Ninja Warrior is not just a show for competitive athletes; it’s a pastime for participants of all ages. It’s a twist on the typical playground. Elements have names, techniques to conquering them, and vast ranges of difficulty. In a commercial setting, these elements must lend themselves to swift throughput with minimal employee input. Participants undertake each obstacle in succession, testing balance, strength, and agility.
In the broadest sense, Parkour is a way of movement. It entails envisioning land- and cityscapes not as 2D planes to walk upon, but rather 3D worlds to dance across. There are gyms which seek to train these skills in earnest. In most of our projects, the intent is to provide a taste of parkour, giving kids a set path of ground-based shapes to leap upon, over, across, and up. Time is the unit which transforms the mind in motion here - everyone wants to beat their own and others’.
When people are perched on high, a whole different set of rules apply. They must be secured at any given time, but also able to change direction at each junction. With minimal training, folks freely traverse a matrix of obstacles that swing and sway and slide and tip. Courses are often configured into two zones, that which is further from the entry/exit being more advanced. Regardless of its stability or lack thereof, each element tests one’s mettle by being up so high.
Whereas the other areas require one to move in mostly x and y, Climbing is all about ascent. It’s surprisingly easy to impede that journey upwards, with holds that seek to slip your grip, and steps that shake and sway. On walls, balance becomes a challenge, muscle a must. With this specific set of walls, we sought to give kids some sense of z.
