Parkour is a training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. Practitioners aim to get from A to B in the most efficient way possible. This is done using only the human body and the surroundings for propulsion, with a focus on maintaining as much momentum as possible while still remaining safe. Parkour can include obstacle courses, running, climbing, swinging, mantling, vaulting, jumping, rolling, quadrupedal movement, and other, similar movements depending on what movement is deemed most suitable for the given situation Parkour's development from military training gives it some aspects of a non-combative martial art.
Parkour is an activity that can be practiced alone or with others, and is usually - but not exclusively - carried out in urban spaces Parkour involves seeing one's environment in a new way, and imagining the potentialities for navigating it by movement around, across, through, over and under its features.
Developed in France, primarily by Raymond Belle, David Belle, and Sébastien Foucan during the late 1980s, Parkour became popular in the late 1990s and 2000s through films, documentaries, and advertisements featuring these practitioners and others.
Etymology
The term derives from "parcours du combattant", the classic obstacle-course method of military training proposed by Georges Hébert, the term "le parcours" was used by Raymond to encompass all of his training including climbing, jumping, running, balancing, and the other methods he undertook in his personal athletic advancement. One day when David Belle was on a film set, he showed his 'Speed Air Man' video to Hubert Koundé, who suggested to change the "c" of "parcours" to a "k" because it was more dynamic and stronger, and to remove the silent "s" for the same reason. Belle liked the idea and officially changed the name of his discipline to "parkour".
A practitioner of parkour is often called a traceur, with the feminine form being traceuse. They are nouns derived from the French verb tracer, which normally means "to trace", as in "tracing a path", in reference to drawing. The verb tracer used familiarly means: "to buck up". The term traceur was originally the name of a parkour group headed by David Belle which included Sébastien Foucan and Stephane Vigroux.
A jam refers to a meeting of traceurs, involving training lasting anywhere from hours to several days, often with people from different cities. The first parkour jam was organized in July 2002 by Romain Drouet, with a dozen people including Sébastien Foucan and Stephane Vigroux.
History
Georges Hébert
In Western Europe, a forerunner of parkour was French naval officer Georges Hébert, who before World War I promoted athletic skill based on the models of indigenous tribes he had met in Africa. He noted, "their bodies were splendid, flexible, nimble, skillful, enduring, and resistant but yet they had no other tutor in gymnastics but their lives in nature." His rescue efforts during the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée on Saint-Pierre, Martinique, reinforced his belief that athletic skill must be combined with courage and altruism. Hébert became a physical education tutor at the college of Reims in France. Hébert set up a "méthode naturelle" (natural method) session consisting of ten fundamental groups: walking, running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, balancing, throwing, lifting, self-defense, swimming. During World War I and World War II teaching continued to expand, becoming the standard system of French military education and training. Thus, Hébert was one of the proponents of "parcours", an obstacle course, which is now standard in military training and which led to the development of civilian fitness trails and confidence courses.Raymond and David Belle
Born in 1939 in Vietnam, Raymond Belle was the son of a French doctor and Vietnamese mother. He was cut off from his parents by the First Indochina War and sent to a military orphanage at the age of 7. He took it upon himself to train harder and longer than everyone else in order to never be a victim. At night, when everyone else was asleep, he would be outside running or climbing trees. He would use the military obstacle courses in secret, but he also created courses of his own that tested his endurance, his strength and his flexibility. Doing this enabled him not only to survive the hardships he experienced during his childhood, but also eventually to thrive. In 1954, he returned to France and remained in military education until 1958, when someone who was impressed by his abilities suggested that he join the Paris fire-fighters.
David Belle is considered the founder of parkour.
Raymond's son, David Belle, was born in 1973. He experimented with gymnastics and athletics, but became increasingly disaffected with both school and the sports clubs. As he got older though, he started to read the newspaper clippings that told of his father's exploits and got more and more curious about what had enabled his father to accomplish these feats. Through conversations with his father, he realized that what he really wanted was a means to develop skills that would be useful to him in life, rather than just training to kick a ball or perform moves in a padded, indoor environment.
Eventually, through conversations with his father, he learned about this way of training that his father called 'parcours'. He heard his father talk of the many repetitions he had done in order to find the best way of doing things. What he learned was that for his father, training was not a game but something vital which enabled him to survive and to protect the people he cared about. David realized that this was what he had been searching for and so he began training in the same way. After a time, he found it far more important to him than schooling and he gave up his other commitments to focus all his time on his training.
Yamakasi
Initially David trained on his own, however later he found other people (including his cousins) who had similar desires and they began to train together. The group at that time included David Belle, Sébastien Foucan, Châu Belle Dinh, Williams Belle, Yann Hnautra, Laurent Piemontesi, Guylain N'Guba Boyeke, Malik Diouf, and Charles Perriére. In the early development Parkour was not necessary based on specific techniques, such as jumps and vaults. The group went through all sorts of challenges that forced them to find physical and mental strength in order to find a way through. This could for example mean to choose training without food or water, or to sleep on the floor without a blanket in order to learn to endure the cold.
For someone from the outside to join the group, who began calling themselves Yamakasi, the person had to be recommended by someone who was already a part of the group and then the person had to be tested in order to evaluate the person's motivation for wanting to join. During the early development of Parkour the group started to create a training method for overcoming physical and mental challenges, complemented with specific values and principles with which everyone within the group had to align. Parkour conveys the values of honesty, respect, humility, sacrifice and hard work.
For example, no one in the group was allowed to be late for training since it would hold back the whole group. If any traceur completed a challenge it meant that everyone else had to do the same thing. During the training no one was allowed to be negative or to complain. Few excuses were allowed. For instance, if someone claimed that his shoes were too worn out in order to make a jump, he had to do it anyway, even if it meant doing the jump barefoot. At the same time, everyone was required to have knowledge of their own limits.
Respecting your health and your physical well-being was one of the foundations of the group. If any traceur in the group hurt himself during or after the execution of a movement, the movement was deemed as a failure. If the movement only was executed once it was deemed as if it never had been executed at all. Every movement had to be repeated at least ten times in a row without the traceur having to push his limits or sustaining any injury. If any mistake was made by any traceur in the group everyone had to start all over again.
Humility was an important principle. No traceur was allowed to feel superior over someone else, by for example executing a movement only to show off in front of someone who could not perform the movement. If any traceur in the group claimed that he had completed a difficult and dangerous challenge that should not be attempted unaided, he had to prove his claims by doing the challenge again. Anyone who lied violated the principle of humility.
Despite the huge emphasis on the collective, each traceur had to progress and develop independently, and there was a complete trust within the group. Every traceur had to encourage the others and show confidence through their behavior. If someone in the group violated the principles, the group could meet without the offending traceur to discuss various punishments. Any traceur who was deemed unsuitable could be temporarily or even permanently banned from the group in order to uphold the disciplines, values, and principles. Despite the huge emphasis on the collective and the principles, everyone was trying to find their own way in Parkour to fulfill their personal development. The aim of parkour is to create the means to be yourself.
In the late 1990s, after David's brother sent pictures and video to a French TV programme, the popularity of parkour began to increase. A series of television programmes in various countries subsequently featured video footage of the group, and as the popularity increased, they began to get more and more offers. Eventually, the original group split apart to pursue different goals, some staying with the discipline and others leaving. The number of practitioners in total, though, kept on increasing, and parkour's popularity began to spread around the globe through television, feature film and increasing use of online video-sharing methods.
