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Parkour

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Image:Pksautdebras.jpg Parkour (IPA: [paʁ.'kuʁ], often abbreviated PK) is a physical discipline of French origin in which the participant — called a traceur (/tʁa.'sœʁ/) — attempts to pass obstacles in the fastest and most direct manner possible, using skills such as jumping, vaulting and climbing, or the more specific parkour moves. The obstacles can be anything in the environment, so parkour is often practiced in urban areas because of many suitable public structures, such as buildings, rails, and walls.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Parkour is a physical discipline inspired by human movement. It focuses on uninterrupted, efficient forward motion over, under, around and through obstacles (both man-made and natural) in one's environment. Such movement may come in the form of running, jumping, climbing and more complex techniques. The goal of parkour is to adapt one's movement to any given obstacle.

According to founder David Belle, the spirit of parkour is guided in part by the notions of "escape" and "reach", that is, the idea of using physical agility and quick thinking to get out of difficult situations, and to be able to go anywhere that one desires. Free running, a closely related art emphasizing aesthetics, is most concerned with fluidity and beauty. For example, Sébastien Foucan, a free runner who trained with David Belle during the infancy of the art, speaks of being "fluid like water," a frequently used simile for the smooth passage of barriers through the use of parkour. Similarly, experienced traceur Jerome Ben Aoues explains in the documentary Jump London that:

The most important element is the harmony between you and the obstacle; the movement has to be elegant... If you manage to pass over the fence elegantly—that's beautiful, rather than saying 'I jumped the lot.' What's the point in that?

To some people (particularly non-practitioners), parkour is an extreme sport, to others a discipline more comparable to martial arts. Some consider it a combination of the two, recognizing similarities between parkour and the stunts and techniques of Hong Kong martial arts star Jackie Chan (who gained his skills from being trained for Beijing Opera), whose fight and chase scenes take place in industrial or urban environments. Still others see it as an art form akin to dance: a way to encapsulate human movement in its most beautiful form. Parkour is often connected with the idea of freedom, in the form of the ability to overcome aspects of one's surroundings that tend to confine; for example, railings, staircases, or walls, it also encompasses freedom on a non-physical level. The practice of parkour requires considerable physical and mental dedication, and many adherents describe it as a "way of life."

[edit] Terminology

The name parkour derives from the (identically pronounced) French word, "parcours", meaning "course". David Belle took inspiration from the french soldiers and their "parcours du combattant" (military obstacle course).

The term traceur is the substantive derived from the verb "tracer". Tracer normally means "to trace", "to draw", but also "going fast" (see, for instance, the relevant entry in Trésor de la langue française).

Freestyle Parkour (FSPK) is a misnomer sometimes used to describe free running. Use of the term is deprecated among parkour communities, as it implies that the practice is a type of parkour, which is not the case due to the fundamental differences in intention between the two activities.

[edit] History

In the Jump London documentary Sebastien Foucan says, "Free running has always existed, free running has always been there, the thing is that no one gave it a name, we didn't put it in a box." He makes a comparison with prehistoric man, "to hunt, or to chase, or to move around, they had to practice the free run."

Inspiration for parkour came from many sources, the foremost being the 'Natural Method of Physical Culture' developed by George Hébert in the early twentieth century. French soldiers in Vietnam were inspired by Hébert's work and created what is now known as parkour. David Belle was introduced to the art as well as Hébert's methode naturelle by his father, Raymond Belle, a French soldier who practiced the two disciplines. The word parkour derives from "parcours du combattant", the obstacle courses of Hébert's method and a classic of military training. The younger Belle had participated in activities such as martial arts and gymnastics, and sought to apply his athletic prowess in a manner that would have practical use in life.<ref name="DavidBelle">http://parkour.net/modules/articles/item.php?itemid=2</ref>

After moving to Lisses, Belle continued his journey with others.<ref name="DavidBelle" /> "From then on we developed," says Foucan in Jump London, "And really the whole town was there for us; there for free running. You just have to look, you just have to think, like children." This, as he describes, is "the vision of Parkour."

According to Foucan, the start of the "big jumps" was around the age of fifteen. Over the years as dedicated practitioners improved their skills, their moves continued to grow in magnitude, so that building-to-building jumps and drops of over a story became common in media portrayals, often leaving people with a slanted view on the nature of parkour. In fact, ground-based movement is much more common than anything involving rooftops.

The journey of parkour from the Parisian suburbs to its current status as a widely practised activity outside of France created splits among the originators. The founders of parkour started out in a group named the Yamakasi, but later separated due to disagreements over what David Belle referred to as "prostitution of the art," the production of a feature film starring the Yamakasi in 2001. Sebastian Foucan, David Belle, were amongst those who split at this point. The name 'Yamakasi' is taken from Lingala, a language spoken in the Congo, and means strong spirit, strong body, strong man.

[edit] Movements

There are fewer predefined movements in parkour than gymnastics and other extreme sports, in that parkour is about unlimited movement over obstacles; the ability to improvise is as important as being able to replicate previously practiced moves.

Despite this, there are many standard "basic" movements that many traceurs practice. Most important are good jumping and landing techniques. The roll, used to limit impact after a drop and to flow easily into the next movement, is often stressed as the most important move to learn. If a good roll is not used, Traceurs may get joint problems later in life.

Vaults are used to clear solid obstacles and come in many forms. Some recognised types of vaults add only technical skill (and hence sometimes aesthetic value) to a move and often not functionality, even sacrificing functionality for a more impressive look. These tend to be looked down on, as they are inefficient movement and thus not parkour. Many vaults are maximally functional to certain situations, but learning specific vaults is not as worthwhile as learning to improvise and adapt to differing situations.

For clearing gaps a number of methods are generally used; each is dependent on the particular obstacle in question, and as with the vaults a good improvisation technique aids traceurs far more than a pre-learned collection of techniques.

[edit] Non-parkour movements

Tricks, such as flips, are a topic of much debate amongst traceurs. Most experienced traceurs agree that since flips merely add to the aesthetic value and are rarely (see below) the most efficient way of passing an object and never useful, they are not parkour. However, some traceurs believe that tricks add style and total freedom of motion, and that parkour is not so rigidly defined. Free Running, a movement that stems from Parkour, embraces tricks as a way of artistic and physical expression. Free Running differs from parkour in that visual flair is also a goal, while parkour solely focuses on efficient movement.

David Belle has since released a statement declaring in no uncertain terms that Parkour is about efficient movement, and therefore flips and tricks are (in almost all cases) not parkour.[citation needed]

A movement by itself is not parkour unless it is used the right way. Vaulting a single rail could be considered parkour so long as it gets you somewhere faster than going around. Additionally, in parkour it should always be possible to return from any place you move to, although not necessarily via the same route.<ref name="David Belle message">http://www.pkcali.com/content.php?article.8</ref>

[edit] List of movements

Movements used in parkour include:
Image:Precision wiki2.jpg
A traceur performing a Saut de Précision
  • Demi Tour [dəmi tuʁ]: Any kind of turn vault; literally "half turn". This move is used to place yourself on the other side of an object, facing the direction you came.
  • Equilibre : Walking or crawling along the crest of an obstacle; literally "balance".
  • Franchissement [fʁɑ̃.ʃis.mɑ̃]: Jumping or swinging through a gap between obstacles; literally "to cross".
  • Laché [la.ʃe]: Hanging drop; lacher literally meaning "to let go". To hang (on a bar, on a wall, on a branch) and let go, dropping to the ground or to hang from another object.
  • Passement [pas.mɑ̃], Vault: Overcoming an obstacle by vaulting. General term.
  • Passe Muraille [pas my.ʁaɪ]: Overcoming of a wall.
  • Planche [plɑ̃ʃ], Muscle up/Climb-Up: To get from a hanging position (wall, rail, branch, arm jump, etc) into a position where your upper body is above the obstacle, supported by the arms. This then allows for you to climb up onto the obstacle and continue.
  • Reverse [ʁi.vɛʁs]: The reverse vault are those vaults where the traceur leads with his back. Most of the time this is followed by a spin to get facing forward again. Good to create torque in combinations and to use when you are very close to the obstacle or at an angle to it.
  • Roulade [ʁu.lad]: To roll on the diagonal of your back. Used primarily to transfer the momentum/energy from jumps.
  • Saut de Bras [so d bra], Arm Jump: To land on the side of an obstacle in a hanging/crouched position, the hands gripping the top edge, and thus holding the body, ready to perform a planche.
  • Saut de Chat [so d ʃa], Cat Jump: To dive onto an obstacle, place the hands, and follow through with tucked legs, pushing off with the hands to bring the body back into a vertical angle, ready to land.
  • Saut de Détente [so d de.tɑ̃t], Gap Jump: To jump from one place/object to another, over a gap/distance. This technique is most often followed with a roll.
  • Saut de Fond [so d fɔ̃], Drop: Literally 'jump to the ground / jump to the floor'. To jump down, or drop down from something.
  • Saut de Précision [so d presiziɔ̃], Precision Jump: To jump from one object to a precise spot on another object.
  • Tic Tac [tik tak]: To kick off a wall in order to overcome an obstacle in the path or gain height to grab something.

[edit] In popular culture

Parkour has appeared in various television advertisements, news reports, and entertainment pieces, sometimes combined with other forms of stunts and acrobatics.

[edit] Film

David Belle in a chase sequence from Banlieue 13.
  • After including parkour moves in a chase sequence in the film Taxi 2 (2000), in 2001 French filmmaker Luc Besson made a feature film, Yamakasi—Les samouraï des temps modernes (Yamakasi—the modern-day Samurai), featuring members of the original Yamakasi. The film tells the (fictional) tale of a group of young friends who use their parkour skills to evade capture, while stealing money to fund the healthcare of a child that was injured copying their parkour training. In 2004, Besson wrote Banlieue 13, another feature film involving parkour, starring David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli. An English subtitled version of Banlieue 13 was released in America, as District B13 in June 2006, and in the UK under the title, District 13, in July 2006.
  • An action sequence in the James Bond film, Casino Royale, is a construction site roof-top chase that implements many aspects of Parkour. Sebastien Foucan, the founder of the similar sport free running, plays a small-time terrorist after whom James Bond is chasing. The scene was filmed in Nassau, Bahamas.

[edit] Television

  • The British public was widely exposed to parkour during 2002 via the BBC television trailer Rush Hour, which depicted David Belle leaping across London's rooftops from his office to home, in an attempt to catch his favourite BBC programme.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2002/04_april/11/rush_hour.shtml</ref><ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAMAr8y-Vtw</ref> The piece generated a great deal of discussion, particularly after it was revealed that no special effects or wires were used (although it was partly filmed in Newcastle upon Tyne). It was later re-used for the BBC Children in Need appeal, with the face of Terry Wogan superimposed onto the body of Belle.
  • A Rogers Wireless mp3 phone commercial features a group of young adults running to meet another group via parkour on a rooftop, with a slogan "Tippin' on the brink".
  • A Canon 350D commercial on MTV shows a traceur.
  • An episode of the BBC's motoring programme Top Gear featured a race between James May in a new Peugeot 207 against two traceurs (Daniel Ilabaca and Kerbie from Worldwide JAM's 'Street Team') in the city of Liverpool on 23rd July 2006.<ref>Top Gear Series 8 Episode 7 23 July 2006</ref> The traceurs won the race to the Liver Building, if only because May, true to character, got lost on his way to the building.
  • A European advert for Microsoft's Xbox 360 features a car chase and chases over roof tops and streets all influenced by Parkour. One of its stars is Cyril Raffaelli, famous to many as Capt. Damien Tomaso in the 2004 French film Banlieue 13, also starring David Belle.
  • An Irish television advertisement for the shop "Lifestyle Sports" has a traceur jumping shelves in it.

[edit] Literature

  • Issue 6 of the limited series Global Frequency, written by noted comic book author Warren Ellis, tells the story of a young traceuse named Sita Patel who is tasked with the seemingly impossible task of crossing London in under twenty minutes to defuse a biological weapon. The issue, titled The Run, is a varied and detailed (and mostly believable) treatment of the topic. The series was published by Wildstorm Comics.

[edit] Video games

  • Assassin's Creed, another game in development by Ubisoft, has character movements inspired by free-running.
  • Splinter Cell series by Ubisoft contains many parkour movements.
  • Prince of Persia has extensive free running moves which are performed by the main character. The moves that the main character performed slowly evolved from parkour to free running, as his moves gained more and more extravagant and ostentatious flair during execution with each new sequel that came out.

[edit] Music Videos

  • Madonna featured parkour extensively in the Jump music video and its sequence for the Confessions Tour. It was also featured at the beginning of her music video for Hung Up.
  • David Guetta has released a new music video for his song "Love Don't Let Me Go (Walking Away)" which features parkour extensively throughout it.
  • German singer Liza Li chases after Austrian traceur Moses Kallweit in both cartoon and real life scenes on her video for the song "Ich könnte dich erschießen".

[edit] See also

Image:Commons-logo.svg
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
  • David Belle — the founder of Parkour and its most famous practitioner.
  • George Hébert — early proponent of the obstacle course, inspiration for Belle.
  • Yamakasi — a free running group and a 2001 movie.
  • Free running — an art form having the goal of visual flair, utilising techniques from parkour and tricking.
  • Free climbing — a style of climbing using no artificial aids to make progress.
  • Freestyle walking - an artistic means of self-expression and creative interaction with one's environment.
  • Bouldering — a style of climbing without a rope, generally limited in height for safety.
  • Buildering — the act of climbing the outside of buildings and other urban structures.
  • Garden Hopping - a sport in which participants attempt to sneak a set 'route' through private property, principally Gardens, without detection.

[edit] References

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[edit] External links

Wikibooks has more about this subject:

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