I'm typing this post in response to the apparent confusion of people in this forum when it comes to techniques in Parkour. To the casual observer, traceurs do "moves" to pass obstacles. A common misconception arises from this: that Parkour is a collection of "moves", and that there is a list of "Parkour moves" that, when preformed, are Parkour.

Individual techniques are not what makes up Parkour. Instead, it is your mindset that determines whether or not your actions are within the realm of Parkour. Without the correct intent, these movements are not being used for Parkour. This is what separates Parkour from other activities, the purposefulness.

There is no list that encompasses all motions that can be used in Parkour. This being said, there ARE some movements that are especially useful that many traceurs use as a base skill set in Parkour. These techniques are used very often because of their versatility and effectivness. These include the saut de chat (kong), saut de bras (cat leap), breakfalls, demi tour (turn vault), tic-tac, and passe muraille (wall climb) , among others.

However, as I said before, none of these movements are Parkour in and of themselves. Picture two cardboard boxes. One is filled with books, while the other contains nothing but air. At first glance, to the average observer, the boxes will be appear to be identical. Similarly, unless filled by the proper purpose, these techniques which would appear the same, are simply empty "moves".

here! here!

this is a realization that took me some time to come to after i began 'doing parkour'

in addition to the great ideas in Pistolwhip's post, there is also the idea that when you go and drill kongs, or rolls, or whatever you are drilling, you are not 'doing parkour', or 'practicing parkour', you are 'practicing FOR parkour'

we practice our movements so that when we do parkour, we don't need to think, or concentrate on the individual moves.  they become simple 'tools' to 'go that way,' as opposed to 'tricks' to 'flow that way'

Haha thats deep man.
Hope that everyone will come here for that view.

very nice. hey, do you mind if i post this somewhere else (giving credit to you of course)?

a myspace group

Frosti, we can! At least that's what I've been doing. The only hard part is stapling their eyelids open. :-)

Seriously though, the message that many sites send to traceurs is either mixed, diluted with masses of misinformation, or just plain incorrect. This site has been doing pretty well with keeping people supplied with the truth, in the forum as well as the site content, and it's my pleasure to supplement that :-)

You definitely know what you are talking about (Asa), thanks for putting your write up in terms that we can all understand .  I definitely agree with you, parkour is all about combining the different "moves" in a way that helps you to move fluidly throught the environment around you.  Just a single move doesn't accomplish that much, I think thats why people that just happen to see a bunch of kids jumping around think of it as "delinquent activity".  When you combine a series a moves, not only does it look better, but anyone watching can actually begin to see the purpose of all the random movements. 

nice point