Dan Edwardes

Honoured and very pleased to be invited back on to the Playful Nature Podcast hosted by the excellent Andrew Telfer of @wearewildstrong.

This time we discussed the tension between the wild nature of parkour (and movement in general) and society’s need to quantify and codify it for inclusion in an established sporting fabric, leading to the ‘gymnastification’ of a discipline that was never intended to be such a thing.

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“Dan Edwardes returns to the podcast to talk what he calls a “quiet crisis” in parkour coaching – a drift from a real-world practice into something more standardised.

Andrew and Dan explore why this drift is understandable (insurance, schools, certifications, parent expectations, safety rules, social media), but also what gets lost when coaching becomes too legible: the spirit of parkour as a practice of adaptability and growing up capable.

They talk about outdoor training as the main event (not the optional extra), how adversity and uncertainty are central to real learning, why “perfect” technique can become a trap, and what it means to coach as a provocateur rather than a lecturer.

They finish on the bigger picture: declining physical literacy, shrinking spaces for children to roam, and why the long-term solution is rebuilding environments where kids can play, struggle, negotiate risk, and become capable.”

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Find the Podcast on all good platforms now:

#parkour #parkourgenerations #parkourcoaching