They eventually plan to launch a clothing line, a Hybrid Free Running take on the traceur and free-runner aesthetic of loose-fitting pants and sneakers.
The goal is to follow in the footsteps of martial arts superstar Jackie Chan. "We want to become similar to him, to make this our livelihood, to have support from products and companies so we can keep training and live a full life," Ball says.
The sky's the limit for Ryan Ford.
APEX co-owner Matt Marshall and his wife, Carissa.
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That's why this night, after their 5280 Gymnastics class is wrapped up, the three instructors and top student Logan Breitweiser stick around to plan their next big gig: a performance for the 2009 Teva Mountain Games in Vail from June 4 through 7.
Soon, they're hurtling across the mats, rehearsing stunts. One free runner dives into a headstand, then holds himself there, poised on his head, while another does a flip over his spread-eagled legs. In pairs they practice synchronized no-hand cartwheels in which both are upside down, suspended in mid air, for the same split second. And they inspect the promotional swag they'll be wearing for the show: Teva brand sneakers plus shades and apparel from Native Eyewear.
"How are we gonna do that?" asks Worsencroft about the sunglasses, since they can't very well wear them while bouncing around the stage. They'll wear Native Eyewear shirts and hats during the act, explains Taylor, then sport the sunglasses after the show.
APEX Movement won't be among their sponsors. "They aren't bad. They definitely are creative," says Marshall of Hybrid Free Running. "I know them; I don't not get along with them. They're like breakdancer kids back in the day."
His ambivalence is partly due to fears that parkour could end up like skateboarding; because of the rebellious and destructive attitudes associated with that sport's infancy, it took twenty years for it to blossom into a mainstream pursuit.
"Parkour really has the potential right now to go anywhere it wants to," says Schultz at APEX. "It's gotten into every single market. Right now, the only thing that has yet to be decided is what kind of lifestyle goes along with it. As that changes, it's going to be up to us and how we promote it and how we teach it to the next generation."
Lately, though, APEX Movement and Hybrid Free Running have been patching things up. Hybrid members have stopped by the new gym, and Ford, for one, welcomes them, especially since some upper-level APEX classes involve free running. "The last thing we need to do is create divisions within the parkour community," he says. Belle and Foucan had a falling out several years ago over how the discipline they'd created should develop, and that's led to lingering discord. During the parkour festival Ford and Marshall attended in France last year, for example, Foucan made only the briefest of appearances, and Belle, who lived nearby, didn't show up at all.
It's all just a silly argument over semantics, says Breitweiser, who took classes with Ford and Marshall before signing on with Hybrid. "There are people who say that if you do any flips whatsoever you are a free runner, and if you do anything with fluidity and flat moves you are a traceur," he says. "In my opinion, you can jump off a ledge or flip off of it, but it's all movement, so call it whatever you want."
As Bruce Lee said, "There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there; you must go beyond them. A man must constantly exceed his level."
It's Ford's motto and the reason why, after making his fourteen-foot jump at Precision Fountain in Skyline Park with just a bit of a stumble on the landing, he immediately scrambles up to do it again.
"Once is nothing," he says; if he leaves now and tries it again in a month, the leap will be every bit as intimidating as it was this time. To really overcome this obstacle, mentally and physically, he has to hit it again. He does so — and lands perfectly.
Ford and Marshall pass a few more minutes in Skyline Park, ricocheting off walls and vaulting over gaps. Breathing hard, they take a seat on some park steps and relish the afterglow of their exertion. Between college finals, classes and APEX, they haven't hung loose like this lately. There hasn't been time to mess around like they used to.
"It's good," says Marshall. "I'm glad it's happening."
As they turn to leave, they notice three guys milling about the fountain. One after another, they're taking turns sprinting toward a concrete column, leaping up and grabbing the column's top edge. Then they hang there, perched on its side. It's a parkour move called a cat leap. "You guys doing parkour?" asks Ford.
"We're trying," responds one. They're students at the University of Colorado Denver who started teaching themselves parkour four months ago. "Every time we come down here," one says, "we see someone else."
Ford and Marshall smile and nod. They tell them briefly about APEX Movement and suggest they stop by. Then they're off — into a world that's like one big Christmas present, filled with so many things they can do.
For links to parkour videos, a blog about Warner's first meeting with Ford and a video tour of the APEX gym, go to blogs.westword.com/latestword. Contact the author at joel.warner@westword.com.
