What is Parkour?

Wednesday, 29 October 2008 20:03

Parkour is the art of moving through your environment using only your body and the surroundings to propel yourself. It can include running, jumping, climbing, even crawling, if that is the most suitable movement for the situation. Parkour could be grasped by imagining a race through an obstacle course, the goal is to overcome obstacles quickly and efficiently, without using extraneous movement. Apply this line of thought to an urban environment, or even a run through the woods, and you're on the right path. Because individual movements could vary so greatly by the situation, it is better to consider Parkour as defined by the intention instead of the movements themselves. If the intention is to get somewhere using the most effective movements with the least loss of momentum, then it could probably be considered Parkour.

Basically, Parkour is a natural method to train the human body to be able to move forward quickly making use of the environment that's around us at any given time. This 'art of displacement' require neither specific structure nor accessory for its practice. The body is the only tool. It's an athletic discipline accessible to all, because it combines all the natural skills of the human body: running jumping, climbing etc. It's a discipline that permits exploration of the potential offered by your body.

It's about being able to face the obstacles with which you are presented, whether they be in the natural environment or in the urban environment, in a search for movement that combines effectiveness and control. The necessary equipment is simply a T-shirt, a pair of light jogging-type trousers, and a pair of running shoes.

"C'est comme si votre corps avait toujours ?t? en pilotage automatique et que vous d?couvriez soudain que vous ?tes capable de le piloter vous m?me". -- or, it's as if your body has always been on autopilot, and you've discovered for the first time that you are able to control it!

Running on foot, crawling, jumps, rolling and other methods of catching yourself, grabbing hold of things, hanging from things and balancing are the essence of what fuels parkour. All this towards a single goal: never to be stopped by any obstacle (whether it be wall, grille, hedge, railings, trees, other foliage, bushes, rocks, vehicles, gaps... etc), but to continually adapt.

This way of moving has existed since the dawn of time, where early men had to learn to move skillfully to hunt, to attack and to defend themselves. Later, special groups such as the ninja and, later, commando soldiers were taught movements in order for them to carry out infiltration missions. Today, firefighters, soldiers, and special police intervention teams still learn how to move without being hindered by obstacles.
One man -- David Belle -- has devoted his life to the development of this art. Surrounded by a family comprised of sporting heroes, David practiced sports which had physical action as their base and which allowed him to move effectively (such as gymnastics, athletics, climbing and martial arts).

On this matter, David Belle said (translated from the French): "Passion, way of life, and today sport -- Parkour, first of all, was a natural method to develop all the qualities that are at the natural disposal of the human body. Increasing strength, agility, speed and power were the first steps in this search. As a practitioner of gymnastics, athletics and martial arts I already had certain basic abilities and skills that I found to be limited by the structures required by the various sports I was doing. So, I decided to create a sport in my own style, that is to say, without material constraints; a pair of jogging trousers, a T-shirt, a good pair of running shoes, and myself. While running, I'd fix on a point to represent an objective, and tell myself: 'I'm going to go there; I'm going to go there directly; I'm going to go there quickly; and nothing will stop me'. I must add that I was always an enthusiastic admirer and reader of Daredevil, Spider-Man and other superhuman characters from comics, animation and action movies. All excellent warriors, and all so free."

The fundamental idea is a man who runs, and whom nothing stops. Parkour aims to be a 'complete' discipline; by the mindset that it inspires in its practitioners just as much as by the many skills that it develops. It's a difficult discipline to train, because it continually tests the limits of each practitioner. It's all about knowing if one is prepared to stick with existing limits, or if one is prepared to push back those limits as far as possible...

What isn't Parkour?

Parkour is not acrobatics, tricking, stunts, recklessness, or jumping off high objects for no reason. It is not any movement or activity that doesn't fit in the above description "What Parkour Is". It is also not "What you make of it" ... it is predefined and has a purpose, if something doesn't suit that purpose, it is not Parkour.