Mister Parkour

Staying True To Parkour

David Belle Fall

Posted by misterparkour on December 12, 2007

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

  1. Mister Parkour » Blog Archive » David Belle x3 Said,

    [...] This second clip shows exclusively the precision jump that David missed in the Accroches Toi video. David completes the jump successfully later in that video, however, as far as our research has uncovered this is one of only two online videos that specifically highlights a fall from David -the other of course being his famous fall on the UCLA campus seen here-. [...]

  2. Mister Parkour » Blog Archive » News Report - Focus TV Said,

    [...] very unique footage. Not only does it have Guy Janodet, it also has Jérôme Lebret who comments on David Belle’s fall at UCLA. One other unique aspect of this news report is that it showcases Sébastien Foucan practicing his [...]

  3. Mister Parkour » Blog Archive » David Belle Falls Again Said,

    [...] Parkour enthusiasts have only seen David Belle fall once. That of course was his famous slip at the UCLA Campus. However there is another fall from David that was captured on film many years ago and we at [...]

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