{"id":18317,"date":"2025-12-18T17:39:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T17:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/?p=18317"},"modified":"2026-03-11T17:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:45:12","slug":"senior-parkour-madison-wisconsin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/stories\/senior-parkour-madison-wisconsin\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior Parkour Proves That Age Is Just a Number"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Parkour. . .for seniors?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s \u201clife-changing,\u201d says 78-year-old Alice Kissling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A little over a decade ago, she discovered a local class in Madison, Wisconsin, called Ballroom Basics for Balance. Taking those classes led her to take Learn to Fall Safely, and that<\/em> led her to Parkour Senior classes a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[It] got me over the fear of falling, and that had become a very big thing in my life,\u201d Kissling says, sharing her history with osteoporosis. \u201cI had fallen over nothing and tripped over nothing for a long time, and now I\u2019m not so scared.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n Parkour principles are used to help participants understand fall safety and navigation\u2014and importantly, play!\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n \n \n <\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

These Madison classes are relatively new. Physical therapist Susan Frikken and Darcie Olson, a now-retired occupational therapist, began teaching them in late 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About a year later, they teamed up with Madison School & Community Recreation (MSCR) to offer the classes, and they have steadily grown in popularity since. MSCR reports that almost 90 unique participants from age 50 to 84 have taken the class over the past couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n At these classes, seniors learn ways to improve balance and explore natural movement through obstacle courses.\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n \n \n <\/figure>\n\n
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Personal trainer Barb Brown co-teaches Parkour Senior as well as Learn to Fall Safely classes. She has been training in aikido, a defensive Japanese martial art, for 40 years and teaching for 30. Aikido includes lots of practice in falling, rolling, and getting back up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI heard the statistic that <\/span>Wisconsin is #1 in deaths from falls in the country<\/span><\/a>,\u201d she says. \u201cI thought, \u2018That\u2019s ridiculous; I think I have something to offer here.\u2019\u201d Brown began observing the parkour classes and then became a volunteer instructor in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

Learning New Things<\/h2>\n

For Shelby Copeland, the youngest MSCR Parkour Senior instructor at 40, her interest in teaching the class piqued when she saw a video of older adults going down slides, jumping off things, and \u201cjust having the best time.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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As a parkour and ninja athlete, Copeland was interested in exploring creative, natural movement with seniors, but she initially had hesitations. \u201cMy stereotype was like \u2018They\u2019re grumpy; they don\u2019t want to try new things,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copeland discovered that the reality was very different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re so willing to be playful\u2026 not afraid to make mistakes, not afraid of failure, not afraid of looking silly,\u201d she says, adding how valuable it\u2019s been to work with older adults.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n As part of these classes, participants put on a final showcase for their friends and family\u2014incorporating all the things they’ve learned during their balance, fall safety, and parkour classes.\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n \n \n <\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

Olson agrees: \u201cWe see them approach the different activities that happen through class with so much creativity and so much peer support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carl Zimm, a 71-year-old retired engineer, appreciates both the social and the creative problem-solving aspects of parkour. \u201cI like the idea that you do what you can, and if you can\u2019t quite do it, you figure out some other way of doing it,\u201d Zimm says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kissling remains delighted by the pure sense of fun that the classes offer. \u201cParkour for seniors is like \u2018Romper Room\u2019 for old people,\u201d she says. \u201cYou should see us when we\u2019re doing parkour out in the parks. I feel like a kid again. I can have fun again. I can play every day!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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