Parkour and freerun

Parkour is a method of movement originally developed by such French guys as David Belle and Sebastian Foucan. The sports concentrate on moving around obstacles as fast and efficiently as possible. The term parkour was coined by Hubert Kounde, a French actor and film director and it derives from the military training courses called parkours du combattant. It has no set movements and is said to be more of a state of mind than a specific way of moving. Parkour avoids rivalry and competition and drives towards the international unification, breaking through the economic and social boundaries which are separating people from one another.

The ideology of the breaking through and finding bondages across countries and nationalities eventually resulted in parkour to spread all over the world. English speaking world was introduced into to the sports through the movie Jump London, which was directed by Sebastian Foucan. The term free running was coined in the film as an translation of the word parkour in English, but it came to mean later on slightly different things than the original parkour was.

Foucan was dissatisfied by the limitations in parkour and stated that free running was a discipline of the self-development and emphasizes the freedom of movement and creativity. According to Foucan acrobatics, which were incorporated in free running, is not parkour, since parkour takes advantages of movement’s efficiency and ultimately was a way of the French soldiers to escape or reach in the emergency situation in Vietnam.

In free running the acrobatics in urban landscapes play a major role. The movements are performed through structure of the landscape and the sport emphasizes especially the creativity of the movement. Free running features athletic and aesthetically pleasing movement which takes advantage of the urban obstacles unlike parkour, which is more about crossing the obstacle efficiently and quickly.

Mostly parkour and free running diverge in their philosophy. In parkour, as already stated, practitioner finds his way through the landscape passing the obstacles and barriers with efficient and fast movements. Parkour is about getting into places which are inaccessible and escaping the chasers, while free running is about creativity of the movement and beauty of the motion.

Ageing of the population affects the design of urban areas

In Finland the ageing of population will be exceptionally fast comparing to the rest of the European Union countries due to big baby boom after the war period. According to statistic 17 percent of the people living in cities were pensioners in the year 2010.

The generations born in 40´s and 50´s will have special needs for their living environments when they get older. This will affect also design and planning of the living spaces and their surrounding outdoors. Especially challenging will be the planning of the living environments of the people with a decreased ability to function in their everyday life. Flexibility and ability to transform with the inhabitants age challenges the planning of the living spaces and the design of the interiors not to mention the opportunities for senior fitness (in Finnish: senioriliikunta).

The ability of the elderly people to handle the everyday tasks and function without outside help can be improved with a careful planning of the living environments. Accessible apartments and for example assisting technology can make the living of an old aged person easier. Environments can be also inspiring, attracting people into, for example senior sports by having an exercise ground on the apartment building yard or having a common gym. These can also serve as a social hot spots, meeting points for the elderly as well as other generations. Living environments can be an obstacle or a possibility. The ageing of the population affects as well the community structure and planning as the accessibility of the services grows more important. The local grocery stores and public transportation enable the flow of everyday life.

The World Diabetes Day

World Diabetes Day was passed on November 14th. The day is for to remind of the seriousness of the illness and to support proper research and treatment for patients. Diabetes is categorized as a national illness in Finland. According to estimations, half a million adults in Finland are suffering from type 2 diabetes, half of them without knowing it, and other half having a diagnose. The disease causes increasing risk of cardiovascular diseases, decline of the kidneys and higher risk for retinopathy.

Diabetes has spread vast and it´s commonness is increasing rapidly. According to specialists and researchers, this is connected with lifestyle, nutrition, increasing overweight and bad fitness. The key factors in growing diabetes risk are the same as in cardiovascular diseases. Diabetes can develop itself in quiet without any symptoms for many years. Tiredness, increased blood sugar levels and constant feel of thirst can be signs of diabetes in progress. The highest risk for type 2 diabetes is with people over 60 years and with overweight. The Finnish Diabetes Association recommends all those who belong to risk groups to make a diabetes risk test found in their homepage. The early discovery of the illness will prevent the more serious symptoms.

Diabetes can however be prevented and counter acted, by reviewing the risks of the lifestyle and nutrition, and increasing exercise and fitness. The necessary changes in lifestyle to prevent diabetes are not always inevitably massive. Avoiding excessive amounts of sugar and fat and eating at list half a kilogram of veggies per day is by nutrition enough to make a difference.

In older age, senior fitness (in Finnish: senioriliikunta) and being active physically in general are the best ways to prevent and treat diabetes. According to specialists, the exercise should be at least thrice a week, get you sweaty and rise your pulse at least a little, but even a half an hour walk can help to keep the condition. For good senior fitness it is recommended for example Nordic walking, light jogging, golf and gymnastic exercises. According to researches regular exercise minimizes 60 percent of the risk of the diabetes even in older age.

Children’s computer gaming useful

It is more than often comprehended that spending too much time with computers and video games just isn´t good for children and teenagers, making them, in the worst case scenario, an unsociable nerd incubating evil thoughts in their dark rooms and gaining massive overweight while using their muscles mostly to only open cola cans.

This idea has been turned around in recent years by several new applications and solutions, which use new technologies of player movement and touch screens. New IT technologies make it possible for players to use their bodies and movements to advance in the game and the game itself can simulate the actual sports, such as tennis or yoga. Technology has been used also to create interactive spaces and sporting environments, where gaming and outdoor sports, using your brain and using your body movements are combined. The possibilities of these technologies are almost limitless and give chance to develop games we never could imagine before. They make people move, dance, play, and do sports.

Lappset offers the DigiPlay concept which introduces IT-based games to outdoors and public spaces. The series includes interactive learning environment, a game unit and Lappset Mobile Playground (in Finnish: leikkialue), which takes gaming outdoors. SmartUs application enables contacts to other children in other physical locations, and the newest solutions features mobile applications as well. 

Designing an enjoyable garden for your house

When building a house most people concentrate on the planning and design on the interiors and outlooks, but forget to give detailed attention to houses exteriors as well. This concerns most public spaces around apartment buildings as well. Gardens and yards can however be designed in a way that they give even more joy for their respective householders.

Plans where yard is segmented into spaces according to which purpose and who are using the area help to construct the outer spaces to benefit efficiently and pleasantly the use of all the inhabitants. Especially families with children can benefit more on their exterior spaces when the needs of the all the members of the family have been taken into account when designing the outer spaces of the house. The car park should be in a distance from the areas meant to be hang outs and playground (in Finnish: leikkialue) areas, and football and basketball is best to play away from windows and other fragile items.

For children all kinds of hides, slides and open spaces are inspiration for play, an exciting environment to explore. These can be nicely combined with gardening areas such as plantings and group of bushes or trees. Special playground areas invite children to use their creativity and imagination. For security and especially with small children, good items are a fence around the playground are and a gate, which prevent them to run from the yard into dangers of for example nearby road. Inspirational equipment and scaffoldings to climb on will give children more activity on the exterior spaces. Adventure and imagination lives in children’s play.

Lappset offers great variety of products to suit, beside the needs of the children of all ages, also adults and seniors as well. When a suitable combination of equipment is chosen carefully it can serve generations from grandmother to youngest one in the family. Lappset wooden Finno equipment are classics found in many Finnish children’s park areas, and the designs, materials and colors suits the Finnish habitation landscape well. The equipment include among others swings, sandboxes, slides and climbing frames. 

The founding figure of modern Parkour

Parkour, a French born method of movement focusing on moving in speed and finding efficient and loose ways around obstacles, has its roots in French army training and African indigenous tribes´ model of physical skills. The crucial figure for the sports is David Belle, who grew up in the Parisian suburbs and who was surrounded by a family of sporting heroes.

In early 19th century, a French naval officer Georges Herbert travelled in Africa and was fascinated by the physical skills of the indigenous tribes there. He developed a motto of “be strong to be useful” and inspired by the tribes he created apparatus of exercise called methode naturelle. This method has since become a standard system in French military education and training, which David Bell also took part decades later in French Marine corps at Vannes.

David’s father, Raymond Belle was a firefighter in Parisian brigade and served in French Army in Vietnam. He had vast influence on David’s seeking for physical and mental freedom through discipline, strength and skill. Raymond was trained in methode naturelle at the French army and introduced it to his son as well. In the army service David’s favourite courses were parcours du combattant aka military obstacle courses and he gained the title of Regimental rope-climbing records holder. David however left the military life as he felt the rules were too restricted and the environment too regulated. The quest for overcoming the physical obstacles and gaining such way the freedom of mind had begun.

He did some odd jobs and left for India to study kung-fu for three months. In 1980´s David Belle had founded, together with his childhood friend Yahn Hnautra, a collective of Parkour trainers called Yamakasi, which eventually came to known as the originator of modern day Parkour. The ingredients of the sports came from the things David’s father had taught him from the idea of moving without physical constraints and the feeling of freedom. The idea of Parkour lives in the Yamakasis original Congolese Lingala language term meaning strong man, strong spirit.

Outdoor fitness keeps the health up through old age

It is shown in research that exercise prevents the symptoms of the old age such as the weakening of the general ability to function in everyday life, the stiffening of joints and atrophy of the muscles. Doing outdoor exercise on a regular basis will keep also the mind active and prevents the weakening of cognitive abilities and depression. It is recommended to do exercise at least one hour per day, preferably outdoor fitness (in Finnish: ulkoliikunta). One study tells that staying inside even for one week will affect the general state of mind and vitality. Also, outdoor fitness prevents respiratory disorders and gives your lungs a good lungful of fresh air.

Good sports for elderly people are, for example, cross country skiing, swimming and Nordic walking, but even walking to the food store and carrying the bags back home is a good way of having a day’s dose of exercise. As it is shown, for keeping up the good health any outdoor fitness is good. It is studied that even regular walking will do the thing. Most important is that you do exercise regularly.

In the mid-2000s Lappset carried out a study on everyday life of children and elderly people. The project resulted in the Senior Sport Concept, in which the mission is to get people outside to play and exercise. The Senior Sport Concept equipment is designed to Improve the capacity of elderly people to cope in everyday life. Recent studies tell that muscle brawn can be increased in old age in the same manner as when younger. Equipment feature, for example, Panna Knockout arenas, game walls and multi-activity and sports equipment.

Senior Sport Concept products can be used by people of any age, and this way they offer a meeting point for different generations. Cross generation sports, playing and exercising will also mediate the practice for children, who this way can grow into keeping up their health through regular outdoor fitness.