What is parkour?

Amongst the international community, parkour is widely accepted as the safest, quickest, and most efficient route from one point to another. In the early 1980's, a teen named David Belle was introduced to obstacle course training and Georges Hébert's "Natural Method of Physical Culture" through his dad, Raymond Belle, a French soldier and firefighter who used these methods for quick ways of getting out of situations for any chance of survival. After moving to France, David found friends - the Hnautra brothers (Yann and Frederic) and David Malgogne. Yann and David created a group called the Yamakasi for strong spirit, strong body, strong man. Over the years, their skills improved tremendously as they practiced what they called art du déplacement. Over the past twenty years, the discipline grew with its popularity in France and England. With great success, tension had risen within the founding group, the Yamakasi. David Belle, Sébastien Foucan, and the Yamakasi took their separate paths. David developed what is now known as parkour and Sébastian used the term freerunning.

Photos by Rebecca Egger

Parkour is used by athletes, called traceurs, as a method for physical and mental fitness and as a lifestyle in which values developed through parkour are carried to and practiced in every other area in the individual’s life. This is a system that can be used by officers of police departments, the armed forces, fire and rescue services, public and private security, and more. The system itself can be applied to getting to a destination or escaping from a situation but the training encompasses creativity, critical thinking, responsible exercise, and much more.

Photos by Alan Tran (1,3) and Rebecca Egger (2)

What is freerunning?

Freerunning was just a term coined by Sébastien Foucan for English speakers. Since then, it has evolved into a category of parkour practitioners called freerunners. These athletes implement all kinds of movement into a discipline which has the ultimate goal of moving as gracefully and beautifully as they can throughout their environment. Although it is very similar to parkour, the intentions are of self expression. Most movement stems from parkour with various flips and tricks added for aesthetics. Freerunning is used public demonstrations, commercial and industrial advertising, and the film industry.

Both parkour and freerunning stem from art du déplacement with the founders having the same intentions in discipline - train to be strong, train to help others. From this point on in the article, we will regard the sum of all three disciplines as "movement" while keeping in mind the differences.

Today, movement is recognized in France and England. Currently, the remaining members of the Yamakasi are working on public awareness with the French government and a group in England called Parkour Generations have established an organization that consult in professional media, phyiscal fitness, and commercial projects. Over the past five years, parkour has reached all corners of the globe. Because of a huge number of individuals, movement has received bad light regarding what is practiced.

Photo by Rebecca Egger

How is movement practiced?

There is no correct way to train any three of the disciplines but there are ways to develop the skills used in them.

• Conditioning - The majority of practitioners use calisthenics as a method of conditioning. Push-ups, pull-ups, running, squats, handstands, plyometrics, and quadrupedal movements are examples of the calisthenics practiced. Others use their backgrounds in martial arts, weightlifting, Crossfit, gymnastics, and other sports to condition.
• Drills - Athletes use drills to develop power, endurance, strength, agility, and control.
• Setting goals - Practitioners develop goal setting skills to understand how to train safely and properly, keep a positive outlook, encourage others with keeping and maintaining their goals, work at one's individual pace, and grow confidence.
• Understanding of one's abilities - Practitioners are responsible for their actions. With discipline, athletes practice personal responsibility, an understanding of mental and physical strength, and willpower. An example of understanding would be walking away when an individual knows the safety of hisself or others are not in his favor.

Photos by Alan Tran

Is movement safe?

Yes. Safety is the practicing athlete's first priority whether he's training alone, with a group, or if he's demonstrating movement to the public. The goals of art du déplacement, parkour, and freerunning are not met when safety is in doubt. When training, practitioners understand that there is always a chance of injury and every practicing individual takes on that full responsibility. Being injured delays personal growth and development and takes away what movement is trained for - oneself but more importantly: friends, family, and community.

How do I learn more about movement?

The first approach is by referencing the internet. It is full of resources, videos, tutorials, articles, etc. that have been created for the sole purpose of helping individuals learn more about movement. The second approach is to find local practitioners. Although every practitioner is different, an understanding of movement can be shared. From there, move. Moving will offer you more than any video, book, or individual has to share.

Parkour in America

Parkour in America has grown exponentially over the past five years. American Parkour (APK), a website, has become a internationally known website that has helped promote parkour throughout North America. Since then, several local communities have taken a step towards an online presence. These states include, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington. Texas has a public parkour park in San Antonio. Also, some universities now host clubs that promote disciplines such as art du déplacement, parkour, and freerunning. These schools include George Washington, Iowa State, Perdue, Rochester Institute, Shephered, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Utah, Wisconsin, and Virginia Tech. Several of these schools allow some of their experienced students to instruct classes that are offered as credits or even to the public for general physical fitness. There are two gyms, Primal Fitness in DC and APEX Movement in Denver, that promote and share movement.

Photo by Regenia Spangler

What is NCParkour?

NCParkour is a website developed for athletes of movement within North Carolina (Visitors are more than welcome, too!). We offer a library of tutorial videos, a blog to share experiences, and a forum to communicate across the state. With local and state meet-ups, NCParkour's practitioners continue to develop individually and as a community.