There don’t seem to be any comprehensive written guides of any sort that tell people how to actually GET to Lisses, the birth place of Parkour. So I hope this will help all future Lisses “pilgrims”. For a spectacular video of Lisses and around it, please watch TK17’s Pilgrimage video. It can usually be found on Google Video. This ‘guide’ has the main areas listed in bold so it’s easy to tell the important points from my usual ramblings and digressions. The only red part in this is to point out where you shouldn’t be on your way to during the journey. If at any point you would like to correct what I’m saying, provide simple constructive criticism, or ask me to add anything, please email me at drhobo2@gmail.com. Lisses: There And Back Read more…
You’ll see a lot of fitness information on other freerun sites via forums, article sections, experts and video’s all weighing in on the issue of strength and conditioning for freerunning. On top of that there are a ton of methods being espoused; crossfit, bodyweight training, naturelle, self resisted and various other methods. For practitioners wanting advice this is a doubled edged sword, you are naturally inclined to believe the ‘experts’, but amongst the good information is to be blunt, a steaming pile of shit. So how do you sift out the good and the bad and the keyboard warriors form the fitness guru’s?
Dilution:
a) The process of making weaker or less concentrated
b) A dilute or weakened condition.
c) A diluted substance.
Asid ghosting across the cityscape; Blue unleashing a ten-foot Kong; Sticky powering up a wall over twice his height in one fluid motion… The traceurs at the top of the game seem to be able to make the impossible seem not only possible but downright effortless. Many observers of these and similar feats find themselves asking ‘How can they do that?!’ which, for some, then becomes ‘How can I learn to do that?’ The answer is surprisingly simple – perhaps deceptively so. The answer, if ever one manages to catch and question one of these individuals, is one word: Training. Read more…
Most people are satisfied with walking; a few find the necessity to run; there are also a growing number of enthusiasts around the world who seem unsatisfied with merely sauntering through life on a level plane - they practice Parkour, a quasi acrobatic sport that has been described as urban-steeplechase aerobics. A traceurs objective (as the exponents are called) is to travel uninhibited by obstacles great or small, finding an uninterrupted flowing course from A to B by pushing the limits of urban architectural functionality. Read more…
To improve movement, each traceur/freerunner should have a firm understanding of the function of the kinetic chain and its relationship and interaction with ground reaction forces and momentum. Once this understanding is developed a logical progression can be implemented to correct and enhance movement skills. Read more…
It is a fact that up to this point in the short history of parkour (in its modern guise) there has been no way to know, with absolute certainty, what effects the long-term practise of the discipline has upon the human body. There just isn’t a precedent yet. Even the longest practising individuals are still fairly young, in the prime of health even, and – accidents aside – going strong. Read more…
For those who are new to the sport, there are many hurdles to finding free expression through parkour; poor physical conditioning, lack of experience with new techniques and new ways of thinking, and many other things that can sideline your progress and keep you from flowing freely. For the new traceur these are not just obstacles to progress, they are also opportunities, jumping-off points that will bring you to a higher level of athleticism, and to new forms of expression. Read more…
With a background that comprises mountain biking, ultimate frisbee, cross-country running, pilates, and yoga, I was thrilled when I discovered the dynamic discipline of Parkour. I was introduced to the sport by a lecturer at the university I am attending in Japan, and was directed to the Urban Freeflow website where I viewed a selection of professional and home-made videos. Seeing some of the practitioners performing the explosive but cat-like movements was both captivating and inspiring, and instantly the desire to take up this powerful new practice was kindled inside me. Read more…
Do you feel more likely to perform a new move, or even a well-practised move, if there are other people around? In the moments after completing a move, do you wonder, even fleetingly, what other people who saw the move are thinking? If so, you are not alone. I believe that every traceur (and, indeed, every person) shares this compulsion of thought. Read more…
Good running is silent and you can hear only your breathing. General signs of good technique are lightness and effortlessness of running, with almost no perception of pressure on your feet (weightlessness), with no muscle tension, short support time and good cadence. – Dr. Nicholas Romanov. Sometimes it is easy to forget that parkour is a discipline predicated upon the act of running. So caught up are we in the perfection of vaults and landings, of wall-scaling and precision jumps, that the actual running begins to fall by the wayside; unpractised, neglected – even lost entirely to some. Read more…
Enab wasn’t really sure what the proper protocol was for a situation like this. In other sports the etiquette was more definite. He knew that in surfing, when two people are on the same wave, the one with the inside track gets to go and the other backs away. Normally, Enab was not the type to worry about etiquette. At over six feet tall he was bigger than most people, and usually was doing things that few others thought about. However, this was his first time at the waterworks plant and he quickly encountered another traceur. Read more…
Stephane – a tall, lean man only twenty-five years of age – is, in the manner of many truly skilled individuals, also truly humble. Though years of dedicated training have given him an unshakeable confidence in his physical abilities, he is still shy of the camera and constantly self-deprecating. Calm, polite and playful, he is extremely reserved when it comes to talking about himself and is quick to play down talk that he is anything special or even worthy of attention. But spend some time with the man, observe his training and his movement, and there will be no doubt in your mind that, when it comes to Parkour, this one has certainly found something very special indeed.
Ever heard of the term ‘fight or flight’? It is a reflex in our body that kicks in when we scared or in danger. Maybe you’ve been with friends on a run and been feeling extreme peer pressure to perform a jump that you don’t feel 100% comfortable with, maybe you’ve bitten off more than you can chew with a giant cat leap or gap jump? Below is an explanation of what the body goes through in times when we are really scared. Read more…
So, how’s your breathing? Oh fine, I hear you answer, been doing it since birth thanks. And yes, you could leave it at that and continue breathing without trouble right up until you stop, hopefully many years hence But in doing so you would also be missing out on some huge potential gains and whole worlds of improvement that can only be accessed by investing some time and energy into looking a little closer at this most basic yet most amazing physical function. Read more…
It is often said that the one true bane of all freerunners is rain. Most, especially beginners, will grimace at the sight of dark clouds or the feel of cold winds, head for home and resign themselves to another day without training. A current prevailing view within the parkour communities seems to be that the winter months are solely for indoor-based fitness training and preparation for that third of the year or so when the sun comes out and practice becomes a pleasure again; that during adverse weather conditions one can only shut up shop and keep an eye out for when the rain or snow abates and an hour or two of limited training can be stolen in the interval. Read more…
With the ever growing legion of newcomers to the discipline, we’re seeing floods of people stepping forward with all manner of questions. One which has cropped up most recently has been from younger members on the message boards who feel that they have hit a plateau and want to know how to get out of the hole they are in. They feel as though they are stuck in a rut where they can’t improve any more no matter how hard they try. The more experienced among us will maybe brush them off and think that they aren’t disciplined enough or haven’t reached the level where their vision has been widened. Read more…
What is age? As a wise man once said, a year is merely a man-made device for measuring how the Earth travels once around the sun. Aging does have mental and physical effects on all athletes. Everyone gets older. Most get wiser as well. Do we also get more fearful? Are we less reckless than before? If so, is this due to more responsibility in our daily lives as we grow older? Perhaps a fear of waning muscle strength? Or could it be a lack of confidence in our physical capabilities? We all know that our mind is the most powerful tool we have. We must use it as a tool for motivation, and not let it rule us by fear. Read more…
All life entails risk. No matter how much we try to pad the world with cotton-wool, the harsh reality is that danger is never far away. Every time you cross a road you take a risk. People slip and fall in their bathrooms, sometimes sustaining serious injuries or worse. Currently about thirty to sixty people are struck by lightning each year in Britain alone, of whom on average three are killed. Risk is ever-present; we cannot avoid it. But what we can do is learn to manage it correctly and, therefore, to minimise it. Read more…
Parkour, as you may have realised, is really all about space. Or, rather, the use of space. Whether you are slicing through it at pace, filling it with motion-art, sizing it up for the upcoming vault… it’s all space. Never thought about this? Well, do. Y’see, space – cool as it is it with its whole omni-directional thing going on – has a nasty habit of filling up with shit which is just waiting to stub toes and trip people up. Shit loves doing that. Shit lives for that. Maybe that’s why it’s called ‘shit’?
So, you’re beginning to get to grips with the physical aspects of Freerun and Parkour: Your body is becoming stronger, fitter, more flexible – better conditioned all round. The basic movements are starting to click maybe, your balance is coming along nicely and the fluidity is at last emerging from beneath the awkwardness you thought you would never be free of. Nice. Read more…
It is the little fears that quietly steal our lives. The grand concerns – death, loss, the meaning of existence… these things, by and large, we can and do ignore for most of our days. Philosophers and theologians may quibble and fret over the details of such imponderables, but most of us have not the time, or lack the inclination, or perhaps are just fortunate not to be burdened by too much curiosity.
For as long as records have existed, people have found ways to improve their movement abilities. Indeed, the human drive for physical self-exceeding is so great that it has at times become a religious passion. Native American runners, Tibetan yogis, Taoist monks, and Eastern martial artists have all developed control of movement to an extraordinary level, and in so doing have often surpassed the apparent limits of physical capacity.
Silence, in most cases, demonstrates efficiency. Move while producing the least amount of noise as you touch the ground and you demonstrate masterful muscle control. If you want to know the degree of your coordination, agility and balance, listen rather than watch. The less you hear, the greater the skill level. - Scott Sonnon, Master of Sports and U.S. National Coach
Whoa, hold on a minute, I hear you say. ‘I came hear to learn the art of movement, not to study geology! What’s this surface area thing got to do with fluidity and flow?’ Well, bear with us. We have your best interests at heart. And with that in mind, we want to bring your head out of the clouds for a moment and down to ground level: after all, as the experienced will know and the inexperienced should learn, this is really where it’s at. The quality of any movement is heavily dependent upon the surface it is carried out on. Read more…
It is fair to say that ‘competition’ has almost become a four-letter word in parkour circles. An unmentionable, a taboo, a name-thou-shall-not-utter. Most freerunners seem to identify the birth of organised competition with the death of the art; as if the idea of competing is poison to the very spirit of Parkour. In many minds, it is associated with the worst aspects of commercialism, with the encroachment of Big Business, and with the rise of egoism. It is the antithesis of ‘attitude free’, that quintessential factor that drew so many to the discipline when it first appeared and keeps so many involved beyond the brief lifespan of just-another-fad. But are we being unfair to Old Competition? Are we damning it without trial, righteously declaring ‘guilty!’ beyond any proof of innocence? Read more…
UF - Hello Seb thanks for taking the time out to talk to us in depth. Let’s start off with the beginning. How old were you when you first started parkour?
Seb - How old? Erm 15 years old.
UF - And who was with you. Was it a big group or was it just a couple of guys?
Seb - A few of guys. You had Yahn Hnautra, David Malgogne and Frederic Hnautra. When I started to practice, the first basic parkour, these guys begin before me. Read more…
Many traceurs have ambitions towards becoming stunt performers for TV and movie projects. As a professional in that field with a real passion for Parkour, I’d like to offer the following short article to help people get a foot in the door.
Firstly, stuntwork involves several different but related professions:
This essay was inspired by comments made by Sebastian Foucan in an interview regarding historical influences on le Parkour.
I always knew Kerbie was a bit crazy. So when he told me he’d taken to jumping across rooftops following a French sport called parkour, I wasn’t in the least bit surprised. It wasn’t until I logged onto this site a few weeks ago to get his “vibes” (he was on the other side of the world and I was missing him!!) that I realised just how spectacular a sport it really is. I found myself watching the video clips again and again and reading reams of messages from the board. I was hooked.
