In November, Mujahid Habib, 22, a native of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, came out on top at India’s first national parkour competition, which took place in Mumbai. Parkour is an emerging sport that evolved from obstacle course training, and involves running, jumping, vaulting, climbing, swinging and rolling.
The competition's first edition, organised by Red Bull, an energy drink company, was small, with only eight participants, but of them five were from Rampur, a town that has become an unlikely centre for enthusiasts of the sport. Another participant from the town dropped out eventually because the event clashed with his examinations. The other three were from Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.
“Parkour is not just about the stunts or jumps or flips,” said Mujahid Habib, who is headed to Greece to watch Art of Motion, an international parkour competition, a trip that is part of his first prize. “It can be done by anyone, anywhere. It is about using your environment creatively, to see what you can use for what move.”
Parkour in India is still concentrated in the big metros: Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad. These cities often have access to better quality trainers and facilities. But Rampur is not an entirely unlikely place for the sport to thrive in.
Unlike other games, parkour does not require training grounds or closed facilities. The more complicated the layout of a space, the better, as that presents players with more challenges and tests their creativity.
Parkour is also called free running requiring athletes to flip, leap and run from one point to another, trying to use as much creativity as possible. Unlike with other sports, there is no defined track, and any open or closed space is fair game.
Town as training ground
Habib began practicisng the sport in Rampur in 2007, after watching videos of Jackie Chan. He did not know at first that Chan was incorporating elements of parkour when he shimmered up walls and rolled effortlessly from one parapet to another.
But not having a name for it did not stop him from attempting to replicate it. Some of his friends joined in. Together, they realised that what they were doing was parkour. They began watching more videos, and within a year formed what they called Team Leonine, Rampur’s first and only team practising parkour.
Seven years later, the team has about 15 practitioners. The youngest is 14 years of age and the oldest 27. Habib himself is now studying architecture in his final year in Delhi and can only help them train on brief visits home. He keeps looking for new places, and Rampur, a rapidly developing city, provides ample ground.
Among the places they frequent are construction sites, where the sand breaks their falls and which provides interesting new grounds. It helps that construction workers at the site rarely harass them or pass comments.
This, they say, is a frequent problem. People frequently ask what they are doing and whether they know that they will get hurt. They usually ignore the comments if made harshly or explain what they are doing. It helps that Rampur is small and people have grown used to them, said Habib.
Team Rampur
The most they need by way of training is soft ground such as landing mats – or sand. When they need to learn new moves, the team travels together to the banks of the nearby Kosi river, where they have ample sand to practice moves without injuring themselves – and where passersby cannot pass comments.
"We have got hurt, but it has never been anything serious," said Habib. They practise first on sand and only once they have perfected it there do they go ahead. “We only take calculated risks. You can control your fear.”
Not everyone believes them.
“People ask us all sorts of things,” said Urfi Khan. Khan, 27, is an assistant professor of engineering at Delhi, and is the only member of Team Leonine not to hail from Rampur. “Some ask if we are training for the military. Others ask if we are crazy. Small children trail us, asking us to show them how to do the tricks."
Khan was born and brought up in Delhi. Like Habib, he started practicing parkour in 2007, but met him only in 2010, after having watched a few of his videos. Habib was already in Delhi by then and when the two realised they lived near each other, they began to practice together. Habib introduced him to Leonine and Khan joined soon after. They now travel together to Rampur regularly.
Just because they are separated does not mean they are out of touch. They exchange ideas for new moves via social messaging application Whatsapp, and meet at least three or four times a year.
The entire team acknowledges Habib as their leader and speak about him in tones of respect. Hassan Khan, 21, has been with Habib since almost the very beginning. His older brother is Habib’s friend and persuaded Hassan to join them.
When he was young, said Hassan, slightly ruefully, he used to be very shy and would cry if anyone except his father spoke with him.
“I used to be very lazy, a darpok,” he said. A scaredy cat. “But through parkour, I began to roam around, see the city, talk to people."
Habib, he says, makes them keep pushing themselves. Without him, he would be a different person.
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The competition's first edition, organised by Red Bull, an energy drink company, was small, with only eight participants, but of them five were from Rampur, a town that has become an unlikely centre for enthusiasts of the sport. Another participant from the town dropped out eventually because the event clashed with his examinations. The other three were from Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.
“Parkour is not just about the stunts or jumps or flips,” said Mujahid Habib, who is headed to Greece to watch Art of Motion, an international parkour competition, a trip that is part of his first prize. “It can be done by anyone, anywhere. It is about using your environment creatively, to see what you can use for what move.”
Parkour in India is still concentrated in the big metros: Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad. These cities often have access to better quality trainers and facilities. But Rampur is not an entirely unlikely place for the sport to thrive in.
Unlike other games, parkour does not require training grounds or closed facilities. The more complicated the layout of a space, the better, as that presents players with more challenges and tests their creativity.
Parkour is also called free running requiring athletes to flip, leap and run from one point to another, trying to use as much creativity as possible. Unlike with other sports, there is no defined track, and any open or closed space is fair game.
Town as training ground
Habib began practicisng the sport in Rampur in 2007, after watching videos of Jackie Chan. He did not know at first that Chan was incorporating elements of parkour when he shimmered up walls and rolled effortlessly from one parapet to another.
But not having a name for it did not stop him from attempting to replicate it. Some of his friends joined in. Together, they realised that what they were doing was parkour. They began watching more videos, and within a year formed what they called Team Leonine, Rampur’s first and only team practising parkour.
Seven years later, the team has about 15 practitioners. The youngest is 14 years of age and the oldest 27. Habib himself is now studying architecture in his final year in Delhi and can only help them train on brief visits home. He keeps looking for new places, and Rampur, a rapidly developing city, provides ample ground.
Among the places they frequent are construction sites, where the sand breaks their falls and which provides interesting new grounds. It helps that construction workers at the site rarely harass them or pass comments.
This, they say, is a frequent problem. People frequently ask what they are doing and whether they know that they will get hurt. They usually ignore the comments if made harshly or explain what they are doing. It helps that Rampur is small and people have grown used to them, said Habib.
Team Rampur
The most they need by way of training is soft ground such as landing mats – or sand. When they need to learn new moves, the team travels together to the banks of the nearby Kosi river, where they have ample sand to practice moves without injuring themselves – and where passersby cannot pass comments.
"We have got hurt, but it has never been anything serious," said Habib. They practise first on sand and only once they have perfected it there do they go ahead. “We only take calculated risks. You can control your fear.”
Not everyone believes them.
“People ask us all sorts of things,” said Urfi Khan. Khan, 27, is an assistant professor of engineering at Delhi, and is the only member of Team Leonine not to hail from Rampur. “Some ask if we are training for the military. Others ask if we are crazy. Small children trail us, asking us to show them how to do the tricks."
Khan was born and brought up in Delhi. Like Habib, he started practicing parkour in 2007, but met him only in 2010, after having watched a few of his videos. Habib was already in Delhi by then and when the two realised they lived near each other, they began to practice together. Habib introduced him to Leonine and Khan joined soon after. They now travel together to Rampur regularly.
Just because they are separated does not mean they are out of touch. They exchange ideas for new moves via social messaging application Whatsapp, and meet at least three or four times a year.
The entire team acknowledges Habib as their leader and speak about him in tones of respect. Hassan Khan, 21, has been with Habib since almost the very beginning. His older brother is Habib’s friend and persuaded Hassan to join them.
When he was young, said Hassan, slightly ruefully, he used to be very shy and would cry if anyone except his father spoke with him.
“I used to be very lazy, a darpok,” he said. A scaredy cat. “But through parkour, I began to roam around, see the city, talk to people."
Habib, he says, makes them keep pushing themselves. Without him, he would be a different person.