Parkour (Frenc pronunciation: [pa??ku?]) (abbreviated PK), also called as the "art of displacement", [1] is a training discipline that developed out of military obstacle course training.[2][3][4]
Practitioners aim to move from one place to another, negotiating the obstacles in between. The discipline uses no equipment and is non-competitive. A male practitioner is generally called a "traceur", a female a "traceuse".
Developed by Raymond Belle, David Belle, S e bastien Foucan and other members of the original Yamakasi group, parkour became popular in the 1990s and 2000s through a series of documentaries and films featuring these practitioners and others.
History
Though S e bastien Foucan statesJiunmp London that "le parkour has always existed, freerunning has always been there, the thing is that no one gave it a name, we didn't put it in the box," the roots of the modern discipline can be traced.
In Western Europe, a forerunner of parkour was French naval officer Georges H before World War I promoted athletic skill based on the models of indigenous tribes he had met in Africa. [11] 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." [11] His rescue efforts during the 1902 eruption of Mount Pel e e on Saint-Pierre, Martinique,
reinforced his belief that athletic skill must be combined with courage and altruism. [11] H e bert became a physical education tutor at the college of Reims in France. H
"m e thode naturelle" (natural method ) session consisting of ten fundamental groups: walking,
running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, balancing, throwing, lifting,
[12]
self-defense, swimming, which are part of three main forces: During World War I and
World War II, H e bert's teaching continued to expand, becoming the standard system of French military education and training. Thus, H e bert was one of the proponents of "parcours", an obstacle course, [13] which is now standard in military training and which led to the development of civilian fitness trails and confidence courses. [11]
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 e bert, wh e bert se
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. [14][15]
In the fire fighters, he made a name for himself as someone who would always go first, always volunteer for the dangerous assignments. When others were still hesitating, he would act. He was involved in many rescues, some dangerous and daring, and received both citations and medals. He also involved himself in athletic pursuits throughout his career and was a French military champion several times in more than one event. After leaving the fire-fighters in 1975, he worked in the private sector, and continued to impress people with his efficiency.[14][15]
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. [15][16]
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. [16]
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. 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. The core group that would develop what we today know as parcours, parkour,
I'art du d e placement and freerunning were: Chau Belle Dinh, David Belle, Williams Belle, Yann Hnautra, S e bastien Foucan, Laurent Pietmontesi, Guylain N'Guba Boyeke, Malik Diouf, and Charles Perri e re. 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. [15][17]
Philosophy and theories
According to Williams Belle, the philosophies and theories behind parkour are an integral aspect of the art, one that many non-practitioners have never been exposed to. Belle trains [18]
people because he wants "it to be alive" and for "people to use it". Chau Belle explains it
is a "type of freedom" or "kind of expression"; that parkour is "only a state of mind" rather than a set of actions, and that it is about overcoming and adapting to mental and emotional obstacles as well as physical barriers.[18]
[19] A newer convention of parkour philosophy has been the idea of "human reclamation". Andy (Animus of Parkour North America) clarifies it as "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 [19]
sheltered by it." "It is as much as a part of truly learning the physical art 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."
[20]
A point has been made about the similarities between the martial arts philosophy of Bruce [21]
Lee and parkour. In an interview with The New Yorker, David Belle acknowledges the influence of Lee's thinking: "There's a quote by Bruce Lee that's my motto: 'There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. A man must constantly exceed his level.' If you're not better than you were the day before, then [13]
what are you doing —what's the point?".
Traceur Dylan Baker says "parkour also influences one's thought processes by enhancing self-confidence and critical thinking skills that allow one to overcome everyday physical and [18][22][23] mental obstacles". A study by Neuropsychiatrie de l'Enfance et de l'Adolescence (Neuropsychiatry of Childhood and Adolescence) in France reflects that traceurs seek more excitement and leadership situations than do gymnastic practitioners. [24]
[25]
A campaign was started on 1 May 2007 by https://www.doczj.com/doc/bf11335585.html, portal to preserve parkour's
[26]
philosophy against sport competition and rivalry. In the words of Erwan LeCorre:
"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 unless it ignores its altruistic core of 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
[25]
philosophical essence anymore." According to LeCorre, those who truly practice parkour have the same mind aspect of each other, therefore it brings people to work together rather than compete, it allows them to be united internationally and forget the social and economical problems which separated them globally, ultimately leading one giant community working and growing together.
Movement
A pair of parkour techniques: A wall climb to a top out
There is no official list of "moves". In many cases effective parkour techniques depend on fast redistribution of body weight and the use of momentum to perform seemingly difficult or impossible body maneuvers at great 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, the practice is to move in such a way that will help you gain the most ground as if escaping or chasing something. Also, 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 versatile and effective techniques that are emphasized for beginners. 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.
Risk of harm
Parkour is widely practiced in dedicated public facilities such as skate parks. Although efforts are being made to create places for it, some traceurs do not like the idea as it is contradictory to the philosophy of freedom. [27] Traceurs practice parkour in urban areas such as gyms, parks, playgrounds, offices, and abandoned structures. Concerns have been raised regarding trespassing, damage of property, [28] and the practice in inappropriate places. [29] However, most traceurs will take care of their training spots and will remove themselves quickly and quietly from a public place if asked. One of parkour's values is to respect people and places as well as helping others. One of the first campaigns to preserve this sort of philosophy is the 'Leave No Trace' project, stressing the importance of training safe, respecting the environment and the people around you. [30][31][32]
Concerns have been raised by law enforcement and fire and rescue teams of the risk in jumping off high buildings.[33] They argue that practitioners are needlessly risking damage to both themselves and rooftops by practicing at height, with police forces calling for practitioners to stay off the rooftops. [28][34][35] Some figures within the parkour community agree that this sort of behaviour is not to be encouraged. [34][36][37][38]
American traceur Mark Toorock says that injuries are rare "because participants rely not on what they can't control -wheels or the icy surfaces of snowboarding and skiing -but their own hands and feet," but Lanier Joh nson, executive director of the America n Sp orts
Medic ine In stitute, no tes that many of the in juries are not rep orted. [39] Whe n in juries do
occur, many members in the p arkour com mun ity en courage pursuing the most scie ntifically
[40]
sound method to recovery and future p reve nti on.
Equip ment
A traceuse vaults an obstacle.
There is no equipment required, although p ractiti oners n ormally train weari ng light casual clothing: I41"42】
*Light upper body garme nt such as T-shirt, sleeveless shirt or crop top if any thi ng is worn on the upper body;
?Light lower body garme nt such as sweat pan ts, some wear tracksuit bottoms or shorts.
Comfortable running shoes, ones that are gen erally light, with good gr ip and flexibility are en couraged. Various sp ort-shoes manufacturers, such as Nike, with its "Free run" shoes, have devel oped shoes sp ecifically for p arkour and freer unning; and many other companies around the world have started offeri ng p arkour-s pecific p roducts. Some p ractiti oners use thin athletic
gloves to p rotect the han ds; [43] most do not, p referri ng the in creased grip and
[44][45]
tactile feedback. Since parkour is closely related to m e thode naturelle, practitioners sometimes tra in barefooted to be able to move efficie ntly without depending on their gear. Some traceurs also use the lightweight feiyue martial arts shoes. David Belle no tes: "bare feet are the best shoes!"[46]