Don’t be surprised if you spot a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer at the Chennai airport surmounting obstacles with ease while in pursuit of a suspect. They have after all begun training in the French technique of parkour from Tamil Nadu Parkour Association.
Parkour is a training discipline developed from military obstacle course training. The main aim of the art is getting from point A to B in the most efficient way possible using the surroundings for propulsion. It includes training in obstacle courses, running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping and rolling.
“All CISF personnel undergo obstacle course training, but parkour is different. Now, they will be able to scale high walls with ease, jump from one building to another and also reach a destination in the shortest time possible,” said a senior official from the CISF - South Sector.
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A total of 22 personnel underwent the three-week-long training in February. “Each session lasted for over four hours. The CISF men were able to grasp the techniques easily and showed interest in learning the basic parkour movements,” said Vignesh Raghavan, treasurer of the association.
Vishwa Dayakaran, general secretary of the association, said training in the art will also make the CISF personnel more confident. “It will aid them in rescuing people in distress, especially because the CISF men guard important installations such as airports, seaports, heritage monuments and even the Delhi Metro Rail,” he added.
After their training, the CISF personnel too feel more confident. “It was also a sort of stress buster. We are planning to send our men, especially our commandos, for advanced training,” said a senior CISF officer.
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