Your Name: Julien Vigroux
Job Title: Founder and Parkour Coach at Asia Parkour
What is your nationality and background?
I’m French. I have a business degree, and I used to work in the finance industry before dedicating my life to my passion, which is Parkour coaching.
What is your profession?
I am the Founder and Managing Director of Asia Parkour. I am also the Head Coach of Asia Parkour’s Academy. I have been coaching Parkour for 4 years and have been practicing this sport for the past 15 years.
Asia Parkour is all about the art of movement. It’s a holistic and transformative discipline that draws from parkour and movement-based fitness training. You express yourself through movement, overcome obstacles and learn how to move your body in ways you never thought possible. We organize weekly small group classes and private sessions (1on1 or groups) suitable to all fitness levels, for both kids (9 to 15 yrs.) and adults (16+). We also offer Parkour to schools as an after school activity.
What are the key skills and responsibilities for this role?
My main role as a business owner is to deliver high quality services to people coming to us, including high safety standards and coaching skills that require to be organized, responsible and quality orientated.
How did you get involved in your profession?
Practicing Parkour for the past 15 years and starting from its early stage of creation, I have reached a point where I wanted to dedicate my time to make Parkour accessible to everyone and delivering an authentic Parkour training to anyone willing to learn more about it.
How does your role enhance the wellbeing or experience of children?
At Asia Parkour we know that all kids love to jump around and it is essential for them to be active. The physical attributes that Parkour develop are a variety of fundamental movements these activities further develop physical attributes like co-ordination, balance, strength, flexibility and fitness.
Additionally, they also provide an excellent opportunity to help children and teenagers develop confidence and a greater strength of character. Children will gain physical and social skills but more importantly intellectual, creative and emotional skills through encouraged listening, creative activities and problem solving which all contribute to creating a well rounded student.
The combination of our team of experienced and creative coaches and our unique Parkour playground offers an unforgettable training experience for all kids.
What challenges do your face in this role?
Parkour suffers from misperception; while many people see it as an extreme sport, it remains a very safe and accessible discipline when taught and practised with experienced people. What we see in movies (jumps from rooftop to rooftop) or athletes’ videos showing high-level skills are mainly the result of years of training.
Strong foundations and mastering the basics are vital to those who want to progress safely. This is what we strive to achieve at Asia Parkour.
What do you hope to achieve within your industry?
Our goal is to change the perception people have about Parkour and the way people train, as Parkour offers the best functional and natural way to achieve fitness.
We want to reach as many people as possible and build a community of people who are more confident and aware of what they can achieve by applying all the physical and mental benefits of Parkour, such as being more self secure and/or having a better understanding of their body, be more active in their everyday life, have a better perception of themselves and exploit their full abilities.
Who or what inspires you?
My two elder brothers inspired me a lot. They have been practising and learned Parkour with the first and second generations of Parkour practitioners. They’ve always shown a great passion and dedication to Parkour and have actively contributed to its development worldwide. They have taught me everything I know and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.
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For more information on Asia Parkour, please click here.
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