Extreme fun

Keith Mylett has taken the extreme sport of parkour — the act of fluidly moving over and around obstacles by using an array of climbing, jumping and balancing skills — and made it child-friendly.

The certified parkour instructor been teaching his brand of keiki movement classes since October at Kapiolani Park near the Waikiki Aquarium.

After some warm-up exercises, the kids, ages 5 to 7, move through an obstacle course doing cartwheels and vaulting onto wooden boxes.

"I’m always there to make sure it’s a safe environment," said Mylett, a Kalani High School English teacher. "Parents are encouraged to watch during class, and it’s all about efficient movement and overcoming doubts and fears. And I think it’s one of the best forms of exercise."

While one of these boys might advance to doing flips and leaping from buildings someday, that’s not the intent of Mylett’s class. "I want to show that being healthy can be fun," he said.

"Part of this is being creative. I want to keep the activities fresh and new so they’ll want to come back for more," Mylett said. "But at the end of each class, I want them exhausted and happy, because that shows they’ve been really pushing themselves."

Mylett began practicing the extreme sport two years ago with the group Hawaii Parkour. He got the idea for the classes after he noticed his then-3-year-old son, Bodhi, emulating his parkour moves in the living room.

Mylett said he enrolls classes of up to 10 kids, ages 5 to 10.

"I love to see how the kids pro­gress. When these guys reach 12 to 13, they’re going to be awesome. They’ll far surpass what I’ve done since I started."