Get Resolved with Parkour Visions founder and head coach, Brandee Laird
Brandee working out at Parkour Visions in Seattle, WA
How long have you been practicing parkour?
I’ve been practicing parkour for nearly ten years.
What is your favorite thing about the sport?
Parkour, at its core, is an idea. It is the choice to look at one’s environment and explore one’s body in relation to it, asking, “What can I do today? What do I want to be able to do tomorrow? What scares me? What feels good to do?”
It isn’t something that has to happen in a certain place, or with particular equipment. Its essence is to explore your world, challenge and learn about yourself, maintain a novice mindset, and improve yourself every day in some way or another. This foundation of self-exploration and the priority to embrace our bodies and our world is my favorite thing about parkour.
When and why did you decide to open Parkour visions?
It was a small group effort to open Parkour Visions, which obtained 501(c)3 non-profit status in 2007. We saw that parkour was something that transformed us for the better, brought us together, was compelling to all sorts of people, and wasn’t going away.
For those of us who integrated parkour into our lifestyles, we recognized the growing problem of the greater public seeing just the movements of parkour and assuming it was an adrenaline sport, or a reckless endeavor, and that it would develop a stigma. We hated the idea of “No Parkour” signs! Also, without guidance, it is very easy to get injured.
With the intent to spread good information and safe teaching about the discipline of parkour, we decided to found a non-profit organization to run a facility where we could teach people about our discipline and foster a healthy community around it.
So far so good.
Tell us your favorite tomboy story from your childhood.
My childhood is basically a tomboy story. I lived fairly wild, ran through the rural woods and climbed high into the trees. I fished for crawdads in the creek with just my hands and built outdoor forts with the best of them. We always tried to make bows and arrows out of sticks and string, crafted other wood-based weapons to fill our primitive armory, and fought invisible ninjas whenever they’d drop by. I went on self-issued missions, creeping through the bushes. I wrestled and sparred with my younger brother, and trained him to be stronger. I ran and fought and jumped and explored...I’ve just always been this way.
Who is your favorite tomboy?
Xena Warrior Princess! Yes, I realize she is a fictional character from a popular 90’s television show, but her balance of masculinity and femininity has always inspired me. The character is a perfect example of a woman who’s embraced her traditionally male role of being a warrior and a leader while maintaining her connection to her very female self. Even being fiction, I always return to the idea of such a woman and try to apply what the character embodies to my own life: be the best of who I am and do what I’m going to do with carefully cultivated abilities, always trying to better myself and “do good” for humanity.
What is your favorite TomboyX product?
I’m an Iconic Briefs fan!
Where can readers learn more about your project?
Doing what I can to see Parkour Visions thrive is my main priority, but I also have a personal YouTube channel, Instagram account, and a Facebook Page where I post my training and creative media.
