Word: sport
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Parkour got its start in Paris two decades ago when a soldier's son and another teen began devising moves to quickly get from one point to another to rescue someone or escape in an emergency. The sport, sometimes called free running, has been seeping into American consciousness in recent years via upwards of 25,000 YouTube clips as well as more mainstream forms of entertainment. Tony Heinz, 19, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, says he told his parents last year that he had started practicing parkour, but they didn't really get what...
Parkour may be the ultimate sport for Ford and other devotees. "You need every athletic skill there is--endurance, strength, flexibility, balance, everything," he says. And there's no equipment required. "That's the thing about parkour," Ford says. "It opens your eyes up, and you're able to find something to do wherever you are." This semester the sophomore is doing an independent study with a biomechanics professor to assess the impact of various landing techniques and is teaching parkour classes at a local gym. Participants must sign a liability waiver that is "valid forever" and includes such boldfaced...
...inherent risks, parkour encourages good habits. The sport is heavy on discipline and self-improvement. True traceurs don't smoke (because it would hurt their endurance) or run under the influence (because it would hurt their balance and agility). "The problem is that people see all these videos of high-level stuff, so they go home, jump off their roof and wonder why they blow out their knees," says Tyson Cecka, 20, a sophomore at the University of Washington who just spent a week in Los Angeles doing parkour for a sneaker commercial. "They don't understand that...
...official prohibition against parkour. Other schools seem caught between safety concerns and not wanting to stifle student enthusiasm. Last year, when a University of Washington administrator went outside to tell Cecka to stop climbing on her office building, she was impressed by his passion for the obscure sport and encouraged him to apply for a $4,500 leadership scholarship, which he is using to create a nonprofit to spread the word about parkour. As he quietly trains on campus, Cecka is preparing the paperwork for an urban-reclamation club to spruce up the school and build goodwill...
...news. The plentiful-but-toxic metal has been banned by the federal government in everything from paint and water pipes to food containers and gasoline. And now, one of the poisonous element's last footholds in American culture - the ammunition used by the 25 million people who hunt for sport and food - is being targeted, as states across the country consider enacting bans on the use of lead for hunting...