“Since 2006, we’ve worked with Crawley Borough Council and The Urban Playground (UPG – see p59) to provide a range of Parkour workshops at K2 Crawley. These workshops have also been offered at community settings in Crawley, including the UPG-designed Parkour Training Area (PKTA) in the Pocket Park in Bewbush, which opened in 2009.

“We were granted Sportivate funding via Active Sussex to run some taster sessions and six-week programmes. Our founding coaches were youngsters who had been practising parkour locally.

We turned their enthusiasm into skills and their story helped attract other youngsters who were seeking an outlet for their physical energy.

“As our first winter season approached, demand was high for an indoor option. We set up indoor parkour in the gymnastics hall at K2 Crawley and had to put on an extra session as it was so popular. Our project won Best Sportivate Project of 2014 at the Sussex Sports Awards, and we’ve just received a £5k grant from the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioners’ ‘Safer in Sussex’ community fund to buy mobile parkour equipment to engage even more participants.

“Parkour attracts a hard-to-reach demographic of young people who don’t necessarily want to play a sport or follow a structured fitness regime. Leisure centres in particular have a role to play within their locality, and getting potentially destructive, disengaged teens into self-esteem-building physical activity is pretty much on every council’s list.”

“I co-founded Europe’s largest parkour and action sport gym – the Move Artistic dome in Cologne, Germany – in 2009 and witnessed its exponential growth.

“I now teach parkour classes at Fitness First Baker Street in London, UK, and I like to keep as many of the original principles of parkour as possible in my sessions. My aim is to open people’s eyes to the opportunities around them, so for example a staircase isn’t just to be walked up and down – you can crawl up it, climb down it, move sideways along it… I use the freestyle area in the gym with boxes to leap over, pull-up bars and so on.

“I teach from the heart: I believe it’s important to convey parkour’s key values, so I like to bring an edgy aspect to my classes to capture the adrenalin rush and spirit of outdoor parkour. This particularly helps engage those hard-to-reach 18- to 24-year-olds, who enjoy a deep sense of satisfaction and achievement when they master the moves.

“I relish my one-to-one outdoor coaching, as people who opt for this are looking for genuine, original parkour moves and experience. That said, increasing numbers are asking for indoor parkour as they feel it’s accessible, safe and contained. If indoor parkour brings more people to the sport, then let’s do more of it!

“Clubs that have the space and invest in decent crash mats and well-trained instructors could do very well with parkour.”

“Our session was originally set up for 14- to 18-year-olds after being awarded Sportivate funding, but was then adapted to suit children aged 11–18.

“We wanted to offer something a little different and unstructured to appeal to teenagers who like to ‘create’ their session and not follow the standard set-up of a class. So we run Friday evening sessions in the sports hall with a lead coach and assistant and set it up like a youth club.

“The different genders and broad age range mean we must tailor the moves for each group. The girls tend to like more structure and like moves they have already planned in their head, whereas the boys want to bounce off the walls! We measure success by the youngsters’ progression. We had six young girls join our first session who couldn’t do a handstand. They can now all do that and much more besides. We have two boys who are able to do backward somersaults and the confidence boost they gained from mastering this is incredible.

“It’s a fantastic fitness session that particularly encourages non-sporty individuals. Leisure centres will find that youngsters who perhaps don’t want to play a sport or follow a structured set-up will respond well to parkour.”

“Parkour Generations is entirely run by parkour athletes, and our series of five MOV’ programmes – which have been designed for sports centres and mainstream gyms wanting to offer parkour-style classes – is based on the discipline of parkour offered at our facilities. This includes our flagship site, the Chainstore Gym, which recently opened in east London, offering classes, events and education.

“We have protocols for all ages, from toddlers to the over-50s, and also run adaptive parkour sessions for people with disabilities and challenged movement skills. We’ve also just introduced parkour to schools.

“Health and fitness clubs should run parkour classes because, quite simply, they work. This type of bodyweight movement-based training is what we’re designed to do. It’s absolutely necessary for health and wellbeing.

“Parkour is hugely enjoyable and engaging, meaning people keep coming back for more. With parkour set to become an officially recognised sport in the UK this year, 2015 looks set to be the biggest year yet for the discipline.”

“Nordic health club operator SATS-Elixia was an early adopter of parkour, introducing it to many of its clubs as early as 2010. I now train instructors to deliver parkour classes within the group.

“Kids’ parkour is by far the most fun class I’ve had the pleasure of teaching. I’m currently working with children as young as six and I find them very responsive: with parkour being non-competitive and using fun moves, it can engage non-sporty children, boosting their fitness and wellbeing while feeling more like play than exercise. They learn the key safety techniques and how to perfect parkour rolls – one of the moves that they all want to know how to do.

“In its original form, parkour is an extreme sport with people jumping from rooftops and between bridges, and this certainly captures children’s imagination. But we do parkour indoors and instead of rooftops, bridges and tunnels we use steppers, hurdles, rings and mats. The children love to crawl like Spiderman and jump like a frog. We create a playful area and put the emphasis on working together rather the competing with each other, which teaches them excellent social skills too.”