Parkour

Zachary Maller

Parkour

November 16, 2007

Mrs. Dunbar

Parkour is a new and exciting sport that people are performing around the world. Parkour is a French word for "the art of movement." Parkour was created by David Belle out of his imagination, his heritage and from his desire during childhood to find the means to move through the world in an efficient and fluid way. The objective of Parkour is getting from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible. Parkour is a combination of vaults, landings, balance, precision, discipline and confidence.

Raymond Belle, David Belle's father was a fireman in France and served in the military. As a fireman and military officer he needed to have a way to get from one place to another but it was not like getting on a train and going to work, it was a matter of life and death. For example he needed to know what was the fastest and most efficient way to get into in the burning building, save as many people as possible and get out alive. If he is trying to get out of a building as quickly as possible while saving another person he would not do a back flip out of the building that would be a waste of energy and time. About fifteen years after David was born in Marine Seine, France, his father told him all of his "war" stories and taught him his life-saving techniques. David was extremely fascinated and thought he could put these strategies together in a fun and confidence boosting way. He and his friend, Sebastien Foucan, started jumping around with a purpose and invented and founded this movement. Little did they know that what they started would have such a large following and make such an impact on so many people in the world today.

Parkour is not just like any other sport, it is a way of life, and it changes your perspective of everything you see in the urban and rural environment, involuntarily. You can't help but see opportunities for performing Parkour in your surroundings as you walk, or drive or visit new areas either in the country or the city. Once you do Parkour you can no longer see things as they are, they always become opportunities that scream out, "I can do Parkour here!" For example: for someone who doesn't do Parkour they see a picnic table as a simple structure made of wood created to eat or sit on, while a traceur would see it as an obstacle to vault over. A traceur is a French word for a Parkour trainer or practitioner.

Although Parkour is a dangerous and a heart-stopping sport, it can be beautiful. It's not just jumping around without any purpose, it is a movement, utilizing the abilities of the human body with its' surroundings. One can not exactly call Parkour a sport, not because it's not an official sport but because it's non-competitive. In other sports like football you compete against the opposing team but in Parkour you're competing against yourself. A Parkour traceur must not be doing Parkour to impress other people but do it because they truly love everything about the challenges and benefits it provides.

There are many benefits of Parkour. There are not only physical benefits but also mental benefits. One might say, "How could there be mental benefits to someone jumping around?" It's not just people jumping around, it's a discipline and everything about it is more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge. You set goals and increase your confidence in Parkour, which affects your life in its entirety. If you're not confident that you can accomplish a particular move, then you should not try it, you have to visualize yourself doing a vault for example, and then attempt it with not little confidence, or some confidence but complete confidence. You must be absolutely sure of your ability physically and emotionally.

There are many risks associated with Parkour and precautions you need to know before attempting to push the limits of your body. When rolling to break a fall from a high jump or rolling onto grass or concrete you can damage your body in many serious ways. First of all, one of the most important points about rolling or jumping from somewhere is you do not want to bend your knees more than 90 degrees, otherwise you can cause serious damage to your knees in the future. If you don't roll properly, especially on concrete, then you can also seriously injure your back and spine. There are many different steps in the right way to roll. When you land from a high and fast jump you want to be on your feet for less than a second. If you are on your feet for more than a couple of seconds when you land into a roll you will not be getting the full absorption of the impact. If you roll too much to the side or too straight- forward than you can easily damage your spine, not to mention get scraped up on your shoulders and back. You want to roll from your right shoulder to your left hip and have the correct hand placement.

A vault is a fast and efficient way to get over an obstacle in your path. There are many risks you take when you do certain dangerous vaults. One of the most feared risks is clipping your feet. When you do a Kong vault-which is a dive on to a table pushing off with your hands and bringing