It is almost a decade since we first witnessed parkour in Pakistan. After having fame in the film and entertainment industry, it is now makings its way toward sporting events.
Making its debut as an extreme sport at the 2022 World Games in the US, its sporting aspects are still being explored. It was initially included in the gymnastics category, however, now it is generally agreed that the soul of the skill to find balance get accustomed to the surroundings.
It incorporates movements that range from swinging, plyometrics, running, crawling, rolling, running up the wall, climbing, and precision jumping over obstacles such as walls, buildings, and stair railings, to name a few.
In Pakistan, it is quickly gaining popularity among the Hazara youth in Quetta. Though they are far away from getting parkour perfected, their ambition and hopes are high despite the lack of facilities and infrastructure.
Ammad, 24, is their leader, or we can say he was the first to introduce the sport in Pakistan. Hailing from the capital city of Balochistan, the bloke was in high sprite speaking about the sport and its future.
“To be honest, I didn’t have much support from the family as they were concerned about my future,” said Ammad, who is inspired by legendary action hero Jackie Chan. “However, my wife Binafsha Didar Ali, who I’m inspired to, always pushed me a step forward.”
Despite all the obstacles, he continued his pursuit to become a parkour athlete. “Unfortunately, we don’t have much access to that or gyms, but for us, parkour is a way to express ourselves and channel our anxieties about living in an oppressive environment.
“We don’t have any specific place, we practice on mountains on hard grounds and abandoned buildings.”
Practicing on hard grounds and mountains without proper safety measures resulted in some serious injuries. In 2017, Ammad damaged his spinal cord and was hospitalised for six months.
“I jumped from the third floor of the building and got injured,” he said. “I thought, I might become paralyzed for a lifetime, but I came back even stronger.”
According to him, injuries are part of the sport and that doesn’t stop them from competing but financial woes do.
Ammad has no intention to stop, testing the limits of his physical strength by practicing parkour. For starters, he explained that a holistic military training exercise in which participants take the shortest possible route to a designated point by overcoming obstacles is the best way to get into the sport.
His aim is now to compete at the international level. “My teammates have won medals gold, silver, and bronze medals in online competitions against Afghanistan, Iran and India.”
“If we got any sponsors we would love to represent Pakistan and make the nation proud internationally,” said Ammad adding that it is a dangerous sport and that is why it is not registered in the Olympics.
“By 2024 it will be registered in the Olympics as well.”
Ammad requested that the federal government and other concerned authorities to provide basic facilities so they can continue the sport and make Pakistan proud.
“We suffered through a lot. We don’t want that our upcoming generation to face these problems. We can train, guide, and teach them very well so that they should compete at world levels.”
He had proved his mettle as an athlete by winning a gold medal in the Wushu fighting system at the 2014 national championships held in Quetta Baluchistan, followed by two silver medals in Ju-Jitsu Newaza national championships which were held in Lahore 2015.
Ammad also performed his parkour skills in the Army Wushu Championships (2015-2019) consecutively, the opening ceremony of all Pakistan T20 Cricket Cup Quetta 2014, the opening ceremony of the 2015 Ju-Jitsu National Championship in Lahore, the opening ceremonies of the Wushu National Championships (2015-2021) consecutively, and the opening ceremonies of Football Championships 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
His team has also performed in several commercials, and films such as Dance Kahani (2016) Teefa and Trouble (2018), and Umro Ayar (2021).
