HISTORY OF THE WFPF

In October 2007, as the first Red Bull Art Of Motion Tournament was drawing to a close, and Ryan Doyle was lying in a hospital bed in Vienna with a shattered leg, the WFPF was born. For the previous year and a half, the yet to be named organization had been the brainchild of two American guys, Victor Bevine and David Thompson, who between them had spent over twenty years working with youth at risk in inner-city New York and Los Angeles, teaching the value of self-expression to kids battling drug addiction and violent, hopelessly negative home and school environments. When Victor and David discovered Parkour, this amazing new sport that seemed to give kids the power to literally “fly” over what was standing in their way, they took the idea to Emmy Award-winning producer Francis Lyons, who’d been making the most unlikely kids’ dreams come true for years on MTV’s hit show MADE. The three experienced quite the learning curve as they worked to understand the true nature of Parkour beyond the thrills and spills, to get some kind of concept of this tiger they suddenly had by the tail.

In the end, though, it was the hard won trust and commitment of the ten founding athletes, Ryan Doyle, Daniel Ilabaca and Tim “Livewire” Shieff from the U.K., original Team Tempest members Paul “Diddy” Darnell, Victor Lopez, Rich King and Gabe Nunez from the U.S., Oleg Vorslav, the “Russian Climber”, from Latvia, and Marcus Gustavsson and Filip Ljungberg from Team Air Wipp in Sweden that made the WFPF possible. These ten amazing young men came together around the idea that they could more effectively and positively influence the direction of Parkour’s growth from “the inside”, rather than remaining underground and opposed to all commercial development.

The time since has been filled with countless late-night phone calls, many trips across the Atlantic and the U.S., plans made and principles defended, minor disagreements and not a few major disappointments.

During that time, other athletes came onboard, Americans Michael Turner and Nicholas Coolridge of team Civil Chaos in Santa Barbara, Daniel Arroyo from Tampa, Florida, King David of LA’s Lost Boys, and another Team Tempest member, Brian Orosco from San Francisco. Three other U.K. freerunners joined the roster as well, Ben “Jenx” Jenkins, Phil Doyle and Pip Andersen, formerly of Urban Freeflow. All of them extraordinary athletes, as well as amazing human beings.

In February 2009, after months of creative negotiations, MTV gave the WFPF the go-ahead for a one-hour special to introduce Parkour to the mainstream American audience. Yikes! To a man, we were as worried as we were excited. Would MTV get it? Okay, it was a competition, and we knew there were a lot of people who would hate it on principal, no matter what. But what kind of a competition would it be? Would they try to turn it into AMERICAN GLADIATOR or would it be more like NINJA WARRIOR? Would the message of Parkour have a chance in the middle of all the hype? We fought over the title, trying to keep “Parkour” out of it completely. Lost that one. But we WON on the World Championship thing. That wasn’t happening. Eight freerunners were chosen to appear in the pilot, Ryan Doyle, Daniel Ilabaca, Michael Turner, King David, Tim “Livewire” Shieff, Brian Orosco, Daniel Arroyo, and Pip Andersen. Tensions were running high. But glorious “yes” triumphed over faithless “no”, and the guys boarded planes half a world away from one another with nothing to lean on but their favorite trainers and a whole lot of trust. And MTV got it. Yes, you heard right. Not the first day, maybe, or the second, but as the week went by, and the athletes practiced Parkour just like they always do, everyone was watching everyone else riding a giant learning curve. And everyone was excited that they were involved in something really new, something that might just make a difference. Look, we’re not kidding ourselves. No doubt they’ll still be people who won’t like the show, HATE it even, and they’re entitled to their opinions, for sure. But one thing to consider--the best possible recommendation if you’re still weighing whether or not to give it a chance--all eight Freerunners involved said that, for the first time ever, they felt like they were listened to. At this writing two more amazing athletes are in the process of joining the WFPF brotherhood…and, uh, sisterhood, too, actually. Keep your eyes out for a couple of amazing females about to come onboard! And definitely keep your eyes out for other very cool things the WFPF has in the works, TV shows, live events, etc. We’re not just about competition, that’s for sure! Know Obstacles! Know Freedom!