Chapter 43 Sports and Culture
"I've always been fascinated by Eastern cultures, which probably has a lot to do with my childhood preferences." On the way to the Yamakasi training camp, David Bell told Lin Mingyang about some of his history with parkour. "When I was a kid I lived in Lisbon, and the game I loved to play in my childhood was to pretend to be a ninja and run around on the roofs of my school, and the teachers at my school used to bring my father in to talk to me, and our principal even threatened to get me out of the house if I climbed up on the roofs again!"
"If I did that, my mom would probably go crazy!" Lin Mingyang said with some envy.
"This is also thanks to my father, although he is a soldier, he gave me more tolerance and support. I have to say that my pioneering of the sport of parkour was heavily influenced by my father - the original text of the word parkour is 'ParcoursDuCombatant', which means a training course for traversing obstacles. As you know it's a very common form of training in the army, in fact parkour started to circulate among French soldiers much earlier, only back then it wasn't as complete a system as it is now."
"It was you who pioneered the sport of parkour, nowadays this sport is slowly becoming popular, perhaps in the future it will become a representative of extreme sports!" Whether in the movie or in reality, Lin Ming Yang was full of interest in the sport of parkour.
"It's not me alone, but a group of like-minded friends who developed the sport together." David Bell shook his head, he didn't take all the credit, "Speaking of which, I have to mention my good friend Sabasti, he and I were born in the same year and grew up together, it took us about 10 years to create this new way of life. My contribution to the sport has been mainly in terms of technique, while Sabasti developed the concept of parkour."
"Isn't higher, faster and stronger the ultimate concept of all sports?" Lin Mingyang was a bit puzzled, all along he had thought that the slogan of the Olympics had already encapsulated the true meaning of all sports.
"So in a sense, it's not accurate to simply categorize parkour as an extreme sport, in our opinion, it's a way of life and an attitude that can even become a culture!" David Bell said with a serious and earnest expression, "Sabasti was influenced by Asian philosophy as I was, and decided that he wanted to convert his own beliefs, from fighting against negative forces, to 'flowing like water'. He then chose to use his beliefs to start a new philosophy. And the base of this theory is built on the idea of freedom."
Lin Mingyang easily accepted his explanation, as he thought of a famous quote about water by Laozi in the Tao Te Ching: "Water is good for all things but does not contend; the only thing that does not contend is that there is nothing in the world that can contend with it!"
"Life is like a process made up of obstacles and challenges to overcome, and if you are proficient in parkour, then you will get more out of your life." David Bell led Lin Ming Yang to stop in front of an abandoned factory, he opened his hands, "Welcome to Yamakasi!"
Standing in the large expanse of thick, dark shadows cast towards the ground by the tall workshop plant, Lin Mingyang could hardly imagine that this was Yamakasi, the birthplace of parkour. From between the already rusted steel-framed blast furnaces, the sunlight only barely shone in, and between the two huge workshops was a narrow pathway, walking up to the center, with all the huge pipes overhead that were erected in the air, and these dark pipes whirred and rumbled with the roar of powerful winds.
After ascending a flight of escalators, not far away was an iron gate with the word Yamakasi written in paint on it in a lonely manner, and it was indeed better known than seen that this was the headquarters of Yamakasi.
Seemingly sensing the strange expression on Lin Ming Yang's face, David Bell hurriedly explained, "This is our training camp, it does look a little shabby."
"Fortunately!" Lin Mingyang had been fully prepared in his heart from the moment he entered.
"Once we accept new members, we never charge any fees for the related training training. There were also quite a few sponsors who offered us cooperation, but they were all rejected by us, we're not a training organization, all the people here share a common hobby, we're not inventing this sport for the sake of money."
"Parkour is not a product of popularity, it should be an evolution of the mind! Understanding the philosophy of parkour is much more important than showing simple moves, and it can be considered an important lesson of a lifetime." Before David Bell could finish his sentence, a man suddenly jumped down from the mouth of the escalator on the floor above, looking about the same age as David Bell, but a little more chiseled in build. The visitor took over and said a philosophical interpretation of the sport of parkour.
"I think you must be Mr. Sabasti!" Lin Mingyang quickly responded as he extended his hand to the other party in a friendly manner, "Mr. Bell has just been talking to me about you and your philosophy!"
"What conclusions?" Sabasti shook Lin Ming Yang's hand, then asked curiously.
"You are an interesting person!" Lin Mingyang smiled.
Sabasti pointed a finger at Lin Mingyang, "I like that comment, no matter who you are or where you're from, welcome to Yamakasi - the paradise of the free!"
"Hello, my name is Felix Lin, from the United States!"
"Felix Lim?" Sabasti held his chin in his propped up hand with a contemplative look, "That name sounds a bit familiar, but I can't quite remember it, you're famous aren't you?"
David Bell added this time, "Felix is an actor!"
"Yes, I've seen you in a movie, what was it called?" Sabasti thought hard, "Right, Follies, that was a great musical, the key was that all the American high school girls in it were beautiful!"
"Felix is interested in parkour, and he's very talented, I just did a little quiz on him, but the results surprised me!" David Bell was overflowing with appreciation for Lin Ming Yang.
"There aren't many things in this world that can surprise you!" Sabasti nodded seemingly casually, "And then that's the reason you made us wait so long on a hungry stomach?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I forgot about it in my excitement!" David Bell smiled apologetically.
"Lucky you didn't forget to buy food, I guess they couldn't wait!" Sabasti didn't mean to blame him, he couldn't wait to take the food from the other man's hand, "Just how much potential is there to get our David Bell so excited that he forgets, we'll see when we've had our fill!"
Watching Sabasti hurriedly take the food inside to share with his partners, David Bell smiled slightly apologetically towards Lin Ming Yang, "That's just how they are, you'll get used to it after a while!"
"I still stand by what I said earlier, Mr. Sabasti is a very interesting person!" What Lin Ming Yang hadn't expected was for David Bell to have such a high opinion of himself, it was no wonder that Sabasti was skeptical. "He mentioned swabbing just now, is it possible that we still need a test?"
"This is Yamakasi's usual practice, every time a newcomer joins, we'll do some tests on him." David Bell nodded, "But it's pretty easy for you to pass those tests, even if you don't have more mastery! Let them eat first, I'll first take you to see the testing grounds and familiarize yourself with the environment!"
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"Sabasti, I heard that Bell brought in a Yankee who doesn't know anything?" In the lounge, Lin Mingyang became the center of discussion amongst the members of Yamakasi, a black man with a chicken leg in his mouth and an exaggerated mohawk asked with some disdain.
"I just took a look from a distance through the window, I think that kid is still young!" A person next to him also spoke out at this time.
"I really don't know what Belle was thinking?" Sitting on the sofa, the man in sunglasses wearing a beachwear was constantly changing the channel of the only TV in the room, "I heard that kid is an actor, but why isn't he a female? Hollywood actresses can be eye candy!"
After waiting for the crowd to finish voicing their opinions one after another, Sabasti, who had been silent since he entered the room, finally spoke up. "Guys, want to hear my opinion? I think that kid is something else!"
"Reason?" Someone asked in a hushed voice
"It's a feeling, although I don't know what that guy did to make Bell think so highly of him, but that guy gives me a unique feeling, it's a stupid thing to judge someone just from their appearance, but the truth is that all of the people here, including me, may have made this grave mistake. Until the truth, all speculation is meaningless."
Just as the members of Yamakasi were filled with curiosity about Lin Ming Yang, David Bell had already brought Lin Ming Yang to the so-called testing grounds, which was actually a huge workshop divided into two levels connected by an escalator in the middle. In the middle of this were some high and low, far and near steel platforms, and further away were some large wooden boxes and tires. These facilities appeared to be placed in a haphazard manner, but in fact they were deliberately imitating the layout construction of a certain residential area.
"This quiz is simply an obstacle crossing, it looks difficult, but from it you can reflect many things, such as your body's coordination, strength, bouncing and also courage!" David Bell stood at the starting point of the quiz and began to introduce the rules for Lin Ming Yang, perhaps because of his special appreciation, he also intentionally or unintentionally introduced Lin Ming Yang to some borrowed strength and cushioning techniques in the process, and in the end, he asked, "Felix, I'd like to know if you've ever experienced anything dangerous but also very exciting? "
"The elevator went out of control and slid from the 10th floor to the 1st floor, does this count?" For this accident, Lin Mingyang was unforgettable.
"I'm not intentionally trying to evoke memories of pain or fear, I just want to use the feeling of such an experience to illustrate one thing to you. There has always been a disagreement between Sabasti and I as to which is more important, the spirit or the skill of parkour, but there is one thing I must admit, use the power of the spirit to overcome the fear in your heart, only then will your skill be able to be utilized to its fullest."
"Being a strong person inside, this I understand!" Lin Ming Yang felt that the biggest gain from his choice to get in touch with the sport of parkour might not be on the material level, but rather a kind of spiritual enhancement, which might be the mood in martial arts that grandfather Lin Aoquan had always emphasized. Previously, Lin Ming Yang felt that this kind of thing was nebulous, but now he felt the change quite literally.
The other members of Yamakasi didn't keep the two waiting for long, in fact, they were eager to see what terrifying potential the genius that Bell spoke of possessed. Seeing that everyone had arrived, David Bell was about to make an introduction of everyone to Lin Mingyang, but Sabasti stopped him, and his reason was very simple.
"If he can show abilities that we recognize, then we will take the initiative to become his friends; but if he can't, then it doesn't really matter if we recognize each other or not!"
"Is that the view of everyone else?" David Bell knew his gang of pals very well, these people were all top experts in parkour, and which one of them was not a high-minded master, if they didn't show strength that made him admire them, they wouldn't go ahead and take the initiative to accept any of the new members.
"Then let the facts prove everything!" David Bell passed an encouraging look towards Lin Ming Yang, then took the stopwatch handed over by one of the people beside him, "You're clear on the rules, complete all the obstacle traversals within 7 minutes and then return here, any other questions?"
"Start!" Lin Ming Yang nodded, his face could not be seen, but his breathing had already entered a very subtle frequency.
"Countdown 3...2...1, go!" Almost at the same time as David Bell pressed the stopwatch, Lin Ming Yang rushed out like an agile cheetah, the crowd present froze, then looked at each other, and in their hearts they all came to a common conclusion, "Very strong explosive power!"
Although there were some surprises, this did not become the beginning of everyone's favorable opinion of Lin Ming Yang, because strong explosive power often meant short endurance, and continuity was what parkour sports valued more.
Lin Mingyang jumped the first two-meter wide high and low platform did not choose the traditional feet on the ground, but the trend of a beautiful roll on the platform, followed by this impulse, almost no effort to easily climb the front of a 3-meter high obstacle, and before the wall when the action is more concise. A series of actions in one go, without any procrastination, although because of the simplicity of the action lacks too much appreciation, but also to the crowd to show his horrible physical quality.
"A one-handed flip over, how can this guy have such strong arm strength?" Seeing this, one of Yamakasi's members finally couldn't help but exclaim in shock.
"I guess if the conditions allow it, he can easily lift himself up with one hand!" Sabasti on the side had remained calm enough, his eyes hadn't left the training ground while he was talking, and by this time Lin Mingyang had already arrived at the TIC-TAC (Quickly Crossing by Avoiding Obstacles) test session, in front of him was a five-meter-long pool, and in front of him at three meters there was a horizontal bar, and the normal method of crossing it would be to first borrow the force from the pool next to the The normal way to cross should be to use the wall next to the pool, then jump and pull the bar, and then do a side flip to a safe area.
"What's he trying to do?" One of the members of Yamakasi yelled out, because Lin Ming Yang didn't slow down when he came to this area, he didn't even use the wall as a springboard, he was directly ready to jump and fly to grab that crossbar.
"He's going to fall hard!" Someone had already started to prophesize.
Sabasti, who had been silent all this time, glanced at David Bell beside him, and he realized that there was actually no concern in his opponent's eyes, and then he immediately made a shocking conclusion, "I don't think so!"