How a Rampur teenager got famous just by jumping off from places to places

In Rampur, a city famed for its royal legacy, a group of young men has reimagined fragments of that past in a very different way. Abandoned courtyards, locked playgrounds, and Nawabi-era structures are no longer relics—they’ve become training grounds. For nearly twenty years, a band of self-taught athletes has been practicing parkour in these forgotten spaces, long before the term was widely known in the city, reported TOI.

Some eventually carried their skills to Bollywood. Aman Kumar, one of the group’s trainees, moved to Mumbai and found work in films. “I’ve done stunts in Baaghi 4, Sultan, Devara—things like that,” he said. “Directors prefer working with parkour artists because we don’t depend on wires. We know how to land, how to adjust to real locations. It gives them more control and reduces the need to edit around mistakes.”

'Started off by copying Jackie Chan'

It began in 2007, when Mujahid Habib, then a teenager, realised the jumping, swinging and vaulting he did for fun had a name, and a global community. "We used to give our moves random names, copying stunts from Jackie Chan movies," he said. "Then we saw Hrithik Roshan do similar jumps in 'Dhoom 2', and my friend Waseem told me it was actually a sport, parkour. That's when I saw it as something bigger."


Habib continued honing his skills on staircases, rooftops, and drains—making use of whatever he could find. In 2009, he joined five others to form Team Leonine. "We used to go out at 5am," said Aamir Zameer Khan, a founding member. "We trained on the Kosi riverbank as the sand helped with landings. Then we moved to Nahid Ground. It was always locked, so we started jumping a 10-foot-wide drain to get in."
Parkour also gave them a reason to explore their surroundings differently. "We began looking for places that could push us - rooftops, old buildings, broken structures," said Hassan Khan. "Some thought we were up to no good. Others would stop and watch. A few gave us fruit or water. It was never the same reaction twice."

They moved through Rampur, trying to read the city physically. Every alley, gate and rooftop was a chance to test technique, timing, nerves. At first, people didn't know what to make of them. Some thought they were trespassing. Others warned them to stop. "A few even threatened to call the police," said Aamir. "But some people got it. They'd bring chai or snacks. A fruit vendor once handed me a guava after watching us train all morning."

By 2013, Habib's work had started getting noticed. That year, he won a national parkour competition in Mumbai sponsored by an energy drink brand. The prize took him to Greece, where he saw his first international event.

(with TOI inputs)