David Belle Fall

Given the reference to David Belle’s famous fall in the article No Obstacles by Alec Wilkinson, it seemed appropriate to include a video of David’s fall soon after. The most important lesson that comes from this is not from the video itself but from David’s verbal response to the fall in the No Obstacles article. David said:

I was a bit tired. 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.

The two important things we learn from David’s response is this:

#1. Everyone falls. Even David Belle.

#2. Many Parkour accidents come largely as a consequence of the Tracer being tired. Tiredness leads to a lack of concentration, alertness, and focus, and when these attributes are combined with Parkour, a physically and mentally demanding discipline, falls happen much more frequently. David Belle blamed his fall primarily on this, sighting the fact that it was the end of the day (which is obviously no coincidence since any Tracer will become more fatigued the longer they train). As a note, ‘being tried’ and ‘end of the day’ were the two most prevalent factors that lead to Stephane Vigroux’s first major injury as detailed in Urban Freeflow Vol. 3. (http://www.misterparkour.com/?p=33)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kh8NeG9wf8

Adam Dunlap’s Parkour Promo

Roll Analysis with David Belle

TFI Parkour News Feature

No Obstacles by Alec Wilkinson

The Born Samuri by Paul Boakye

Urban Freeflow Vol. 3

Introduction