Post: #1

Did a quick search and nothing turned up, which is surprising 'cause it's been mentioned here several times.

Who here is into parkour? How/where do you train? Why do you do it?

I've been interested in it for a while, and it seems like it would be a great addition to my current (or any other) workout regime.

For anyone who doesn't know what parkour is, it's the art of getting from point A to B as fast as possible - via whatever means necessary. Since not everyone is in a giant rush all the time, it's mostly used for the purpose of staying fit doing cool street tricks.

Post: #2

So. . .is this like ninja training or something?

Post: #3

Think of it as street gymnastics, or the art of getting the fuck away from fatties. It's cool either way

Post: #4

Parkour was started by the French(believe it or not).

History[edit]

In Western Europe, a forerunner of Parkour was French naval officer Georges Hébert, who before World War I promoted athletic skill based on the models of indigenous tribes he had met in Africa.[19] He noted, "their bodies were splendid, flexible, nimble, skillful, enduring, and resistant but yet they had no other tutor in gymnastics but their lives in nature."[19] His rescue efforts during the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée on Saint-Pierre, Martinique, reinforced his belief that athletic skill must be combined with courage and altruism.[19] Hébert became a physical education tutor at the college of Reims in France. Hébert set up a "méthode naturelle" (natural method) 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:[20] 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,[21] which is now standard in military training and which led to the development of civilian fitness trails and confidence courses.[19]
Born in 1939 in what is now Vietnam, Raymond Belle was the son of a French doctor and Vietnamese mother. He was cut off from his parents by the struggle for independence and sent to a military orphanage at the age of 7. Isolated there, he had to become stronger in order to survive. He took it upon himself to train harder and longer than everyone else in order to never be a victim. He would do extra training at night when everyone else was asleep, go for runs, climb trees. He would use the military obstacle courses in secret, but he also created courses of his own that tested his endurance, his strength, his flexibility. Doing this enabled him not only to survive the hardships he experienced during his childhood, but also eventually to thrive. In 1954, he returned to France and remained in military education until 1958, when someone who was impressed by his abilities suggested that he join the Paris fire-fighters.[22][23]
David Belle was born in 1973. He was raised by his grandfather, but remained in contact with his father. As a young boy, David was not gifted either physically or academically. He experimented with gymnastics and athletics, but became increasingly disaffected with both school and the sports clubs. As he got older though, he started to read the newspaper clippings that told of his father's exploits and got more and more curious about what had enabled his father to accomplish these feats. Through conversations with his father, he realised that what he really wanted was a means to become truly useful, developing skills that would be useful to him in life, rather than just training to kick a ball or perform moves in a padded, indoor environment.[23][24]
Eventually, through conversations with his father, he learned about this way of training that his father called 'parcours'. He learned of the hours spent on obstacle courses, and of moving from branch to branch in the forest. He heard his father talk of the hundreds and thousands of repetitions he had done in order to find the best way of doing things. What he learned too was that for his father, training was not a game but something vital, something that enabled him to survive and to protect the people he cared about. David realised that this was what he had been searching for and so he began training in that way too. After a time, he realised it was far more important to him than schooling and he gave up his other commitments to focus all his time on his training.[24]
Initially David trained on his own, however later he found other people (including his cousins) who had similar desires and they began to train together. The group at that time included David Belle, Sébastien Foucan, Châu Belle Dinh, Williams Belle, Yann Hnautra, Laurent Pietmontesi, Guylain N'Guba Boyeke, Malik Diouf, and Charles Perriére, amongst others. Gradually, the training ideas were passed on to others who came to learn and the number of practitioners expanded slowly, but as the practising became more like a discipline than a pastime, many people would leave the group.
In the late 1990s, after David's brother sent some pictures and video to a French TV programme, Parkour's recognition and popularity began to increase. A series of television programmes in various countries subsequently featured video footage of the group, and as the popularity increased, they began to get more and more offers. Eventually, the original group split apart to pursue different goals, some staying with the discipline and others leaving. The number of practitioners in total though kept on increasing and Parkour's popularity began to spread around the globe through television, feature film and increasing use of online video-sharing methods.[23][25]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour

Post: #5

Quote:Since not everyone is in a giant rush all the time, it's mostly used for the purpose of staying fit doing cool street tricks.

I used to do it quite frequently, minus the tricks. Pretty useful when running away from somebody.

Post: #6

Looks like Assassins Creed for real life.

I wonder if these people have knees after a couple of years of this.

Post: #7

If you've ever seen Casino Royale, the black guy who Craig is chasing is the founder of parkour (Might be free-running) That was a pretty epic scene. I'd love to do it, but my area simply isn't built for it

Post: #8

(07-10-2013 06:09 PM)Spirited Wrote:  If you've ever seen Casino Royale, the black guy who Craig is chasing is the founder of parkour (Might be free-running) That was a pretty epic scene. I'd love to do it, but my area simply isn't built for it

Yeah you are right:

Post: #9

Running from the cops with hot goods in your possession..isn't that also parkour?

Post: #10

Post: #11

Kind of reminds me of this

Post: #12

Parkour is fun & should be discussed more than it is now. The ancients surely performed movements that would be considered parkour/freerunning movements today. You don't need special equipment to do parkour. If you have comfortable clothes, good running shoes, adequate strength & conditioning and a vivid imagination, then you're ready to start doing parkour. It's recommended to find a good inner city spot for potential parkour training areas, as the suburbs & rural areas won't offer many opportunities.

Click here for a list of parkour moves (web version). Click here for a pdf guide version of the parkour moves. I also have a copy of "The Ultimate Parkour & Freerunning Book" somewhere...

I watched this parkour documentary 9 years ago and it's a great portrayal of the essence of parkour/free running. I may watch it again to refresh my memory when I have the time. Enjoy!


I also recommend watching Jump London & Jump Britain:


I'll never forget the Millennium Stadium rooftop jump by Sebastien Foucan in Jump Britain. (scroll to 33:20 for the full build up. The jump occurs at 34:40) This is the same Sebastien Foucan from the Casino Royale chase scene.

Talk about a leap of faith.

Lastly, you can't discuss parkour without showing this David Belle movie clip.

Interesing note: The portrayal of Paris in this film, District 13 (2004), is not far off from reality. I highly recommend this film.

TL;DW/R: Parkour is to a man as a children's playground is to a boy. Parkour is essentially looking to move around like a boy in the playground. Parkour teaches a man to unleash the curious child within him, which has been suppressed for far too long.
_______________________________________________
"Train not to get something right, train so that you can never get it wrong." - David Belle #246

Post: #13

I remember this getting a lot of publicity a few years back. Must say that it struck me that you needed to be extremely fit to begin with, so it wasn't really of much use to the Average Joe looking to improve his levels of fitness.

Post: #14

(12-26-2018 05:38 AM)Nordwand Wrote:  I remember this getting a lot of publicity a few years back. Must say that it struck me that you needed to be extremely fit to begin with, so it wasn't really of much use to the Average Joe looking to improve his levels of fitness.

Depends. How Built to Like said, it's based on children going around the playground. Now that I think about it, I was a scrawny child but man....I'd jump out of random ass places, go down poles, climb the slide backwards, get on top of the tobogan tube among other crazy shit.

It was the hormones man!

Post: #15

It's really not worth it. Sure, it gives you an adrenaline rush but there's a lot of other things that you could also do that involve a smaller risk. I have a friend who's been doing parkour for several years and now he's practically in a wheelchair.

Post: #16

I first heard about parkour in 2005-2006 and this was one of the first videos: