Parkour

Parkour Introduction Body * History of Parkour Before World War I, former naval officer Georges Hébert traveled throughout the world. During a visit to Africa, he was impressed by the physical development and skills of indigenous tribes that he met:[11] Their bodies were splendid, flexible, nimble, skillful, enduring, and resistant but yet they had no other tutor in gymnastics but their lives in nature. —Georges Hébert, [11] On May 8, 1902, the town of Saint-Pierre, Martinique, where he was stationed, suffered from the volcanic eruption of Mount Pelée. Hébert coordinated the escape and rescue of some 700 people. This experience had a profound effect on him, and reinforced his belief that athletic skill must be combined with courage and altruism. He eventually developed this ethos into his motto: "être fort pour être utile" (be strong to be useful).[11] Inspired by indigenous tribes, Hébert became a physical education tutor at the college of Reims in France. He began to define the principles of his own system of physical education and to create various apparatuses and exercises to teach his méthode naturelle,[11] which he defined as: Methodical, progressive and continuous action, from childhood to adulthood, that has as its objective: assuring integrated physical development; increasing organic resistances; emphasizing aptitudes across all genres of natural exercise and indispensable utilities (walking, running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, equilibrium (balancing), throwing, lifting, defending and swimming); developing one's energy and all other facets of action or virility such that all assets, both physical and virile, are mastered; one dominant moral idea: altruism. —Georges Hébert, [12] Hébert set up a méthode naturelle session consisting of ten fundamental groups: walking, running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, balancing, throwing, lifting, self-defense, swimming, which are part of three main forces:[12] * Energetic or virile sense: energy, willpower, courage, coolness, and firmness * Moral sense: benevolence, assistance, honor, and honesty * Physical sense: muscles and breath During World War I and World War II, Hébert's teaching continued to expand, becoming the standard system of French military education and training. Thus, Hébert was one of the proponents of parcours — an obstacle course, developed by a Swiss architect,[13] which is standard in the military training and led to the development of civilian fitness trails and confidence courses.[11] Also, French soldiers and firefighters developed their obstacle courses known as parcours du combattant and parcours SP.[14] [edit] Belle family David Belle, parkour founder, at The New Yorker Festival Main articles: Raymond Belle and David Belle Raymond Belle was born in French Indochina (now Vietnam). His father died during the First Indochina War and Raymond was separated from his mother during the division of Vietnam in 1954. He was taken by the French Army in Da Lat and received a military education and training that shaped his character.[15] After the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, Raymond was repatriated to France and completed his military education in 1958. At age 19, his dedication to fitness helped him serve in Paris's regiment of sapeurs-pompiers (the French fire service).[15] Raymond introduced his son David to obstacle course training and the méthode naturelle. David participated in activities such as martial arts and gymnastics and sought to apply his athletic prowess for some practical purpose.[14] At age 17, David left school seeking freedom and action. He continued to develop his strength and dexterity in order to be useful in life, as Raymond had advised him.[14] [edit] Development in Lisses It was the end of the day. I was just doing stuff with a bunch of kids. I fall all the time — I fall like the monkeys — but it never shows up on film, because they just want the spectacular stuff. —David Belle on his video, The New Yorker [13] After moving to Lisses commune, David Belle continued his journey with others.[14] "From then on we developed," says Sébastien Foucan in Jump London, "And really the whole town was there for us; there for parkour. You just have to look, you just have to think, like children." This, as he describes, is "the vision of parkour." In 1997, Yann Hnautra, Charles Perriere, Chau Belle, David Belle, Laurent Piemontesi, Sébastien Foucan, Guylain Perriere, Malik Diouf and Williams Belle created the group called Yamakasi,[16] whose name comes from the Lingala language of Congo, and means strong spirit, strong body, strong man, endurance. After the musical show Notre Dame de Paris, Belle and Foucan split up due to money and disagreements over the definition of l'art du déplacement,[17] The film Yamakasi, in 2001, and the French documentary Génération Yamakasi were created without Belle and Foucan. Over the years, as dedicated practitioners improved their skills, their numbers of moves grew. Building-to-building jumps and drops of over a storey became common in media portrayals, often leaving people with a slanted view of parkour. Actually, ground-based movements are more common than anything involving rooftops, because legal accessibility in urban areas is difficult. From the Parisian suburbs, parkour went on to become a widely practiced activity outside of France. Conclusion