before she took an interest in Parkour.

“I did gymnastics for a long time when I was growing up,” said Jenkins.  “I had the opportunity to learn Parkour, and it kind of looks scary, but I thought that I would try it.  I discovered that I enjoyed it far more than I expected to.”

Jenkins is now a member of the New Zealand  Parkour Association and has been coaching and instructing Parkour for female enthusiasts in Hawaii.

“For me the biggest thing that has come out of it is challenging fears,” said Jenkins.  “I find that I can do a lot more physically than mentally. So when I see a big jump, I have to overcome that mental challenge of doing it.”

Jenkins explained that sometimes even when she knows she can jump a particular distance with ease, adding more height to the same distance can be mentally intimidating.

“Now, I find it easier to do more challenging things in life in general because I have Parkour,” said Jenkins.  “I kind of practice overcoming that mental barrier. It definitely helped me with fear and overcoming fear.”

Sgt. Joe Perez, a Marine stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, has been deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.  He asked Ozzi to help him improve his physical and mental conditioning before he headed out back to Afghanistan.

“As infantrymen, we patrol through every terrain known to man, and we also go through or bypass obstacles” said Perez. “Now with this training under our belts, obstacles are no match for our minds.”

If anyone would like to get into Parkour, Ozzi suggests to try to find somebody who is practicing.

“Try to find a community you can become a part of,” said Ozzi.  “Communicate and try to do different things progressively. If you happen to have nobody around, it is a matter of playing, just go out there and discover what your body can do.

“The one thing I try to emphasize is Parkour is not about jumping off of things, but rather it’s to discover what your body can do, and then from there, build up what you want it to do,” Ozzi continued.

When Ozzi landed safely from the five-foot ledge jump, he knew it was not simply a jump. It was something he had to build upon and improve.  It is that training and repetition that allowed him to overcome the obstacle.

If you want to try out Parkour and see the different classes available, you may go online to http://hawaiipk.com for more information.