Lisses France is said to be the birthplace of Parkour and Freerunning. Lisses is the birthplace of the modern usage of the words parkour and freerunning. The discipline and idea have always existed in the form of movement. But movement is too broad a word to use in describing the way parkour athletes use movement. Its more than the specific moves or tools that parkour is what it is. there are philosophy and a way of being that makes parkour in reality... Parkour. Within each athlete there must also be a birthplace for the sport. You can ask yourself When you started or what are the reasons now that you continue to do parkour.
I started moving within the realms of parkour movement ever since Summer 2007. I found out about it right before I graduated High school when a student shared with my class the Russian Climbing video with Oleg Vorslov. One of the first things I did was look up videos and information. I soon discovered: the names of the movement, some of the philosophies, who the influential figures were, and about communities all over the world. This week for my Nov 30 Day Challenge I decided to go back and rediscover the History of parkour. I wanted to discover what parkour really was and rediscovered old content I had seen in my early days.
I started my week in watching some of the original documentaries and well produced content of parkour's past. I really had to listen to this original content so that I could see it in a new way. Here are some older videos I believe all parkour athletes should watch.
-People in Motion http://youtu.be/QH09YCtpKaw
One of the things I do not like about news programs is the way they dehumanizes parkour in their explanations of what it is. they make it seem impossible to do, even though at the core level it is quite simple. I like how Jump London + Britain explain parkour as a Discipline. As an American I see how my society cares more about the act of sporting than the disciplines within a sport. The Yamakasi from Generation Yamakasi (now known as Generation Parkour) constantly talk about the training aspect of the discipline, but also state how we do not "do parkour," but ""play parkour" which idea comes from the world of capoeira.
We all know some parts of the history of parkour. Here is what I have come to know from this week of discovery.
Movement has always been the way we get around, and there are many different ways of moving ones self to another place in the your environment. Whether it be flashy or not, there is always effort and challenges within moving. As a child we do not have words to explain movement. We just have the desire to get from one place or another and as we learn to walk and crawl we find joy in the chase or in the jump we preform. As we get older we learn to perfect these forms of movement through experience and if we really want to perfect a move we condition to build technique, strength, and the mental ability to overcome any obstacle. When people learn about parkour some of the first first forms of movements movements are basic vaults utilizing their body in ways that are possible to them at the time. With more training and experience the mastery keeps progressing to more impressive areal movement which can be mastered with the same kind of precision the basic vaults and body movement were mastered in the beginning.
For the original founders the movements were a playtime thing which developed into more. David Bell influenced his friends with what his father had learned in the French Military. His father showed him the obstacle course training and movement that could be used in an urban environment. It became something they conditioned to build strength, philosophized about, and for some it became more. Sebasian Foucon was one of the first to utilize parkour in a philosophical way implementing more thought into the discipline. Sebasian Foucon and David Bell were part of the original Yamakasi group and for some reason or another there was a separation of the group and later a spit in the definitions of the discipline into 2 major sects.
David Bell stayed true to the A to B linear movement of Parkour while Sebastian with the Jump series helped to coin and define the term freerunning which became the more flashy, irregular movements. The Yamakasi challenged themselves in the conditioning and training of L'art du Displacement which both parkour and free running utilize. In effect you might say that there were actually 3 sects of the discipline. All were correct in their form and definitions of the sport, so what is Parkour in its entirety? It cant just be the direct A to B movements, Its not just the flashy flips and spins, and it certainly isn't just the conditioning and training. parkour is all the elements all at the same time an much more. The 3 forms of parkour were at one time identified, by some, as different forms of movement; but slowly we have been recognizing them more and more as the same thing.
Since the early days of parkour the internet and video content have helped to grow participation. Nowadays there are tons of great videos uploaded every week, however, only occasionally do we get informative ones like the videos from my list above.
Watch, Enjoy, Train, Live parkour. Dig a little more into the early history.
Eric Higgins.
If you can think of any great informative videos I should include on my list let me know about them.
