When you think of parkour, you are likely imagining a young delinquent launching their body from great heights onto a wall. The scene is probably set in an urban environment certainly not built to be used as a playground. When you think of senior citizens, a picture of senescent, frail people with grey hair and thick glasses using a walking frame might come to mind. Put the two stereotypes together and the thought of an ‘aunty’ or ‘uncle’ doing backflips or scaling rooftops doesn’t seem to quite make sense. In reality, ‘silver parkour’ or parkour for seniors is something that is seeing virality because of the obvious visual dichotomy, but it is actually being lauded as a real, functional option for boosting agility in an ageing population.
For Tan Shie Boon, 33, Founder and Coach of Movement Singapore, fall prevention is a huge part of his parkour programme for elders. In fact, it was the sole purpose for starting it in the first place. Natural movement expression is not an option, but a necessity in his sessions. This seems counter-intuitive to the widely held belief that the ‘longer in the tooth’ we are, the more cautious we should be when it comes to exertion.
“Physical therapy is too safe and slow,” argues Tan. The philosophy of parkour is être et durer, which is ‘to be and to last’ or, in other words, ‘to endure‘. At the core of it, it is not just about overcoming obstacles, but about building a resilient mind and body to continue movement over a lifetime. In order to achieve that, you need resistance and to conquer trepidation. Tan continues, “many of my students have discovered abilities and strengths previously unknown to themselves. It’s almost like whether you face life fearfully and with paranoia, or with disciplined optimism.” According to Tan, many in the elderly population do not want to be perceived or treated as weak. “Ask any of my students, and they’ll tell you that my classes are tough” and overarchingly, “L’Art du Déplacement provides an avenue for you to challenge yourself, and that suits the many seniors who do not want to simply resign to the fate of ageing without a fight.”
Moving with purpose
So what exactly is parkour? In short, it is when practitioners use only their bodies to get from Point A to Point B using the fastest possible route; it’s about efficiency, but also executing moves safely. It involves everything from climbing to rolling, jumping, running and vaulting. Hailing from Paris, the original discipline L’Art du Déplacement (The Art of Movement) was created in the 1980s by a group of young men called the Yamakasi—the main source of inspiration for Tan. After completing a diploma in IT and being granted a place for Computer Science at Nanyang Technological University, to his parents’ disdain, Tan pursued the physical arts. It was during a ‘Parkour x Dance’ workshop in his first semester of his Diploma in Dance at Lasalle College of the Arts, that he discovered his calling when one of the members, Laurent Piemontesi, told them to “bring the you” into the movement.
“It’s whether you face life fearfully and with paranoia, or with disciplined optimism”
He was also deeply impacted when the Yamakasi did a handstand on a bar on the second floor of the building. A precarious action, with clear consequences. Fall forward and it was a sheer drop. “That projected power and freedom to me—people who weren’t afraid to be themselves and who walked the Earth with purpose, knowing exactly what they wanted in every living moment—I was extremely envious and desperate for that.” Tan elucidates, “meeting the Yamakasi that fateful day and learning L’Art du Déplacement from them was literally my salvation.” He quickly left Lasalle to pursue parkour full time in 2015, wanting to bring that sense of purpose and freedom of movement to others.
After a chance meeting in 2017 with his first senior student, Ann Tham, over a bowl of fishball noodles and a conversation about balance, Tan was able to train the then 64 year old out of having to rely on a trolley to walk. In documenting Tham’s transformation on social media, Tan’s initiatives gained traction and new members signed up. Movement Singapore was then born in 2022. One of Tan’s regular students Bernice Tan Ting Ling, 65, who has now been practicing parkour for over eight years, twice a week, says “we often hear the all-too-familiar statement about seniors’ parkour that it’s too dangerous—that we will easily fall and sustain injuries. Another one is that we are “asking for trouble!” On the contrary, it protects us through the practice of the ‘art of breaking falls’ and also strengthens us through movement.”
Into the blue zone
Singapore was named the sixth Blue Zone 2.0 three years ago by longevity researcher Dan Buettner. Albeit the “engineered” type as opposed to the “organic” five original Blue Zones (Okinawa, Sardinia, Nicoya, Ikaria, and Loma Linda), it is still considered part of an exclusive group of geographical areas where the population lives substantially longer lives. Singaporeans now enjoy a life expectancy over 83 years, however back in 1965 only one generation ago, that was more like 65 years. In fact, the number of Singapore’s centenarians (a person living to 100 years and older) has doubled from 700 in 2010, to 1,500 in 2020, according to The Population Trends 2020 report.
“Parkour brings you face to face with fear at every moment. That makes you feel alive. That awakens your entire being and forces you to be present with the only tool nobody can take away from you—your free will”
More time on the biological clock does have implications on society, especially if there is not also a focus on good health. “Now that we seniors are increasing our lifespan, we should also increase our healthspan. What better way to achieve it than through an active lifestyle, namely more movement and exercise, especially through geriatric parkour—an ideal trending sport,” says Bernice. She wholly subscribes to the notion of investing in her future through motion, “when we age actively, we are less likely to fall sick and become a burden to our children, family and healthcare system.” Barry Clarke, 63, another one of Tan’s students agrees, “we are powerful primates and need to exercise that power regularly for the benefit of our own health, the wellbeing of the community, and to pay homage to our evolutionary roots as a hunter-gatherer.” Good thing then that at Movement Singapore, one of the prevailing mottos is ‘be strong to be useful’.
The actual training itself is less about technique per se, but about the facilitation of instinctive movement. The sessions held at local estate playgrounds include simple things like walking backwards down a staircase, rolling on the floor, climbing walls, and jumping and landing well—the company website highlights that 40 percent of injury-related deaths among seniors are from falls. While Tan is mainly focusing on readying his students for real world hurdles and obstructions, parkour also seems to also reignite a sense of childhood wonder and feeling of belonging.
Community not competition
“There is an “esprit de corps” among the participants who encourage each other: levels of ability and confidence are mixed, but no-one feels left out. It is not competitive”, says Clarke. Lim Sing Yuen, 64, who has been training in seniors’ parkour since 2020, has seen “such a glow up from many of the classmates in confidence and ability”, and she is sure that they are all “quietly proud” of what they can do now in this supportive environment. A common worry for the elderly is often loneliness, however, here practitioners have cultivated camaraderie. A culture that ultimately aligns to the values of the Yamakasi, which speak to Tan “very deeply”. He expands, “my experience in the local education system made me feel so jaded with life. Everyone was at each other’s throats, competing, climbing up the educational or corporate ladder. It’s all about survival.” Meeting the Yamakasi allowed him to see that you can live your life in a way that is in “mutual harmony and support with others”, designed to be for the “betterment of society, not selfishly just for yourself.” And it seems many others are also taking notice of this movement.
In terms of the curiosity and virality of seniors’ parkour online, student Lim was surprised. “I never realised people viewed 60 as old. We really should be still active at 60. Maybe slow down at 70? But yes, I’m glad people are coming to terms with the fact that we need to use it, or we will indeed lose it.” With any spotlight, there are usually also detractors, whose commentary is typically rooted in the risk averse, but Tan doesn’t waste his breath on them.
Instead, he says “parkour brings you face to face with fear at every moment. That makes you feel alive. That awakens your entire being and forces you to be present with the only tool nobody can take away from you—your free will, your ability to choose where and how you would like to proceed with the next step in your life.”
The name parkour derives from the French word parcours, which means ‘the way through’. And ultimately that is what parkour represents, regardless of age. They say ‘the best way out is always through’, meaning that you must take affirmative action, face your fears, avoid stagnation and you will make it to the other side, stronger and better for it.
