Sure, yoga has its place, but increasingly these days, Hongkongers looking for a health kick are shunning the air-conditioned safety of the gym for the thrill of extreme sports. In the past few years, there has been an increase in so-called “weekend warriors” taking to the city’s mountain biking trails, skate parks, boxing gyms and rock-climbing walls to battle their way to fitness. “People do it for the adrenaline, the endorphin rush that you get. It’s like a drug. Once you get the taste of adrenaline, you want more. You want to go outside the boundaries and continually challenge yourself,” says Michael Maddess, race director and course designer of Action Asia Events, a Hong Kong-based company that organizes events for extreme sports junkies all over Asia. “These are people who work really hard and really long hours in the offices Monday to Friday, and are looking to totally let loose on the weekends. There’s no coincidence that a lot of [Action Asia’s participants] are stock-brokers and traders with extremely stressful jobs and take high risks on a daily basis. Extreme sport matches their personality... it takes them right to the edge,” he adds. If you’ve always wanted to get into an extreme sport but aren’t sure how to get started, take a look at some of our picks.

Parkour

“Parkour is not really an extreme sport per se,” explains Wong Hu-fung from the Hong Kong Parkour Association (HKPA). “It’s a discipline that focuses on getting from Point A to Point B as smoothly, efficiently and quickly as possible.” Parkour practitioners use various techniques—including climbing, rolling and leaping—to scale obstacles that are in their path. And while you might see some colorfully clad lads jumping off roofs and doing crazy flips and tricks on TV, this is really just for show, according to Fung. The philosophy behind parkour, or “the art of displacement” is actually functionality. It’s about “being strong in order to be useful” and developing an instinctive knowledge of your body.

Cool Factor

“Parkour is like taking drugs. It gives you a rush of happiness”, says Fung. Ever since the documentary “Jump London” (and its sequel, “Jump Britain”) aired in 2003, parkour and free running have gained rapid traction both in Hong Kong and worldwide. So why the hype? “Well, parkour allows you to be creative with your movement and do what comes naturally, instead of following a set of rules” says Fung. Unlike X-games such as wakeboarding and skateboarding, parkour members don’t compete against each other for a title. “We believe that everyone is built differently, and everyone has different physical strengths and limitations. We think competition encourages tricky movements without functionality. They increase the risk of [injury] by encouraging competitors to perform dangerous moves.”

The Training

Parkour members train in close teams, and teach each other the skills to overcome individual areas of weakness. The philosophy behind parkour is very much “start together, train together, finish together.” Be warned that parkour training is hard and can be painful. There are four basic skills involved: landing, jumping, rolling and balancing. This means that you need to condition your whole body from head to toe. There’s a lot of core training involved, including many variations of pushups, sit-ups, long distance crawling, muscle-ups, and hanging.

Experts Say

While the time it takes to master parkour skills varies with your age, physique and fitness, Fung believes that if you train properly, you can be proficient within two years. Age is no barrier; Fung’s students start as young as seven years old, and his oldest student is over 50. “If you’re older,” explains Fung, “you can focus on flow, or climbing.”

The Gear

Just like the sport itself, there is no set equipment for parkour. However, shoes are important as they protect your feet and toes, as well as help you climb and jump. Fung recommends running or climbing shoes.

The Club

X Games

A number of sports fall into the category of X-Games, including skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding and surfing. In each of these sports, style is very important, and is part of the judging criteria. “Unlike running, where winners are determined by who crosses the line first, with X-games, it’s more abstract” says X-games enthusiast Ken Choi, who at 50 is an avid surfer and snowboarder. “For example with surfing, it’s about how competitors look during re-entry, how much power they have, how many rotations they can do and how radical they can be with their boards.”

Cool Factor

As an X-gamer, you’ll definitely enjoy bragging rights for being able to pull off awesome, gravity-defying tricks. Standing around in a park, disconsolately trying and failing to land jumps, however, is less impressive. Travel is a big part of X-games’ appeal, so surfing and snowboarding holidays beckon.

The Training