Parkour is a method of training the mind and body. A parkour
practitioner, called a traceur (male) or traceuse (female), uses their surroundings
to improve their ability to move in space. By interacting with obstacles, be
they urban architecture or the natural environment, the practitioner becomes
more comfortable controlling his body and navigating any terrain. The meat of parkour
is the discipline of daily training, physical and technical, to heighten the
body’s natural movement elements such as strength, speed, balance, coordination,
precision, power, and endurance. The application of parkour is efficient
traversal when circumstance necessitates it, such as being chased, or needing
to reach a destination. While this is the practical application of the
training, one could do parkour their entire lives and not ever have to use it
in this way, similar to a martial artist never getting into a fight. Though it
may never have to be utilized in this way, the benefits of parkour are far
reaching. Being that parkour is made up of a lot of movements that are natural
to the human animal, the body is strengthened evenly and synergistically,
meaning all the parts of the body learn to work together. This helps to balance
the body and improve all movement in general.Aside from the physical benefits, many people find training parkour develops
mental clarity, confidence, self-discipline, the ability to deal with fear, and
many other mental gains.
What isn't Parkour?
Parkour is not acrobatics, tricking, stunts, recklessness, or jumping off high objects for no reason. It is not any movement or activity that doesn't fit in the above description "What Parkour Is". It is also not "What you make of it" ... it is predefined and has a purpose, if something doesn't suit that purpose, it is not Parkour.
Users' Comments
Display 50 of 99 comments
1.
09-14-2007 21:20
cant parkour get you into trouble with cops n stuff... i dont wanna diiieeee!!!!!!!!
2.
09-25-2007 11:47
no you shouldn't get introuble if you get premission, find a public parkour place, avoid the cops
3.
11-03-2007 16:14
How do I find a public parkour place?
4.
11-04-2007 06:36
Nah, it won't get you into trouble, as long as you don't to parkour on landmarks, memorials, schools, or anything else like that.
5.
11-07-2007 14:39
eh, im not encouraging anyone to break any laws or anything like that, but sometimes you gotta in order to find a good spot if you're from a small town like me...it's ok just so long as you don't get caught
6.
11-15-2007 04:51
can any1 give me an idea of a good parkour place?
7.
11-18-2007 16:10
try your school
8.
11-19-2007 10:31
;-) :-(
9.
11-27-2007 12:36
If you learn Parkour...so you really think the fuzz would be able to catch you?
10.
11-27-2007 21:19
and all ur doing is practicing a physical disipline, (unless ur using it to do illegal stuff then thats disgraceful to parkour itself) and proof is everywhere on the net all they'll have to do is look it up.
11.
11-27-2007 21:24
and to the person wanting an idea to practice i like using one of my local playgrounds, u know the ones that are so crappy and underused that you only see people on them when there is a picnic or sumptin also the docking bay of a store is another good place that Ill do it because they usually have a downslope, with a horizontal walkway and handrail to the side, so you can try out various hieghts (but be sure you know some people there or u can get into trouble)
12.
12-03-2007 12:38
Parkour is AWSOME!
13.
12-06-2007 01:58
it is but i cant find any places i can do it
14.
01-04-2008 07:37
hey, yea i kinda started last summer when i found out about pk, now im really in to it. its hard to practice with snow though. I have found 2 others that pk, so i train with them every now and then (they both work with me at Mr. Goodcents) We Pk to the top of the building.......
15.
01-12-2008 06:29
does it cost money to register
16.
01-12-2008 06:30
does registering cost anything
17.
01-16-2008 14:24
regristration is free, i think. it was when i signed on at any rate about 6 mnths ago
18.
01-16-2008 22:08
My friends and I practice at the "riverfront". It's like the center of the town and it just happens to be perfect for parkour.
Funny story about getting arrested for pk. One day while we were pk traing. We were practicing climbing straight up a tree without branches at the base that was next to a parking deck you could climb into about 15-20ft up the tree. My fiend was almost to the top (around 15ft.) when a cop chased him down and nearly cuffed him. Supposedly tree climbing is illegal!
19.
01-18-2008 14:22
the hell. since when is climbing trees illegal. and what the hell is parkour
20.
01-21-2008 18:33
playgrounds can sometimes be good places for pk. they're great legally but its sometimes pretty hard to find good pk there. schools are were i typically go. im in high school so it works well. whenever im out of school they're more or less deserted. also, newer schools often have good architecture for parkour and freerunning. but besides that sorta stuff all you can do is keep your eyes open.
21.
01-30-2008 11:56
i've finnaly found a name for what i've been doing for my whole life
22.
02-03-2008 09:58
lol
23.
02-20-2008 09:05
hey im new im just wonderin how are you guys learning to do this are you teachin your selves or are you being taught by a pro?
24.
02-20-2008 23:00
I wanna learn how to do it but how am I to learn? I like running and jumping around so I was super exicited when i found out about this ^_^
25.
02-21-2008 16:06
I used to call it professional footing.
26.
02-21-2008 16:38
How do I learn how to do this? I REALLY WANNA LEARN
27.
02-22-2008 16:56
Follow the site around, and (very important) WATCH THE PRO VIDEOS! You'll find out how. Have friends who can help you and learn with you. It's good for you. :D
28.
02-23-2008 03:31
for the guy who said his friend almost got arrested for climbing a tree (Unless it was an endangered tree or something) that cop must of been stupid cause there's a SPORT where you climb tall trees
29.
02-29-2008 13:41
yea ihave tha same problem as those other guys im from a small town in hickory north carolina and theres like nowhere to practice parkour at except for my school. and i always get in trouble for doin that.
30.
03-03-2008 22:20
really? cause where i live people don't really care as long as your not destroying anything
31.
03-05-2008 21:47
It'd be kinda ironic if the cop knew parkour too. I hear it's pretty popular with fire-fighters As far as location, if you watch David Belle's actual videos (not his compilation vids), he just wanders around and looks for stuff to climb on As for me, I practice on a couch in my basement
32.
03-06-2008 14:21
Is it ok if im 12? Is it more a of a disadvantage? and how am i sopoesed to do 25 pullups?
33.
03-06-2008 14:23
sorry not 25 pull ups 10-15.
34.
03-14-2008 12:26
does anyone live near terrell, tx?
35.
03-14-2008 18:34
Eh. Well, for a 12-year-old, what would be an ideal place to start? Just a few things about me...
-Subtly out of shape
-Rather susceptible to pain.
So yeah. :D
36.
03-16-2008 17:31
37.
03-17-2008 19:39
Today was my first day really doing this stuff. I am incredibally excited. I have one friend doing this so far and he seems excited too.
38.
03-21-2008 10:16
2day is like my 2nd week doin it,trust me its fun.i training at a park in my area,im tryin 2 get my friends 2 do but there out of shape
39.
03-23-2008 15:59
yeah well 2day is easter...
so there.
40.
03-26-2008 17:10
for the ppl who r asking about a place to do it it is everywhere they r the obstacles all around you there is no specific place for it go everywhere even private property
and about the fuzz its easy 2 get away from them like all that you have to do is do something at one place once then keep going on to the next obstacle i've been doing this for a while and for the guy asking about learning it we are all self taught we learn the moves from this site but we have to figure out how to do them on our own
41.
03-26-2008 21:52
My School, park, And downtown are my objectives
42.
03-27-2008 09:06
Hey is anyone hanging out in Pensacola, FL, that wants to pk with me and my friend. we're just starting up again, but we've been doing stuff like this all our lives. Sometimes it's cool just to take a walk somewhere and scope out some sick stuff to pull off, come back later with a camera or something and have fun.
43.
04-08-2008 09:16
people asking for good places to do parkour, there are a few really good places.
schools parks downtown in cities any where really
i have noticed while traveling that downtown salt lake city is good for parkour
44.
04-10-2008 15:48
a good place to try is in the middle of the woods. the trees are a good relief from urban obstacles. but you have to watch out more for rocks/roots/creatures. dosent have the uniformity of urban setting
45.
04-25-2008 14:35
also if ur just starting up, u can try different railings and try to get comfortable with the feeling of 'flow' that really helped me at first.
46.
04-28-2008 14:17
hey im new at this and i wuz wondering if there is anyone around martinsville, IN who can do this stuff if so email me
halochick101@gmail.com
(sk8ters would be great 2)
47.
05-05-2008 18:24
I got into Parkour about...2 weeks ago I'll say. And I've just been using playgrounds and handrails around town. I live in quite a suburban area so there isnt as many fun things around as a big city
48.
05-16-2008 12:57
Yah same as me, but it helps if you look up a move on the internet and then 'make' something to try that move on so that when u do have to use parkour in a more convenient place you can use it.
49.
05-26-2008 08:13
look i got alot of the moves down but im stuck on flips..... its the fear thats got me i want to do the flips but welll its like my body wont lemme any advise?
50.
05-26-2008 08:13
look i got alot of the moves down but im stuck on flips..... its the fear thats got me i want to do the flips but welll its like my body wont lemme any advise?
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