Anyone into Parkour?

[Adrian II]

Is anyone here into Parkour or Free Running as it is called in the U.S. and Canada? If so, please tell me (us) what you do, when and where, what sites you like, what the appeal is for you, how you feel about it.

I find this stuff fascinating. I heard about it in Paris some ten years ago, and it seems to have become a rage among youths everywhere. For those who hear about it for the first time, here is a decent article (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1607235,00.html)on it.

And here are some nice moves from Russia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEbYtOEftc0). A great clip too, one of the best amateur clips I have seen in a while. Makes me wish I were 17 again.

[Hosakawa Tito]

That should be an event in the Extreme Olympics, absolutely incredible.
These old knees ache just watching that...

[Sasaki Kojiro]

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=79823&highlight=anyone+into+parkour

The last thread on it. DemonArchangel does it.


Adrian, did you see District B13?

[Adrian II]

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=79823&highlight=anyone+into+parkour

The last thread on it. DemonArchangel does it.

Adrian, did you see District B13?Thanks for the link, I must have missed that one in the Frontroom.

I haven't seen the movie, but I believe the actor David Belle from B13 is the same guy who was mentioned in that article I linked to. Here's a French tv report (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBapQdXxGKg&mode=related&search=)on him. It says Bell's father was in the army, and later he was a fireman (and a gymnast) while Belle's best friend in is also a fireman.

Amazing stuff though. Look at the guy's muscles, the control he has over his body, the way his limbs seem semi-detached from the torso when he moves. That double jump at 55 sec into the clip. Just.. wow.

Still, I remember reading or hearing a (tv) report ten years ago about true cross-town parkour in Paris, where guys would climb and hop from building to building in the heart of the city, sometimes with the police on their heels (or rather, well behind them..).

[DemonArchangel]

Adrian: My preferred jamming spot is at Georgetown University (Exorcist Steps anybody?)

Another spot I like to jam at would be Bethesda, Maryland.

Why do I do it? Because I like the freedom of movement that it offers me.

How often? All the time, either for conditioning or for actual practice. It's no secret you must be in excellent physical shape to practice Parkour or Freerunning.

I feel that Parkour should be practiced by more people.

And also, the Time article is HORRIBLE. It misrepresents Parkour as something that is dangerous.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_wilkinson

This is a better article.

P.s: About David Belle, he is an extremely good Traceur. So are the people here at www.americanparkour.com

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Amazing stuff though. Look at the guy's muscles, the control he has over his body, the way his limbs seem semi-detached from the torso when he moves. That double jump at 55 sec into the clip. Just.. wow.


Yes, now imagine that choreographed for maximum impressiveness with appropriate music.

There's a clip from it on youtube somewhere. Definitely worth a watch.

[DemonArchangel]

Sasaki: David Belle is the BEST Traceur. He is a consummate athlete, just like any Olympian.

However, I do not believe achieving his level of fitness is impossible. You must be dedicated to the cause and you must put in the work.

[Adrian II]

Sasaki: David Belle is the BEST Traceur. He is a consummate athlete, just like any Olympian.

However, I do not believe achieving his level of fitness is impossible. You must be dedicated to the cause and you must put in the work.Yeah, it's definitely the same guy. And hey, he has ten years on everyone else, so who knows what you can achieve one day, DemonArchangel.

I really liked the article you linked to. I can only imagine the sense of freedom, both from the control you have over your body and the control you have over your environment. And the choreography of some jumps is just superb.

Is that Dvinsk clan the real thing? I recognize the kind of delapidated factories and apartment buioldings they use, you find tomany of them on the ourskirts of Saint Petersburg or Moscow or any other big city in Russia. It's like a natural landscape where traceurs can act and feel like the holy monkeys in that Indian temple.

Eghhh, and me, I'm just a blob in a suit. :thumbsdown: :laugh4:



Exorcist Steps

https://img147.imageshack.us/img147/2539/exorciststeps2nu8.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

https://img177.imageshack.us/img177/759/exorciststeps3ac9.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

[DemonArchangel]

Dvinsk Clan: Yea. I haven't had the pleasure of jamming (practicing Parkour) with Oleg before though.

Ah, nice shots of the Exorcist steps. I just find it funny there's a gas station (Exxon) right beside them.

Speaking of "natural landscape", practicing Parkour in a natural environment is one of the higher forms of the art, due to its unpredictability vs. an urban environment.

http://college.georgetown.edu/images/uploaded/homepage/marystatues.jpg

One of my favorite walls to run up ever. The wall is very "textural" and interesting (it's also higher coming up from the street side).

[JR-]

having read and watched stuff on parkour i realised that i have always done the 'stunts' from parkour, just not the running.

flips, jumps, climbing over buildings, trees, outcrops is something i have always done, i just never strung it together. the intention was always to achieve unhindered and unimpeded movement.

great stuff.

[Adrian II]

flips, jumps, climbing over buildings, trees, outcrops is something i have always done, i just never strung it together. the intention was always to achieve unhindered and unimpeded movement.Yeah, and the whole thing is appealing on so many levels. You know how big city life can be anonymous, imposing, even crushing. This is a way for young people to 'take back' the city, to get to know their way around the urban jungle, master it, turn it into a ballet floor.

It's the Dvinsk clip that really got to me. I can so imagine these guys feeling on top of the world as they roam up and down those old run-down mills and deserted apartment blocks, like monkeys in a concrete jungle. It also has very old echoes of the rites of passage of previous stages of mankind, of young people learning to master their world and themselves at the same time. And it's bleeping dangerous. I mean, one wrong move and you lose your front teeth, one wrong turn and you break your neck or end up with a quadruple hip fracture that leaves you chairbound for months (if not for life..).

[DemonArchangel]

having read and watched stuff on parkour i realised that i have always done the 'stunts' from parkour, just not the running.

flips, jumps, climbing over buildings, trees, outcrops is something i have always done, i just never strung it together. the intention was always to achieve unhindered and unimpeded movement.

great stuff.

Ok, there is a misconception about Parkour in that above bit.

1.) Parkour is not about doing "stunts" or "unimpeded movement". That falls within the separate realm of Freerunning. Parkour is purely about the most efficient movement possible.


It's the Dvinsk clip that really got to me. I can so imagine these guys feeling on top of the world as they roam up and down those old run-down mills and deserted apartment blocks, like monkeys in a concrete jungle. It also has very old echoes of the rites of passage of previous stages of mankind, of young people learning to master their world and themselves at the same time. And it's bleeping dangerous. I mean, one wrong move and you lose your front teeth, one wrong turn and you break your neck or end up with a quadruple hip fracture that leaves you chairbound for months (if not for life..).

Dvinsk Clan is what got me to start doing Parkour/Freerunning in the first place. It used to be my all time favorite video, until I realized that Oleg uses many faulty and improper techniques in the video (he cannot roll or land correctly, for example, in the part where he backflips off that high ledge, he just smacks his head instead of doing a backwards roll.)

About being "bleeping dangerous", I guess there is an element of danger, although I try as hard as I can to deemphasize the part of Parkour that is dangerous to the community at large. Parkour can be a very safe activity if you do the following.

1.) Know Yourself: You must know your own limits. You must know exactly what you can and cannot do. If you have any doubts as to whether you can perform a move, you don't do it.

2.) Know Your Terrain: Certain obstacles are no-go. Pipes and gutters for example, aren't weight bearing structures and tend to easily give way.

3.) Train Hard, Train Smart: Many injuries are due to the lack of strength and conditioning of the Traceur (Parkour Practitioner), relative the level of technique that he/she is performing. Taking big drops before you're ready will get you hurt, as would clipping your feet vaulting a too high obstacle.

4.) Learn Injury Reduction Techniques: The most important injury reduction technique is learning how to land properly (knees bent deep, on the toes, instead of the straight legged gymnastic land, or the common heel landing). Another extremely important technique is the roll, which lets you distribute your force over a wider area upon impact. A third important technique is the cat-hang, which lets you properly hang on the side of a ledge without tearing your arms off (go in legs first)

If you want to know more about Parkour, just simply ask.

[R'as al Ghul]

Yeah, and the whole thing is appealing on so many levels. You know how big city life can be anonymous, imposing, even crushing. This is a way for young people to 'take back' the city, to get to know their way around the urban jungle, master it, turn it into a ballet floor.


I agree, but isn't that what skating once promised?
Nowadays skating obviously means wearing long hair and carrying your board to the next halfpipe or skatepark. In my time we'd just try to skate everywhere.
But to imagine that this could become popular and you'd see people jump and somersault over obstacles in the city would surely be a great sight. Some of the movements even reminded me of kung-fu movies. Running up the walls, flying etc. Like ninjas. :grin2:

R'as

[JR-]

Ok, there is a misconception about Parkour in that above bit.
1.) Parkour is not about doing "stunts" or "unimpeded movement". That falls within the separate realm of Freerunning. Parkour is purely about the most efficient movement possible.

i understand the difference between parkour and free-running. :)

i used the words stunts in inverted commas because >I< did them as single set piece movements, rather than a continuous flow of movements.

there is also nothing incorrect in equating unimpeded movement with parkour, as it is another way of saying; "the most efficient movement possible".

my interest in parkour (and free-running) is probably because i see it as the natural meeting point of my two historic sports; gymnastics and rock-climbing combined with a lifelong addiction to scampering across anything that looked dangerous/exciting.

[Adrian II]

Dvinsk Clan is what got me to start doing Parkour/Freerunning in the first place. It used to be my all time favorite video, until I realized that Oleg uses many faulty and improper techniques in the video (he cannot roll or land correctly, for example, in the part where he backflips off that high ledge, he just smacks his head instead of doing a backwards roll.)Hey, even Belle smacks concrete walls and stuff ~;)
Whatever, I don't know half he moves so I'm no good judge. But I can see Oleg has had training as a gymnast, which is no surprise in the former East Bloc. Somewhere halfway the clip he and his pal do vaults over a big concrete boulder and those are clearly pommel horse flares.

[Louis VI the Fat]

nice moves from Russia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEbYtOEftc0).Amateurs. They've got nothing on me running off in the morning when I'm late again, tic tacing walls and saut de chatting cars at full speed. :knight:

[DemonArchangel]

i understand the difference between parkour and free-running. :)

i used the words stunts in inverted commas because >I< did them as single set piece movements, rather than a continuous flow of movements.

there is also nothing incorrect in equating unimpeded movement with parkour, as it is another way of saying; "the most efficient movement possible".

my interest in parkour (and free-running) is probably because i see it as the natural meeting point of my two historic sports; gymnastics and rock-climbing combined with a lifelong addiction to scampering across anything that looked dangerous/exciting.

Cool. Your way of looking at it is a good way. I just learned about a new way to look at Parkour.

Also Adrian: Yes, I know he has training as gymnast. His rolls are classic gymnast rolls, which are more aesthetically pleasing, but tend to place a great deal of pressure on the spine.

Louis VI: If I'm ever in France, we're racing.

[Adrian II]

Amateurs. They've got nothing on me running off in the morning when I'm late again, tic tacing walls and saut de chatting cars at full speed. :knight:Me too! I was inspired by those clips so I decided to run to work this morning, backflipping on the top of the subway and up the stairs, then I did a monkey through the office window, tic-tacced my secretary, double-summersaulted over the heads of my two interns into my chair and broke my neck.
:help: :skull:

[JR-]

Cool. Your way of looking at it is a good way. I just learned about a new way to look at Parkour.

Also Adrian: Yes, I know he has training as gymnast. His rolls are classic gymnast rolls, which are more aesthetically pleasing, but tend to place a great deal of pressure on the spine.

Louis VI: If I'm ever in France, we're racing.
just to be clear; now that Parkour exists I am very tempted to try things the Parkour way via continuous movement, i.e. running. :)

when i refer to pulling off 'stunts' i am talking about about me aged 10 to aged 25, an era of time that ended shortly after Y2K and thus before Parkour was widely known about. :p

[Beirut]

Parkours is so 2006.

We prefer Parkrane...
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/horsesass/commons027.jpg

and Partree.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/horsesass/treejob017.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/horsesass/Photo-8.jpg

[Papewaio]

You're lucky Freud is no longer flavour of the month. ::clown:

[IrishArmenian]

My friends and I used to try this when we were younger, but now I have to be a model for the recruits *dusts of uniform*. Really though, I cannot afford getting injured anymore.

[Soulforged]

And also, the Time article is HORRIBLE. It misrepresents Parkour as something that is dangerous.

As everything it depends on how you make it. Some guys here wanted to defy the limits and ended up doing Parkour on the sewers and there was a flood, you can get the pieces together...:no:

[Beren Son Of Barahi]

I thought the guys who started this stuff, called it "yamakazie"?? or something like that, very impressive...

[DemonArchangel]

Yamakasi. Look it up.

[Adrian II]

As everything it depends on how you make it. Some guys here wanted to defy the limits and ended up doing Parkour on the sewers and there was a flood, you can get the pieces together...:no:Well, I think gymnastics is a good reference point. Gymnastics is a tough discipline and quite hazardous. You see the most successful athltes perform at the Olympics; you don't get to see the people who ended up with dislocated backs or joints, fractured limbs or worst of all: broken necks. The main difference being that Parkour is public and, let's face it, often illegal. It's basically an unsolicited intrusion, and that's a real issue. I love to watch those clips, but I wouldn't want to see some seventeen-year-old kid crash into a bloody heap on my balcony one sunny afternoon.

[The Wizard]

These guys are like the real-life Prince of Persia. Strong like lions, too, and it looks good watching it, to boot. One hell of a sport, but not my cup of coffee. I'm staying near the weight pile ~:pimp:

[DemonArchangel]

Well, I think gymnastics is a good reference point. Gymnastics is a tough discipline and quite hazardous. You see the most successful athletes perform at the Olympics; you don't get to see the people who ended up with dislocated backs or joints, fractured limbs or worst of all: broken necks. The main difference being that Parkour is public and, let's face it, often illegal. It's basically an unsolicited intrusion, and that's a real issue. I love to watch those clips, but I wouldn't want to see some seventeen-year-old kid crash into a bloody heap on my balcony one sunny afternoon.

I've actually seen far more injuries in gymnastics than in Parkour. This is probably because there are far fewer Traceurs than gymnasts out there, and the Traceurs that are there are better and stronger athletes than the gymnasts out there on average. Concrete and asphalt are far less forgiving media than crash mats at the gym and it takes training and conditioning on a higher level than what is seen in gymnastics in order to perform Parkour properly without injury.

For example, at my university (University of Maryland, College Park), there are 100+ gymnasts, and only 10 Traceurs at the most. A good Traceur will suffer injury rarely, due to his/her (sometimes dramatically) higher level of conditioning and strength, in addition to the injury reduction techniques taught in Parkour.

Those who jump too fast into Parkour are the ones that splatter onto your balcony in a particularly bloody fashion. Lack of proper conditioning is the most common cause of injury.

As for unwanted intrusion? Hey why take the elevator or the stairs?

[DemonArchangel]

I have a video or two.

http://www.parkour.tv/show-video.php?video-name=speeders-compilation-parkour-freerun

Team Speeders from France.

http://www.parkour.tv/show-video.php?video-name=docendo-discimus-parkour-precision-underbar

Purist Parkour from Britain.

[JR-]

second video is brilliant, cheerws.

[DemonArchangel]

Blane from Team Traceur is one of the best Traceurs in Britain. His technical skill amazes even Mark Toorock, founder of American Parkour.

[Adrian II]

I have a video or two.

http://www.parkour.tv/show-video.php?video-name=speeders-compilation-parkour-freerun

Team Speeders from France.

http://www.parkour.tv/show-video.php?video-name=docendo-discimus-parkour-precision-underbar

Purist Parkour from Britain.Nice stuff!

Sorry for my late reaction, I was hospitalized after breaking three ribs and an ankle when I backflipped out the office window last week.. Not.

I was thinking there must be some ancient history to this thing, criminal to be precise. Throughout modern history there have been burglar guilds whose members climbed building facades or rainpipes in alleyways to get inside big mansions and official buildings. I believe I once saw a German booklet about them called Die Faszadenkletterer or something. Think of Hitchcock's To Catch A Thief (1955) with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant, or of Robert Wagner's 1968-70 It Takes A Thief series.

[DemonArchangel]

Adrian: It's more ancient than that. The movements of Parkour were first practiced when caveman vaulted a fallen log while being chased by a pissed off cougar.

[Pannonian]

Nice stuff!

Sorry for my late reaction, I was hospitalized after breaking three ribs and an ankle when I backflipped out the office window last week.. Not.

I was thinking there must be some ancient history to this thing, criminal to be precise. Throughout modern history there have been burglar guilds whose members climbed building facades or rainpipes in alleyways to get inside big mansions and official buildings. I believe I once saw a German booklet about them called Die Faszadenkletterer or something. Think of Hitchcock's To Catch A Thief (1955) with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant, or of Robert Wagner's 1968-70 It Takes A Thief series.
IIRC there were some 19th century references to a Spring-Heeled Blane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Heeled_Jack) or something.

[Ronin]

Adrian: It's more ancient than that. The movements of Parkour were first practiced when caveman vaulted a fallen log while being chased by a pissed off cougar.


the ultimate trial-by-fire.....you´re either really good or you´re lunch :laugh4:

[Adrian II]

IIRC there were some 19th century references to a Spring-Heeled Blane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Heeled_Jack) or something.Thank you! Oh I love this sort of stuff, popular culture is a never-ending inspiration for me.

https://img164.imageshack.us/img164/2271/springheeledjack2003mc9.jpg (https://imageshack.us)
Teh Spring-Heeled Jack

@ DemonArchangel
I see what you mean. There were no nine-story caves with railed staircases in those days.
On the other hand, it's still a jungle out there in our own time. :bow:

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Have you guys heard about the new offshoot of Parkour?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlacXUJP4mw

[Adrian II]

Have you guys heard about the new offshoot of Parkour?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlacXUJP4mwhttps://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2205/fouriretj1.gif (https://imageshack.us)

[DemonArchangel]

Lol. :2thumbsup:

[Adrian II]

IIRC there were some 19th century references to a Spring-Heeled Blane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Heeled_Jack) or something.This parkour thingy has many more roots, both big and small, that are worth exploring. In a way it is as old as the city.

Here's some more from The Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1899447.ece).