Parkour

Parkour  (the art of movement) is an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as smoothly, efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body. It is meant to help one OVERCOME OBSTACLES, which can be anything in the surrounding environment—from branches and rocks to rails and concrete walls—and can be practiced in both rural and urban areas. Parkour practitioners are referred to as traceurs, or traceuses for females.

     Parkour is a physical activity that is difficult to categorize. It is often mis-categorized as a sport or an extreme sport, however parkour has no set of rules, team work, formal hierarchy, or competitiveness. Most experienced traceurs think of parkour as a discipline closer to martial arts. The physical aspect of parkour is getting over all the obstacles in your path as you would in an emergency. You want to move in such a way, with any movement, as to help you gain the most ground on someone or something, whether escaping from it or chasing toward it. Thus, when faced with a hostile confrontation with a person, one will be able to speak, fight, or FLEE. As martial arts are a form of training for the fight, parkour is a form of training for the FLIGHT. Because of its unique nature, it is often said that parkour is in its own category.

 

       A characteristic of parkour is efficiency. Practitioners move not only as rapidly as they can, but also in the most direct and efficient way possible. This characteristic distinguishes it from the similar practice of freerunning, which places more emphasis on freedom of movement and creativity. Efficiency in parkour also involves AVOIDING INJURIES, short and long-term, part of why parkour’s unofficial motto is “TO BE AND TO LAST”. Those who are skilled at this activity normally have an extremely keen SPATIAL AWARENESS. Traceurs say that parkour also influences one’s thought process by enhancing SELF-CONFIDENCE and CRITICAL-THINKING skills that allow one to overcome everyday PHYSICAL AND MENTAL OBSTACLES.

   

        There are fewer predefined movements in parkour, as it does not have a list of appropriate “moves”. Each obstacle a traceur faces presents a unique challenge on how they can overcome it effectively, which depends on their body type, speed and angle of approach, the physical make-up of the obstacle, etc. In many cases effective parkour techniques depend on FAST REDISTRIBUTION OF BODY WEIGHT and the USE OF MOMENTUM to perform seemingly impossible or difficult BODY MANEUVERS at speed. Absorption and redistribution of energy is also an important factor, such as body rolls when landing which reduce impact forces on the legs and spine, allowing a traceur to jump from greater heights than those often considered sensible. Wherever you go, you must be able to get back, if you go from A to B, you need to be able to get back from B to A but not necessarily with the same movements. There are many basic techniques that are emphasized to beginners for their versatility and effectiveness. Most important are good JUMPING and LANDING techniques. The roll, used to limit impact after a drop and to carry one’s momentum onward, is often stressed as the most important technique to learn. Injuries are rare because parkour is based on the CONTROL OF MOVEMENTS, not on what cannot be controlled.

 

     Now, we at Independent shootfighters definitely need to read the words highlighted in this article carefully. Parkour is usually dismissed as just a crowd-pulling, acrobatic ‘show’, but we have a lot to gain from this contemporary art form.

Awareness of people and things around you is of primary importance, second comes, making sure you get out of an ugly situation without a confrontation. These are the first two things you will learn and develop in parkour. There are also the “side-effect advantages” of practicing parkour- learning to be in balance all the time, control of every moment, jumping and landing the right way with minimum strain, body weight redistribution and maneuvers which are so important in jujutsu, and of course increasing your self-confidence and critical-thinking ability!

    The plus point about parkour is that it never gets boring. I’m quite lucky as my coach Sujay is very interested and skilled in parkour and gets as excited as me during our parkour sessions. I really enjoy them and hope you do too!