Peter Parkour

Parkour - if you’ve seen it anywhere, odds are you’ve seen it in the latest Bond - Casino Royale. Specifically the foot chase near the beginning, running through an embassy as well as a construction yard, in Africa. The man Bond was chasing was doing Parkour, while Bond was doing his best to catch up with more conventional means.

As part of my script for MySpace Man, I’ve been researching this strange new form of athleticism. Though I think I’d heard of it once or twice before, it didn’t really shoot into my consciousness until I watched the new Bond. In the film it is presented as being mostly about epic leaps from tall heights, but that is just the most camera friendly aspect and it turns out the majority of Parkour involves ground-level clearing of obstacles in a variety of ways. Meanwhile, if you are curious to see Parkour featured in another action film, Balieue 13 is a great French flick about a near future Paris which resembles the giant prison that New York becomes in good ol' Escape From New York. You can also catch a pile of clips uploaded by the Parkour community at this site.

A person who does Parkour is called a traceur and as I’m sure you’re beginning to guess, yes Parkour is French in origin. You can find a detailed list of Parkour moves, amongst other info, at it's reasoably well put together Wikipedia entry. Here I'd like to say that I honestly think this has the potentional to grip the public imagination and seep into youth culture the same way that skateboarding did in the 1980's. But I wouldn't be surprised if an element of Parkour, which has generally been glossed over everywhere I've seen it, will be lost along the way. I am referring to the philosphical aspect which is a large part of why Parkour resembles a martial art more than an XTREEEEEEME sport.

The majority of the philosophy behind Parkour was penned by it's founder, David Belle, who used specific military training used by French soldiers in the Vietnam war as a foundation for Parkour as a whole. It is a simple but elegant philosophy which extends the basic physical goal of Parkour (the surmounted of all obstacles put in one's path) to an outlook on life which emphasizes determination, an ability to adapt and an enhanced awareness of one's surroundings. Belle strongly encourages respecting the areas through which you practice Parkour and it is generally looked down upon if you cause damage (like, say, landing on a car roof from on high or yanking a signpost off its moorings while trying to gain momentum).

Though I gather there have been people who have forgotten this, in favor of performing impressive moves - thus prompting remarks from other members of the community.

As someone who will be contributing to the hullabaloo, I can honestly see Parkour having the potential to become more and more in the forefront of popular culture. Something to keep an eye on, I reckon.

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