Ryan Doyle (b. Sep 22, 1984), a.k.a. Rad and Ry, is an international freerunner/traceur,[1] stuntman, and actor. He is a four-time UK national tricking champion.[2] In 2007, he won the first international Red Bull Art of Motion freerunning competition in Vienna.[3][4] He is a founding member of the World Freerunning & Parkour Federation (WFPF).[5] Officially sponsored by Red Bull energy drink, Doyle participates in parkour culture, promoting and competing in Red Bull's international Art of Motion competitions. In the 2011 Kuwait final, Doyle's team, Qarouh, won second place.[6][7] In 2011, he won the Brazil Art of Motion in São Paulo.[8][9]
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Doyle has poor eyesight, being officially legally blind, but he views this as an advantage in many ways, likening himself to the blind Marvel superhero Daredevil.[3][10] During the finals of the 2007 Art of Motion competition, Doyle snapped his tibia and fibula when he missed the landing mat from a 12–foot jump attempting a 720 cork,[11], for which he underwent 12 months of rehab, leaving him with a plate on his fibula and a 33cm bar with 14 screws down the core of his shin bone.[3][4]
Doyle was a cast member of MTV's Ultimate Parkour Challenge in 2010.[12]
He played the role of Finch in the 2011 movie Freerunner.[13]
Doyle has expressed strong philosophies about the nature of parkour. His main stressing is that parkour is a form of movement[9] expression rather than a competitive sport.[14]. He promotes the creative nature of parkour, such as in a statement, "I'm just trying to create art".[15] He views the locations he visits as opportunities to explore what the creative mind is capable of, constantly referring to the value of pushing the limits of the human body,[16] and returning to nature.[17] He also stresses that parkour comes with a level of respect for property, saying "We can't just go jumping on people's rooftops."[9]
Doyle often speaks of dusting one's self and moving on, accepting one's situation[18], whatever challenges one must face, speaking of all setbacks as lessons and chances to improve.[3] This is signified poetically in a polished statement in a documentary integrating elements of his philosophies, "It's not a bad thing to fall, because it's not a bad thing to progress."[9] He stresses especially when speaking of his leg injury, declaring parkour to be such an integral part of his life that he had no choice but to overcome the hurdle.[11]
Mundanely, Doyle frequently refers to safety, responding to the dangers and hazards of parkour, particularly an issue with the freedom of expression he attaches to the discipline.[19] He cities efficiency,[15] precision,[20] and constant drilling as life-saving safety nets, either removing the possibility of a fall by careful mental preparation of particularly dangerous movements, or as a last resort, being able to instinctually revert to safety habits in split seconds between a mistake or slip and impact with the ground.[21] He particularly emphasizes the physical benefit of momentum distribution, moving one's body in a way that disipates the force of an impact over a period of time, rather than hitting an individual joint or body part at once.[22][21]
While Doyle has heavily competed, he often eschews quantifying parkour techniques into strictly right-or-wrong, black-and-white categories. He emphasizes that traceurs should utilize a spectrum of movements to develop personal artistic style,[14], often being a criteria in parkour competitions. His teaching method is to practice plain series of progressions, slowly building from basics into more complex movements.[23] He considers an array of skills, in combination with one's athletic background and life history, to be the foundation of expression, proper training allowing it to be expressed freely with minimal health risks.[9]