Thread: Parkour - Fashion phenomenon or new philosophy

New trends and fashions come and go quicker than one person can keep up with. But every now and then, one seems to tap into the minds of a generation. And ever since the BBC documentary, Jump London, and the follow up Jump Britain, Parkour has grown in popularity from its obscure French roots, to an International phenomenon. Obviously, once this occurs captialism kicks in and and tries all it can to ride the cash cow all the way to the bank.

Parkour is currently the coolest thing since... well, ever. And you can't help but see its influence in current popular culture. But is it just another extreme sport, media cash cow or modern philosophy?

Currently, James Bond cinema goers have been thrilled by a Parkour-style chase sequence at the start the new film Casino Royale. This scene was performed by Sebastien Foucan (co-founder of the craze). Other offerings from Hollywood include the Jude Law film Breaking and Entering, which includes a scene where young theives Parkour their way into his office and Parkour their way off with his laptop. David Belle, Foucan's childhood friend and co-founder of Parkour, can also be seen starring in the French film Banlieue 13 or "District B13", as it was known in the UK, which includes many Parkour scenes. In music, Love Don't Let Me Go is the recent single from David Guetta V's The Egg, and features an 'infectious' desire to break dance and perform Parkour, apparently. Madonna's latest single "jump" features Foucan 'jumping' around a Japanese cityscape. Not like Madonna to 'jump' on a new craze now, is it? [many appologise for the jump jokes included in this article]

Parkour (from the French 'parcours', meaning course) is the philosophical and 'natural' form of what is more commonly known as 'free running'. However, acording to Foucan, the two are very different. Parkour is a 'way of mind', and looks at movement as fluid and natural, wheras our surroundings force use to move unnaturally. A 'Traceur' (a practitioner of Parkour) tries to find the most natural, or efficient, form of travelling from A to B. This may mean jumping from the third story of a building, and catching the edge of the window, two floors down. Traceurs are promoted to "become a part of the environment in order to develop [their] mond and body". But this goes a lot deeper than just an extreme sport.

Parkour has fewer pre-defined movements than any other extreme sport, and yet has a history in Martial Arts. However, each 'obstacle' should be overcome with the method most suited to the Traceur's body type, training and the environmental conditions presented. However, there are some predefined movements prescribed: -

CAT-LEAP: Much like Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider games (I'm sure the next one will be more Parkour related) if you can't make a jump and land on your feet, then land with your arms outstretched and let your legs absorb the impact. Ouch! Grazed knees all round...

LANDING FROM HEIGHT: A bit of an obvious one this. When jumping from a great height, bend the knees to absorb the impact. If the height is great, employ a roll on landing.

TIC-TAC: This is one of my favourites. Much like the game Splinter Cell, you gain greater height in a confined 'corridor' type environment by jumping against a wall and using it to propell yourself higher towards the wall on the other side. Excellent!

WALL RUN: Same as the TIC-TAC, although this is used to propell yourself forward, over a wall or obstacle.

These are just a few, but they just describe the basics. An experienced Traceur designs and modifies movements to their own body type.

There is debate about the use of tricks or flips in Parkour. These represent the kind of death-defying acts seen in the movies. Many Parkour purists say that as a fancy flip is not the most effiecient way to get over a wall, it is not Parkour. Therefore, the more sport orientated 'free running' was invented as the more relaxed version of Parkour.

Whether you buy into the Philosophy behind this new craze, you can't deny it is impressive to watch. There is also a nice 'Yin-Yang' behind their philosophy that makes me hope that at least Foucan believes that it is more than just a good way to keep fit. Personally, you wont catch me jumping off any buildings any time soon. But it does still hold a facination for me....

If you'd like to learn more then check out these websites: -

Parkour Training:
http://www.parkour.com
http://www.foucan.com

Parkour at the Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour

Worlwide forum and community of Parkour and Free running:
Urban Freeflow

Here are some music videos and films showing Parkour, that are available on YouTube: -

David Guetta V's The Egg - Love Don't Let Me Go
[EMB]http://www.youtube.com/v/6UFiHxL_Rjw[/EMB]

Madonna - Jump
[EMB]http://www.youtube.com/v/KwDjijmCm7U[/EMB]

Sebastien Foucan in action in Casino Royale
[EMB]http://www.youtube.com/v/E8OINx98pF8[/EMB]