"Most people catch sight of me either scaling walls or lecturing about scientific principles,” says 21-year-old Cyrus Khan, an avid practitioner of parkour, a physical discipline that he is keen to promote in India. "Even though it may look like a daredevil, thrill seeking activity to some, it is actually a very meditative, mindful practice where practitioners train to improve themselves both physically and mentally by facing challenges in the environment,” explains Khan before giving the official definition of parkour as a discipline "using movement that developed from military obstacle course training, aiming to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible.”
Cyrus Khan performs parkour moves
Running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, quadrupedal movements of the "traceurs” (as the parkour practitioners are known) see them explore "every conceivable part of architecture, most of which was not intended for the purpose… Parkour, as I teach it, reopens the world as a playground to be explored without limitations or restrictions,” stresses Khan who for the last three years has taken "hundreds of people of ages 15 to 50 through the journey of discovering the capabilities of their bodies and becoming healthy in an extremely fun way.” His aim is to physically educate people "to the kind of freedom of movement they all once had as children but somehow mostly lost and forgot.”
He is concerned that society in general has become so entrenched in sedentary behavior, sitting throughout the day, that "they are losing their capacity for movement.” Khan’s fascination with parkour began eight years ago whilst he was yet in school. A regular participant in interschool dance competitions from the time he was a student at St Mary’s, he would watch videos of lead dancers on the internet and learn new moves from them. It was then that he stumbled across a video of people running over walls and across buildings and "I was immediately hooked.” Starting with the simplest movements that he practiced on his own, he did strength training exercises to condition his body. Nearly two years later he attended an intensive workshop conducted by a professional team from the USA in Bombay. Since then he has been making annual trips to the UK or USA to learn advanced skills of this non-combative martial art from different teachers.
A founder member of Mumbai Parkour, Khan says that his mother Yasmin, a biology professor and vice principal of science at Sophia College, and father Nariman, a chartered accountant who retired from the Tata Group, encouraged his sports endeavors as a child. Even though now worried for his safety, they have permitted him to pursue his interest. Being in touch with the few dozen professional parkour practitioners in India, he believes that there are no other Parsis doing this sport professionally. "Some of my students are Parsis and are very enthusiastic about it,” he is happy to have inspired others.
"I think we are lucky to be in a community where sporting excellence is nourished and encouraged from a young age, from the all Parsis athletic and sporting events to ready access to facilities like grounds and courts,” believes Khan. "The prevalence of these in our residential areas is undoubtedly a huge boon and responsible for the sporting excellence we see in the community… When it comes to interesting sports activities, I’ve found Parsis to be second to none. The adventurous spirit to pursue whatever physical activity, whether it’s conventional sports like football and rugby, or lifestyle disciplines like sailing and shooting, I have always noticed that Parsis have a disproportionate dominance in the game.”
Having just graduated in science, the alumnus of Jai Hind College plans to earn a doctorate in physics. Until then he involves himself in science activities, working on outreach projects for organizations like the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research where he assists with their public lecture series and exposing students to research laboratories on National Science Days. He also attends workshops at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur as he is keen to broaden his understanding of science and educate the public on issues like health and food.