Founded by David Belle in France, parkour focuses on practising efficient movements to develop one's body and mind to be able to overcome obstacles in an emergency.

Overview

Parkour is a physical activity that is difficult to categorize. Often miscategorized as a sport or an extreme sport, parkour has no set of rules, team work, formal hierarchy, or competitiveness. On the contrary it is more like an art or discipline that resembles self-defense in the ancient martial arts. According to David Belle, "the physical aspect of parkour is getting over all the obstacles in your path as you would in an emergency. You want to move in such a way, with any movement, as to help you gain the most ground on someone or something, whether escaping from it or chasing toward it." Thus, when faced with a hostile confrontation with a person, one will be able to speak, fight, or flee. As martial arts are a form of training for the fight, parkour is a form of training for the flight. Because of its unique nature, it is often said that parkour is in its own category.

An important characteristic of parkour is efficiency. Practitioners move not only as fast as they can, but also in the most direct and efficient way possible, this characteristic distinguishes it from the similar practice of free running, which places more emphasis on freedom of movements, such as acrobatics. Efficiency also involves avoiding injuries, short and long-term, part of why parkour's unofficial motto is être et durer (to be and to last). Those who are skilled at this activity normally have an extremely keen spatial awareness.

Traceurs claim that parkour also influences one's thought process by enhancing self-confidence and critical-thinking skills that allow one to overcome everyday physical and mental obstacles. A study by Neuropsychiatrie de l'Enfance et de l'Adolescence in France reflects that traceurs seek for more sensation and leadership than gymnastic practitioners. They also have a more narcissistic personality, but one that does not seem to be linked to maladaptive or psychopathologic behaviors.

Terminology

The term parkour paʁˈkuʁ was defined by David Belle and his friend Hubert Koundé. It derives from parcours du combattant, the classic obstacle course method of military training proposed by Georges Hébert. Koundé, who is not himself a traceur, took the word parcours, replaced the "c" with a "k" to suggest aggressiveness, and removed the silent "s" as it opposed parkour's philosophy about efficiency.

Traceur [tʁasœʁ] and traceuse [tʁasøz] are substantives derived from the French verb tracer which normally means "to trace", or "to draw", but also translates as "to go fast".

History

During US President Theodore Roosevelt's time in the Whitehouse in Washington, D.C., 1901–09, he was noted for his "point-to-point walks", which were athletic like parkour, and conducted in as straight line as possible, over obstacles and including swimming where necessary. This concept predates and anticipates parkour.

Hébert's legacy

Before World War I, former French naval officer Georges Hébert traveled throughout the world. During a visit to Africa, he was impressed by the physical development and skills of indigenous tribes that he met:

While he was stationed in the town of Saint-Pierre, Martinique, it suffered a volcanic eruption on May 8, 1902. Hébert co-ordinated the escape and rescue of some 700 people. This experience had a profound effect on him, and reinforced his belief that athletic skill must be combined with courage and altruism. He eventually developed this ethos into his motto: "être fort pour être utile" (be strong to be useful).

Inspired by indigenous tribes, Hébert became a physical education tutor at the college of Reims in France. He began to define the principles of his own system of physical education and to create apparatus and exercises to teach his méthode naturelle, which he defined as:

Hébert set up a méthode naturelle session consisting of ten fundamental groups: walking, running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, balancing, throwing, lifting, self-defense, swimming, which are part of three main forces:

• Energetic sense or virile: energy, willpower, courage, coolness and firmness
• Moral sense: benevolence, assistance, honor and honesty.
• Physical sense: muscles and breath.

During World War I and World War II, Hébert's teaching continued to expand, becoming the standard system of French military education and training. Thus, Hébert was one of the proponents of parcours — an obstacle course, developed by a Swiss architect, which is standard in the military training and led to the development of civilian fitness trails and confidence courses. Also, French soldiers and firefighters developed their obstacle courses known as parcours du combattant and parcours SP.

Belle family

Raymond Belle was born in French Indochina (now Vietnam) but his father died during the First Indochina War and Raymond was separated from his mother during the division of Vietnam in 1954. He was taken by the French Army in Da Lat and received a military education and training that shaped his character.

After the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, Raymond was repatriated to France and completed his military education in 1958. Although trained to kill, he would go on to save lives. At age 19, his dedication to fitness and willingness helped him to serve in Paris's regiment of sapeurs-pompiers (military firefighters).

With his athletic ability, Raymond became the regiment's champion rope-climber and joined the regiment's elite team, composed of the unit's fittest and most agile firefighters. Its members were the ones called for the most difficult and dangerous rescue missions.

Lauded for his coolness, courage, and spirit of self-sacrifice, Raymond was to have a key role in the Parisian firefighters' first ever helicopter-borne operation. His many rescues, medals and exploits gave him a reputation of being an exceptional pompier and inspired the next young generation, especially his son David Belle and Sébastien Foucan, David's childhood colleague.

Born in a firefighter's family, David was influenced by stories of heroism. At age 16, David left the school to seek his love of freedom, action, and to develop his strength and dexterity to be useful in life, as Raymond had advised him.

Raymond introduced his son David to obstacle course training and the méthode naturelle. David participated in activities such as martial arts and gymnastics, and sought to apply his athletic prowess for some practical purpose.

Development in Lisses

In 1997, David Belle, Sébastien Foucan, Yann Hnautra, Charles Perrière, Malik Diouf, Guylain N'Guba-Boyeke, Châu Belle-Dinh, and Williams Belle created the group called Yamakasi, whose name comes from the Lingala language of Congo, and means strong spirit, strong body, strong man, endurance. After the musical show Notre Dame de Paris, David and Sébastien split up due to money and disagreements over the definition of l'art du déplacement, resulting in the production of Yamakasi (film) in 2001 and the French documentary Génération Yamakasi without David and Foucan.

Over the years, as dedicated practitioners improved their skills, their moves grew. Building-to-building jumps and drops of over a story became common in media portrayals, often leaving people with a slanted view of parkour. Actually, ground-based movements are more common than anything involving rooftops, due to accessibility to find legal places to climb in an urban area. From the Parisian suburbs, parkour became a widely practiced activity outside France.

Philosophy

"Why do I train people? I think it is important to preserve that. I think they will share this practical experience. And represent it is... I believe it is just share something. It should not be lost. It has to stay alive! I do not want to have this experience, and just write it in a book, it would become a dead experience! I want it to be alive! I want people to use it, to live it and to experience it."

Another aspect of the philosophy is the freedom. It is often said that parkour can be practiced by anyone, at anytime, anywhere in the world. This freedom has made it a powerful cultural force in Europe, with its influence spreading around the world. Châu Belle Dinh states more behind philosophy than its definition:

A recent convention of parkour philosophy has been the idea of "human reclamation." This theory asserts that parkour is a means of stepping outside of the sedentary modern lifestyle and re-engaging with what it means to be human by moving in the same manner of primordial humans. Andy (Animus) of Parkour North America clarifies:

"In a lot of ways, parkour is a means of reclaiming what it means to be a human being. It teaches us to move using the natural methods that we should have learned from infancy. It teaches us to touch the world and interact with it, instead of being sheltered by it."

It is as much as a part of truly learning this activity as well as being able to master the movements, it gives you the ability to "overcome your fears and pains and reapply this to life" as you must be able to control your mind in order to master the art of parkour.

Andreas Kalteis, a non-Yamakasi traceur, has stated in documentary Parkour Journeys:

Non-rivalry

"Competition pushes people to fight against others for the satisfaction of a crowd and/or the benefits of a few business people by changing its mindset. Parkour is unique and cannot be a competitive sport if it ignores its altruistic core to self development. If parkour becomes a sport, it will be hard to seriously teach and spread parkour as a non-competitive activity. And a new sport will be spread that may be called parkour, but that won't hold its philosophical essence anymore."

Movements

There are fewer predefined movements in parkour than gymnastics, as it does not have a list of appropriate "moves". Each obstacle a traceur faces presents a unique challenge on how they can overcome it effectively, which depends on their body type, speed and angle of approach, the physical make-up of the obstacle, etc. Parkour is about training the bodymind to react to those obstacles appropriately with a technique that works. Often that technique cannot and need not be classified and given a name. In many cases effective parkour techniques depend on fast redistribution of body weight and the use of momentum to perform seemingly impossible or difficult body manoeuvres at speed. Absorption and redistribution of energy is also an important factor, such as body rolls when landing which reduce impact forces on the legs and spine, allowing a traceur to jump from greater heights than those often considered sensible in other forms of acrobatics and gymnastics.

According to David Belle, you want to move in such a way that will help you gain the most ground as if escaping or chasing something. Also, wherever you go, you must be able to get back, if you go from A to B, you need to be able to get back from B to A, but not necessarily with the same movements or passements.

Despite this, there are many basic techniques that are emphasized to beginners for their versatility and effectiveness. Most important are good jumping and landing techniques. The roll, used to limit impact after a drop and to carry one's momentum onward, is often stressed as the most important technique to learn. Many traceurs develop joint problems from too many large drops and rolling incorrectly. Parkour has sometimes received concerns for its health issues due to large drops. Communities in Great Britain have been warned by law enforcement or fire and rescue of the risk in jumping in the high buildings. Although David Belle has never been seriously injured while practising parkour, there is no careful study about the health issues of large drops and traceurs stress gradual progression to avoid any problems. Despite this, the American traceur Mark Toorock and Lanier Johnson, executive director of the American Sports Medicine Institute say that injuries are rare because parkour is based on the control of movements not on what cannot be controlled.

Basic movements

Accessories

• Light upper body garment - such as T-shirt, sleeveless shirt or crop top.

* Light lower body garment - such as light trousers or light shorts. The only gear really required is comfortable athletic shoes that are generally light, with good grip. Some traceurs use sweat-bands for forearm protection, or even thin athletic gloves to protect the hands, but most traceurs advise against this as it reduces grip and feel.

However, since parkour is closely related to méthode naturelle, sometimes practitioners train barefooted to be able to move efficiently without depending on their gear. David Belle has said: "bare feet are the best shoes!

Free running

The term free running was coined during the filming of Jump London, as a way to present parkour to the English-speaking world. However, free running and parkour are separate, distinct concepts—a distinction which is often missed due to the aesthetic similarities. Parkour as a discipline comprises efficiency, whilst free running embodies complete freedom of movement—and often includes many acrobatic maneuvers. Although often the two are physically similar, the mindsets of each are vastly different. Foucan defines free running as a discipline to self development, following your own way. While traceurs and traceuses practice parkour in order to improve their ability to overcome obstacles faster and in the most efficient manner, free runners practice and employ a broader array of movements that are not always necessary in order to overcome obstacles. The meaning of the different philosophical approaches to movement can be summed up by the following two quotes:

David Belle or PAWA team, or both emphasized the division between parkour and free running by stating:

In popular culture

Parkour has appeared in various television advertisements, news reports and entertainment pieces, often combined with other forms of acrobatics also called free running, street stunts and tricking.

The most notable appearances have been in narrative films:

• Jackie Chan's First Strike (1996)
• Yamakasi (2001)
• District B13 (2004)
• The Great Challenge (2004)
• Casino Royale (2006)
• Breaking and Entering (2006)
• Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
• Impudent Days (Russian) (2007)
• You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)
• The Incredible Hulk (With Cyril Raffaelli credited as the parkour coordinator) (2008)
• Wanted (2008)

Outside North America, notable parkour documentaries include:

• Génération Yamakasi - Vol au dessus des cités
• Jump London (2003)
• Jump Britain (2005)
• Jump Westminster (2007)
• Parkour journeys (2007)

See also

• Mirror's Edge - An upcoming video game that incorporates many elements of parkour.
• Buildering - the act of climbing the outside of buildings and other urban structures. The word is a portmanteau combining the word "building" with the climbing term "bouldering".
• Dérive - a French situationist philosophy of re-envisioning one's relation to urban spaces (psychogeography) and acting accordingly.
• Free climbing - a style of climbing using no artificial aids to make progress.
• Freestyle walking - considered to be a less extreme form of parkour
• Tricking - an art with roots in different forms of martial arts and gymnastics, often mistaken for parkour by the media and public.
• Street stunts - "urban gymnastics" an activity usually practiced both by free runners and tricksters.
• Yamakasi - a group founded by David Belle and Sébastien Foucan 3 years before parkour with emphasis on style, fluidity and freedom. It is also a 2001 movie.
• Contact improvisation - a dance technique in which points of physical contact provide the starting point for movement improvisation and exploration.

References