Seeing city streets from thrilling heights
BEHIND THE SCENES OF PARKOUR
FROM the streets of Copenhagen to the rooftops of Newcastle, meet the teen who has become hooked on exploring our city from dizzying heights.
Jonathan, 16, otherwise known as JonaTV on YouTube, is nearing 40,000 subscribers and got into Parkour a year and a half ago after watching people performing across his home city of Copenhagen.
Jonathan said: “When I saw people perform it I found it a very interesting way to use your environment for sport.”
The video, which has now had almost 8,000 views, sees Jonathan exploring Newcastle by climbing across the rooftops surrounding the city’s most well known landmarks. Parkour is the non-competitive physical discipline of training to move freely over and through any terrain using only the abilities of the body. It is usually through running, jumping, climbing and quadrupedal movement.
Jonathan added: “I also liked the thought of pushing your body’s limits to see what you’re actually capable of doing, which is a big part of Parkour. With Parkour you only need a pair of shoes and then you’re all set. With that in mind it’s also very easy to get started and you don’t have to spend a lot of money on equipment.”
He has visited Newcastle six times now and told us: “I keep coming back because I really like the spirit and the people there. When you walk by people in Copenhagen they are always on their phones, listening to music through a headset or they just don’t look at the other people in the streets. So every time I get to Newcastle I can instantly feel a difference.”