The seven men of STORROR, a British parkour team, are celebrities in the freerunning world — and they deserve every bit of attention they get. Their videos are a mix of sport, adventure, travel, and humor, often set among beautiful scenery. STORROR’s stunts and stories make for compelling viewing. To date they’ve attracted over 7 million subscribers to their YouTube channel.
[Obtained from Wikipedia]
STORROR consists of Toby, Drew, Josh, Sacha, Callum, Max, and Benj. (They sometimes refer to themselves as STORRORs, e.g. “Three of the STORRORs have completed the challenge.”)
After viewing hours of STORROR content, one can’t help but admire several ways in which they exemplify positive masculine traits — ones that boys and men everywhere can benefit from emulating. Below is the list, followed by explanations and examples.
- STORROR are assertive
- STORROR are athletic and strong
- STORROR confront their fears
- STORROR take risks
- STORROR are competitive
- STORROR’s motives are pure
- STORROR are entrepreneurs
Note: Our calling something masculine doesn’t mean we think girls and women are not, cannot, or should not be that way. We give masculinity broad reach in this piece.
STORROR are assertive
When filming the shots they want requires bending some rules, STORROR’s attitude is typically: let’s try it. Rule-following simply is not their highest priority. These men aren’t afraid to ruffle feathers…within reason.
In their film Roof Culture Asia, STORROR regularly sneak onto rooftops and evade security guards to get the footage they’re after. On one occasion, when a locked door stands between them and access to a rooftop, they slip a hoodie over a security camera, then shinny up a wall and climb through a window to reach the roof.
In a different video, the guys are hopping from wall to wall within a private neighborhood. A perturbed resident asks them to leave, and they comply, with Benj acknowledging, “To be fair, we’re basically in his front garden.” When STORROR are shooed away from an area by security guards or private property owners, they are dependably polite and compliant.
When the men of STORROR know they’re not hurting anyone, they proceed with their missions — whether or not they have a green light from others. If they were to limit their parkour activities to locations where no one objects to their presence, their options for places to film would be drastically reduced.
One more example of STORROR’s assertiveness: That time when they snuck into a Mayan temple complex in Mexico…
STORROR are athletic and strong
Elite parkour athletes are among the best all-around athletes in the world. Think about the Olympic decathlon — it boils down to running, jumping, and throwing. Parkour, too, requires foot speed, jumping ability, and arm strength, PLUS skills in climbing, swinging, vaulting, rolling, balance, flexibility, hand-eye coordination, and foot-eye coordination.
Whether it’s striding across the tops of pillars, running up a slanted wall, or dare-devilishly jumping over the “Manpower Gap” in France, the men of STORROR use their bodies to accomplish physical feats very few humans are capable of.
Read a related post about the benefits of rough-and-tumble play written by
Bellingham-based parkour coach Rafe Kelley.
STORROR confront their fears
This quote from Benj sums it up:
“I was scared about that first jump, but once I got passed it, I was good to go.”
– Benj Cave, STORROR [Source]
It’s not that these men never feel afraid when they’re preparing to jump between rooftops. Or that they never feel self-conscious when practicing maneuvers in public playgrounds. Or that they never feel embarrassed when they botch an attempt in front of a crowd of onlookers. But their feelings don’t control them. They control their feelings.
[Obtained from Wikipedia]
In one particular video, a brief vulnerable moment plays out for Toby. The guys are engaged in a typical outdoor training session, and Toby does something unprecedented: he whips out some climbing chalk to attempt to improve his grip. When he tries it out, he’s really pleased by the difference it makes. He then shares with the camera that it’s been over five years he’s been using chalk for improved grip when rock climbing. Why had he never used chalk for parkour before? Because he was afraid of being made fun of. This peek into Toby’s self-consciousness is especially interesting given that he is known to be the best athlete among all of the STORRORs. Yet, a fear of being teased by his peers held him back from trying something. When he confronted that fear, it led to a positive result.
Mature men willingly acknowledge their feelings and are vulnerable at appropriate times. Mature men also do not allow their feelings to overwhelm them or to deter them from accomplishing their goals.
STORROR take risks
Those who don’t take risks don’t accomplish great things. The men of STORROR are risk-takers.
Earlier in this post I called them dare-devilish, but I expect they would dislike that description, given its connotations. STORROR’s risks are calculated, not careless.
Prior to jumping roof gaps high above ground, they practice covering the same distance at ground level. Before attempting challenges over bodies of water, they check the water’s depth to ensure they won’t hit bottom if they fall in. Prior to leaping onto ledges, they check the surfaces for slipperiness and sharp objects.
The guys also know when to hold themselves back and to decline a challenge. For example, when they visit parkour’s most iconic roof gap, the “Manpower Gap”, six of the seven members make the leap. Josh, however, eventually decides — after multiple attempts to get himself in the right headspace — not to “send it” (i.e. jump). It took guts for those six guys to jump. It also took guts for Josh NOT to jump. And the other STORRORs respected Josh’s decision 100%.
The men sometimes admit, in hindsight, to regretting the level of risk they exposed themselves to. Exhibit A: The time they slid on their stomachs across a 230-meter span of cable suspended ten stories off the ground.
Even the act of quitting conventional jobs and dropping out of college involves taking risk. That’s what some of the STORRORs did when their audience began growing and they needed to commit themselves more fully to their craft. It seems to have paid off.
STORROR are competitive
Fans are going crazy for the latest series of STORROR videos in which the men hold intrasquad competitions. Whether they’re besting one another in skills, speed, or their ability to stick perfect landings, the crew go all out to win — and they have wild fun doing it.
“THIS IS SUCH A GREAT CONCEPT! Moooooreeeee pleaaaase!”
– A STORROR fan who loves their intrasquad competition videos [Source]
Besides competing with one another, STORRORs have succeeded in a number of organized parkour competitions against other freerunners.
A third manifestation of their competitiveness is their status as world-class practitioners of parkour. Starting in their early teens, they pushed their capabilities to higher and higher levels, such that they eventually joined the ranks of A-list parkour athletes.
To help the casual viewer better understand just how hard the maneuvers they’re pulling off really are, they sometimes offer context and ‘inside baseball’ information. In one video, for example, Drew fails repeated attempts at a challenge that Callum had already nailed on his first try. Drew explains:
“I hope this helps you appreciate how sick it is that Callum succeeded on the first time, because this is really hard! We hope you guys realize that we each have different specialties and that actually, a lot of the time, the stuff we’re doing is at such a high level that not even all of us will be able to do it.”
– Drew Taylor, STORROR
STORROR’s motives are pure
It’s possible STORROR are in it for the fame. Or the women. Or the money. But we don’t think so.
Read this, from a blog post on their website:
When you consider the adventures and exploits of the STORROR team, you’d be forgiven for thinking an abundance of funds must be the key to their action-packed lifestyle. But the truth is, for much of the time they’ve been doing what they do, they’ve had to rely on alternative forms of abundance. …
The STORROR guys have proved it is possible to make a living as professional parkour athletes, but they’ve also proved you don’t need much money to start living the life. Appreciating and focusing on other forms of abundance can help you do that too.
STORROR’s mission is about creativity, pushing their limits, and friendship.
The athletes’ individual profiles on the group’s website reveal why they appreciate being part of STORROR and what they think sets their team apart:
- “We grew from, and remain as, a very tight unit of friends.” – Toby
- “We’re not a group that was formulated for the sole purpose of commercial gain. We came together as friends who shared a distinct passion for parkour and adventure. We also work really hard to create interesting concepts for videos.” – Callum
- “We started as mates, doing it for fun, and we grew together to the top of the game…When we’re all together, magic happens.” – Benj
- “I enjoy and appreciate the drive the team has, never satisfied but always proud, which pushes us to achieve greater things. I appreciate how we only do things that we enjoy and that are true to us as a group.” – Sacha
Fans of STORROR frequently leave comments on their YouTube videos praising the guys’ camaraderie and affability:
- “The vibe of the team is so positive and encouraging, pushing each other to get better.”
- “What makes STORROR so special isn’t the parkour. It’s the pure friendship that really shows through in their videos.”
- “I love how supportive they are of each other. Like when Sasha couldn’t make the jump back, they all helped him out.”
STORROR’s likability and good-humoredness are essential ingredients in their business success.
[Obtained from Wikipedia]
STORROR are entrepreneurs
How do you monetize what is essentially horsing around outdoors with your friends? The seven men of STORROR did it! It undoubtedly required a boatload of parkour training, plus creativity, imagination, networking, luck, and persistence.
In one video, STORROR recount their journey from starting a YouTube channel in 2010 until eventually reaching 1 million subscribers in 2018. They began with building a fanbase through their videos. Then they sold their first piece of merchandise — a t-shirt. They continued growing their following because their YouTube videos were so compelling to watch. At one point they took out a loan. After a while, they had established a cool clothing brand, selling all kinds of apparel. Their merchandise sales allowed them to make even more impressive videos in far-flung beautiful destinations…which of course led to more merchandise sales. This is how they’ve grown their business.
The athletes of STORROR have done stunt work for commercials, films, and live performances. They’re even available to hire as a self-sufficient film production unit.
Conclusion
There are many reasons to admire the men of STORROR and to cheer on their success. Our world needs more celebration of positive masculine traits and masculine role models. Although we should heed STORROR’s warning not to imitate their high-flying stunts, these men are certainly worth of emulating for their characteristics described above.
Read a related WIBM post about the Brilliant Bob children’s book series, written specifically to instruct and encourage boys ages 4 to 8.