Parkour and the city risk, masculinity, and meaning in a postmodern sport

214 Pages·2017·5.905 MB·English

by  Kidder, Jeffrey Lowell

Parkour and the City
Critical Issues in Sport and Society
Michael Messner and Douglas Hartmann, Series Editors
Critical Issues in Sport and Society features scholarly books that help
expand our understanding of the new and myriad ways in which sport is
intertwined with social life in the contemporary world. Using the tools
of various scholarly disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, his-
tory, media studies and others, books in this series investigate the growing
impact of sport and sports-related activities on various aspects of social life
as well as key developments and changes in the sporting world and emerg-
ing sporting practices. Series authors produce groundbreaking research
that brings empirical and applied work together with cultural critique and
historical perspectives written in an engaging, accessible format.
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Jennifer Guiliano, Indian Spectacle: College Mascots and the Anxiety of
Modern America
Kathryn Henne, Testing for Athlete Citizenship: Th e Regulation of Doping
and Sex in Sport
Jeff rey L. Kidder, Parkour and the City: Risk, Masculinity, and Meaning in
a Postmodern Sport
Michael A. Messner and Michela Musto, eds., Child’s Play: Sport in Kids’
Worlds
Jeff rey Montez de Oca, D iscipline and Indulgence: College Football, Media,
and the American Way of Life during the Cold War
Stephen C. Poulson, Why Would Anyone Do Th at?: Lifestyle Sport in the
Twenty-First Century
Parkour and the City
Risk, Masculinity, and Meaning
in a Postmodern Sport
JEFFREY L. KIDDER
Rutgers University Press
New Brunwick, Camden, and Newark, New Jersey, and London
978-0-8135-7196-6 cloth
978-0-8135-7195-9 paperback
978-0-8135-7197-3 epub
978-0-8135-7198-0 web pdf
978-0-8135-9119-3 mobi
Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the Library of Congress.
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
All photos in the book are by the author unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © 2017 by Jeff rey L. Kidder
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the
publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901.
Th e only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defi ned by U.S. copyright law.
∞ Th e paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for
Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
www.rutgersuniversitypress.org
Manufactured in the United States of America
To Paul Lindsay (who taught the fi rst sociology class I ever took),
Kenneth Allan (who inspired me to go to graduate school), and
Jim Dowd (who encouraged me to fi nish)

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Th inking Sociologically about Parkour 1
1 Developing the Discipline and Creating a Sport 18
2 New Prisms of the Possible 47
3 Young Men in the City 70
4 Hedging Th eir Bets 94
Conclusion: Appropriating the City 128
Appendix A: Brief Note on Data and Method 141
Appendix B: On the Parkour Terminology Used in Th is Book 145
Notes 149
Bibliography 179
Index 191
vii

Acknowledgments
Th is book would not have been possible without the openness and
generosity of the Chicago parkour community. I was inspired by the
a thleticism, creativity, and congeniality of the young people involved in
the “art of movement” from my very fi rst jam. Regretfully, as a sociologist,
what interests me about the social world of parkour inevitably diverges
from those in the community, especially with respect to the ways they
may prefer to see their activities portrayed. While my “ethnographic gaze”
may leave many practitioners of parkour disappointed (or even frustrated)
with the analysis that follows, I sincerely hope that my admiration for the
community and the discipline comes through the text. Over the years,
I have discussed parkour with a countless number of traceurs—from the
Chicago-area and beyond—and they all helped shape this project. Th ere
are far too many names to list them all here, but I owe a special thanks
to Aaron Mikottis, Alex Meglei, Alex Paulus, Ando Calrissian, Angela
Martin, Ben Zumhagen, Brandon Th read, Carolyn Steele, Chris
Gorzelany, Chris Hal, Cody Beltramo, Dan Larson-Fine, David Yip, Eric
Stodola, Evan Sink, Gerardo Carpio, Grant Lechner, Jake Markiewicz,
Jaska, Jeff Strening, Jesse Anderson, Jesus Crespo, Jim Hotwagner, Jordan
Oglesby, Kurt Gowan (and Parkour Ways), Luke Albrecht, Maria Von
Dreele, Michael Zernow, Max Spadavecchia, Miko Vesović, Nathan Reed,
Paul Canada (and Flipside Academy), Pavel Klopov, Phil Ashby, Rich
Gatz, Ryan Cousins, Ryan Th ill, Sam Monarrez, Sean Kalinoski, Stephan
Roberts, Seth Rujiraviriyapinyo, Steve Dahl, Tommy Gilmore, Tyler
ix
x • Acknowledgments
Kelly, and Zach Jarzabek. Also, American Parkour, Team Farang, and
Wexin Yang were kind enough to grant me permission to reprint images
and stills from videos they had posted online.
Peter Mickulas, from Rutgers University Press, is responsible for kick-
starting the eff ort to expand my three published journal articles into a
larger project. He took a chance on what was a rather slipshod prospectus
and gave me the leeway necessary to gather more data and continue writing
(well past the initial deadline). Paul Gilchrist and the press’s anonymous
reviewers were especially adept in their critiques and guidance as the man-
uscript progressed. Julia Ruth Dillon and the staff at Rutgers helped fi nesse
this text into something readable. I owe a great deal to all their eff orts.
As this book (slowly) developed, I had the opportunity to discuss my
incipient analyses in a variety of forums. Th ese conference presentations,
guest lectures, and job talks aff orded me the chance to converse with other
researchers and better refi ne my ideas. Oft en it was a question asked from
the audience or an informal chat with a stranger that opened up a new
perspective for thinking about the social world of parkour. Simón Weff er
graciously accepted the task of reading and commenting on the entire
manuscript draft , and he provided much-needed feedback. I was also
fortunate enough to have a graduate assistant, Patrick Dowling, to lend
a hand with transcribing the fi nal interviews. My words here are limited,
but my gratitude is boundless for all those who helped along the way.
Parts of chapter two originally appeared as “Parkour, the Aff ective
Appropriation of Urban Space, and the Real/Virtual Dialectic,” City &
Community 11 (2012): 229–253. An earlier version of chapter three was
published as “Parkour, Masculinity, and the City,” Sociology of Sport Journal
20 (2013): 1–23. Several aspects of chapter four can be found in “ Parkour:
Adventure, Risk, and Safety in the Urban Environment,” Q ualitative
Sociology 36 (2013): 231–250. Kristen Myers, Beth Schewe, Gregory Snyder,
Patrick Williams, and the anonymous reviewers for these journals aided in
the process of refi ning my analysis for the articles (as well as what would
eventually become this book). Further, all three of these journals’ editors—
Michael Atkinson (Sociology of Sport Journal), Hilary Silver (City &
Community), and David Smilde (Qualitative Sociology)—showed a
much-appreciated enthusiasm for the project.
Additionally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the numerous
talks I had about my research with friends whose lives exist far from aca-
demia. It was on trips to the beach and hikes in the woods that I was able to