Wisconsin's First Outdoor Parkour Course to Be Open Year-Round

While parkour is gaining a growing following across the country, the sport is still relatively unknown in Lake Country.

But now, it has come to Delafield.

Parkour is "the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one's path by adapting one's movements to the environment," according to information from Wisconsin Parkour.

What that means in real life is that practitioners of the sport do things like jump, run, vault, climb and balance in order to get over, under or around whatever barriers they encounter. It's a little like the stunt work seen in some movies; there's an especially well-known parkour chase scene at the beginning of the 2006 James Bond movie "Casino Royale."

The noncompetitive, noncontact sport also has a lot in common with some martial arts disciplines, as it requires consistent, disciplined training and emphasizes functional strength, personal responsibility and self-improvement.

Wisconsin Parkour recently built what it says is the first outdoor parkour park in the state. The training structure is at 4510 Vettelson Road, behind CrossFit Lake Country, a fitness studio.

The outdoor course will be used all year long, as practicing in winter conditions can actually be beneficial to the training, said Travis Tetting, one of the co-owners of Wisconsin Parkour.

Different classes target different age groups, from children through adults, although the discipline has proven especially popular with teenage boys, Tetting said.

Parents often end up joining the classes after seeing the effect the class has on their kids.

"Parents really like to see what's going on, how this positivity is affecting their children in every aspect of their lives," Tetting said.

Visit wisconsinparkour.com.

"Parents really like to see what's going on, how this positivity is affecting their children in every aspect of their lives." Travis Tetting On effect of parkour training

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