Pedro Bessa

Hey everyone!

Here is a short resume about my professional carrer in parkour

• Pkmax Parkour – 2007 to 2010: I’ve worked with Pkmax Parkour doing workshops, creating content, helping organize events, gatherings and performing. I also assisted outdoor classes two times a week in that last year – Brazil, Belo Horizonte. Highlights: Performances for the Fiat automobile “New Strada Adventure Lauch” using cars as part of the obstacles and “Fiat Employee Concert Show”, workshops “Youth Against Smoke” & “Mega Fest Event – Santa Luzia” and a Television Show at “Rede TV – Programa + ação”.
• Parkour Generations – 2011 to 2016: I’ve coached, did workshops, created content, helped with events organization and performed with Parkour Generations Brasil, conducting and assisting indoor and outdoor classes two to four times per week in Brazil, Belo Horizonte. Highlights: National State Gatherings once a year – “Encontro Mineiro de Parkour”, “Brazilian Rendezsvous Event” with international guests, “Parkour ADAPT Qualifications 1 and 2” and international travels – France, England.
• Parkour DXB – 2017 to 2019: I’ve worked with Parkour DXB in Dubai, UAE. Beside a lot of coaching, I did workshops, parties and performances. My admin duties included planning lessons, camps and private lesson programs, organizing our equipment and space, creation and maintenance of new equipment with civil engineering knowledge. Highlights: Performances at the “Kenzo Clothing Brand – Jungle Party”, “DHL International Delivery Company” using their trucks as part of the obstacles and “The Pointe – Mall”. “Flow Workshop” in Egypt – 2019 and 3rd place in Speed and Skills Categories at the “Brazilian National Competition – The Voltz Challenge”.
• Explore Parkour – 2020 and beyond: Recently I’ve been working with Jereme Sanders at Explore Parkour. The company has an interactive platform which allow us to share content with the whole world. Beside that, there are also private lessons and coaching assistence features to guide and help those who wants to increase their knowledge and tools in parkour – practitioners and coach/academies. Highlights: Explore Parkour Website Launch, Content Creation, Admin and Private Lessons.

How was all of this possible? Get to know me a little better in the text bellow…

I was born in a cozy town called Belo Horizonte, famous for its mountains, rivers and waterfalls. I was always into sports, and around five I got my first mountain bike. It didn’t take long for me to upgrade to motocross , which was the family hobby. By the age of eight I was already racing at a national level. When I wasn’t doing motocross, I loved to go to the trail with my mountain bike or jog, jump and move through the rocks. Parkour was always present in my life, whether I was climbing trees and exploring the environment, or finding out what and how I could do things and overcome challenges to get to where I wanted. 

When I was about 13 I heard about parkour for the first time. We had a few videos on the internet, but to see Speed Air Man from David Belle was enough of an inspiration for me. Back in those days there were just forums with pictures and comments trying to understand how to perform moves from Vaults 101. I trained for two years with friends from school around the neighborhood, mostly figuring out techniques and challenges by ourselves. I believe this was a blessed experience for my conceptual development – awareness, solving problems, utility – and growth through the years.

After joining some city locals for training, Bruno Peixoto gave me the opportunity to join his team – Pkmax Parkour – when I was 15 years old. The team was great, they were very respectful with their abilities and body as they all shared the same method the Yamakasi teaches. I remember in 2008 when Thomas Des Bois, one of the old school tracers from France joined us in Brazil and shared with us a lot of concepts and training methods responsible for the improvement of my physical and technical skills. After that we had Williams Belle, Stephane Vigroux, Chau Belle, Laurent Piemontesi, Dan Edwards, Chris Rowat and Julie Angel. It was critical to build a strong and good mindset with the right information for the brazilian parkour community. We did a lot of gatherings, workshops, performances, TV and magazine interviews.

As parkour grew, we took ADAPT courses with Parkour Generations and, after a few years working together, Pkmax Parkour became Parkour Generations Brasil. We started to give classes around 2011 and after graduating in high school, my goal was to travel around to share and learn more about parkour. My training routine started to be filled with weightlifting, calisthenics, gymnastics and running. I went to England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Argentina and a few other places, learning, training and sharing more and more. In 2014 I had the opportunity to take the ADAPT Level 2 course, which increased my knowledge for training and coaching. While I gave classes in Brazil and joined crossfit training, I studied and graduated in Civil Engineering, working for five years in a company called Thor Construtora with environmental solutions and projects.

After that – 2017 – I decided I should have more parkour experiences outside of the country so that I could continue learning and sharing. That’s when I heard about the company Parkour DXB, which was situated in Dubai UAE and ran by Stephane Vigroux and Chris Sotiriu. We skyped and after one week I was in Dubai performing and working with some of the wisest coaches I’ve ever met, one of them being Jereme Sanders.

I learned more about the body, teaching concepts and delivering methods. I also had more exposure to martial arts, dancing skills and movement culture than I ever did before. So I coached over 200 students from all parts of the world and different ages, planned classes, curriculums, performed in many different environments with different themes, visited Turkey and Egypt, where I did a workshop for over 20 practitioners about Flow. It was great to get to know both communities, and of course to share and learn with them. For two years it was a great and busy run.

Once my contract finished I decided to come back to Brazil to be around my family a little more. I began working and living on a farm, dedicating myself to a balanced and healthy life. By the end of 2019, I’ve got the opportunity to compete in a parkour national competition called The Voltz Challenge, in Rio de Janeiro – Brazil. I’ve participated in all three categories – speed, style and skills – as it’s part of my mindset to be as complete as possible in my skills. Even with so many good and experienced athletes around me, I’ve ended up taking 3rd place in speed and skills and 9th in style.

Nowadays I’m still riding my mountain bike, giving parkour private lessons and developing my skills. Learning can never stop, so studying and taking classes are always part of my weekly routine. To continue, I also know how important it is to share every bit of good information and experience that life has given me. Parkour is the tool which made it all possible, so here I am, doing my thing, and helping you to find yours.

A special thanks to all of you who supported me somehow through these years. Family, friends and community!