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By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Parkour explained

It seems that more and more often we are getting articles about parkour. The sport has hit the globe at an alarming rate. It basically involves doing gymnastics in an urban environment, but more and more, it is portrayed as vandalism, as youths wanting to cause nothing more than trouble, but there have been a couple of positive articles as well, explaining what goes on, and the brighter side of the sport.

At the moment, a standard parkour jam consists of meeting at a public place, warming up, and then going to certain spots, working them and training, while still complying with security and not aiming to damage.

Parkour popularity

Parkour. You may have seen it performed in the latest James Bond movie, "Casino Royale," and in the futuristic French movie, "District B-13." Young, athletic men moving from rooftop to rooftop, room-to-room, sidewalk to balcony, using a variety of fantastic leaps, bounds and landings.

According to parkour founder David Belle, "The spirit of parkour is guided in part by the notions of 'escape' and 'reach,' that is, the idea of using quick thinking with dexterity to get out of difficult situations, and to be able to go anywhere one desires."

Parkour insight

The word parkour is derived from the French word parcours, which means course. Belle apparently thought of the idea by watching French soldiers navigate their military obstacle course, or in French, "parcours du combatant." A participant in parkour is known as a traceur.

Now you might think that people who hurdle over obstacles to get from place to place are considered acrobatic. But, to the true traceur who practices parkour, they are adamant that acrobatics plays no part in parkour. You see, parkour is useful; its purpose is to move from one point to another in the most efficient way.

CONCLUSION

Parkour (sometimes abbreviated to PK) or l'art du déplacement: the art of displacement) is an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as 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.