I've been reading the boards for a bit of time now and figured that I should say hi and introduce myself. I'm brand new to parkour and turning 30 here soon. At first I was guessing it might be a little too old to start this journey but then again, I have an attitude that it's NEVER too late to go after what you have your mind set on. After reading the forum here for a bit and watching videos of some of the older folks on Youtube, it really inspired me to get up and make this happen. I ordered myself a pair of Feiyue originals (bought the white ones!) and they arrived today, so I guess today will be day one of what will be many more days to come. I look forwards to learning as much as I can from the forum and of course first hand experience!
Some reasons why I am doing this? That's really a tough question but simple at the same time. It's a multitude of things. I wouldn't say a "mid life crisis" type of thing but more of a "why can't I?" sort. I've always been pretty active with many years of skateboarding in my teens and now martial arts through my twenties. But something is/was missing. Just doing the adult type of things...wake up, go to work, study to further myself along in education/career and then to sleep. Do it all over again the next day. Don't get me wrong, life is awesome and certainly nothing to complain about. Just there's a certain feeling of dullness. Anyone who's super active in life and you take away there physicality either by their means or someone elses, it will drive you nuts. I'm sure some of you guys will know what I'm trying to convey. Anyways, after watching Brick Mansions a few weeks ago, I was suddenly struck with the "Man I have to try that!". I had no idea that David Belle (honestly, I didn't know who he was until I started reading recently about Parkour) was in the movie or those types of scenes were in it. After watching that movie and then coming home to watch more videos on Youtube about it...I realized what was missing. I was missing the freedom. The freedom from an activity that was about positivity, about going it your way how you choose it best, community, etc. Sadly, the older we get, the easier it is to forget where we been or the small details in life that make it worthwhile. Reading peoples comments about how they used to climb walls or jump small gaps when they were younger, the feeling it gave them...it made me think about it and realize that, yeah I surely do miss that feeling. So...this is where I begin to get that feeling back.