Parkour
- Thread starter PurpleSky
- Start date
Recommended Videos
That's actually the same thing I was thinking. I'm not sure if it's jealousy or actual experience having met with everyone who does parkour.. for some reason I'm leaning towards the former.ultrachicken said:
This led me to "SeaWorld dolphin dies in collision with another dolphin". Talk about dolphin parkour.sliverwings1123 said:
Did I just hear "Playa" at the eight second mark?sliverwings1123 said:
OT: I can't do Parkour (I actually didn't know it was called that until now) since i'm not overly athletic and I cherish the idea of living to see my next birthday. To the people who can however, it sure is a helluva spectacle.
As the OP might also feel as well, it does get a little emasculating at times to watch...
Wow, lots of hate. I do parkour, not as a means of trying to show off, but because it keeps me fit. I do Jujitsu and part of it is learning to land properly, which I ended up using in Parkour as a means to train for both of them plus it DOES get me from Point A to B easier. Those "Douchenozzles" you speak of who brag about flips etc, that's not actually Parkour, that's just putting tricks into a parkour move to make them look good.
'course, dont think for a moment I'm going to go jump off building roofs just to act cool, the only time I'd consider that is for the adrenaline rush.
'course, dont think for a moment I'm going to go jump off building roofs just to act cool, the only time I'd consider that is for the adrenaline rush.
Parkour is something I'd definitely like to get into sometime. It looked pretty awesome in District 13. I think that there are a lot of douches who practice parkour because it's more of a French thing so when it goes into other cultures it loses a certain dignity. It becomes just another way to show off.
The first thing that popped into my head when I saw the thread title was that clip from the office.
There seems to be rather alot of people with not a whole lot of respect for parkour and traceurs. This saddens me that all you guys be hatin' on my favorite pastime so I'll step in a try my best to defend it or at least soften your opinions. This will likely turn out to be a longest escapist post yet so it may as well be about something I love.
I've been training for a year now. Nothing gives me greater joy than mastering a new move and knowing my body and improving. For me its a meditative experience whenever I train by myself and a pleasure to train with friends and share your progress with them
I do understand that some can seem aloof and it can be easily mistaken for arrogance or haughtiness.
My parkour group regularly sees new people joining our regular weekly sessions. Many try it out and then never turn up again. Many come there and brag about how good they used to be and then never do anything. And then a few will actually keep coming back and continue to push themselves and learn.
My point is, were not going to waste time trying to teach a guy who isn't committed or not taking it seriously.
As for bystanders as far as I know we always treat them in a friendly manner when they ask what were doing.
We do alot of tresspassing. Sometimes the architecture in certain places is too much fun to be had and we'll go train there. But we dont want to present an image of being obnoxious juvenile delinquents. So the minute anyone asks us to leave whether it be a passer-by, a security guard or the police we will leave respectfully. Unless of course its public property then we are quite within our rights to train there. We've had rather a few apologetic security guards or policemen who really didnt have any personal issue with us but had to ask us to move on
It unfair to take what you see us doing at face value as douchey-look-at-me show offyness. Buskers are essentially doing the same thing. Showing off on the street. Least we aren't expecting/asking to be paid for it. For the most part, we do it for ourselves and we can take pleasure on the side that people are impressed.
During training we will often make a route more challenging for ourselves to improve the experience. Which is why we will go over something instead of simply running around it. However parkour techniques will genuinely help you cover ground faster using less energy should you ever need to.
Yes its a fact that you will see alot of us doing stunts as well and this is Freerunning. Flips and whatnot. This is visually pleasing and many people who do parkour will also do free running as its gives you extra variety in moves to approach an obstacle with and because its fun. It also trains your body co-ordination fantastically well.
I really dont expect everyone to see it this way. It may be an overly-poetic way of looking at it but you have to give credit to a worldwide movement that creates such a mature idea.
Parkour is only as dangerous as you make it. I have never broken anything doing parkour. Just bruised twice and a few rolled ankles which heal up after a week or two. Anyone who you see jumping off of buildings 9 times out of 10 will KNOW that they can do it and have no doubt that they will succeed. You KNOW this by training on ground level ALOT. Jumping from one line in the pavement to another. From on rail to another. From one concrete block to another. You get a sense of what distances your can cover. Having the drop there doesn't affect your jumping distance at all. All that matters is if you think you can make it to your landing spot.
Parkour is as much about running on ground level too. Its not just about roofs. Obstacles on street level will rarely give you massive drops and you're at as much risk as falling off a skateboard trying a grind. Less in fact as people are generally in much more control landing on their feet rather than a small wobbly board with wheels. And through gradual progression you can learn parkour outside without any permanent harm to your body
You may think it looks crazy to try flipping off concrete onto more concrete but people will generally practice those moves in gyms where its softer until the move becomes easy and thats when you can take it outside.
Here is a really good example of parkour. You wont see any flips or flair in this one. Its just looks like showing off because his movement is damned graceful and a pleasure to watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMppD-bUNWo
I hope this helped or gave you something to think about. I'd like to reiterate that I'm not trying to say that parkour is "douche-free". But I hope I at least convinced you its not as douchey, suicidal and show offy as it may initially appear. I love this hobby and no one can ever take it away from me. All I need it my body and the outdoors. Happy to answer questions and/or criticisms
I've been training for a year now. Nothing gives me greater joy than mastering a new move and knowing my body and improving. For me its a meditative experience whenever I train by myself and a pleasure to train with friends and share your progress with them
PurpleSky said:
I'm not going to say there aren't any douchbags in parkour. I've met a few. But I love the society in my city. All the regulars there are fantastic people.nunqual said:
I do understand that some can seem aloof and it can be easily mistaken for arrogance or haughtiness.
My parkour group regularly sees new people joining our regular weekly sessions. Many try it out and then never turn up again. Many come there and brag about how good they used to be and then never do anything. And then a few will actually keep coming back and continue to push themselves and learn.
My point is, were not going to waste time trying to teach a guy who isn't committed or not taking it seriously.
As for bystanders as far as I know we always treat them in a friendly manner when they ask what were doing.
We do alot of tresspassing. Sometimes the architecture in certain places is too much fun to be had and we'll go train there. But we dont want to present an image of being obnoxious juvenile delinquents. So the minute anyone asks us to leave whether it be a passer-by, a security guard or the police we will leave respectfully. Unless of course its public property then we are quite within our rights to train there. We've had rather a few apologetic security guards or policemen who really didnt have any personal issue with us but had to ask us to move on
Whether or not we drive cars is irrelevant. Its a hobby. Yes we do it for cameras because everyone has a right to feel proud about their skill.PurpleSky said:
It unfair to take what you see us doing at face value as douchey-look-at-me show offyness. Buskers are essentially doing the same thing. Showing off on the street. Least we aren't expecting/asking to be paid for it. For the most part, we do it for ourselves and we can take pleasure on the side that people are impressed.
During training we will often make a route more challenging for ourselves to improve the experience. Which is why we will go over something instead of simply running around it. However parkour techniques will genuinely help you cover ground faster using less energy should you ever need to.
Yes its a fact that you will see alot of us doing stunts as well and this is Freerunning. Flips and whatnot. This is visually pleasing and many people who do parkour will also do free running as its gives you extra variety in moves to approach an obstacle with and because its fun. It also trains your body co-ordination fantastically well.
A big part of parkour is its philosophy. A popular view is that its going back to our human roots of natural movement and it being a very pure and raw expression of movement as an art. It also encourages non-rivalry and non-competition as it cheapens the practice.GIJames said:
I really dont expect everyone to see it this way. It may be an overly-poetic way of looking at it but you have to give credit to a worldwide movement that creates such a mature idea.
Alot of really good quality parkour videos will show traceurs stringing several relatively simple moves together to cover ground efficiently. Its just that theyve practiced these simple moves and can take them further or higher and smoother. Thats not to say it isnt all simple. YES some of the shit they do is immensely hard.DazZ. said:
I hear this alot. That its dangerous and suicidal. This is because what alot of people see of parkour is jumping off of buildings to other roofs like in Casino Royale-Mirrors Edge-District 13 etc. Many of the videos seen on youtube will show people doing flips off of buildings and whatnot.FreelanceButler said:
Parkour is only as dangerous as you make it. I have never broken anything doing parkour. Just bruised twice and a few rolled ankles which heal up after a week or two. Anyone who you see jumping off of buildings 9 times out of 10 will KNOW that they can do it and have no doubt that they will succeed. You KNOW this by training on ground level ALOT. Jumping from one line in the pavement to another. From on rail to another. From one concrete block to another. You get a sense of what distances your can cover. Having the drop there doesn't affect your jumping distance at all. All that matters is if you think you can make it to your landing spot.
Parkour is as much about running on ground level too. Its not just about roofs. Obstacles on street level will rarely give you massive drops and you're at as much risk as falling off a skateboard trying a grind. Less in fact as people are generally in much more control landing on their feet rather than a small wobbly board with wheels. And through gradual progression you can learn parkour outside without any permanent harm to your body
You may think it looks crazy to try flipping off concrete onto more concrete but people will generally practice those moves in gyms where its softer until the move becomes easy and thats when you can take it outside.
Here is a really good example of parkour. You wont see any flips or flair in this one. Its just looks like showing off because his movement is damned graceful and a pleasure to watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMppD-bUNWo
I hope this helped or gave you something to think about. I'd like to reiterate that I'm not trying to say that parkour is "douche-free". But I hope I at least convinced you its not as douchey, suicidal and show offy as it may initially appear. I love this hobby and no one can ever take it away from me. All I need it my body and the outdoors. Happy to answer questions and/or criticisms
I see your point of view, but I think you're misinformed. You may think parkour is done for the audience and the cameras, but that may well be because you only see the ones with audiences and the ones caught on camera. I practice parkour myself, but I'm kinda self conscious about it, and I don't like to practice with people around to watch, except others who I'm training with.PurpleSky said:
True, I do get a rush when I'm being chased in a game of manhunt and I vault a bench to escape less agile pursuit, but I don't practice parkour to show off.
Also, as you have pointed out, there are a large number of people who practice flips and jumps which serve no purpose except looking cool. I share your opinion of them, and amongst the people with whom I train we make the distinction between free-runners, who only do stunts, and traceur (from the French) who works on the quickest, most graceful way of getting from point A to point B, which we have the snobbishness to call proper parkour.
I am, as you may have guessed, also one of those people who climbs trees, buldings and mountains, mainly for no other reason than 'because it's there'. True, it's kinda pointless, but then, so too are swimming lessons...
Seems like free running to me. I the only reason I can think of that would make someone like that jump off a roof (that can make said jump be classified as parkour) is if that person was being chased by someone else trying to kill them.sliverwings1123 said:
I don't know about you, but I'd rather gamble death than guarantee it.
i used to do it when i was younger, and... not chubbyish >.> I never thought of it as being a douchebag or trying to prove something, it was just a ton of fun, my friends and i would play tag and stuff running down through the city, i always thought of it as good exercise.