SINGAPORE — Parkour may conjure images of boisterous teenagers swinging between buildings in urban settings, but a coach in Singapore is using the techniques to teach better balance to the elderly, drawing millions of social media views.
How to keep an ageing population of 6.1 million healthy amid rising life expectancy is a key challenge for the city state, which joined the ranks of the “super-aged” in 2025, when more than a fifth of its people were aged 65 or more.
After three years of parkour, Betty Boon said she could haul her own luggage up steep stairs in Japanese train stations, freeing her from reliance on her husband or son.
“That was wonderful, I just discovered that I could do that,” said the 69-year-old retiree, who felt the classes were also a good way to keep in touch with friends while boosting her strength, flexibility and heart health.
Interest in the classes, called Movement Singapore, has exploded recently, said coach Tan Shie Boon, who founded them in November 2017.
He was prompted to do so after a 64-year-old woman expressed interest in taking up the sport to resolve balance issues, and managed to ditch her support trolley to walk unaided after just two months of practice.
“I think some of my students (have) grown through the years in terms of strength and so they are able to showcase abilities that are not normal for, say, a 60-year-old or 70-year-old,” added Tan, 33.
Parkour is an intense discipline that teaches individuals how to fall and avoid debilitating injuries that could cause the elderly to lose confidence in their own mobility, he said.
The contrast between a sport widely seen as very risky and the age of participants may have piqued the public’s curiosity, Tan said, after Movement Singapore’s Instagram page went viral.
“Just keep proving to yourself that you can do more than you think you could,” he added.
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