Grappling with Gravity

Grappling with gravity

Revolution Parkour turns urban architecture into playground and offers enthusiasts an extreme challenge

By Ed Johnson – The Beaverton Valley Times,

You’ve probably seen parkour, but didn’t know what to call it.

The French sport jams breathtaking athleticism into the urban environment; its practitioners sprinting, jumping and weaving in and around the things we normally take for granted. That railing on the stairs may look like a good place for your hand, but in parkour, it’s also a good place for a foot-launching jump.

The parkour-thinking mind sees urban architecture as, literally, a playground.

Adam Dunlap is a 23-year-old, life-long Beaverton resident who runs Revolution Parkour and teaches a twice-weekly class in the discipline. He wants the public to know that the sport is not just insane stunts like those seen at the beginning of the James Bond film “Casino Royale” — it’s a serious training method.

“I think a lot of people see parkour incorrectly,” Dunlap says. “They haven’t made the connection that this is something people do.”

Dunlap admits that what first interested him in parkour were the incredible YouTube videos of elite practitioners like parkour-founder David Belle. But, as he focused his craft, his insight into the sport changed.

“The ideas of movement and how to move quickly are built into us,” Dunlap says. “You take from parkour what you want.”

Craziest thing you’ve ever seen

Parkour can best be described as an outgrowth of a particular French philosophy, which is built on the fluid movement of the physical body through urban spaces. It’s about encountering obstacles and overcoming them using both your wits and your physical prowess. If you look up videos online, it will also seem like the craziest thing you’ve ever seen.

Right after graduating from Oregon State University, Dunlap got a temporary job at Nike, but quickly grew restless. The office environment wasn’t for him. He decided to take his long-brewing interest in parkour and turn it into a business.

Revolution Parkour was intended first as a parkour-instruction program, then as a TV and film consulting firm. For the last year and a half, Dunlap has been teaching twice-weekly classes at ADAPT Training, and seen a steady increase in participation. Tuesday night, 25 students, from pre-teens to people in their 20s, attended the class to get a dose of Dunlap’s expert instruction.

And while the consulting side of the business has been slow going, with only a few projects here and there, Dunlap says that a potential deal with a new major-network television show is in the works.

To develop his training program, Dunlap took the effusive parkour technique videos that were available online and broke them down into step-by-step methodology. He stresses that while these techniques are tried and true, there isn’t necessarily one single way to do parkour. It’s always about doing what comes natural.

‘No parkour on the furniture’

Besides technique training, the class also gives its students extensive physical conditioning, focusing on lean-muscle, body-weight exercises rather than free weights.

“A lot of people just want to find a unique way to workout,” Dunlap says. “As far as I’m concerned, parkour is the best there is.”

Students at the class seem to agree. Brandon Latocki, a 21-year-old Beaverton resident who’s been going to the class since it started, seems to echo the obsession of a lot of dedicated parkour enthusiasts.

“I’ve been looking for my entire life for something to do,” he says, “and this is it.”

Another student, Rick King, 25, says he first saw parkour when he saw the videogame Mirror’s Edge, about a dystopian future where revolutionaries use parkour-like methods to combat an all-knowing, all-seeing government.

“I didn’t know it was an actual thing,” King says. “I showed up (to class) one day and have been hooked ever since.”

Gerald Wright, of Tigard, was watching his 12-year-old son take part in the class on Tuesday night. He says that he’s been impressed by the rigorous and professional nature of the class since his son started it a few weeks ago.

“How can you say no to a kid who wants to do something different?” Wright says. “We do have one rule though: no parkour on the furniture.”

An adrenaline rush

Dunlap says that most students interested in parkour are exactly who you’d expect: young men looking for an adrenaline rush. He’s quick to point out, however, that as parkour grows in recognition — and there’s every indication that it will — the people who participate will likely diversify. Just like how other extreme sports became mainstream in the ’90s, Dunlap expects parkour to do the same.

Dunlap says the local parkour community is small but passionate, and often gets together to take advantage of downtown Portland’s diverse architecture. He says that, unfortunately, the suburbs like Beaverton don’t offer the same obstacle-rich environment as urban areas.

In the end, Dunlap stresses the simple joys of the sport he loves and the independence of its movement. He also stresses that watching the elite athletes shouldn’t scare people off. Most people will never leap from such great heights.

“Just because you train,” he says, “doesn’t mean you can jump off a building.”

For more information, visit www.revolutionparkour.com.

Parkour Armor

The following is a fantastic article written by Thomas Arnaudies from France. Appropriately titled “Armor,” Thomas equates building the physical condition necessary for Parkour to putting on armor. Composed of both internal and external components, the physical and mental armor of a Tracer is essential to protect against injuries and to allow one to safely progress in his/her Parkour training and physical capabilities.

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Armor

The term ‘Armor’ in Parkour refers to your level of protection against the injuries and your physical capacity to bear the constraints and the forces that the discipline exerts on your body. The idea is to taken from thinking of yourself as a warrior; a good warrior needs a solid armor if it must survive in battle. Likewise, we need a solid and complete armor to protect us when we do Parkour.

Just like the knights of the past time, our armor is composed of many parts and it is important that we take the time to construct each of these parts so that our armor is strong and does not fail us when we need it. I like to think that there exists two different types of armor: the Internal Armor and the External Armor.

A Summary of What is the Internal Armor

The most important part of a warrior’s armor is the helmet that protects the head because it protects the most important part of the warrior; the head. Our spirit is the key of all we do in Parkour because if we do not construct ourselves a strong spirit, the remainder of our defenses never will be as strong as they could be. This includes all our organs (our heart, our respiratory system etc) as well as our bones, that need to be preserved and developed with a good system of progressive training.

A Summary of What is the External Armor

This covers most of the body; the neck, the shoulders, the biceps, triceps, the elbow joints, the wrists, the hands, the fingers, the trunk, the back, the abdomen, the hips, the quadriceps, the knee joints, the tibias, the ankles, the connective tissue etc… I also classify the skin as a part of the external armor. It is important that we condition our skin to become callous and resistant to scratches and abrasions. Creating strong skin on the hands is particularly important as they are fragile due to a lack of use when compared to our primate’s equivalents.

Constructing Your Armor

The Internal armor

The Spirit

A strong spirit is essential in Parkour and furnishes the foundation of the remainder of the armor. Our capacity to move us is dependent on the capacity of our spirit to will our bodies to move. Most of the people do not have any problem moving, we do it every day and we do not even have to think about it – we have only have to wish that our body budges and for that the spirit launches a reaction chain that realizes it. The strength, however, is something that we must learn by ourselves. Only with time and experience will the spirit be able to learn what the body is able to do and with practice it will allow the body to do it without interfering with doubts or apprehensions. We begin, essentially, practicing Parkour as a dog with a leash – with the time, the owner (our brain) learns to have confidence in the dog (our body), and gives more and more liberty on the leash. My opinion is that our ultimate goal is to liberate our body and to leave it to roam freely where it wishes without unnecessary interferences of our spirit

The Organs and the Respiratory System

Without capable and completely functional internal defenses our external defenses will always be weak. Preserving our hearts and a strong and healthy internal system is necessitated by a healthy food intake without excess. The decisions that you make at the dinner table will directly affect the longevity of the systems that you need to function. The better Tracers treat their bodies as athletes, and the more respect they have in nourishing it properly with the necessary fuel, the better the systems to function in the optimum way.

The Bones

Once more, the bones need a solid and healthy food intake to remain in good health. Calcium is well known to be an excellent vitamin source to help your bones remain solid. One can find this in milk and many other daily products. Try to drink milk has low fat content every day to help maintain your bones strong and in good health. The other important manner to preserve solid bones and to increase their densities is to increase gradually what one asks for them. Start with small easy jumps and very gently, after a time period, increase the level of impact so that your bones become accustomed to managing the jumps and stress. Solid bones are important for the Tracers; it is necessary to understand that the difference between breaking a bone and only to hurting it is dependent on its solidity.

The External armor

The Muscles

Our muscles allow us to move us with grace, speed and power. Their maintenance and development is vital to increase our level in Parkour. Being given the nature of our activity, we use all the muscles of our body therefore we must reinforce each of them so that they become strong. Fortunately, the simple practice of Parkour through passing different obstacles constructs the necessary muscles to do that action. But for the Tracer wanting to push their limits and progress towards their full potential, time and effort must be used on the muscular development. Daily reinforcement of this is an integral part of the life of a Tracer. While developing your physical condition, your technical abilities will develop a lot more quickly. It is necessary to pay attention to not overtraining the muscles; a sufficient rest (of more than 48H) is required for a muscle repairs itself after intensive training. Learn this balance between training harshly and rest. It is something that takes time and practice but to find this balance is essential.

The Joints

Our joints link up the different parties of our armor; this is the reason why they are as much as important as the remainder. The principal joints on which one will have to work on; your elbows, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. You solicit a lot from them when practice which is the reason why they must be solid. The secret to have solid joints is once again to have a good diet, to increase gradually the intensity and the past time to improve them. Supplements such as of cod liver oil, glucosamine and vitamins should also be considered to preserve your joints in good form, especially as you get older.

The Skin

The simple truth is that the Parkour is a discipline of lasting, especially for your hands. During the first months of your training it is almost sure that you will have cuts, scratches and that you will lose blood at the level of your hands. That is normal and you can criticize your ancestors for it. Because of the change of method of life of the humans during the last few thousand years, the average man no longer has need to climb to the trees, to launch lances and to construct his shelter; this is the reason why our hands became fragile with time. The Parkour is as an awakening for your hands; it dives them in what they were formerly used to doing. If you look at the primate hands, you will see that they are as leather, completely conditioned to move itself in the trees and ready for the hard thing that monkeys have to do. By comparison our hands are weak and soft because this is all that is physically required of working people today. As such, if you want to practice the Parkour, you must demand more of your body then is demanded in traditional desk work. The best manner to reinforce your hands is to climb in the trees and to move you in the branches, training yourself to pass obstacles while using your hands, and to crawl on the ground on your hands and feet. That will take time but finally your hands will reinforce themselves and become accustom to be used in this manner. You will know when they are ready when you rarely cut yourself and after moving in trees for hours will not leave you more exhausted and callous hands.

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This article was written in French and was originally posted on Parkour.net. We have done our best to accurately translate the paper into English. If you would like to read the original French version of this article please click here.

Killing the Efficiency Paradox, Founding the Efficiency Principle

The Efficiency Principle is a new training principle created by MisterParkour.com. It seeks to correct and replace the erroneous ideas put forward by the efficiency paradox in an effort to aid Tracers across the world in implementing proper training methods in their own progressions.

Parkour is a utility art based on overcoming obstacles quickly and efficiently. Much of the Parkour community has found it amusing that to become better at this you have to train “inefficient movements.” (a misconception in and of itself which we will address shortly.) This enthusiasm has recently led to the coining of the phrase the “efficiency paradox” defined as training inefficient movements to promote efficiency. Unfortunately the “efficiency paradox” is a physiologically misguiding principle, and it should be permanently discarded from Parkour terminology in favor of the physiological accurate training concept known as the Efficiency Principle.

To say that Tracers train inefficient movements to promote efficiency is physiologically inaccurate (we will explain this momentarily). However, because of the linguistic novelty of the purpose of Parkour (namely, efficiently overcoming obstacles) and many common methods of training which do not encompass this type of movement, it is logical to see how some could erroneously and inadvertently support the Efficiency Paradox. Nevertheless, this concept has no credence once one understands two basic, foundational training principles that blatantly contradict the Efficiency Paradox. These concepts are What is Training? and Training vs. Performance. Analyzing these two training concepts proves the Efficiency Paradox inaccurate and also simultaneously provides the basis to found the Efficiency Principle.

The concept of true and proper training discredits the Efficiency Paradox because it contradicts the definition of the Efficiency Paradox. Contrary to the definition, correct training always reinforces efficiency of movement to the point that saying one is training “inefficient movement” is kind of like saying the color blue smells like roses. Neither statement makes any sense. Of course the rebuttal is that one could “move faster” or “move more efficiently”, but one must realize that efficiency in movement has absolutely nothing to do with speed, and efficiency in training has nothing to do with performance value. Efficiency has to do with optimizing output and minimizing waste given a certain input. Suffice to say that just because someone is not running as fast as he/she can does not mean that he/she is not moving efficiently or training efficiency.

The definition of the Efficiency Paradox not only puts forth physiological misguiding training principles by erroneously telling people to train inefficient movement (something that can not be done in proper training), the term also erroneously unites the two independent concepts ideas of Training and Performance. In opposition to the Efficiency Paradox the concepts of Training and Performance are two distinctly different actions. We do not perform so that we can perform better, and training is not a part of performance. Rather we train (concept 1) so that we can improve our performance (concept 2). The Efficiency Paradox however, erroneously assimilates and unites these two ideas. By explaining that we train inefficiency, the concept directly correlates Training and Performance by implicitly defining training as a lesser level of performance (the inefficient performance to be exact). Some may see this as a linguistic formality but it is not. The Efficiency Paradox is therefore in contradiction to the Training vs. Performance principle, and in this it is further misguiding and flawed.

The efficiency paradox puts forth erroneous physiological principles that are exposed when analyzing the What is Training? and the Training vs. Performance concepts. When combined, these two concepts not only defeat the Efficiency Paradox, they also create the new Efficiency Principle:

The Efficiency Principle is the act of training efficiency so that one can perform efficiently.

In the first person perspective one can explain the Efficiency Principle by saying, “We train efficiency so that we can perform efficiently.”

It is the linguistic novelty of the term Efficiency Paradox that has made it so widely publicized in the Parkour community. Unfortunately in spite of its originality, the Efficiency Paradox is an physiologically erroneous term, and its perpetuation is the direct result of a misunderstanding of the two principles What is Training? and Training vs. Performance. On the other hand, the Efficiency Principle is an accurate training guideline that succinctly explains the purpose and goal of training from a Parkour perspective through physiologically sound doctrine. Consider the Efficiency Paradox not only dead, but in the sentiment of Parkour, inefficient.

David’s Dynamic Tension

In the 5th behind the scenes episode of B13 – Ultimatum we said, “Pay special attention to David’s movements at :37 in the video… [it] is… an incredible testament to his athleticism.” We promised to explain this statement, and now we are keeping true to that promise.

Most people see David jump from buildings and awe at his athletic ability. In reality, even the simple things he does are awe inspiring from an athletic perspective. To this day no one has provided an accurate physiological explanation as to how David can do what he does, but simply enough it is through his seemingly inconsequential movements which we can understand and explain it.

What is so incredible about David’s movements at :54 of Episode 5 is his dexterity and range of motion (also shown in his window perched position in :58 of Episode 15). These are signs of the dynamic tension he has achieved in his muscles. Dynamic tension is the perfect state of muscular equilibrium, where every muscle is proportionally strong in correlation to every other muscle in the body. Not having dynamic tension (also known as having a lack of muscular integrity) creates unnecessary tension in the body, and pulls the joints into an improper alignment causing the body to move compensatively and inefficiently. One of the most obvious signs of a lack of muscular integrity is a lack of range of motion. A lack of integrity also commonly manifests itself in aching joints (forget all of the “itis” diagnosis’, it is caused by a lack of muscular integrity). Injuries in Parkour of every kind are almost always the result of a lack of muscular integrity as well.

David’s body has been trained into a perfect functional state characterized by this dynamic tension which is why he is able to do what he does. Most peoples see the big movements David performs, the man power gap at 1:44 in his Et Vous? video, or the massive building to building leap he did at 1:07 in the BBC commercial, and are in awe. But we would argue that far more inspiring are his subtle movements that clue to why he is so capable. You can see it in his abilities to immediately change direction as in his lateral jump at 2:53 in the French News Feature. You can see it in his explosion from a standing position at :47 in the Accrohes Toi video (notice there is absolutely no tension in his body when he jumps). You can see it in his leg movement at 30:19 during his interview at the New Yorker Festival. You can see it in his resilience to absorb shock in his jump over the railings at 1:43 in the Speed Air Man video and when he drops from the overpass later in the video at 2:21. And you can clear your mind of any confusion you have from David’s famous fall on the UCLA campus. The fact that he walked away uninjured was also the result of his perfect muscular integrity.

All of David’s abilities as well as his resistance to injury can be credited to the dynamic tension of his muscles. This analysis of course circles back to present day David where we can verify our claim. Many Tracers train for only a short time and begin suffering from physical aliments. Others train for a long time without aliments, but then are all of sudden seriously injured. Both instances are the result of a lack of muscular integrity. David on the other hand has never been seriously injured. Furthermore he is in his mid 30’s and he is stronger, faster, and more capable than ever. He has no joint pain, no shoulder, knee, or wrist issues, and he continues to perform feats of athleticism that a few decades before would have thought impossible by even the most capable humans. How can David perform such incredible feats of athleticism? Maybe we should not ask how David can do what he does, but rather how we can attain that same dynamic tension that will enable us to follow in his footsteps.

2006 Interview with David Belle

Here is a portion of a 2006 interview between David Belle and an anonymous American journalist that took place after David attended the screening of District B13 in New York. The incredible insightfulness of the information in this short article is only daunted by the fact that David’s answers, as presented here, are astonishingly un-circulated! In just a few words David answers some of the most widely asked questions in the worldwide Parkour community, and he also mixes in few other nuggets of Parkour history and passion that you may never have heard before. The insight you receive from reading this interview is sure to be substantial if not, at some level, eye opening.

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What was it like coming to the film’s screening at the Tribeca Grand in New York last month?

It was better than I expected. At first, when we were walking through the streets of New York, we were alone, but when we showed up at the screening and saw all the kids jumping around, we were thrilled.

How did the filming go overall?

I enjoyed everything. Because it was my first movie, everything was so new and so exciting. Who knows, maybe after a few movies, I’ll be more blasé and more selective, but right now I’m mainly just excited because everything was so new. I want to keep on doing films as long as I can. There was a lot of exchange [between Belle and director Pierre Morel and co-star Cyril Raffaelli]. Cyril came up with ideas like going through the window and grabbing the rope. We implemented things from both worlds.

Did you sustain any injuries?

Nothing happened. Not breaking anything or hurting myself was a big achievement.

What does parkour mean to you these days, and what would you like to see happen in the future?

It’s something you have to do outdoors, and it’s something that cannot be stopped. It’s something to help be more open and free to the outside world, and not be invaded by the city’s infrastructure.

A good thing would be to have some kind of code, and come up with centers where you can train and practice. I’d like more organization than there is now, and to find places where you’re officially allowed to do it.

Why did you and Sébastien Foucan grow apart over the years?

We took two separate roads. Sébastien wanted to be on his own and do his own thing. Like any sport, such as a martial art, you have a base, and then it evolves into different disciplines. The same thing is happening to parkour, and that’s normal and natural.

My thing from the beginning is to have it be useful, and be able to help others. It’s about being efficient and getting there as fast as you can. If people want to do it more artistically or in a freestyle way, I have absolutely no problem with it — that’s the way it’s going to evolve. It’s not my style, but if it’s other people’s [style], that’s perfect.

Describe the role your father, Raymond Belle, played in your development as a traceur.

I started in the army as a fireman when I was 17 or 18 years old, but I was already ready physically, thanks to my father. I didn’t need it to learn more things. The physical aspects and having a strong will all came from my father — working super hard, and finishing what I started all came from him.

Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring traceurs?

Don’t be in a hurry. Take the time to build yourself, and get in good physical condition. When I started parkour at age 15, it was almost already too late. My dad was already doing the same jumps when he was 9 years old.

First, do it. Second, do it well. Third, do it well and fast — that means you’re a professional.

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Dilution

The following is an absolutely incredible, dare we say groundbreaking, article from Chris “Blane” Rowat. An expertly written editorial piece, Blane makes some fantastic observations about the difference between modern Tracers and the original practitioners from Lisses while exposing the most predominant oversight for modern Tracers in their training. This article does lack physiological insight into principles behind what makes David so physically capable and resistant to injury. Nevertheless, many of the theoretical principles are there making this a must read for every Tracer bar none. The realizations put forth in this article will, without a doubt, help you to begin understanding how to direct your training in order to improve the safety and longevity of your Parkour career.

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Dilution

Dilution:

a) The process of making weaker or less concentrated

b) A dilute or weakened condition.

c) A diluted substance.

My mind has been busy for a while and it’s only now that I feel I want to share the outcome of my thoughts. This entry may offend you, it may seem like it’s directed at you and maybe it is.

I can live with being disliked for telling the truth, but I can not continue living with this opinion and not sharing it with the people I think it might help. I know I am not the only one who shares the following opinions and I feel it is worthwhile voicing them if it changes just one person’s mindset and helps them. This is primarily for a friend of mine who I haven’t trained with in a little while. A friend who seems to have become a little down with his training, a little distant, a little worried that he’s not as good as other people. This is for him and all of the other people who feel disheartened watching the people around them do things they cannot… and also for the newcomers to Parkour.

Yesterday was my 1300th day of practicing Parkour. I’m not a big believer in anniversaries but it was on this day that the thoughts of two weeks came together and fused to become solid in my head.

I started training 1301 days ago on September 10, 2003, the day after Jump London aired for the first time on Channel 4 and it’s amazing to think how much has happened and how much my life has changed since then.

I vividly remember the very first training session I had, 185 weeks and 6 days ago. It was with my good friend at the time, Tom, and we were both so excited from watching Jump London and wanted to jump right in and get started! I remember trying some vaults, small jumps through a gap in a moving swing and I remember the first real experience of fear in Parkour as I jumped off the roof of a local gymnastics club and rolled on the grass. It was terrifying at the time and I think it was around 12ft high. I did this because I thought this is what Parkour was, jumping off high things and living to tell the tale the next day. Oh how far we’ve all come since then… or have we?

Now as most people will tell you, the days after your first session are hellish. Who remembers that unspeakable sensation of pain just walking up a flight of stairs in the days following your first real hardcore session? I remember my quads feeling like they had been assaulted by a gang of angry thugs with baseball bats for 2 weeks.

These days there is a wealth of great information available for people starting out in the discipline that I did not have access to in the beginning of my training. It was mostly trial and error, with a large dose of the latter. But despite the benefits that learning from past experiences of veteran traceurs can bring, I can’t help but wonder if there are consequences to this.

I realise how difficult it must have been for David Belle and all of the other original traceurs of Lisses as they plunged forward in darkness over 15 years ago having no idea what they were doing or where it would lead. They slowly carved a path in a new direction and lit it up along the way for people to follow. It took many years for those guys to create the most basic movements and refine them to the extent that almost any obstacle could be overcome using just a handful of varying techniques and it is a truly remarkable accomplishment. An epic journey that a new traceur of today can bypass, almost, as they learn 10 new techniques in 2 months, that would have taken perhaps 5 years worth of training back in Lisses in the early 90′s to achieve.

So at the rate we are developing, progressing and learning, surely we will catch up to them carving in the distance and be able to help them light up the path, right?

No, I don’t think so.

I think we are travelling so quickly along that same path that we are going to run out of fuel before we reach them. They are looking behind them and see us in the distance and I think they are probably hoping we reach them to help the discipline grow, but I don’t think many people of future generations ever will.
To quote Stephane Vigroux, “I think for many people it has to be more personal… everybody’s moving… I’m really happy for them… but too quickly, too fast, too easy, too much show… too much.”

There are guys who have been training for less than a year that are doing bigger and further things than guys who have been training for four years and I believe this is mainly due to the library of knowledge available now. This may sound good in principle, that as the generations go on, we will have new guys able to sidestep the trial and error process and just stick to what has been proven to work, to get to a good level in Parkour. But I’m worried.

I think that the trial and error approach taught the original traceurs of Lisses a vast amount about themselves and injected them with a creativity and passion and courage that is being forgotten today and is being replaced with ‘by the book’ training. Not only do I believe that their mental and physical adeptness is far superior to my own, I believe this will be further diluted as the generations go by and the future traceurs begin their training. People now have lists of movements to learn and tick them off as they do them and quickly move on to something new, something bigger, something more impressive.

The best way to get respected in the Parkour community today seems to be doing the biggest and best things with the minimum amount of training to get there. As long as you do it, it doesn’t matter how sloppy it was, how slow the climb up was, how precise the landing was or how much damage it did to the person. Everybody spreads the word that “X” did “Y” so they must be better than [that person] since they have only been training for [a few] months! This approach can quickly escalate and recently I feel it has been destroying the true nature of Parkour. People are doing things to be recognised by other people and itis tough for the people working hard and progressing steadily to see this going on around them. They feel pressured in to attempting things beyond their level when they see it happening and that is not their fault.

To me, Parkour is a long and worthwhile campaign – not one short, epic battle.

I’m not only worried about the mental progression and creativity of new practitioners being sacrificed, I’m equally concerned about the physical costs of such textbook progression.

Like myself, some of you may have memories of a granddad who was the only one in the family that could open the pickle jar at dinner time, despite his advanced years. This ‘granddad strength’ I speak of was no miracle – it was the product of 60 years of manual labour and a strength produced from many years of repetitive muscle use.

I’m concerned that the shortcuts available to today’s practitioners might rob them of the irreplaceable muscular development that the Lisses traceurs have, the deep rooted neurological pathways and the vast amount of muscle memory that no book, article or spoken word can give to them. The granddad strength.

We all know you can condition your body from the beginning of your training and this will help your technical ability but I still feel people are moving too quickly and progressing too fast. I regularly see things being done by newer traceurs that guys with years of experience haven’t done and sometimes the more experienced guys feel bad… often they find themselves questioning their training and wondering why they aren’t as good, wondering where they got left behind and wondering why everybody seems to be better than them.

People have come to me, literally depressed about their training and looking for advice and asking where they went wrong, wondering what the newer guys have that they don’t. The answer I’ve given to these people is simple. The new practitioners doing the massive jumps, the impressive techniques, the big, the hard, the long, the far etc. have ignited a fuse that will see them burn out years before they might want to, simply because their bodies are not ready for what they are doing. It’s not just a question of knees, what about the damage being done to the shoulders of new guys doing big drops from branch to branch? What about their elbows?

What will be the long-term effects of this?

What will be the long-term effects of doing 12ft level arm jumps when the shoulders haven’t experienced 10,000 smaller ones?

What will be the long-term effects of dropping 15ft to concrete when the legs haven’t experienced 10,000, 5ft drops?

Time will tell.

Look at the best traceurs in the world. Go to Lisses and see them, talk to them, train with them and learn from them. They are not the best because they are genetically gifted or were crazy to try all the new things when they were younger and they are not the best because they progressed quickly. They are the best and the strongest because the progressed steadily. They built layer upon layer of armour on their bodies over years and years, repeating things thousands of times and not rushing the process. They have deep rooted granddad strength and resilience and resistance to injury that comes from gradual progression.

Various interviews with David have all asked about injuries and David has shaken his head and said his knees are fine, his arms are fine, he has no pain. This is after 18 years of training. By contrast, today we have guys with one year of training behind them taking months out with knee problems, shoulder dislocations, tendonitis… surgery to repair the body before 20 years of age. Is this a coincidence? Or is this because we are pushing too hard, too fast, trying to be the best and compare to others?

Parkour is a personal journey and one that is hard work. There are no shortcuts and there are no quick fixes. If you want ‘to be and to last’ then I suggest you take a long hard look at your training and ask yourself if you are doing this for fun, for a few years until you can settle down and get a job, get married, have kids and retire. If so then do what you want, do the massive jumps, do everything you want to do and don’t look back. Just be aware that you are having an effect on the others who are in this for the long haul and working hard to get strong. Try to bear this in mind when you say ‘I did this, so why don’t you?’ to them.

But if you want to truly discipline your body, become strong and last in Parkour then you must not compare yourself to anybody else. It can be too tempting to get talked in to doing something beyond your level when you see less experienced people doing it. Be the bigger man/woman and realise the damage they are doing to themselves and take pride in knowing you didn’t succumb to peer pressure. In 10 years when they’re walking with a cane, you will be able to do that jump a hundred times without generating a bead of sweat.

I’m not sure how we can help the future generations of traceurs and the future of Parkour. By providing them with our experience we can prepare them but it must not become a substitute for trial and error or we will all become clones of our teachers. There must remain an element of trial and error and an element of exploration. They must also be allowed to progress in their own time without feeling the pressure of people around them. I’m going to make it a personal goal of mine to help the people I see feeling pressured in to doing something they don’t want to, it would be great if some people reading this could take the time to join me.

To summarize the two points in the above article…

1) If you’re new to Parkour, research as much as possible and learn from the people who have walked the path before you, but do not lose your creativity and ability to think for yourself. Try new things, explore different methods and progress at your own pace. What you need to remember is that the people before you have more physical experience that has built what I refer to as “granddad strength” and that cannot be taught or passed on. You can rush the theory but you cannot take shortcuts on the practical stage if you want to last in this discipline.

2) If you are more experienced in Parkour and feel like newer people are better than you, do not feel pressured in to pushing yourself too hard or doing things just because they are. Try to warn them of the dangers of trying things beyond their bodies’ conditioned state – even if they can do something, doesn’t mean they should. They are learning faster than you due to the wealth of information before them, due to your hard work.

If you care for the future of Parkour then it is your duty to help them to progress sensibly and remind them that they should slow down when you think they are going too fast. If we do not do this, Parkour will slowly die as its practitioners become weaker and weaker duplicates of past traceurs due to injury, overtraining and joint destruction.

Are you going to help to dilute Parkour and the new traceurs, or are you going help to concentrate it and strengthen them?

“Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.” – William Butler Yeats

-Blane

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Bruce Lee and the Philosophy of Parkour

Regardless of how many exceptional athletes there are in every sport there is always one that rises above and becomes an icon. Even after these icons retire or fade from the public eye their accomplishments and contributions are forever regarded as the most prestigious. One of the most prominent modern examples is the influence and dominance of basketball great Michael Jordan. For Parkour that athlete is without question the founder himself David Belle.

Indisputably the world’s most capable Tracer both for his physical abilities and mental control, it is not ironic to see David compared to other athletes who have achieved unprecedented and/or dominate levels of function and focus. The inherent problem, however, with comparing David Belle and Michael Jordan is most obviously the difference in their athletic inclinations pursuits. As disciplines and sports, basketball and Parkour can not be equally evaluated for obvious reasons. But with the defining characteristics of Parkour similar in many ways to martial arts it is not uncommon to here the very fitting comparisons made between David and Bruce Lee. Rob Green does just that in this excellent article, “Bruce Lee and the Philosophy of Parkour.”

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Bruce Lee and the Philosophy of Parkour

By Rob Green

Bruce Lee realized that although steeped in thousands of years of tradition, that’s exactly what martial arts were – traditions.

There were too many rules, too many set moves. There was no freedom of movement, and so, no freedom of thought. He believed that sparring required an individuality in order to be useful, not just mindless, imitative repetition. By doing so, you never learn to truly understand the movement which you are undertaking. Instead, you become like a robot.

The very same thing applies to parkour. People walk from a to b oblivious to the fact that they’re even ‘moving.’ They think about what’s on tv later or what they ate for breakfast. They are completely unaware that they are being ‘traditional.’ Everyone moves like that because everyone else does, and always has. Bruce learned that tradition in such a context was actually wrong. By only following set rules, we immediately lose our freedom. He wanted to develop a martial art that would allow instinctive movement. He believed that the most effective martial art would have an absence of thought as its doctrine, not a rigid pre-set frame of thought.

In essence the aim was not to concentrate on working out a situation, but instead to somehow ‘be in thought yet devoid of thought.’ This is difficult because we are associative, sentient beings. All our perceptions at any one time are based on all those that have gone before. Therefore by ‘assessing’ a situation we immediately relate it to others we have experienced and the whole process can lead to self doubt and negativity. Bruce said of his martial art, ‘Jeet kune Do,’ “can you look at a situation without naming it? Naming it, making it a word, causes fear.”

The concept of trying not to think of the situation you are in, but merely trying to ‘feel’ your way through it, is as fundamental to parkour as it was to Bruce. There is a saying that links the two perfectly, “hesitation causes fear.” Obviously, the moment when you are hesitating, you are thinking unnecessarily. You are assessing the situation, comparing and relating it to previous situations. This is the last thing you should do in parkour. In Bruce’s martial arts, it may mean you get hit, in parkour, it could mean death. Many practitioners of parkour who ‘feel’ this philosophy, even though they may not know it, do indeed practice this method of ‘being in thought, yet without thought.’ It is the concept of ‘freeing the mind.’

The idea that just before a jump, the absolute last thing you should be thinking of really is actually the jump itself. You should in fact be seeing yourself on the other side. You should be feeling the movement that is about to happen, not thinking about what will happen if the movement isn’t executed properly. A Zen belief which inspired Bruce at this point, was the following regarding human movement itself:
“I’m moving and not moving at all. It is not, “I am doing this,” but rather, an inner realization that “this is happening though me,” or “it is doing this for me. The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action.”

It is this very understanding that directly links Jeet Kune Do with parkour. The whole point of parkour is to travel from one point to another in the smoothest, most efficient way possible. And in order to this, one must achieve ‘fluidity.’ Any time spent wondering whether or not one can achieve what needs to be done is time where the mind is busy calculating negativity. The second you think, ‘I have to get this jump right or I’m dead,’ you immediately hinder your abilities by causing fear. This in itself may cause the very failure it was intended to seek out. If you can achieve a belief within yourself that you are ‘flowing’ through your course, you will simply wash over the obstacles in your path. You will encounter them and move freely past them. You must be able to reach a oneness between your body and your environment. Bruce learned that in order to execute this effectively, it was not the mastery of maneuvers that was important, but instead the mastery of will. In order to achieve a simplicity of consciousness as opposed to constant thought, it is necessary to forget about the outcome and the situation.

Forget about winning and losing, forget about pride and pain. On this matter he states:

“Jeet Kune Do does not beat around the bush. It does not take winding detours. It follows a straight line to the objective. Simplicity is the shortest distance between two points. The art of Jeet kune Do is simply to simplify.”

He could have been talking about parkour with that very statement. The very point of parkour is, well, imagine being chased by a lion. The aim is to get away as efficiently as possible or you get chomped on. In order to do this effectively, we must simplify things as much as possible. With Bruce the end point was a clean, effective strike, with parkour it is reaching another point in space. That is why such things as flips and somersaults, if used at times when more simplistic solutions are available, are not parkour. If they are performed in this manner, then they are more art than efficiency and hence are not parkour.

The world is seen differently through every pair of eyes, and to follow the right path for you you must view the world through your own. We just accept that someone has decided that a group of walls and railings will determine our route from point a to point b. And, like sheep, we follow. Mindlessly. No longer do we enjoy the freedom of personal expression in finding our own path, and although there are many out there who are happy in this mindset, there are also many who aren’t.

There may be many routes from a to b, and who you are will determine which path you choose and how you follow it. It is this expression of your inner self through the freedom of true, instinctive movement that shows the artistic element of parkour. Not unnecessary moves like ‘palm spins.’ Through parkour we find a more natural, instinctive art. JKD, although martial, is an art all the same due to Bruce’s firm belief in this artistic form of addressing motion. He made the observation that:

“An artist’s expression is his soul made apparent, his schooling, as well as his “cool” being exhibited. Behind every motion, the music of his soul is made visible. Otherwise, his motion is empty and empty motion is like an empty word – no meaning. Art is never decoration, embellishment; instead, it is the work of enlightenment. Art, in other words, is a technique for acquiring liberty.”

Note – ‘art is never decoration, embellishment.’ Here he also mentions ‘schooling.’ This is because before you can talk, you must learn language. Although parkour speaks of passing obstacles smoothly and efficiently without allowing the process of thought, this is in essence the ultimate aim. The never ending pursuit of this ‘oneness’ is what drives parkour as a discipline. It is now that it becomes clear why it is indeed a discipline like JKD. It is not just an art form, but in fact a fully rigorous physical and psychological pursuit. In order to achieve the main aim you must be confident of your ability. But you cannot become confident if you do not train long and hard. Parkour is considered by most to be a sport – but it is not. You will not let anyone else down if you do not perform. There are no rules or time limits you must follow in order to achieve greatness. You will never need to ‘score’ to achieve. As the shoaling say:

“It does not matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop.”

There are many ways in which the body can naturally move, and it takes a long time and a lot of dedication to find what your own body is capable of. There are certain ways of clearing obstacles that feel comfortable to some and uncomfortable to others, again – another form in which self expression of the soul becomes apparent. You should let the energy of motion ‘move through you,’ instead of pre-deciding how it will flow. When you reach an obstacle, you want your body to already know the way in which it will move. This takes time, effort, discipline, dedication and practice to learn. Bruce trained like this with JKD. He did not want to try to guess before a move which one would be best suited, so he would try to ‘feel’ them out by not predetermining any movement. He described the process as
“Movements with a point. The point is the doing of them rather than the accomplishments. There is no actor but the action; there is no experiencer, but the experience….. Art calls for complete mastery of techniques, developed by reflection in the soul.”

And so we come to the inevitable conclusion regarding the comparison of Bruce Lee’s philosophies behind Jeet Kune Do and the fundamental philosophies that drive parkour as a discipline and a way of life. We must become free of set ways and traditions brought down on us by those who came before and we must find ourselves. Within is where we must look in order to truly see the without.

Remember, it is our eyes we were meant to see through, not someone else’s. Do not follow those who choose to take you over like sheep. Do not accept that which is drummed into you; ask instead why they would want to control your thoughts, to take away your freedom. Why do others try to hold us back anyway, hold us down? Do not be gripped by them. Do not move like robots for it cages you inner being. Be instead free and formless.

Like water. Certain people believe parkour can be roughly translated into English as ‘freerunning.’ This, contrary to popular belief, does not describe the notion of running around freely, but instead the idea of water running freely, the idea that you should be like water and flow freely – like the water of a river. When it encounters obstacles, it does not hesitate nor flounder, it simply follows its path freely around, over, under or through. If said water is flowing down a stream, it may crash into a rock with power, or it may flow smoothly past it, for it has no predetermined form and so flows freely. Therefore, as Bruce said:

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.”

And so in my belief, Bruce Lee did indeed have the exact same philosophical beliefs evident at the hard core of parkour thinking.

Bruce Lee quotes from ‘tao of Jeet Kune Do,’ shaolin qoutes from, well, years of training – can’t remember, look ‘em up yourself…

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The Art of Le Parkour by Hugh Schofiled

Most things in life evolve and change over time. But has Parkour? David credits the creation of Parkour to his father and “a few Vietnamese soldiers.” And even though particular techniques, and of course the abilities of athletes, have obviously progressed over the years, surly the meaning, sentiments, and intentions of Parkour has not. Or one would think.

Here is an article written more than 6 years ago just after the creation of the famous David Belle BBC commercial. This piece gives a very rare look into the past, at Hugh Scholfield’s perception of Parkour so many years ago. Reading it now this article provides us the opportunity to glimpse an older perspective of the discipline, compare it to the present day sentiment and ask, ‘Has Parkour changed and progress, or is it the same as it has always been?’ Of course this article was written from the perspective of a writer and is therefore not necessarily an accurate or definitive perspective of Parkour in any way, shape or form. However it was based on conversations with David and it certainly raises questions about whether or not Parkour has changed or evolved. You can read and judge for yourself.

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The art of Le Parkour

David Belle is credited with having invented Le Parkour

By Hugh Schofield

In Paris

David Belle, acrobatic star of the BBC’s new advertising campaign, is the acknowledged guru of a new urban sport in France known as Le Parkour – or obstacle-coursing.

Described by adepts as an art-form or even a philosophy, Le Parkour consists of finding new and often dangerous ways through the city landscape – scaling walls, roof-running and leaping from building to building.

“Le Parkour – or the Art of Movement – is a way of using the obstacles found in one’s path to perform jumps and acrobatics.

“Everything must combine speed, fluidity, aesthetics and originality,” reads one of several websites dedicated to the sport.

Belle, 28, is credited with having invented Le Parkour as a teenager in the Paris suburbs, along with his friend Sebastien Foucan. Today he is universally recognised as its leading exponent.

The two boys led a gang known as the Yamakasi, who became famous last year when they starred in a film of the same name by director Luc Besson, of Fifth Element fame.

The film is about a group of “Parkouristes” who feel responsible when an inexperienced fan is injured in a fall and set about a spectacular series of robberies to raise money for his operation.

‘Need to exist’

The blurb described the Yamakasi as “modern-day Samurai,” but by this point Belle had left the group, fearing that the commercialisation was threatening the inner spirit of the sport.

He is now the leader of a new group – Les Traceurs – based in the Paris suburb of Lisses.

“We do it because we feel a need to move, we feel a need to exist – to show that we are there,” he said in a television interview last year.

“Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move.”

Beginners are advised to practise daily, not to start with high walls, to work in groups and above all not to be dared to go too far.

“Teasing doesn’t kill – a bad jump can,” warns Ombre (Shadow), a 17-year-old Parkouriste from La Louviere outside Paris.

There are a series of basic moves, from the cat-jump – in which the exponent places two hands on an obstacle and then leaps between them – to the tic-tac, which is a kind-off push-off taken in mid-movement from a wall or other surface.

Apart from Belle’s Traceurs and the Yamakasi, there are several other gangs in France, with names like the Wakazai, the Ninjas, Impala and Parkour Clan.

Fans say Le Parkour has many of the qualities of an eastern philosophy, encouraging discipline, self-improvement and interdependence.

For sociologists, Belle and his followers demonstrate the classic human urge for freedom within the clogging world of modern suburbia.

As Belle himself puts it: “We want to go where no human has ever been before.”

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1939867.stm

Parkour Article by Sarah Skidmore

Here is a recent nationally published Parkour article written by Sarah Skidmore of the associated press. The article is as accurate as it is simple which is good in both cases given its comparison to the flashy-Parkour-descriptive and often inaccurate pieces that still (in some way or another) dominate the majority of written and filmed media Parkour pieces. In this case the accurateness and overall message of the article has overcome the editorial simplicity, and the result is a piece that has resonated with news organizations across the U.S. This piece has already been featured in numerous newspaper publications across the country including the Oregonian and the Colorado Daily, as well as on countless national internet news sites including MSNBC.com. The article quotes Adam Dunlap of Revolution Parkour™ and Mark Toorock of American Parkour.

Parkour’s popularity taking off in U.S.

By Sarah Skidmore
The Associated Press

PORTLAND — At first glance, parkour practitioners look like modern dancers unleashed on an impromptu obstacle course.Usually seen in cities, parkour involves jumping, rolling and vaulting over, under and through the objects found in a typical urban setting. Traceurs, as parkour enthusiasts are called, strive to move as directly and fluidly as possible, using only their bodies and the objects they encounter to propel themselves forward.

Parkour from Jean François Belle

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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The Parkour is:

1 – A utility sport that serves you in first place, you move, climb, jump, you don’t continue to be blocked by a wall or by an obstacle that hinders you to advance.

2 – A training method that aims to make you stronger, then, is normal that you have to train very strong.

3 – What must make you more agile, you jump, recoup, roll, co-ordinate your movement as a monkey… agility…

4 – The work force that allows you to increase gradually your physical and psychological capacities to cross step by step what limited or what hindered you to advance and to continue your Parkour… the strength. To carve with that you diminish your fears and your apprehensions to the will of progressive work in jump’s with gap’s, the more distant jump’s. Your body must become accustomed gradually but it is a long work and difficult and, diminished the fears, you learn (and you must) to know your body, its possibilities and its limits.

All of this is Parkour.

But it is also to know to suffer and to know if you made badly (not too much badly) but is also to become hardened… the warlike spirit and determined that one must learn… David it lost some time because it was the only one… nowadays he allowed many to follow much more fast and to prevent all its former errors and all being a constant search and trainings to be able itself to say that I know my body and that I develop an above average physical condition.

David for example, he’s 34 years old and he’s stronger now then when he was 20, but that’s because (Parkour) it’s his life and he lives it every day, because it is an art of living but is also physic… it’s difficult for that who doesn’t know and that doesn’t understand the effort and the physical suffering… because if Parkour is pretty, it is because it is dominated, and that is the result of very effort and suffering…

To train it is enough to find educative exercises (in which) you work regularly and gradually, your physical capacities will increase, it’s automatic, the exercise must be done to the more extreme possible. It is normal and logical, one does not have nothing without nothing.

Later, all people speaks in the acrobatics, if yes or not… for us, the gymnastics and the acrobatics it has the base of trainings in the gymnasium and are also a base of the coordination of the movement of the body. To carry through a jump demonstrates that you know to command and that you dominate your body, and, if making 4m of height, you demonstrate that you have the force, the crave and the physical power to carry through this type of exercise that a specialized gymnast couldn’t do. But one should not chain acrobatic movements on a wall or an automobile, this become only acrobatics for the show, it’s not the useful Parkour, is the “Parkour acrobatic show of.”

If one day you will be in difficulties in the roof of an apartment in flames or you are to be pursued by people how want bad things for you, you use Parkour as in the B13, if you don’t know what to do, then you make pirouets, you make as the Yamakasi on the automobiles or walls as in its film.

We spoke with (non-revealed) brand. They want that David’s Parkour becomes (non-revealed brand Parkour)… they had said that don’t want freerun from the UFF, they know that are we and that we know better than no nobody to speech (about our Parkour), to form, and pure and simply to show what we created.

Parkour is free for he who practices it… is for you, later, if to want to make of this your mark, it is only necessary to be good at it, and not to hide behind the movement that you transformed. But well, the objective is that you understand the spirit and that you (must) advance in security, without useless risks, therefore the goal is also the security. The important thing is to advance in this world with the idea of a basis of an action art that is Parkour… it’s enthusiastic to create an economic sporting movement that can allow many people to live its passion. But we guard so that the ones that live it, deserve it… it’s very simple.

We are going to federate the Parkour of DB, to form instructors with 3 levels of formation with periods of training in France and events in the foreigner so that all and each one of us speak only about one and the same Parkour.

1º period of training will be in (dates not divulged) and only the formed people will be able to form people for Parkour. The objective is to be able to have a national representative for country in contact with us, he will be the judge of what’s happening in his country and to form new practitioners.

One will not try to stop the people who make “extreme Parkour” but this will be practiced on the responsibility of the one making the extreme, such as the person who makes ski out of the ski track.

One will not try to stop that who wants to do Parkour by himself, but if some accident happen and this person doesn’t belong to our organization, it’s a matter of protecting us so that we are not responsible for all the accidents on hearth, and, if that person it’s affiliated, during an event this person will have complete insurance, but if out of the event is on its responsibility.

The goal is to transmit and transmit well.

-Jean François Belle

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