Non-Competitive Parkour

[WlknCntrdiction]

Having been on this forum for a while, and having my name synonomously attributed to bitching about my ex gf lol it has "saddened" me that since I've discovered the "lifestyle" of Parkour I have not known anyone on the interwebz who also partakes in this venture of fitness and full body awareness like I do. Gothic_dragon mentioning that he does Parkour(in the "best day of your life" thread)brought it to the forefront of my mind and thus this topic was created.

So, what is the point of this topic? Simply to get all the people who do Parkour like myself to come out of the woodwork and embrace this movement I intend to start lol.

For those not in the know:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour

The "famous" chase scene from David Belles'(the founder of Parkour) movie District 13:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01du2W6VJis

A video featuring a group of Traceurs/Free runners doing some crazy stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swVGf65LwfI

A traceur called "Blane" who is my idol, someone I look upto, someone who I want to be as good as someday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QSegpGxucM

And for shits and giggles a video titled "Flips are NOT Parkour":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRucoPPtnek

Personally, I have been doing Parkour for just gone 2 months now and I have to say that it is the most exhilirating thing I have ever had the luxury of doing. When you do a precision from a rail to another rail you are absolutely crapping yourself from having to do it but once you do it you feel like you're king and you go back and do it, again and again and again, over time it gets easier and you start to do bigger precisions over greater distances, gradually building up. To me Parkour is simply a way of life, it's a different, unique and more efficient way of moving throughout from obstacle to obstacle.

I absolutely despice when we are thrown in the same basket as free runners and then people ignorantly say "well what's the difference?" or "it's all the same", no, it's not, the mindsets and motivation behind both are completely different.

So to all the Traceurs(people who do Parkour)out there how long have you been doing Parkour for? Where do you do it? And what are your thoughts on it? Also to those who don't know much about Parkour, what are your thoughts on it?

 

[Anarchemitis]

Parkour would be an awesome method of transportation, (as would being able to manipulate gravity around your wieght-center axis thus falling in any direction) but I can't do it. I've never heard of it being done competively anyways. I always thought competitive Parkour was free-style walking.

 

[wordsmith]

I parkour for the simple reason that I'm always late. It's so much quicker to go over stuff that I'd go around.

(I know that this will come up later- the difference between freerunning and parkour- in Freerunning you do whatever looks good, regardless of direction or energy input. Parkour is moving from one point to another using the least effort and best flowing path. Whilst a freerunner would do a forward-flip down a staircase, a traceur will simply jump (or in my case use the handrail to slide), hence why flips are NOT parkour.)

 

[Cpt. Red]

For a while ago I was thinking about starting with parkour but as I lacked any good place to start to train the basic and that there wasn't anyone in my town that could help me it didn't really go anywhere...

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

My brother does Parkour. He's only thirteen, but he's getting really good at it. I would do it too, but I'm not flexible or athletic, unlike you twats.

Oh, why couldn't I have been blessed with skinnyness? Blast!

P.S. Just kidding. About the "I would do it too" part! Ahahahahagrr...

 

[Danny Ocean]

For a while ago I was thinking about starting with parkour but as I lacked any good place to start to train the basic and that there wasn't anyone in my town that could help me it didn't really go anywhere...

This is what's happening to me now. On top of that people get rather pissed when they see me walking on the roof of their garage.

If you're going to do this, I'd get some gloves, it kills your hands. Also, learn to action roll. It's like a forward roll but you roll over on your shoulder rather than your hands.
This always seems to make me veer off to the right though.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I practice slow motion parkour, where you just walk along the street.

 

[Smiles]

I suppose what I've been doing my whole life is that...

 

[Skalman]

I've been practicing parkour for maybe 2-3 months now and I absolutely love it, despite how everyone looks at me like I'm some weirdo...

 

[HighlanderPK]

I've been doing Parkour now for about 2 years and it really requires dedication to the discipline. I saw a video 2 years ago on youtube on 2 brothers parkour or something along those lines and I got interested, I thought it would be a fun sport at the time. But now that I have made it not just a hobby but my life.

Everything I do revolves around the efficiency of what I am doing and alternate paths around me. While people see walking up stairs I notice everything around them. Like the rails or the columns or the walls along the sides I could climb up.
If you hear a traceur talk about how "it opens your eyes and you start to see things differently" he is not joking it's for real.

Now when I hear someone ask if it's free running or not I laugh a little but I love to explain to people who are interested in what I am doing. I don't get angry at them because sometime adding a few flips into your run can be fun and it doesn't make you any less of a traceur if you do them. I do parkour with a group of people in Northeast Florida called FBPK which stands for Fernandina Beach Parkour and thought it's kind of a resort town and not much urbanization to parkour on we still find places to do it.

Parkour is an Art and Discipline that I think anyone can do it. There is no fitness requirements for parkour, you run on your own level. A level that is unique to you and no one else. Don't worry about falling, everyone falls. I fall all the time doing new things or even the same spots I do every day.

Judging with how much I talked about it you can tell I am in love with Parkour, haha.

 

[s0ap sudz]

Um, on a completely unrelated note, I believe this thread has been done before.

 

[fix-the-spade]

The main thing I notice about people doing Parkour is this, they get in the way of me and my bicycle... so, you can jump down a flight of stairs? Now watch me do it at 25mph.
I'm actually being serious here, twice this year I've had someone confidently leap over a wall/fence only to get craned by a fast moving Yorkshireman. Luckily neither of them broke... much.

Anywase, I think getting involved actively in any sport is a good thing. Do it well an it can be a art form, just keep it friendly and attract others to your cause.

 

[Skalman]

so, you can jump down a flight of stairs? Now watch me do it at 25mph.

Now try to get your bike up that 10ft wall...

But yea, as you said:

Anywase, I think getting involved actively in any sport is a good thing. Do it well an it can be a art form, just keep it friendly and attract others to your cause.

I agree.

EDIT:
oh and about the title of the thread: "non-competitive parkour"
It can't be parkour if it's competitive, then it just isn't parkour, competing against another goes against the basic principles of parkour.

 

[sammyfreak]

While I do agree that is is pretty cool are surely is fun I can't help thinking that you have pretty low standards for your role-models.

 

[Skalman]

I can't help thinking that you have pretty low standards for your role-models.

Really?
Now I don't have David Belle, Daniel llabaca or any other famous traceur as a role model, but I can definitely understand people who do.

What It all comes down to really, is what people value and look up to. And while I cannot say that I truly possess the true parkour philosophy, It's actually a very interesting lifestyle, and I'm impressed by the people who truly follow this philosophy. (for reasons way too long to explain here.)

 

[sammyfreak]

I can't help thinking that you have pretty low standards for your role-models.

Really?
Now I don't have David Belle, Daniel llabaca or any other famous traceur as a role model, but I can definitely understand people who do.

What It all comes down to really, is what people value and look up to. And while I cannot say that I truly possess the true parkour philosophy, It's actually a very interesting lifestyle, and I'm impressed by the people who truly follow this philosophy. (for reasons way too long to explain here.)

Okay, the whole concept of Parkour lifestyle befuddles me. Don't get me wrong, I se the appeal of the "sport" (or whatever you want to call it) but to make a lifestyle and philosophy out of something so temporary seems wierd. Then again, maybe this is the wrong place to discuss existenialism so yeah, I hope you guys enjoy your hobby.

 

[ObadiahBlack]

I have an interest in it, and have slowly begun to teach myself, but considering my current location (not as Urban as necessary), have yet to make any (figurative) leaps-and-bounds in my lessons.

On a side and semi-related note, Mirror's Edge looks pretty cool.

 

[The Kind Cannibal]

So to all the Traceurs(people who do Parkour)out there how long have you been doing Parkour for? Where do you do it?

2 years. I use to hit it up on the outskirts of Atlanta where I lived. Now, I'm in Florida and urbanization is very limited in my neck of the woods, thus I surf now.

 

[WlknCntrdiction]

oh and about the title of the thread: "non-competitive parkour"
It can't be parkour if it's competitive, then it just isn't parkour, competing against another goes against the basic principles of parkour.

You'd be surprised how many people I've come across who are competitive about it, so I found it relevant to put that it's non-competitive just to be double sure everyone gets it.

I've been practicing parkour for maybe 2-3 months now and I absolutely love it, despite how everyone looks at me like I'm some weirdo...

When I'm training by myself I just have my music in, helps block out the idiots who think they can do something better or who think it's "easy", I've had too many people get on my nerves like that, just easier to ignore them and get on with training.

If you're going to do this, I'd get some gloves, it kills your hands. Also, learn to action roll. It's like a forward roll but you roll over on your shoulder rather than your hands.
This always seems to make me veer off to the right though.

No, gloves bad. Parkour is about fitness, your hands will hurt once you start getting it and you'll develop callasses and they will hurt and peel off and such but they will heal back and harden and make your hands more resiliant, you're stopping your hands from becoming stronger by wearing gloves, don't.

I parkour for the simple reason that I'm always late. It's so much quicker to go over stuff that I'd go around.

(I know that this will come up later- the difference between freerunning and parkour- in Freerunning you do whatever looks good, regardless of direction or energy input. Parkour is moving from one point to another using the least effort and best flowing path. Whilst a freerunner would do a forward-flip down a staircase, a traceur will simply jump (or in my case use the handrail to slide), hence why flips are NOT parkour.)

Parkour is freedom of movement, whether a traceur decides to flip down a set of stairs is their business alone, they are still technically doing Parkour, it may not be the most efficient way to go down the steps but they are still doing Parkour in their mindset. But we(traceurs)can all agree that free running is just to show off. I'd still like to learn how to do flips just for the lulz lol.

While I do agree that is is pretty cool are surely is fun I can't help thinking that you have pretty low standards for your role-models.

I wouldn't say role model per se, they're people I look upto, who I would like to be like one day, but then I guess that's what a role model is lol.

 

[Shivari]

It is my firm belief that the most efficient way to get from one point to another is to walk.

That, and if I tried parkour I'd die.