Interview Transcript

Justin Sheaffer: Hey everyone, I’m Justin Sheaffer and I will be your personal coach on DiscoverParkour.org. I’m the CEO and co-founder of Tranquil Movement and it’s our main purpose to try and spread and enlighten people on what Parkour truly is.

RJ: So what got you into doing Parkourand how long have you been doing it?

Justin Sheaffer: I’ve been doing it for five years, starting in December. Casino Royale was probably the biggest thing that got me into it, that, along with the Russian Climbing video that came out, think around 2006/2007. Yeah, I just saw that and I was doing gymnastics at the time and I realized that that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life. Guess the dream just kind of progressed and here I am today.

RJ: So maybe an odd question, but what does it feel like to do Parkour and what does it do for you?

Justin Sheaffer:Parkour for me obviously it’s a physical activity, but the beauty of it is that it really fits the description of “exercise shouldn’t be a goal for the dead, it should be a by-product of what you enjoy doing,” and Parkouris what I enjoy doing. It’s a full body exercise, I always feel accomplished and good about myself afterwards, even if it’s like the smallest little correction that I’ve made. It’s making me a more useful person, I look for things in a more efficient way, so whether it’s a household chore like painting a fence or anything, I’m looking at what’s gonna be the best for me and for the other party that’s involved. I mean, in a world where I don’t ever have to ask ‘what if’, like what if I did that? Or I wonder if I could do that, you know little things like this girl lost her balloon in a tree,I can go up and get it, for some reason the ladder, we don’t have one, and need Christmas lights up, I can do that, no problem. It’s just fun. I create new challenges for myself, make each day unique and special.

RJ: So what made you make these tutorial videos for DiscoverParkour.org?

Justin Sheaffer: There are a couple of things. One of the biggest ones for me is when I was starting off, and I was looking for tutorials on YouTube, or wherever around the web, I couldn’t find, I could find some, but they were scattered, like there was no progression, it was my first week I learnt how to do a roll and then the next one was like, some crazy flip. So what I wanted to do was create something that was concise, to the point, helpful, just everything I was looking for when I was starting off. And so, you know, I was approached and then we decided hey,let’s do this.

RJ: Okay, so what do you hope that people that are watching the tutorial series get out of it?

Justin Sheaffer: The biggest thing that I hope to get out of it is to understandthat what I am doing, what my friends and my co-workers are doing, it’s not dangerous. The way we designed the tutorials is to teach you to safety, how to do the approach, and how to execute the trick and how to land it, properly, safely, full of technique, so that you are not risking anything. All the people sayI don’t have anyone to do this within my area. It’s like, well now, in a way I’m there with them, helpingyou through your journey, and I’m helping teach you,and then with the video coaching, you know hopefully,you can share that with meand I can get some feedback. But the other thing is that the community, it’s fairly small, the whole world-wide,from that world-wide standpoint, but we just want people to get involved.We don’t want parkour to be this elite thing where only the fit and the young can do it. It’s something that,you know when you’re older, when you’re 50 years old, you fall off, you fall off the ladder, you fall downstairs,you fall off your bike, you know the safety of a roll-out and save yourself, save yourself from the trip to the hospital, save yourself the trip. Mostly, it’s a great stress reliever as well. I just want to share why I’m so passionateand hopefully that passion gets seen through each tutorial. Everyone enjoys it.

RJ: So someones brand new to Parkour, do you think that this video series will be helpful to them or you think it’ll be over their head?

Justin Sheaffer: For people that are just starting off, or have never even heard of parkour and they’re curious, it’ll be phenomenal for them to start with this. It’s something that, you know us people, who started five plus years ago never had. We never had the opportunity to see what it was, you know, learn from people that went through the process of all, and getting the urge to learn the technique. So you get to start right out, knowing how to do it safely and properly so that you can progressat an even faster rate. We start off with stretching techniques and strengthening techniques and we don’t spend a lot of time on that, but just enough to help you focus on certain musclegroupsso that movements of parkour become a lot easier and the progressions, they are just laid out. It’s like A, B, C all the way through Z,on what to do.It’s very user friendly.

RJ: So what if someones been doing parkour for a number of years, are they still going to get anything out of this series?

Justin Sheaffer:Yeah, definitely. A lot of people that I have been training with over the years, Seasons Veterans if you know, they are trying to merge into the coaching room, and coaching is something which I was doing since I was fourteen. I just understand how to make movements and break them down simpler so that a three year old or young can understand it. So, I’ve showed a couple of the rough edits to some people and to this day they still message me saying, “Hey, I use that tip on whatever to maneuver and the kids are really starting to get it”. So it’s really helping me, but as far as people that don’t want to coach but they’ve been doing parkourfor a numerousamount of time, I would say you would still get something out of it. You would see a different view point and they trigger even the smallest detail in your head but it will make that trick cleaner, safer, whatever.

RJ: So you said the video series is good for people that are brand new, the video series is also good for people that are advanced. How about older people, younger people, people that are heavy set, realskinny, do you have experience in training those peopleand you think they’ll get something out of the video series?

Justin Sheaffer:Yes, definitely. A couple of years ago, I did a tour doing parkour classes in theEquinox fitnesscenters. They’re only in the big citiesin the US but think of it as a24 hour fitness,way more expensive. But in there we did a couple of classes and the average age was 45 years old.They were mostly male, but the females we had gotten there, they were very surprisinglywilling to attempt, and by the end of a one hour session, they were doing the moves. The oldest lady in there, I’m not even kidding, 75 years old, and not even that, her left side of her body hada deformity where it wassignificantly shorter than the right and she smoked everyone in that class. She knew how to work so much harder, I said I don’t have to teach you Parkour, you’re already doing it. It’s thatmindset that she’d already got, the essence is difficult but it’s a new challenge, how can I make this efficient. I still work for my life and that was probably one of the most inspiring things for me to ever see. Inspired me so much that when I went back to Colorado at sixteen, I was like I need to start classes for kids. I need to get kids in this because I saw the value of how it can turn you into this more mature and enlightened being. So I had a kid who was thirteen when I got him and he’s sixteen now. He’s just so good, so mature, I can have conversations with him about anything, like if he’s right there with me. Does really well in school. All the teachers are loving him, it’s good. I’m glad I got to see him grow,and got to see that progression. And I know it can do that for anybody..anybody.

RJ: Okay, so let’s say I am a parent andI’m thinking about getting thisseries for my child. Maybe my child is really young, five or six, or maybe they’re a teenager. What’s been your experience in teaching kids and how was this effective?

Justin Sheaffer:My experience with kids is that they’re already doing it, I guarantee. As parents you see your kids climbing on the back of the sofa, or doing flips, off the swing, or whatever. Kids,we see them as crazy and playful and we tell them not to do it, but instead, with this DVD, you can encourage them to do it. One of the biggest things I’ve known is that with kids, they’re always looking for a role model, and so my job as a coach is to really be that figure in their lifethat is supporting them, and of course watching what I say, watching what I do, because I know they are going to mimic me, but evenmore important than that is the parents. The first two people the child falls in love with is, is you. So what I would recommend is when you get the series, do with them. I mean it’ll keep you in shape, you’ll find yourself spending more time at the playground rather than inside. You get them off the video games. It’s just great for kids, adults, families, anything. Anything you want it to be, you can squeeze it in.

RJ:So earlier on in another conversation you mentioned that even during the filming of this, you were approached by kids, almost no matter where you went, can you talk about that?

Justin Sheaffer:Yeah, people are really drawn to it and awide variety of people have seen it, whether they’ve seen in the office, making fun, picking fun at the door, seen it in movies, and people are drawn to it. We went to a school where we were filming one sequence, and the kids were like,“We didn’t know anybody did this, we thought it was fake.” And I was like Oh! So I started telling them about the tutorials and what we’re trying to do and said we’re not trying to get you to jump from roof to roof, that’s just something that we do to add that element. Once you’ve been training on the ground for so long, you always look for the next thing. So, taking it higher and further, it’s the only way you can go. Even, we went to the ghetto and at times it was a little bit nervous but as soon as they saw the flip, it was like everyone let their guard down. It was a joyful experience, everyone was like do that again, you know,“who are you”, “where can I find more videos” and “it was very cool to see you.”It was bringing people together and showing that we all like the flashy and unique movements.

RJ:Alright so, people who already contacted you, if they have questions about the video series, you know how can they do that and will you answer questions or you answeremails and any questions they have about it?

Justin Sheaffer:Yeah, I really do try to answer every mail I get, I do get quite a bit, so it’s not that I pick out which ones are important and which ones aren’t. If you just try and see more videos of me, type my name in ‘Justin Sheaffer’ on YouTube, you can find me there, I’m there on Facebook. Facebook is where more where I have more of the fan base, but as far as the email, you can go to TranquilMovement.com, and there is a contact section, you justenter your email there and it’ll get sent to me right away. You can also go to DiscoverParkour.org, discoverparkour@gmail.comis the email address, You can email either one of those, and I’ll get back to you as efficiently as possible.