James Flavin

Senior Joe Roseman flips off a ledge at the Chesterfield Amphitheater for one of his training films. Roseman has been practicing parkour for six years. “It’s still a really big stress reliever for me,” Roseman said. “Whenever I train, it just feels so natural.”

In an effort to improve his health and find an activity that fit his interests, senior Joe Roseman participates in parkour.

“Parkour is combining a bunch of different martial arts and motion tricks and taking it outside into an urban setting,” Roseman said.

Roseman has been doing parkour since he was in middle school and prefers it as opposed to traditional sports.

“I was always terrible at normal sports like football and track—I tried it all. When I was about 11, I saw a parkour video and asked my mom to sign me up for a class,” Roseman said.

Roseman’s mom immediately signed him up for classes at Olympiad Gym in the parkour training class three times a week.

“For all of his childhood, I always noticed Joe climbing and jumping off of things,” Joe’s mother Holly Roseman said. “Whenever I called him in for dinner, he was always up in a tree somewhere. Then I read an article in the paper about the classes and thought it would be right up his alley, so I signed him up.”

Parkour has been gaining traction in terms of popularity in the United States with competitions popping up across the country, but Roseman has chosen not to enter any formal competitions and has chosen instead to sport his talents on his YouTube channel.

“You can usually find me at local parks, especially Chesterfield Central Park because there are many fun obstacles that I like to use for my training,” Roseman said.

Roseman also enjoys doing parkour with his friends, seniors Peter Martin and Joe Butler.

“I can’t do parkour even close to the level that Joe can,” Martin said. “But I do occasionally train with him and do some of my own more basic techniques.”

Today, Roseman still continues his training despite pressure from college admissions and thinking about his future.

“It’s still a really big stress reliever for me,” Roseman said. “Whenever I train, it just feels so natural.”