ABSTRACT
According to its founders, parkour, which derives from the French parcours, meaning ‘route’ or ‘course’, is the ‘art of moving fluidly from one part of the environment to another’ (McLean et al., 2006: 795). Other labels that have been used to describe this non-competitive physical training discipline include art du deplacement, the first name for the activity, which broadly translates in English as the art of movement (Parkour UK, 2011), and more recently freerunning. However, the name has never been as important as the ‘methods and spirit of practise which remain at its core today’ (ibid.). It is inspired by human movement which focuses on ‘efficient motion’ over, under, around or through obstacles. Each traceur – the name given to those who practise parkour seriously – moves from A to B under, over, and through obstacles, including walls, railings and roofs, by jumping, vaulting and climbing (Miller and Demoiny, 2008: 63). It is practised predominantly, but not exclusively, in urban areas using man-made or naturally occurring obstacles. While practitioners first learn a set of techniques, such as the cat leap, 1 parkour does not have a set of rules or objectives. It does not fit easily into existing categories, being described variously as sport, art and a ‘discipline’, with forms that intersect with other activities such as dance, martial arts and gymnastics.
