Parkour (sometimes also abbreviated to PK ) or l'art du déplacement (English: the art of moving ) is a non competitive physical discipline of French origin in which participants run along a route, attempting to negotiate obstacles in the most efficient way possible, as if moving in an emergency situation, using skills such as jumping and climbing, or the more specific parkour moves. The object is to get from one place to another using only the human body and the objects in the environment. The obstacles can be anything in one's environment, but parkour is often seen practiced in urban areas because of the many suitable public structures that are accessible to most people, such as buildings and rails.
The official definition from the American Parkour website says, "Parkour is the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one's path by adapting one's movements to the environment."
Parkour practitioners are often called traceurs if male, or traceuses if female.
Overview
Physical aspects
Parkour is most often practiced outdoors, usually without spectators, and is not considered to be performance oriented. According to REFO, "the physical aspect of Parkour consists of getting over all the obstacles in your path as you would in an emergency. You want to move in such a way that helps you gain the most ground on someone or something, whether escaping from it or moving towards it." As martial arts are a form of training for the fight, parkour is a form of training for the flight.
Parkour is an urban sport and as a traceur (people practicing this discipline) you focus on moving from point a to point b as fast, smoothly and efficiently as possible. You are using the abilities of your body to surpass any obstacle in your surrounding whereby you are given complete freedom – physically and mentally.— Urban IdiotsTwo primary characteristics of parkour are efficiency and speed. Practitioners are supposed to take the most direct path around an obstacle as rapidly as that path can be traversed. Developing one's level of spatial awareness is often used to aid development in these areas. Also, efficiency involves avoiding injuries, both short and long term. This idea embodying parkour's unofficial motto is être et durer (to be and to last). Those who are skilled at this activity normally have extremely keen spatial awareness.
Parkour's emphasis on efficiency distinguishes it from the similar practice of free running, which places more emphasis on freedom of movement and creativity. However, it is not certain whether free running was initially intended to be similar to parkour.
Mental aspects
Traceurs say that parkour also influences one's thought processes 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 more excitement and leadership situations than gymnastic practitioners.
Terminology
The first terms used to describe this form of training were l'art du déplacement and le parcours .
The term parkour ( ) was coined 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.
Traceur and traceuse are substantives derived from the French verb tracer which normally means "to trace", or "to draw", but which is also a slang for "to go fast".
History
See also: Timeline of parkourHébert's legacy
Main article: Georges HébertBefore 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:
Their bodies were splendid, flexible, nimble, skillful, enduring, resistant and yet they had no other tutor in gymnastics but their lives in nature.— Georges Hébert,On May 8, 1902, the town of Saint-Pierre, Martinique, where he was stationed, suffered from the volcanic eruption of Mount Pelée. Hébert coordinated 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 various apparati and exercises to teach his méthode naturelle , which he defined as:
Methodical, progressive and continuous action, from childhood to adulthood, that has as its objective: assuring integrated physical development; increasing organic resistances; emphasizing aptitudes across all genres of natural exercise and indispensable utilities (walking, running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, equilibrium (balancing), throwing, lifting, defending and swimming); developing one's energy and all other facets of action or virility such that all assets, both physical and virile, are mastered; one dominant moral idea: altruism.— Georges Hébert,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 or virile sense: 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
Main articles: Raymond Belle and David BelleRaymond Belle was born in French Indochina (now Vietnam). 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. At age 19, his dedication to fitness helped him serve in Paris's regiment of sapeurs-pompiers (the French fire service).
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 self-sacrifice, Raymond played a key role in the Parisian firefighters' first 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.
Born in a firefighter's family, David was influenced by stories of heroism. 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. At age 17, David left school seeking freedom and action. He continued to develop his strength and dexterity in order to be useful in life, as Raymond had advised him.
Development in Lisses
It was the end of the day. I was just doing stuff with a bunch of kids. I fall all the time — I fall like the monkeys — but it never shows up on film, because they just want the spectacular stuff.— David Belle on his video, The New YorkerAfter moving to Lisses commune, David Belle continued his journey with others. "From then on we developed," says Sébastien Foucan in Jump London, "And really the whole town was there for us; there
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