Parkour (or 'le parkour'; 'freerunning'; 'pk' or 'pking') is the sport of fluid urban movement. Invented in 1988 in the Lisses suburb of Paris by a small crew of traceurs including the ledgendary David Belle and Sebastien Foucan who recently featured in the BBC documentary 'Jump London', the sport (or art) of pk is essentially a conbination of running, athletics and acrobatics in urban environments.
It includes such techniques as the tic-tac (wall step/run); kong (a form of vault); and precision (two-foot to two-foot jump) among myriad others. Most watching traceurs pk would describe their movements as series of of actobatic techniques fluidly integrated into a continuous run from A to B, past, over under and through any obstacles in their path. However, that would be during a run (most of which are filmed, as with skaters). Most often, if you saw traceurs practicing they'd be honing individual components of their technique.
Certain individuals have chosen to explore alternative forms of parkour, such as running through traffic or passing through crowds quicky, while others, such as Team Ryouko or Xyndicate have attempted to blend pk's unique ideals with other forms of martial and athletic arts.
It includes such techniques as the tic-tac (wall step/run); kong (a form of vault); and precision (two-foot to two-foot jump) among myriad others. Most watching traceurs pk would describe their movements as series of of actobatic techniques fluidly integrated into a continuous run from A to B, past, over under and through any obstacles in their path. However, that would be during a run (most of which are filmed, as with skaters). Most often, if you saw traceurs practicing they'd be honing individual components of their technique.
Certain individuals have chosen to explore alternative forms of parkour, such as running through traffic or passing through crowds quicky, while others, such as Team Ryouko or Xyndicate have attempted to blend pk's unique ideals with other forms of martial and athletic arts.
by Nic January 19, 2005