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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— Three Kurdish brothers in the city of Bokan in eastern Iran, known to Kurds as Rojhelat, hope to take their love of parkour to the world stage - including the Kurdistan Region.
Bahnam, Saman and Sirwan Jalili have been practising parkour for 15 years, and are now considered professionals.
The high-adrenaline sport requires upper-body strength and speed, with participants jumping, climbing and vaulting across buildings and urban areas without the use of equipment. Parkour has been licensed in Iran for two years.
"My brothers and I have tried very hard to spread this game across Iran," Bahnam, the eldest of the three, told Rudaw.
The Bokan athletes have trained hundreds of fans in parkour over the past few years and now run the official championships.
They hope to eventually work on bringing the sport to young people in the Kurdistan Region.
"We are working all over Iran and our sport is well-developed. We hope that one day we will be able to visit the Kurdistan Region and serve the athletes [there]. We want to share the same experience with the youths of the Kurdistan Region," Bahnam added.
The brothers’ talent has caught the eye of David Belle, a world-class parkour teacher and the son of Raymond Bailey, the founder of the sport.
”It was decided to meet David Bell two years ago… but he had work on a film and our meeting was delayed. In the next few months we will visit France and meet with Belle, he wants us to cooperate [with him] and represent him in the Middle East," Sirwan said.
"We have big dreams. We have been working with very basic materials in the past. If we get help, we will look forward to participating in the world championships," Jalili added.
Reporting by Mohammed Karezi
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