Red Bull try to do everything in style, which is why for Pirates Week they brought over one of the foremost ‘free runners’ in the world over from England.
Ryan Doyle is from the northern city of Liverpool and for the past four years he has travelled the world demonstrating Parkour which combines gymnastics, break dancing and martial arts to entertain audiences by free running on top and on the sides of buildings.
Local Red Bull distributor Andreas ‘Zulu’ Kettner brought over a stunt bike rider last year, this time Doyle doesn’t need any equipment, just a stage, vehicle, surface or building to perform on. Doyle was here with a group of young Partour specialists, flipping all over the place.
Doyle, 27, was pretty impressed with Grand Cayman when here last weekend. “I’m pretty fortunate to come out to the original Tortuga and be a pirate and part of all the performances here,” he said. “It’s one of those adventures that every kid wants to do. We all want to be pirates for a while and climb the riggings. Maybe go from roof to roof as if we’re invading the place. We will be scallywags! Although we’re performing, it’s not really work when it’s what you want to do anyway.”
He was pleasantly surprised by the standard of living here. “Cayman is a lot richer than I expected. Very modern with KFC on the island. I’ve been to Haiti and St Thomas and places on a Royal Caribbean ship but I’m most impressed with Grand Cayman.”
As a kid flipping over everything, football was not his sole ambition unlike most youngsters dreaming of making it big in Merseyside. “I was very football orientated growing up, as everyone is in Liverpool. But I got bored with it at an early age which forced me to find something different which I found in martial arts, gymnastics and break dancing. Freestyle art that we do doesn’t involve equipment, just the human body. I’m trying to figure out what’s the human body capable of.
A natural athlete, he was doing back slips at the age of seven. “I don’t remember not doing this. I was just a crazy kid. It’s kind of a lifestyle I was always living from the earliest age.”
He was a national tricking champion in the UK and entered the inaugural Automotion 2007 competition and became the first international free running champion. Red Bull sponsored him after that. He became champion again this year in Brazil and is competing in another one in Kuwait next week, then on to Iran before England again and Germany.
“I’m a Parkour athlete but nobody ever understands what that is, so it is easier to show them on my phone what I do. I thank the French all the way through. They’re the ones that commercialised it to the public and made it a brand. Before that it was just being crazy. When it became a product it became easily established and can spread so much more quickly.
“I’m proud to say that I’m just doing Parkour. People have been doing this for thousands of years, but now it has a name, people know what that means. I feel I’m the best at my style. It’s not really a sport, it’s an art.”
When he first arrived, Doyle did demonstrations at high schools – John Gray and Clifton Hunter – and was pleasantly surprised that the kids were aware of Parkour mainly through seeing it on YouTube. He claims it is the fastest growing sport in the world and the most uploaded video. “YouTube has created my career for me. I established my name on there and it’s exploded ever since 2007. Before that I was just doing stunt jobs.”
One stunt job was as the body double for Ellen Degeneres at Universal Studios in Florida, jumping off all the rides. The sketch shows Ellen running late for her show because she thinks she is still on Los Angeles time, not realising that she’s moved to the east coast. “It was very uncomfortable to wear a bra and wig but the best bit was actually getting to jump off all these fantastic rides, climbing on everything. How many other people get that kind of chance?”
The dangerous aspect of his work he keeps in perspective. “In some ways I have the greatest job in the world, but I also realise that every time I leave England I might not return or seriously break something. It’s not really a relaxing jobs and quite nerve-wracking. I’m staying at a holiday resort at the Ritz-Carlton but I can’t really relax.”
Doyle lives with in a swish apartment with his brother Anthony, a teacher. “For me to be able to afford that place I’ve got to be working abroad. I’d love to spend more time in it but can’t. That’s why I don’t have a girlfriend, because my job forces me not to have strong attachments. I wouldn’t go out with me, I’m a bad choice for everyone. At least I know I’m not going to do this for ever and maybe have a window of opportunity of another three to five years.
He has a degree in media and TV production and will follow through with that, possibly teaching. “In the meantime I want to get in as much travel and experience as possible before my body shuts down.”
Kettner was the perfect host, Doyle enthuses. “Zulu is a real character. What a legend! He is the most British-Austrian guy I’ve ever met. He is so politically incorrect but he’s funny with it and always happy. Stan Fiess, the Red Bull rep, has taken care of me too.”
Doyle is already booked on 26 projects for next year. No wonder he is one of the most in-demand Red Bull athletes. Like the Red Bull catch phrase, he really does seem to have wings.
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