You may have seen Carolina Movement around campus, though you may not have known who they were. Guys in sweatpants flying through the air are kind of hard to miss, after all.
Police officers may be wary of them, but one of USC’s newest budding organizations is taking over campus.
This toe shoe-clad group of guys is a new organization focused on parkour, a momentum-based discipline that involves overcoming obstacles using only body strength, originally created as a form of martial arts to help people evade attackers in urban areas.
USC students are now practicing the techniques as a way to stay healthy and fit.
Marquis Johnson, a second-year marketing student, is one of the founders of Carolina Movement. He said he first got interested in parkour when he saw videos of others doing it on YouTube. Looking for a new physical activity to master, he decided to give it a try.
Now, Johnson hopes to share his passion for parkour.
“Movement is a big part of our lives,” he said. “I want to share it with other people and show them that different things are good to try.”
Johnson and fellow club member David Meador, a second-year business major, first met last year when they lived in the same dorm. After Johnson showed Meador the YouTube videos, he was hooked.
Sharing the same passion for parkour, they decided to create a club, so others could follow suit and learn more about the discipline.
“It can benefit you in a positive way,” Meador said. “It keeps you healthy and out of trouble.”
Johnson said the group chooses to train primarily inside because it allows them to try tougher moves that would be dangerous to try outside. Carolina Movement practices every week in the multi-purpose room of the Strom Thurmond Wellness Center.
When they do venture outside, they wear sweatpants to help prevent scrapes and even protect limbs from breaking after a big fall. From the muscles that line Johnson’s arms, it is clear that parkour is no joke.
The parkour community also extends outside the walls of Strom, as large groups of people often go to “jams” and show off different stunts and tricks.
When they train around campus, USC police often approach them and strike up conversations about personal safety, Johnson said.
Now that Carolina Movement is becoming official, they hope to recruit new members and invite others to try parkour.
“For some guys, they’ll come out here and have it down in a day,” Johnson said. “It’s a personal thing, and it’s really up to each person to decide when they’ve done a move as well as they possibly can.”