Terrace athlete is the best at parkour, the risky ‘thrill’ sport

Luke Sabal, who started on the white walls of the Terrace Courthouse at age 10, is now 28 and has become Canada’s best parkour player, undefeated for the past four years.

Parkour is a sport in which one moves from point A to point B using obstacles in the path. One has to do somersaults, run, climb, swing, jump, high jump, roll and the like. The sport has its origins in obstacle course training in the army and in martial arts.

Sabal, a self-taught parkour athlete born and raised in Terrace, first learned about the sport while scrolling through YouTube videos.

“Before I even knew what parkour was, I was doing parkour in the city, trying to do flips and stuff like that,” Sabal said.

“But I just didn’t know it had a name. When I saw a video where they named the sport, I became completely obsessed with it.”

Recently, Sabal competed in the Sports Parkour League, where he placed sixth out of 80 parkour players from around the world. Out of about eight competitors from across Canada, Sabal topped the list.

Sabal called it one of the fastest growing sports and said being self-taught came with its own challenges.

“If you mention the name of a sport these days, most people at least know what you’re talking about because they’ve seen the name in movies before,” he said.

The officea popular comedy series, mentioned the name of the sport in one of the episodes where all the characters rolled around the office shouting “parkour.”

“But being self-taught and the only person doing it at the time, I found it hard to stay motivated,” Sabal said.

“If I wanted to try something that was a bit more risky, it would have been easier if I had someone to cheer me on or call an ambulance if I got hurt. When you make a mistake and there’s no one around, it’s harder to push yourself.”

Being self-taught, Sabal was able to apply the techniques better and more effectively by watching YouTube videos in slow motion.

After Sabal moved to Kelowna in 2018, he met two other parkour athletes and began coaching parkour at Kelowna Gymnastics. But many people weren’t interested in the sport at the time, Sabal said, given the high risk nature of parkour.

Sabal, who has coached in various places over the years, says the sport has become more popular now after people realized they “don’t have to be on rooftops to do parkour.”

Sabal said it has now become popular among both children and seniors because of its safety benefits.

Parkour helps toddlers learn how to land, climb and overcome obstacles safely without getting injured.

“Parents love it for their kids, it develops coordination and muscle strength,” he said.

Sabal also teaches parkour to seniors 73 and older, focusing on basic movements and safe falling techniques. He says this helps seniors feel more confident and less afraid of falling or getting off things safely.

“On all those different levels, it’s still parkour,” Sabal said.

Sabal stressed that the sport is largely male dominated.

He thinks the low female participation is partly due to misconceptions about parkour as too dangerous. Many women, Sabal said, may be hesitant to try parkour because they see the more extreme aspects and think it’s beyond their capabilities.

However, he discovers that women with a background in gymnastics, cheerleading or dance often fall in love with it once they try parkour.

“But it’s a challenge to convince them to get started,” he said.

In 2023, Sabal co-founded the Canadian Parkour League with the owner of Ethos Parkour and Movement in Penticton, wanting to create more opportunities for semi-professional athletes in the country. The league aims to provide a competitive platform for athletes who aren’t quite ready for the world championships.

Since its inception, the league has hosted four competitions, including events in Quebec and Ontario.