Parkour, the new fad in town

Parkour is an art form where you efficiently negotiate obstacles by running, climbing, jumping to go from point A to point B

Hyderabad: It is not easy to paint a mental picture of parkour, says Hyderabad-based 33-year-old Abhinav who opened the country’s first professional parkour academy in the city. As he grapples to find the right words to describe it, he resorts to the most obvious example — the movies.

“You know when an actor jumps from one place to another, leaps, and rolls? That is parkour. It is an art form where you efficiently negotiate obstacles by running, climbing, jumping to go from point A to point B,” he says.

---

Abhinav was first introduced to parkour when he was a kid watching Yamakasi on Discovery Channel — he gawked at the seven parkour experts traversing obstacles effortlessly. Then in his teens, he started self-learning the moves from YouTube videos.

He opened Abhinav Parkour Academy and has, so far, taught the athletic training discipline to more than 10,000 people, including actress Rashmika Mandanna. He has two branches, one in Madhapur and the other in Kukatpally.

“When I first started, there was not much awareness about parkour. My parents were not at all supportive and learning it was difficult. But now, the perspective is changing and I see more parents willingly bringing in their children for training,” he says.

Abhinav’s fitness academy serves as a safe space for anyone who wants to push the boundaries of their physical abilities. Along with teaching parkour, calisthenics, weight training, kickboxing, and others are also taught here.

“People think that you have to be at a certain level of fitness to do this. But the fact is that you can parkour at your own pace. It is not just for youngsters. I have had students as young as three and as old as 60,” he says.

From simply wanting to jump around like his favourite action heroes to becoming a role model to his students, Abhinav has helped thousands not just in getting from point A to point B by moving rapidly moving through obstacles, but in believing in themselves to do the unthinkable.