Parkour Offers Dizzying Challenges

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt – Parkour is more than a sport. It’s the art of movement.

Moustafa Elasal

Ashraf Abd-El Gabar, a 20-year-old engineering student, said that before he began parkour training two years ago, “I was weak, thin and lazy.”
But he’s not anymore.
“I became a new person,” he said. “I’m sure that any youth’s life will be easier with parkour. I really love parkour.”
Parkour, developed in France a century ago, is a way of getting past obstacles using acrobatics to move with efficiency and speed. It rewards athleticism, but also the ability to analyze possible routes quickly.

Ashraf Abd-El Gabar

Parkour is so much a part of Moustafa Elasal’s life that he can’t imagine living without it.
A 20-year-old student, he said that parkour “made me break the fear and overcome my phobia of high places.”
He said he started off by watching videos and practicing by himself, then began training with a parkour team until he finally decided he could do it on his own.
Ahmed Kandil, another 20-year-old engineering student, said he began playing parkour in 2007 after competing in many sports.
“At that moment, I felt that I found what I was searching for,” Kandil said.
He said parkour helped him learn to think effectively and to learn “a new way of overcoming obstacles and solving problems.”

Ahmed Kandil

All three parkour players

Ashraf Abd-El Gabar