Favourite book: ‘The Art of Learning’ by Josh Waitzkin
Favourite film: Marvel movies
Favourite parkour spot in Dubai: Residence towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence
A parkour athlete who has become the UAE’s very own Spider-Man is teaching children how to take up the sport.
Harry Murden, 28, teaches at Parkour DXB, a training studio in Dubai’s Al Quoz neighbourhood. Nearly 300 young, aspiring athletes practise their agility, movement and balance each week at the studio.
Parkour is a freestyle movement sport where a person travels through a man-made or natural obstacle course by running, jumping, climbing, vaulting or rolling – without any safety equipment.
The sport has gained popularity over the years and several videos of dangerous stunts – where athletes are seen jumping from one high-rise building to another – went viral.
It's definitely fun to think that we are training to move more like Spider-Man does
"I first experienced parkour when I was 13 years old. I had seen some random people doing it at a park in the UK and I introduced myself straight away," Mr Murden told The National.
“I had spent a lot of my childhood dancing, like classical ballet, tap, modern and street styles, but this was something completely new for me. I haven’t looked back since.”
Now, Mr Murden can jump from four to five-storey-high buildings and jump through low and high obstacles while running at a very fast speed.
Two years ago, he moved to Dubai to teach the children at Parkour DXB.
“Our goal with coaching is to spread awareness of parkour,” Mr Murden says.
“It boosts our confidence. I was a very quiet, shy child, and now I'm not. It made me confident in being around and approaching people.”
Children aged four to 16 and some adults train at Parkour DXB. All of them have their own animal totems, representing their age groups.
Four-year-olds who are just starting out are called wallabies, five to seven-year-olds are flying squirrels, spider-monkeys are aged eight to 10, thunder-cats are 11 to 13 and falcons are 14 to 16.
The training studio has an age-friendly environment obstacle course, with practice beams, ramps and hanging bars.
“Our philosophy here is the enjoyment of the sport,” he said.
“It is very easy right now to see parkour videos on social media, so we do find some children that come in and say ‘I want to do a backflip’.
“That is fantastic, but there is a certain amount of work [that needs] to go in before we reach that point.”
Mr Murden said he has noticed some children who have the potential of taking up the sport as a career.
He said it is usually those who ask a lot of questions and are keen to learn more.
Mr Murden sometimes uses the Spider-Man movie to point out some parkour moves.
"I wouldn't say that the inspiration of Spider-Man pushed me towards Parkour, but it's definitely fun to think that we are training to move more like Spider-Man does."
When he is not coaching, Mr Murden is often found training at the parkour courses in Dubai Design District or freestyling around Dubai Marina or Kite Beach.
"My favourite outdoor parkour spot in Dubai right now is around the residence towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence," he said.
"There is a variety of different walls and obstacles that make for some interesting options. It is also very shaded from the sun, which helps in the hotter months."
He said there are a lot of risks involved with the sport, but that practice and mastering the techniques make it a lot safer.
In his 15 years of practising parkour, Mr Murden has escaped with only minor scrapes and scratches although some other athletes have been severely injured while doing extreme stunts.
“There is always an amount of fear involved,” he said. “And it's something that we teach our students very early on, but that's OK.
“When we go out and we're training, we want to push limits and boundaries. At the same time, we're very aware that we don't want an injury that's going to set us back and make things more difficult.
“The element of fear helps us think for a second that it's serious and that I should re-think my approach if a jump, for instance, is too high.”
Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
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Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
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THE TWIN BIO
Their favourite city: Dubai
Their favourite food: Khaleeji
Their favourite past-time : walking on the beach
Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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Profile of Hala Insurance
Date Started: September 2018
Founders: Walid and Karim Dib
Based: Abu Dhabi
Employees: Nine
Amount raised: $1.2 million
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, AB Accelerator, 500 Startups, private backers
Profile of MoneyFellows
Founder: Ahmed Wadi
Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
- Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
- Thursday 20 January: v England
- Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad:
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith
THE SPECS
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Transmission: Automatic
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Match info:
Wolves 1
Boly (57')
Manchester City 1
Laporte (69')
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Profile Idealz
Company: Idealz
Founded: January 2018
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Size: (employees): 22
Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
RESULTS
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner AF Nashrah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Mutaqadim, Riccardo Iacopini, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
6pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Hameem, Jose Santiago, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner AF Almomayaz, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Dalil Al Carrere, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Jayide Al Boraq, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
Favourite book: ‘The Art of Learning’ by Josh Waitzkin
Favourite film: Marvel movies
Favourite parkour spot in Dubai: Residence towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence
