Gustavo Varela

Parkour is a sport that I have indulged myself in for the past six years of my life. It is something that fascinates me because it has new skills awaiting me around every corner. I discovered parkour at a summer camp I was at, was more oriented towards rock climbing. At first, I struggled not because of my lack of knowledge but because the others around me were taller and stronger, making keeping up very difficult. However, at the very beginning of the day, we had one hour dedicated to learning parkour. Through that, I learned and explored the art of traversing through a cluttered area with ease and accuracy. I spent most of my time on the parkour side of the gym because I found it more intriguing than the other stuff they had us doing. After that summer camp, I went to that gym again but only to train parkour and hone my skills. I struggled a lot at the beginning due to my stature. However, I did not let that stop me, and in the end, it was what allowed me to get to the level I am at now. I can now do several different flips like the backflip, wall-spin, punch front, palm flip, and wall backflip. I can also make complex explosive moves like kongs, plyos, muscle-ups, and strides. I still practice parkour in my free time to make sure I can maintain all the skills I worked so hard to get.