Parkour: Efficiently Leaping at Walls

Parkour, the French sport where participants’ known as traceurs leap up, over, and through urban obstacles has steadily been growing in popularity in Europe for sometime now. While skateboarders would probably shutter at the comparison, the new sport shares a lot of similarities to it’s wheeled counterpart - exemplified by action packed YouTube videos and even parkour walls where practitioners can hone their skills. However, what makes parkour unique are the utilitarian and philosophical aspects of the sport.

The New York Times explains:

The crux of the parkour philosophy… is usefulness and efficiency. A parkour practitioner, or traceur, trains his or her body and mind to be able to get from Point A to Point B in the quickest way possible in order to be useful to others.

“If someone is in a burning building, you’re not going to necessarily have to walk up all the stairs or take an elevator up,” Mr. Kravit said. “You might find a new way to get up and save that person.”

The article highlights the new sports emergence in the States and goes on to explain the frequently overlooked difference between parkour and freerunning - a stylistic difference stemming from a philosophical disagreement between the founders in which one felt that getting from point A to point B should be restricted to the most efficient and minimal movements; while freerunning encompasses more frivolous and exciting movements such as flips.

New York Times: Throwing Yourself Against the Wall