Corndogg
04-29-2007, 01:22 PM
(from the previous forum)
INTRO TO PARKOUR:
Parkour is a French discipline in which one attempts to go from point A to point B while overcoming any obstacles in the fastest, most efficient and ideally most elegant way possible. This is accomplished by combining various body movements - jumps, vaults, climbs, whatever fits the situation - into what parkour practitioners (a.k.a. "traceurs") call "flow." There are several fundamental parkour moves, but ultimately the focus is still on using the most efficient and effective movements.
The beauty of parkour is that it is not only both a physical and mental discipline, but also a flexible one with low barriers to entry. Any active person of any ability and age can do it. You can do parkour alone or with others. You can do it any time of the day, in any environment, and the necessary equipment is really just a decent pair of running shoes. People see parkour videos of David Belle and Sebastien Foucan jumping from rooftop to rooftop, but they have been training for years and are true professionals. Parkour can be as simple as jumping from bench to bench, or vaulting a rail instead of walking around it.
WHY PARKOUR?
Parkour is different from simple running and jumping in that there is a specific mentality and philosophy behind the movements. As you are running and navigating obstacles, you are constantly looking for the best line through the environment and determining the most appropriate movements to traverse that line. You are also challenging yourself both mentally and physically as you explore the boundaries of your capabilities, while pushing the limits of what you can do further and further. Often times traceurs can't perform a movement, such as a long precision jump, solely out of fear. Overcoming this mental hurdle is just as important and difficult as vaulting a physical hurdle.
Another aspect of parkour mentality is how you view and interact with your environment. Unlike sports like skateboarding, where skaters wax up curbs and structures and grind them, sometimes disrespecting and damaging the environment, a traceur adapts themselves to the space in an effort to "flow" through it efficiently. It is often said that parkour is "a way of life" and that is a very true statement. Even when not out free-running, traceurs will scan their environment, look for lines, evaluate the space, and imagine themselves moving within it. You can do this anywhere, and often when you return to a previously visited spot you will see it in a whole new light, as your skills increase and new options become available to you. The possibilities become endless.
Personally, I used to do aggressive inline skating in high school, so yes I was out there grinding and jumping, but even after I stopped I would still always look for jumps and interesting structures to do tricks off of. When I discovered parkour and researched its background, it really clicked with me. The scope of things to explore and lines you could take became all encompassing, not just to those accessible by blading. Parkour is also a great physical and mental workout, and the fact that one can do it anytime, anywhere, alone or with others means it's very easy to integrate the discipline into one's life.
PARKOUR IN THE US:
I believe that parkour is still in its fledgling stages in the US. National and local (either state or citywide) communities are slowly but surely growing and maturing as more people discover parkour and get deeper in to it. Many new traceurs say "I've been doing this stuff for years, I didn't know it was a sport!" so now we are facing marketing, education and organization issues in promoting parkour. I do not think we are anywhere near critical mass. As a founder and administrator of sfparkour.com (SFPK), I would say we are at critical mass when on any given day of the week individual traceurs are running organized "jam sessions" amongst themselves, and you can often see people practicing parkour. Right now we still jam in smaller groups of 4-6 people usually, about 3-5 times a month, as onlookers stare in bewilderment and confusion. Individuals may be practicing daily, but as a community we are still developing.
I do believe parkour will continue to grow and gain popularity in the US, but that's a double edged sword. It is very easy to overlook the mentality and philosophy behind it, and instead see it as "skateboarding without a skateboard" or as an "extreme sport." Although flips, spins and tricks are not considered parkour, they are fun and a natural pairing with parkour as many traceurs have gymnastic or martial arts backgrounds where flips are commonly practiced. Onlookers are attracted to flips and flashier moves, and thus start associating and equating it to parkour. This misconception is especially dangerous in the US where extreme sports are hugely popular. The global parkour community has fragmented along these lines as well into parkour, freestyle parkour (where "absolute freedom of movement" is advocated, including flips) and other subgenres.
As a purist, I hope we don't see the day where there are "No Parkour" signs next to "No Skateboarding" signs, where parkour competitions are televised on ESPN2, or where traceurs are getting endorsement deals to parkour as an extreme sport. There is already a PSP game called "Free Running" and a small parkour segment in the new Tony Hawk's American Wasteland PS2 game which show unrealistic physics and extreme flipping that I fear will spawn a new generation of kids who will try and imitate it and call it parkour.
A good number of people organizing the larger US parkour communities understand and adhere to the core principles of parkour, so together we will continue to promote proper education of the discipline as much as possible. In the meantime, we'll be out free-running, inspiring others with the new possibilities of movement throughout our surrounding environment.
ABOUT ME:
My name is Brandon a.k.a. "Corndogg." I discovered parkour in the summer of '05 and have been hooked ever since. After failing to find any established parkour community in the San Francisco Bay Area, I founded http://www.sfparkour.com (SFPK) in August 2005. SFPK now has many users in a very active discussion forum. Jams are organized regularly and we are gaining new traceurs all the time! We have expanded to include East Bay (Oakland/Berkeley), down south to San Jose, as well as north to the Sacramento area. Through the efforts of enthusiastic local traceurs and partnerships with state (PK Cali - http://www.pkcali.com, WAPK - http://www.washingtonparkour.com, and more) and national (APK - http://www.americanparkour.com) sites, US parkour will continue to grow at a rapid rate!
INTRO TO PARKOUR:
Parkour is a French discipline in which one attempts to go from point A to point B while overcoming any obstacles in the fastest, most efficient and ideally most elegant way possible. This is accomplished by combining various body movements - jumps, vaults, climbs, whatever fits the situation - into what parkour practitioners (a.k.a. "traceurs") call "flow." There are several fundamental parkour moves, but ultimately the focus is still on using the most efficient and effective movements.
The beauty of parkour is that it is not only both a physical and mental discipline, but also a flexible one with low barriers to entry. Any active person of any ability and age can do it. You can do parkour alone or with others. You can do it any time of the day, in any environment, and the necessary equipment is really just a decent pair of running shoes. People see parkour videos of David Belle and Sebastien Foucan jumping from rooftop to rooftop, but they have been training for years and are true professionals. Parkour can be as simple as jumping from bench to bench, or vaulting a rail instead of walking around it.
WHY PARKOUR?
Parkour is different from simple running and jumping in that there is a specific mentality and philosophy behind the movements. As you are running and navigating obstacles, you are constantly looking for the best line through the environment and determining the most appropriate movements to traverse that line. You are also challenging yourself both mentally and physically as you explore the boundaries of your capabilities, while pushing the limits of what you can do further and further. Often times traceurs can't perform a movement, such as a long precision jump, solely out of fear. Overcoming this mental hurdle is just as important and difficult as vaulting a physical hurdle.
Another aspect of parkour mentality is how you view and interact with your environment. Unlike sports like skateboarding, where skaters wax up curbs and structures and grind them, sometimes disrespecting and damaging the environment, a traceur adapts themselves to the space in an effort to "flow" through it efficiently. It is often said that parkour is "a way of life" and that is a very true statement. Even when not out free-running, traceurs will scan their environment, look for lines, evaluate the space, and imagine themselves moving within it. You can do this anywhere, and often when you return to a previously visited spot you will see it in a whole new light, as your skills increase and new options become available to you. The possibilities become endless.
Personally, I used to do aggressive inline skating in high school, so yes I was out there grinding and jumping, but even after I stopped I would still always look for jumps and interesting structures to do tricks off of. When I discovered parkour and researched its background, it really clicked with me. The scope of things to explore and lines you could take became all encompassing, not just to those accessible by blading. Parkour is also a great physical and mental workout, and the fact that one can do it anytime, anywhere, alone or with others means it's very easy to integrate the discipline into one's life.
PARKOUR IN THE US:
I believe that parkour is still in its fledgling stages in the US. National and local (either state or citywide) communities are slowly but surely growing and maturing as more people discover parkour and get deeper in to it. Many new traceurs say "I've been doing this stuff for years, I didn't know it was a sport!" so now we are facing marketing, education and organization issues in promoting parkour. I do not think we are anywhere near critical mass. As a founder and administrator of sfparkour.com (SFPK), I would say we are at critical mass when on any given day of the week individual traceurs are running organized "jam sessions" amongst themselves, and you can often see people practicing parkour. Right now we still jam in smaller groups of 4-6 people usually, about 3-5 times a month, as onlookers stare in bewilderment and confusion. Individuals may be practicing daily, but as a community we are still developing.
I do believe parkour will continue to grow and gain popularity in the US, but that's a double edged sword. It is very easy to overlook the mentality and philosophy behind it, and instead see it as "skateboarding without a skateboard" or as an "extreme sport." Although flips, spins and tricks are not considered parkour, they are fun and a natural pairing with parkour as many traceurs have gymnastic or martial arts backgrounds where flips are commonly practiced. Onlookers are attracted to flips and flashier moves, and thus start associating and equating it to parkour. This misconception is especially dangerous in the US where extreme sports are hugely popular. The global parkour community has fragmented along these lines as well into parkour, freestyle parkour (where "absolute freedom of movement" is advocated, including flips) and other subgenres.
As a purist, I hope we don't see the day where there are "No Parkour" signs next to "No Skateboarding" signs, where parkour competitions are televised on ESPN2, or where traceurs are getting endorsement deals to parkour as an extreme sport. There is already a PSP game called "Free Running" and a small parkour segment in the new Tony Hawk's American Wasteland PS2 game which show unrealistic physics and extreme flipping that I fear will spawn a new generation of kids who will try and imitate it and call it parkour.
A good number of people organizing the larger US parkour communities understand and adhere to the core principles of parkour, so together we will continue to promote proper education of the discipline as much as possible. In the meantime, we'll be out free-running, inspiring others with the new possibilities of movement throughout our surrounding environment.
ABOUT ME:
My name is Brandon a.k.a. "Corndogg." I discovered parkour in the summer of '05 and have been hooked ever since. After failing to find any established parkour community in the San Francisco Bay Area, I founded http://www.sfparkour.com (SFPK) in August 2005. SFPK now has many users in a very active discussion forum. Jams are organized regularly and we are gaining new traceurs all the time! We have expanded to include East Bay (Oakland/Berkeley), down south to San Jose, as well as north to the Sacramento area. Through the efforts of enthusiastic local traceurs and partnerships with state (PK Cali - http://www.pkcali.com, WAPK - http://www.washingtonparkour.com, and more) and national (APK - http://www.americanparkour.com) sites, US parkour will continue to grow at a rapid rate!