Skate, parkour and bars in Mexico City

Abstract

This article presents a summary of the results referring to an investigation carried out in Mexico City, in which three physical activities are studied, which emerged in central western countries during the second half of the 20th century, but widely practiced in that city: skateboarding , parkour and street workout. The attention of the text is focused on the urban and masculinized character of these disciplines, as well as on their playful, stylistic and aesthetic dimensions, which are claimed by their practitioners. For the above, we show some data obtained through a questionnaire applied in the field and through semi-structured interviews carried out with male practitioners, as well as some observations obtained from social media. In addition, a conceptualization of such activities is offered within a network of categories typical of the sociology of sport, this in an attempt to underline their features as street sports.