Jump Nottingham: Interview With A Freerunner

Anyone who watched Channel Four's Jump Britain last month can't fail to have been impressed by the spectacle they saw. It featured urban athletes, gracefully moving through the air, taking advantage of the local architecture to bust moves on everyday objects and obstacles.

The sport of parkour originates from the southern suburbs of France. The beauty of the sport, however is that anyone can do it wherever they live and because of their environment each person will create new styles and moves, based around the place that they live. Sticky (real name Johnny Budden) has been practicing parkour around Nottingham for several years and around the UK as part of the Urban freeflow crew. He was one of the stars of Jump Britain, yet hails from Beeston and unbelievably is still only seventeen! We got together with him for a chat and to experience him busting some moves...

When did you first start doing this?
Just under three years ago when I saw David Bell on the BBC advert. I started with some really basic stuff, basic vaults and tic tacs (where you plant your foot on the wall and grab to another one. I aimed to do lots of things that were aesthetically pleasing, doing big jumps and things like that. I've learnt though that it's not all about big jumps, it's about flow and movement. After three years my game is getting really good and fluid.

Tell us about the Jump Britain crew. There must have been a good rapport between you guys!
We've all got weird backgrounds. We've all been brought up on the street pretty much. Kirby has not many facilities around his area. He got chucked off skateparks and playparks because he was too old and it led to this. Blue has always been into skating and stuff like that, but he was searching for something different. I've played basketball rugby and swimming at county level. But they didn't quite fulfil my sporting passion. We're just a bunch of guys who enjoy sharing the sport together. It helps you to be free and there's always a crazy vibe when we're all training together.

What's it like working with Sebastian?
You can't get any better than training with him. Once you've been taught the way, how to look at the obstacles and be free. To open your mind to the way and all of this business, you find in yourself your own way, you find how to feel the rhythm and flow through a city. Sebastian has taught us the way from the beginning and has given us a really good start. It's now up to us to pass our knowledge on to people who are new to the sport.

What places have you travelled to since this started? It must be great travelling around the world doing something you love!
Before being in the crew I'd never been on a plane before and I went on a plane for the first time with all these guys and it was mental! I went to train with Sebastian in France in his hometown, where the sport began. I always go to London and Birmingham because that's where the rest of my crew are. The style of our game has been influenced by the style of architecture around this country. We've got big precision jumps and gap jumps and loads of technical stuff because everything is built big and we jump from block to block. In other countries there are different types of architecture and you have to learn to adapt to them and stuff.

What are your personal favourite moves?
I'd say precisions, because it takes a lot of dedication and practice. When people start out They'll try flips because thy think it's parkour, they'll try big moves because they think its parkour, and miss out Lots of technical stuff like moving between rails and walls and stuff like that. I've got to admit that I do like high stuff as well, I can't say that I hate doing big moves, but they don't seem that big when you've trained for them. I've conditioned my body so that they don't hurt.

What are the best places in Nottingham to bust moves?
Beeston is pretty good because so much has been crammed into such a small place. There are a lot of places in town too, around certain educational buildings. You make up your own moves around the architecture in your area. For training, I managed to jump a car sideways. My mate parked his Volkswagon Golf outside and I managed to make it over completely horizontal.

If you were allowed anywhere in Nottingham where would you go?
I'd like to try doing it on some of the high shopping centres.

What is the most random thing that has happened to you while doing this..?
I was chased by security guards at the QMC security guards. I was balancing on this rail and I think they thought I was going to commit suicide. They started shouting at me, but because I was running I didn't hear them. I got all the way to the bottom and then they pushed me up against the wall.

What's the worst injury you've ever sustained whilst doing this?
I was doing a wall flip. I landed and bent all my fingers back and broke them. It could have been any move, it was just the landing of it that was wrong.

Tell us about Seidojn... 
It's my crew. Seidojn. It means men of the way of silence. As part of being fluid  We work on not creating much sound when we land...silence.. this also helps with us knowing our body well and being in control off everything. We want to be able to do what we do as quietly and gracefully as possible.

What advice would you give to amateurs?
I would encourage anyone to learn the basics before they try anything. Everything is achievable if you're dedicated and practice. I skip every morning, I used to swim before/after school and I train for hours and hours after college. I also have to eat the right things and diet. People don't have to be that serious about it, but there is no reason why anyone can't get really good at it. All you need is a pair of trainers...