Reyan Naik swings on a rope at Bright School’s free running course.With visions of James Bond running, jumping and climbing across the tops of buildings in the opening sequence of “Casino Royale,” Dr. Jim Blair of Bright School recently created a gymnasium-wide parkour course for his physical education students.
Parkour, or free running, is a method of movement originally developed in France that focuses on moving around or through obstacles by vaulting, rolling, running, climbing and jumping with speed and efficiency.
“It’s fun, exciting and new,” said Jan Connell, a fellow physical education teacher at the North Chattanooga private school.
The course includes mini trampolines, balance beams, hoops, ropes, climbing walls and other hurdles for the prekindergarten through fifth-grade students. “They finish it red-faced and sweating, but they don’t realize it’s exercise. They don’t want it to end,” she said.
The students spent 30 minutes on the course for five days a week over two weeks as part of their regular physical education class.