Navigating the urban jungle

• Source: Global Times
• [11:44 August 04 2010]
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Parkour for beginners

At first glance, one would think the most important traits of a parkour athlete are strength, flexibility and a good dose of courage. Kyle Shapiro offers something simpler. The most important things are a pair of running shoes and a good attitude, Shapiro said. You have to be open to listening and learning.

For those who approach parkour with humility and the proper footwear, there are a few basic moves that lay the foundation for the rest. Believe it or not, nobody knows how to run properly, Shapiro said. This deficiency calls for a reeducation on some of the most basic human movements.

For starters, tracers must master jumping, landing and rolling. In particular, rolling is crucial for more advanced moves that may include drops from extraordinarily high surfaces. Once a novice masters the fundamentals  a process that can take anywhere from a few months to a few years, depending on prior training  the range of possibilities broadens significantly. Moves with colorful names like the monkey vault, cat pass, wallrun and gap jump come into view later.

One move with a particularly evocative name is the king kong vault. This maneuver calls for a person to horizontally dive over an obstacle, pushing off with the hands and bringing the body back to a vertical position to prepare for landing, in a manner that brings to mind the leaping great ape of its namesake.

A history of Parkour

Parkours origins can be traced to David Belle, a French soldier, stuntman and actor who is widely considered its founder. Raised in a family with a long history of military training, Belles father taught his son how to navigate the parcours, or obstacle course, by using the méthode naturelle, an extensive system of physical training developed by French naval officer Georges Herbert. Herberts méthode naturelle combined ten basic types of movements, including walking, running, jumping, climbing and equilibrium, with an emphasis on courage and altruism.

Building on his early education, Belle developed the philosophy and movements of parkour in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The sport then spread to the UK, later flourished in North America and has since spread throughout the world. Taken as a whole, parkours philosophy is summarized in the slogan be strong to be useful. This principle is the core of parkour.