When it comes to this amazing sport, kids tend to stare in awe.  They just don’t know what to do when they see teens running around a playground and field doing flips, twist, back flips off of trees, jumping off of the play set. Watch and learn kids because this is a lesson that has not been taught at school; parkour.
“Out of my way everybody, I’m videotaping this,” says a kid. “You’re going to be on YouTube.”
“I already am,”  says 2011 ALHS graduate Tommy Tiegs.
Parkour was founded by David Belle and Sebastein Foucan when they released a video of parkour on YouTube. Parkour is getting from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible. It involves some very quick thinking and good problem solving skills. Imagine going through a course with many obstacles. There are so many combinations that you could make. This is where those two skills come in handy. Starting the round and off you go, quickly thinking about the moves to make to get the top score. Now you’ve got a mental block of what to do next, and here’s where the problem solving comes in handy.  Figure out the best move possible to make your routine even better.
Parkour is known world-wide, yet few students here at ALHS actually know what it is. Over the years, here at this school there have been a couple very dedicated students that live, sleep and breathe  parkour. Senior Tucker Akemann and Tiegs are some of our very own parkour and tricking geniuses. It all started with YouTube. Ever since David Belle (founder of parkour) released a video of his skills, the two just had to try it. Keeping it safe, they first try all their stunts on the trampoline. After perfecting the moves on the trampoline, they bring it to the ground. The two now teach a class in Faribault, they teach mainly parkour but add a little tricking in there to mix it up.
“My favorite trick is the ‘full in’,” said Tiegs. A full in is a double backflip with a twist incorporated into it. “It was the hardest trick to learn and definitely the scariest.”
“Parkour is a challenge,” said Akemann. “Once you get it down, it’s definitely worth it.”
With hard work and dedication comes rewards and opportunities of a lifetime. Both Akemann and Tiegs have met trickers and traceurs from all over the world and tricked for days together, learning some new moves from people, and teaching some others. The two have friends from Kansas, Ohio, South Carolina, Scotland, Australia and pretty much all over the world. There’s no doubt that their friend list will expand in the future.
“It’s amazing how easy it is to become friends with all of these people,” said Tiegs with a smile on his face. “I have never met a single tricker that was not super nice.”
Surely none of these moves are something that is easily learned over night.  For both tricking and parkour, time is of the essence. Use it wisely. As everybody says, practice makes perfect. Akemann and Tiegs have learned that practice will give you an advantage in the future. Even though you may get some sores, bruises and occasionally some broken bones, it’s all part of the process of becoming a great tricker and traceur.
“Try it,” said Akemann. “It’s fun, it’s awesome, and you’ll absolutely love it.”