Features Editor
A strong sense of community is important to every age or gender and can be found anywhere in the world. Whether it is a group of people who live in the same area or enjoy similar interests, they can provide a platform for building relationships and growth.
Grand Junction’s Parkour population is a prime example of a strong community. On the weekends they spend their time training, socializing and building their group. Age has no limit on the crowd of boys who meet around City Hall. They travel from all over Colorado to spend time teaching each other and perfecting their stunts. Athletes Ian Exby, Trevor Rittenhouse and Cesar Gonzalez come from both Telluride and Aspen to attend events.
“You get to be free in your movement,” Gonzalez said.
In December of 2011 Vinnie Coryell and Jesse Coquoz founded an organization, Move to Inspire. All members have met through random occurrences and have built strong friendships. This Parkour club hosts fundraisers, workshops and weekly jams. At jams they practice and often film their progress.
“Whatever you want to do is what you can learn,” Coryell said. “You push yourself to learn more.”
Coryell and Coquoz have been practicing the sport for years and put their resources together to build the club. Coryell handles the online blog and teaches an acro class at KidzPlex. He has also gone professional with Parkour and traveled around the country competing and performing. Conquoz, who is also an engineering student at CMU, is responsible for designing their logo and videography.
The guys spend their day attempting a variety of flips and jumps. Move to Inspire would love to see more people, including girls, come and train with them. It is a sport for anybody and welcomes a diverse crowd.
“I once trained with a 55 year-old,” Rittenhouse said.
All of the money made from events is put right back into the sport. Coquoz and Coryell hope to see the group continually expand and eventually open a facility. Whether they could set up an outside park or a gym, the goal is to have a place that everyone can go. With a crowd as big as 60, the club would greatly benefit from having a home base.
The sport has room for creativity as well as athleticism. Parkour has a competitive aspect, but is mostly a fun activity. Sharing ideas and tricks plays an enormous role in each member’s progress.
“It is an art form more than anything,” Coryell said.
Because members are performing and training on concrete there is also a risk for injury. Some of the more risky moves include jumping roof gaps, gainers and night missions.
“You have to know what you’re capable of,” Coryell said. “Only push yourself within those limits.
It is important for the group to maintain a positive and courteous status. They continue to only practice in areas where they are allowed and make sure not to damage any of the area they use.
“We want to make sure that the sport doesn’t ever get a bad reputation like skateboarding did,” Coryell said. “We are respectful to the property we train on.”
The organization hopes to launch their website within the next week and recruit. The page will include articles and interviews from athletes all over the world. To find out more about this rapidly growing community visit movetoinspire.org.
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