American Parkour - Parkour and Freerunning - New "What is Parkour" definition

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New "What is Parkour" definition

Monday, 12 October 2009

American Parkour would like to formally announce that it has finalized its new description of Parkour. We decided that our current definition was good, but could be improved with the help of the community. Read more for the rest of the announcement, to see who contributed, and to read the new definition!

Submit your news to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

We created a thread and asked the entire national community for what they would include in a definition of Parkour. A committee of American Parkour employees and people outside of APK were selected to edit the 85 responses into a new "What is Parkour" section. After reading and analyzing every response (analysis included marking our favorite parts of each entry and generating "commonly used words" lists), we developed a list of ideas and words we wanted the definition to contain. We experimented with several different ways to present the information, and then over the course of over 60 emails developed the final draft.

APK would like to publicly thank each and every person who submitted a definition and influenced the official "What is Parkour" of APK. We would also like to thank the committee who worked hard to create this new definition:

Alissa Bratz from Madison
Brandon "Corndogg" from San Francisco
Gabe Arnold from New Jersey
Travis Noble from Michigan
Zachary Cohn from Rochester
Mark Toorock from Washington DC

This new definition is simple and easy to remember, and APK invites you to use it on your own website or anytime you need to describe parkour!

So without further adieu... click here to find out WHAT IS PARKOUR.

Users' Comments

Display 23 of 23 comments

1. 10-12-2009 21:26

I really like the new description, it's very thorough and concise with direct wording. The first line is something that will be handy to spit out as an elevator speech. The way you guys (and gals) brought in members from all different communities is rather commendable as well. Good work all!

Janine

2. 10-12-2009 21:31

I can't see it. I'm logged in but it is restricted to me for some reason.

Ryan Danks

3. 10-12-2009 21:46

Try now, Ryan.

ZacharyCohn

4. 10-13-2009 00:10

I also cannot see it. And am logged in.

Aneurysm

5. 10-13-2009 02:53

Me too.

Shark

6. 10-13-2009 03:12

I'm logged in but it says I don't have permisson to view the page.

MJGIBBON

7. 10-13-2009 03:44

Hey guys... I suck. Sorry. All better now!

ZacharyCohn

8. 10-13-2009 03:55

Awww,dont say that,everyone makes mistakes,even the best of us fail,after all,the problems already solved :grin

Dan_Niel

9. 10-13-2009 04:40

Oh cool, there's even an animation at the top! :grin

Just one question...is there any way to update the date listed at the top? It still says Dec. 2005.

Sky

10. 10-13-2009 05:00

I like that u say that acro and tricking dnt constitute parkour, finnaly im liking this, NEXT STEP....MAKE AN ATTEMPT TO STOP THE SEPARATION!!!!

Skills

11. 10-13-2009 09:47

I sincerely hope this new definition resonates with people as much as it does for me. I was honored to be a part of the redefinition committee and we did our best to take all points to date into consideration and come up with something that not only clarifies parkour for newcomers, but sets the groundwork for the parkour community going forward. It was an excellent team effort, with lots of good points made all around, and of course while there are always compromises when trying to define "movement" through "words," I think this definition is something the community can really take to heart.

Corndogg

12. 10-13-2009 10:06

It's good...but I think it's missing the word "efficient." That seems kind of important to me...

In my opinion, if you want to know what parkour is, just listen to David Belle. He may not lay it out as plainly as the thing above, but I think if you just listen to what he has to say, and practice parkour yourself, you'll understand parkour much more than if you read a definition like what we have here.

No disrespect intended - I know people worked hard on this - and I do think it has value. Just saying.

morgvanny

13. 10-13-2009 10:21

You can't always just say "Go listen to what david belle has to say." What if you're explaining it to a property owner, or a policeman, or a nice old grandmother. Or what if Little Jimmy hears about parkour for the first time and wants to know what it's all about?

Most of us who train know what parkour IS, but EXPLAINING it is another story. This is for people who need to explain it, or for people who don't know what Parkour is.

ZacharyCohn

14. 10-13-2009 10:57

i love it it's awesome, great job.