Who we are
Michigan Parkour is dedicated to providing free resources for learning parkour in Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit area. Anyone is welcomed to join the club including non-students. No prior experience is required!
Can I join?
Yes. Wanna be a superhero? We got your back! We hold regular practices every week even during the winter. Stop by, say hi!
- Tuesday, Thursdays - 5pm
- Sundays - 4pm
Tuesday, Thursdays at 5pm and Sundays at 4pm starting at the Dental School courtyard area. Our practices include conditioning, learning techniques and a community atmosphere. To learn about additional practices, contact the leader of the organization or attend one of the regular practices.
Purpose
The purpose of Michigan Parkour is to creatively explore and engage with our urban environment, develop our individual physical and mental capabilities to the best of our ability, and communicate to the society at large a better understanding of what Parkour truly means and represents as a movement discipline
Mission
Michigan Parkour aims to bring people together from all walks of life in pursuit of conquering our urban environment. This entails teaching and learning various movement patterns to successfully navigate our surroundings in the quickest, most efficient way possible. Part of learning how to traverse the environment in this manner also means learning how to creatively assess the obstacles before us and find a route that best suits our individual skill sets. However, Michigan Parkour understands that there is, by the general populace, a significant perceived danger apropos the activities we engage in. Thus, another important aim of Michigan Parkour is to allay this perceived sense of danger by demonstrating through its members the serious precautions and safety measures taken while training. Michigan Parkour has developed and will continue to develop in its members a keen sense of trust both in themselves and their own individual physical and mental capabilities, as well as in their fellow members. Ultimately, Michigan Parkour seeks to foster a fun, safe environment for individuals of all skill levels to learn and train.
What is Parkour?
Parkour is the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one's path by adapting one's movements to the environment. This can be through vaulting, running, jumping, and climbing. Some members of the club practice Freerunning, which is centered around moving through your environment in a more creative fashion (e.x. parkour doesn't necessarily involve flips, but freerunning emphasizes them). Our club teaches both!
Parkour requires... consistent, disciplined training with an emphasis on functional strength, physical conditioning, balance, creativity, fluidity, control, precision, spatial awareness, and looking beyond the traditional use of objects.
Parkour movements typically include... running, jumping, vaulting, climbing, balancing, and quadrupedal movement. Movements from other physical disciplines are often incorporated, but acrobatics or tricking alone do not constitute parkour.
Parkour training focuses on... safety, longevity, personal responsibility, and self-improvement. It discourages reckless behavior, showing off, and dangerous stunts.
Parkour practitioners value... community, humility, positive collaboration, sharing of knowledge, and the importance of play in human life, while demonstrating respect for all people, places, and spaces.
Join our facebook group if you'd like to be involved and get updates when we switch locations.
Why join parkour
Some people perceive Parkour as dangerous, reckless activity while many others don’t believe they are strong/flexible/brave enough to do it. Our club has spent the past 12 years teaching people the basics of parkour in the safest way possible. In fact, many people who try it for the first time say that it's the most fun they've ever had exercising. They also comment on how natural and easy it is to learn the basics. Perhaps it is because of our hunting and gathering ancestors and their instinctive reflexes? Who knows! Regardless, we train to be as swift as a cheetah and as strong as an ape!
So what do you get by joining Parkour Club? Lots of things like a community of friends, ability to see any environment as playground or workout field, superhuman agility and superhero like tricks but let me tell you what Parkour Club is not:
- No equipment necessary
- No gym necessary
- No commitments
- No spectators
- No judges
- No dues
- No limits
Vision for C21st Homo sapiens
Our mission is bringing complex movement to the baseline of human capabilities and taking it beyond. Superheroes in movies do seemingly impossible moves, but one day we used to run and jump in the wild, doing pretty massive hops. We believe anyone can reclaim their movement back and become a superhero!
FAQ's
When and where do you meet?We meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:00 pm and Sunday at 4:00 pm at the School of Dentistry courtyard.
How much experience do I need to participate?None, Beginners are welcome!
Do I need to be a student?Nope! We welcome everyone, regardless of age, gender, race, etc.
Does it cost money to join?Nope!
What if I can't do splits/flips/one-armed-pullups?Neither can most of us! That's why we train ;)