Parkour (sometimes abbreviated to PK) or l’art du déplacement (English: the art of displacement) is an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body. It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything in the surrounding environment—from branches and rocks to rails and concrete walls—and can be practised in both rural and urban areas. Parkour practitioners are referred to as traceurs, or traceuses for females.
Founded by David Belle in France, parkour focuses on practising efficient movements to develop one’s body and mind to be able to overcome obstacles in an emergency.
Overview
Parkour is a physical activity that is difficult to categorize. Often miscategorized as a sport or an extreme sport, parkour has no set of rules, team work, formal hierarchy, or competitiveness. On the contrary it is more like an art or discipline that resembles self-defense in the ancient martial arts. According to David Belle, “the physical aspect of parkour is getting over all the obstacles in your path as you would in an emergency. You want to move in such a way, with any movement, as to help you gain the most ground on someone or something, whether escaping from it or chasing toward it.” Thus, when faced with a hostile confrontation with a person, one will be able to speak, fight, or flee. As martial arts are a form of training for the fight, parkour is a form of training for the flight. Because of its unique nature, it is often said that parkour is in its own category: “parkour is parkour.”
An important characteristic of parkour is efficiency. Practitioners move not only as fast as they can, but also in the most direct and efficient way possible, this characteristic distinguishes it from the similar practice of free running, which places more emphasis on freedom of movements, such as acrobatics. Efficiency also involves avoiding injuries, short and long-term, part of why parkour’s unofficial motto is être et durer (to be and to last).
Those who are skilled at this activity normally have an extremely keen spatial awareness.[citation needed]
Traceurs claim that parkour also influences one’s thought process by enhancing self-confidence and critical-thinking skills that allow one to overcome everyday physical and mental obstacles. A study by Neuropsychiatrie de l’Enfance et de l’Adolescence in France reflects that traceurs seek for more sensation and leadership than gymnastic practitioners. They also have a more narcissistic personality, but one that does not seem to be linked to maladaptive or psychopathologic behaviors.
Philosophy
This is a main part of l’art du déplacement that most of the non-practitioners have not seen or heard about, yet according to the founders of Yamakasi it is an integral part of art, in the words of Williams Belle:
“Why do I train people? I think it is important to preserve that. I think they will share this practical experience. And represent it is… I believe it is just share something. It should not be lost. It has to stay alive! I do not want to have this experience, and just write it in a book, it would become a dead experience! I want it to be alive! I want people to use it, to live it and to experience it.”
Another aspect of the philosophy is the freedom. It is often said that parkour can be practiced by anyone, at anytime, anywhere in the world. This freedom has made it a powerful cultural force in Europe, with its influence spreading around the world. Châu Belle Dinh states more behind philosophy than its definition:
| “ | L’art du déplacement is a type of freedom. It is a kind of expression, trust in you. I do not think there is a clear definition for it. When you explain it to people, you say: yes I climb, I jump, I keep moving! It is the definition! But no one understands. They need to see things. It is only a state of mind. It is when you trust yourself, earn an energy. A better knowledge of your body, be able to move, to overcome obstacles in real world, or in virtual world, thing of life. Everything that touch you in the head, everything that touch in your heart. Everything touching you physically. | ” |
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— Châu Belle Dinh
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A recent convention of parkour philosophy has been the idea of “human reclamation.” This theory asserts that parkour is a means of stepping outside of the sedentary modern lifestyle and re-engaging with what it means to be human by moving in the same manner of primordial humans. Andy (Animus) of Parkour North America clarifies:
“In a lot of ways, parkour is a means of reclaiming what it means to be a human being. It teaches us to move using the natural methods that we should have learned from infancy. It teaches us to touch the world and interact with it, instead of being sheltered by it.”
It is as much as a part of truly learning this activity as well as being able to master the movements, it gives you the ability to “overcome your fears and pains and reapply this to life” as you must be able to control your mind in order to master the art of parkour.
| “ | To understand the philosophy of parkour takes quite a while, because you have to get used to it first. While you still have to try to actually do the movements, you will not feel much about the philosophy. But when you’re able to move in your own way, then you start to see how parkour changes other things in your life; and you approach problems — for example in your job — differently, because you have been trained to overcome obstacles. This sudden realization comes at a different time to different people: some get it very early, some get it very late. You can’t really say ‘it takes two months to realize what parkour is’. So, now, I don’t say ‘I do parkour’, but ‘I live parkour’, because its philosophy has become my life, my way to do everything. | “ |
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— Andreas Kalte
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Timeline
- 27 April 1875 – Georges Hébert born in Paris.
- 3 October 1939 – Raymond Belle is born in Vietnam (known as French Indochina).[1]
- 2 August 1957 – Georges Hébert dies in Tourgéville.
- 1958 – at age 19, Raymond completes his military training.[1]
- 29 April 1973 – David Belle is born in Fecamp, France.[2]
- 1987 – David moves to Lisses. (*3C)[verification needed]
- 1987 – David and Sébastien Foucan meet (*1A)
- 1993 – David joins the military firefighters brigade (*3C)
- 1995-1997 – L’art du déplacement starts development (*1A)
- 31 May 1997 – Yamakasi association created (by Foucan) (*1A)
- May 1997 – David Belle shows his first footage to the media (*2B)
- 17 February 1998 – Yamakasi association dissolved (*1A)
- 11 April 1998 – Yamakasi association created again (by the “Notre dame de paris” acrobats) (*1A)
- 1998 – David Belle and Hubert Koundé come up with the term “parkour”, ownership of the term is equally shared by David and Sébastien Foucan. (*4D)[verification needed]
- 31 May 2000 – Foucan creates another association, without Belle. (*1A)
- 2001: ” Yamakasi – Les samouraes des temps modernes movie” is produced with the Yamakasi group.
- April 2002 – “Rush Hour” spot on BBC starring David starts to appear on TV.
- September 2003 – Sébastien Foucan features in the Jump London documentary on UK television Channel 4 and later continues to be shown around the world on Discovery Channel.
- 2004 – Belle and Raffaelli star in the District 13 movie, with lots of parkour scenes.
- 2005 – PAWA is created by David Belle, to “show, transmit and develop parkour all over the world”.
- 2006 – Sébastien Foucan appears in Casino Royale.
- 2007 – Cyril Raffaelli appears in Live Free or Die Hard
Movements
There are fewer predefined movements in parkour than gymnastics, as it does not have a list of appropriate “moves”. Each obstacle a traceur faces presents a unique challenge on how they can overcome it effectively, which depends on their body type, speed and angle of approach, the physical make-up of the obstacle, etc. Parkour is about training the bodymind to react to those obstacles appropriately with a technique that works. Often that technique cannot and need not be classified and given a name. In many cases effective parkour techniques depend on fast redistribution of body weight and the use of momentum to perform seemingly impossible or difficult body manoeuvres at speed. Absorption and redistribution of energy is also an important factor, such as body rolls when landing which reduce impact forces on the legs and spine, allowing a traceur to jump from greater heights than those often considered sensible in other forms of acrobatics and gymnastics.
According to David Belle, you want to move in such a way that will help you gain the most ground as if escaping or chasing something. Also, wherever you go, you must be able to get back, if you go from A to B, you need to be able to get back from B to A, but not necessarily with the same movements or passements.
Despite this, there are many basic techniques that are emphasized to beginners for their versatility and effectiveness. Most important are good jumping and landing techniques. The roll, used to limit impact after a drop and to carry one’s momentum onward, is often stressed as the most important technique to learn. Many traceurs develop joint problems from too many large drops and rolling incorrectly. Parkour has sometimes received concerns for its health issues due to large drops. Communities in Great Britain have been warned by law enforcement or fire and rescue of the risk in jumping in the high buildings. Although David Belle has never been seriously injured while practising parkour, there is no careful study about the health issues of large drops and traceurs stress gradual progression to avoid any problems. Despite this, the American traceur Mark Toorock and Lanier Johnson, executive director of the American Sports Medicine Institute say that injuries are rare because parkour is based on the control of movements not on what cannot be controlled.
Accesories
There is no equipment required, although practitioners normally train wearing light casual clothing:[37][38]
- Light upper body garment – such as T-shirt, sleeveless shirt or crop top.
- Light lower body garment – such as light trousers or light shorts.
- Comfortable underwear.
The actual gear in itself, only consisting of:
- Comfortable athletic shoes that are generally light, with good grip.
- Sometimes, sweat-bands for forearm protection.
- Rarely, thin athletic gloves (with rubber grips exhibiting only a mild adhesion), for protection in much the same ways shoes protect feet, due to the fact practitioners grab hold of abrasive objects (brick walls, fences, etc).
However, since parkour is closely related to méthode naturelle, sometimes practitioners train barefooted to be able to move efficiently without depending on their gear. David Belle has said: “bare feet are the best shoes!”
Sursa : http://wikipedia.com
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