Efficiency Flowchart



This might not be the ABSOLUTE BEST definition of efficiency (as it relates to parkour), but as far as I'm concerned, this is all you need, and everything you need, to answer the question "Is it parkour?"

I'd like to take a quick moment to emphasize that the ORDER of the flowchart here is absolutely critical ... you MUST evaluate your ideas based on safety, then simplicity, then speed, and they must fulfill ALL THREE requirements. Why?

Safety comes first because if you're not going to survive the technique, then it doesn't matter how fast it is. The quickest way off the roof of a burning skyscraper is jumping, but what sort of shape will you (and the little old lady you just rescued) be in when you get to the bottom?

Simplicity comes next because it knocks out a lot of borderline techniques that people really want to pretend are parkour even though they're not (we're talking about the diving frontflip over the spiky fence, here). People will say things like, well, it's just as quick to aerial that gap as to tic-tac it, and okay, maybe they're right. But you have to think in terms of endurance and coordination. The simple moves require less thought, less effort, and are less likely to wear you down or screw you up in combination, which is where it really matters.

And speed, duh. This is the one everybody already understands ... the only problem is, they need to realize it's not as important as they always thought.