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Parkour – The Most Acrobatic Sport on Earth

John P.

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parkour-daniel-ilabacaWhat is the easiest way to define Parkour? How about this. The world, is literally, your playground.

Now, Wikipedia defines Parkour as follows:

Parkour (sometimes also abbreviated to PK) or l’art du déplacement (English: the art of movement) 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 practiced in both rural and urban areas. Parkour practitioners are referred to as traceurs, or traceuses for females.

It’s also known as Free Running, but if you really want to understand what it’s all about, you just have to see it in action.

Here is David Belle giving a good demonstration of what it’s all about:

Here is a training session that occurred in New York City:

And here are some ladies getting into it

When you’re done with those, I’ve posted about this before. Enjoy!

Comments

  1. Jacques Snyman, the only age limitation is that which you put on yourself. David Belle started when he was 15, but I’ve helped start a few kids under 12. I’ve also seen men above 40 perform greatly.

    You’d be surprised what your body can do; and you could never know that you can’t do this until you’ve full heartily tried.

    For the third question, it’s both. Often it is fun to go to a foreign city or your own and just mess about having fun. Other times, you can go on somewhat of a “preplanned route” simply because you know what obstacles are strong enough to support your own weight and movement. It is completely free form.