Mister Parkour

Staying True To Parkour

No Obstacles by Alec Wilkinson

Posted by misterparkour on December 6, 2007

No Obstacles, an article written for the New Yorker by Alec Wilkinson in April 2007, is probably the most comprehensive news piece to date regarding Parkour. This piece goes in depth, revealing David Belle and his personality for the first time, as well as explaining David’s view of Parkour like no other article before. No Obstacles uncovers insights that you will not find anywhere else and gets one-on-one with David exposing the true philosophy behind his art. The article also spends a considerable amount of time with Ryan Ford who is considered to be the most skilled Tracer in The Tribe. Some of the highlights of the article include…

  • A long interview/conversation with Ryan Ford

  • George Herbert’s Natural Method of Physical Culture (arguably the single biggest influencer on the development of Parkour)

  • A running conversation with “Jeff Belle”, David’s brother

  • Insight into why David Belle founded Parkour and his passion and intentions for it

  • The beginning of the Yamakasi

  • Insight into David’s personality

  • A visit to the Dam de Lac with some commentary on David’s experiences with it

  • Details of David’s philosophy behind Parkour, including the origin of Parkour technique
    David commenting on his fall at the UCLA campus and his thoughts on wearing gloves

This article is 12 pages long and is well worth reading every word.

No Obstacles by Alec Wilkinson

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_wilkinson

Posted under Articles, David Belle, Jean François Belle, Ryan Ford
Comments (1)
  1. Mister Parkour » Blog Archive » Parkour from Jean François Belle Said,

    [...] The following information is from an interview with David Belle’s brother Jean François Belle. The details are a little hard to understand, but if you focus on the concepts then it will become very clear. We initially found this text on Parkour.net, but that site is temporarily closed so we are not able to provide a link to the original context. Jean François Belle is also mentioned in David Belle Teaches Parkour to Firemen in Paris and No Obstacles by Alec Wilkinson. [...]

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