The winner by far was "Drive", an awesome video, well shot, well directed, well deserved!
I thank everyone who went and voted however you voted, it's good that we show the world that the PK scene here is strong, because we have an awesome scene here in the US!
Congrats to Mike Yamrus for Dispersion, it is a work of art. Congrats I guess to the VA-Parkour guys too :P
Sebastien has answered some more specific questions I asked him to try to clear up the difference between Parkour and Freerunning.
Although the answers are not as specific as I hoped for, I feel very positive in that his answers don't rule out the way that people currently use the term Freerunning.
M2: Do you think the PAWA definition of Parkour is "The" defintion, or only "a" definition?
Seb: I don't know what is the Pawa Definition sorry! But Parkour is Parkour but each person can do his own Parkour, This is Free...Running attitude, Who has the truth? For me "the Way" is the truth!
M2: Do you think parkour includes movements like a flip or a wall spin?
Seb: Parkour is for everyone and it's includes what you'd like to include! but Argue isn't and will never be PARKOUR!
M2: Can Freerunning contain these things, a flip or a wall spin? What is the main purpose of Freerunning?
Seb: Freerunning or Parkour it's the same! It's absolutely Free. I prefer definitely the functionality, Parkour is basically efficient!!! People should never forget the basic! Also the positive attitude!!! ;)
Please take note that my goal in this is in no way to set "sides" between Sebastien and Pawa, I asked both of them since they are the ones responsible for the terms "Parkour" and "Freerunning", so I wanted to go to the source.
I appreciate both of their answers. I'm sure this will spawn a new round of conversations, I ask only that people be polite and respectful of other people's views, talk on here as you would to people in person.
I asked Joss "What is PAWA's idea on Freerunning?" This is his answer, it is published with his permission. This is meant to help clear up arguments on Parkour vs Freerunning, and work towards defining the two clearly. American Parkour continues to support and encourage both.
I have also asked Sebastien Foucan for clarification on Freerunning, as he is the creator of it, and I will (hopefully) post his response as well.
From Joss: Free Running ? A kind of demonstration mixing parkour technics, and acrobatics to be more spectacular and serve the medias and marketing, but also a sport. The term Parkour has been invented by David Belle and Hubert Koundé in 1998 and the word Free Running has been created much later by Sebasten Foucan for the purpose of spreading Parkour in a marketing fashion (they thought the word "parkour" wasn't international enough and Sebastien Foucan proposed them this word). The problem is that they fully mixed acrobatics to impress people. This is where Freerunning becomes different from Parkour.
To make a comparison, Free Running is like artistic katas in martial arts, the goal is only to be spectacular.
So it is related to parkour but doesn't answer to the same philosophy. I mean, when you pratice to show how spectacular your jump is gonna be, people aren't focused anymore on the difficulty, on the obstacle but on you. This showing off attutude isn't the parkour philosophy which preaches for humility. In this, Free Running and Parkour are fundamentally opposite even if the first one is related to the second one. Like the traditional way and the freestyle way.
This is a correction to the "Broadband Channel" request.
It was incorrectly stated that "the video can be any quality" ... what it needs to be is original, uncompressed video, for most people that means "Straight from the tape". So, if you have some footage on a tape that you'd like to submit, please get in touch.
Worldwide JAM needs YOU!!. They're soon going to be launching the world's first Parkour/ Freerunning Broadband channel, and need more footage to keep the program schedule fresh and action packed. APK will be working to collect footage from anyone in the Americas who has something they can contribute, no matter how big or how small. The action should be smooth and continuous, in other words, we're looking for action vids!
This video from Skynative will be the first in our Video Gallery. It will also be a kickoff for a "Video of the Month" feature, which will use videos from the Pics & Vids forum, with three videos put forward each month for a vote by the community. As Skynative's video clearly shows, Freerunning vids are welcome as well as Parkour videos.
Demon and Matt P. did an article for Boulder's largest newspaper. some comments from Demon:
It turned out well for the most part. But as expected, the reporter got some small things wrong. For instance, he said parkour started in France a few years ago, obviously we all know it was a lot earlier than that. Also, pretty much everything he said about how I got started in highschool and my friends quitting was wrong. And last of all, some of the things he quoted us on are a little off. Matt said if people researched what parkour was and stayed true to its values, competition WOULDNT happen, but in the article is says it could.
For the most part, the reporter did a good job and definitely portrayed parkour in an overall positive way.
Greg Glassman is the originator of the Crossfit method of elite fitness. He refers to Crossfit as a community of legitimate practitioners who come together to create and expand Crossfit as a method based on function, intensity and variance. This past weekend I had the honor of attending their certification seminar in Santa Cruz California as both a participant and presenter.
There is a new article on Input Fitness by Arthur Kelly. Arthur is a very interesting man and a pleasure to work with. The article quotes some guy named Toorock, so take it with a grain of salt ;)
The guys from Tempest Freerunning, Paul Darnell (PD) and Andy Causey (AC) went on a road trip from east to west. It started with a jam session in DC on Feb 20th, ending in L.A. on March 3rd.
The tour was a great success, PD and AC are two of the greatest guys on the scene, and much fun was had, many good times shared. We salute these guys for what they've done to connect people across the coutnry.
APK is gratetful to have had the opportunity to help out with their adventure.
There is an ad that will air during the superbowl which has been created by Carbon Media (Mike Christie) of Jump London / Britain fame. Andy Day (Kiell) is on the bill as "Assistant Producer" - Way to go Kiell!
Anyone looking for "Parkour on TV" won't find it, but anyone looking for gobsmacking talent running wild in the streets will be very pleased. The commercial is a fun video filled with freerunning and acrobatics.
I don't know the time it will air during the superbowl.
Read on for the full official press release from Carbon.
