Parkour

Parkour is a discipline that is a combination of body possession skills that, at the right time, can find application in various situations of human life. The main factors used by "tracers" (Eng. Trace - path, route) (or, more simply, athlete, runner - people involved in parkour): strength and its correct application, the ability to quickly be at a certain point in space using only your body . The main idea of ​​parkour is the principle expressed by David Belle "there are no borders, there are only obstacles, and any obstacle can be overcome." The main restrictions in parkour are imposed by its three axioms: Safety, Efficiency, Simplicity.

Parkour does not teach you to use any means or devices, but allows you to use only your own body and develop skills in "here and now" conditions. Trees, walls, roofs, parapets and railings are common tracer obstacles. The speed of reaction, the ability to assess the situation and your abilities are extremely important.

Parkour is not a sport that involves competition, competition and the desire to defeat an opponent. ^[1] The ideology of parkour denies these principles; parkour is alien to "show-off" and competition. This, in particular, is one of its differences from freerun .

In order to engage in parkour, a person needs to develop in a number of disciplines. First of all, you need to know yourself, striving to create harmony between body and spirit, evaluate your current capabilities and begin to struggle with your shortcomings, fears. Climbing is most suitable for this. Also, martial arts are a good way of educating the spirit, where you constantly have to deal with the psychological factor, developing the desire to defeat yourself. Athletics will also help to develop moving skills.

An important role is also played by the proper nutrition of the tracer ^[2] . When occupying parkour, the body experiences heavy loads and with poor or unbalanced nutrition, the weakened body receives great stress, as a result of which the trainings become ineffective.

Parkour Philosophy and the Position of David Belle

Parkour is the art of moving freely through the surrounding space in all circumstances and on any terrain. Parkour consists of elements that are natural to the human body, it is based on the "natural method" ( methode naturelle ) and is designed to help people.

David Belle himself expands the concept of parkour to philosophy, a different way of thinking and a view of the world. This, in the end, allows us to look differently at the surrounding space, perceiving “the whole world as a training ground”, without creating borders for ourselves; mentally turn ordinary obstacles in your head into obstacles and find ways to overcome them, not only in training, but also in everyday life.

Differences between parkour and freerun

When Foucan and Belle did not agree on a new discipline, Sebastian shaped his vision of parkour, which he called freerun . If the meaning of parkour is to rationally move from point A to point B in the shortest possible time, then the essence of freerran is the movement aesthetically pleasing for the freerraner, even at the expense of efficiency. The freeruner has no goal to finish the route, he only enjoys the process of movement. You can very roughly compare parkour with athletics, and freerun - with dancing. In fact, the training of tracers and freeruners is almost the same, the main difference between the two directions is in the goals pursued by athletes. Some do it because they want to be strong, courageous and hardy, and the second - because they want to move beautifully.

Because of its specificity, freerun was more suitable for public relations: it was possible to hold competitions in one place, evaluate the entertainment of elements and make excellent performances of freeruners. In addition, many athletes (including Sebastian Foucan ) began to take part in show programs, filming movies, music videos and commercials. This made freerran more attractive for making money, while parkour remained in the shadows.

The Natural Method

Before the First World War in France, the so-called "Natural Method" ( Fr. Methode naturelle ) of the movement is created. The author of the new discipline was Georges Hébert ( fr. Georges Hébert ), who lived from 1875 to 1957 and served in the French Navy. Guided by his knowledge and experience, which he received as a result of expeditions to Africa, where he observed the aborigines, how they hunt and move, he created a new universal training method for his soldiers. It included the development of three areas: willpower, moral qualities and physical strength. The constituent disciplines - running, jumping, climbing, self-defense, lifting and throwing objects, balancing, swimming and others - were the basic components of the "natural method". The method proved to be very effective and efficient during the First and Second World Wars.

Raymond Belle (1939), who served in the French Armed Forces, practiced the Natural Method. After completing the service, he went to the fire department. His physical abilities and skills have repeatedly helped him save people in situations where the technique was powerless. He quickly became known as one of the most dexterous and strongest firefighters of his regiment, was a champion in high-speed climbing on a rope, completed several feats in saving people, and was awarded medals for his courage.

Yamakashi and the appearance of parkour

Raymond Belle's son, David (1973), from childhood tried to imitate his father: he was engaged in gymnastics, athletics, and military disciplines. It was he who assembled the first team Yamakasi (Yamakashi), with whom he trained for many years in the city of Liss . At first it was just children's games, but then it became clear that this is a whole training discipline, which has its own elements, laws and rules.

After gaining fame, the Yamakashi team was invited to take part in the tour of the world famous musical Notre Dame de Paris. David Belle and Sebastian Foucan refused, the rest of the team agreed and signed a two-year contract to participate in the musical as clever thieves. So the paths of the founder and the first parkour team diverged. Subsequently, the films “Yamakashi: New Samurai” and “Yamakashi 2: Children of the Wind” with the participation of the team, as well as “13th District” , “13th District: Ultimatum” and 13th District: Brick Mansions with the participation of the founder Parkour David Belle .

Parkour development and the emergence of freeran

Belle and Foucan began to develop parkour alone, creating teams of tracers, giving lessons and explaining the philosophy of parkour. Soon, however, disagreements began between David and Sebastian. Sebastian took money for parkour lessons, while David believed that this contradicted the very idea of ​​parkour.

In the end, they broke up, because Sebastian did not see anything wrong with turning parkour into a business, which he tried to realize. In addition, Sebastian took part in commercial projects, participated in the filming of films, videos, etc.

As a result, Fukan formed his vision of parkour, which he called freerun .

Russian parkour and the emergence of the World Parkour Association

In Russia, the existence of parkour began with the team " Tracers " from Moscow. The founder of the team Oleg Krasnyansky was the first to visit the city of Liss and met David Belle. ^[3]

In 2004, at a press conference related to the Russian premiere of the film “District 13,” David Belle made a statement on the founding of the PAWA (Parkour Worldwide Association) - the World Parkour Association, whose first representative office was the Russian one. Oleg Krasnyansky, the founder of the Russian team The Tracers, was declared the head of this mission, and thus received the right to conduct Russian parkour on behalf of the World Association. The emergence of PAWA was to give impetus to the development of parkour around the world and reflect the true essence of discipline.

By 2006, no major steps were taken to develop parkour on behalf of the World Association. In the fall of 2006, David Belle announced his withdrawal from PAWA, citing the fact that he can no longer control the activities of all branches of the association and is not ready to subscribe to the activities of PAWA in each case. Following this, the Russian representative office also stopped its work.

In 2007, the Association of Tracers of Bashkortostan began to operate in Bashkortostan. Tracers from all over the republic come to Ufa for training. Support is provided by the Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Belarus. In the sleeping area of ​​Sipailovo, the groupings uG parkour and R — 63 were created.

Despite all the difficulties, new organizations are appearing in Russia whose goal is to popularize discipline. Sections are opened, festivals and seminars are held with the participation of Russian and Foreign athletes.

The beginning of the recognition of parkour as a sports discipline. Parkour sections.

At the moment, sports clubs for parkour are actively developing in the UK, some schools have taken classes in the physical education program ^[4] . In St. Petersburg, parkour has become part of the public campaign “Choose a sport!” Aimed at developing youth interest in sports culture ^[5] , and the Parkour Academy ^{[6] has been created} for those wishing to learn this art of movement.

Due to the popularization of the discipline and to attract new people, many professional associations (Parkour Generations, APK, etc.) parkour in some situations is presented as one of the types of economical fitness . ^[7] This indicates an ongoing expansion of the interested audience of this sports discipline.

Parkour in law enforcement

In many countries, leaders of law enforcement agencies, primarily police officers, declare the desirability of introducing parkour or its elements into the training program for personnel, since owning parkour allows police officers to more effectively prosecute and detain criminals.

Parkour and the movie industry

Parkour became widely known after the release of the films Yamakashi: New Samurai about the team of tracers, in which David Belle himself refused to participate, not wanting parkour to be associated with the theft, and the films Thirteenth District and 13th District: Ultimatum (scriptwriter - Luc Besson ), in which he starred in one of the main roles.

After the popularization of parkour, its elements and chase scenes with its use have become quite popular in modern films. So, in one of the films of the Bond “ Casino Royale” , at the very beginning, the scene of Bond's chase after the terrorist Mollaka was shown, the role of which was played by Sebastian Foucan . The pursuit takes place with the active use of parkour elements.

In 2007, director Ruslan Baltser shot the Russian film “ Daring Days ”, which tells about the adventures of the tracing team “Urban Monkeys”.

In the series “ Garbage, ” one of the main characters, the Masked Guy, uses parkour to move around.

Elements of parkour are in the adventure film "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" , filmed in 2010.

In the same 2010, the film "Skills" was shot.

In a Russian action movie shot in 2011, 3D Shadow Boxing: The last round in the scene of gangsters chasing Artem Kolchin in the Hong Kong market also has elements of parkour.

Since 2015, the series "Parkour and Turnip" has been shot in Chelyabinsk, in which the main characters are engaged in parkour and turnip.

Some elements of parkour in combination with fighting scenes are often used in their films by Jackie Chan .

Parkour and the game industry

In 2007, the studio Core Design Ltd. released a game about parkour - " Free Running ", the game is made in the style of skateboard games. In 2008, EA Digital Illusions Creative Entertaiment released the Mirror's Edge parkour game. The game received high marks and reviews from many of the highest level tracers. It is characterized by high realism and qualitatively conveys the tracer's movements when overcoming obstacles. In 2010, Nekky released the game " Vector (game) " which implies the run of a guy who has not suffered the Big Brother system from hunters trying to return Vector to its place.

The style of movement of the player’s character with parkour has gained sufficient popularity in other games in which the player’s movements are active, including both vertically and above the ground (for example, on roofs). These games include:

• Assassin's Creed Series
• Online game " Warframe "
• " Free Running " ^[8]
• zombie action " Dying Light " and The Following expansion

In many games of the action-adventure genre, there are acrobatic overcoming obstacles, but most often it is realized either as usual pull-ups, jumping over the crossbars and crawling on ledges, which is not parkour, or as using the character’s fantastic abilities. The former, for example, include Prince of Persia , Tomb Raider , BloodRayne , the latter include Prototype , Batman: Arkham Asylum .

Parkour

Initially, the French terms l'art du déplacement and le parcours were used to designate training.

The term parkour was coined by David Belle and his friend Hubert Koundé . The word parkour comes from the definition of parcours du combattant , the classic method of overcoming the obstacles of military training created by Georges Herbert .

Tracers

The word “tracer” came to the Russian language from English, which once included the French term traceur ( [tʁasœʁ] ) and traceuse ( [tʁasøz] ) - a common name used to refer to people involved in parkour. The French noun comes from the French verb tracer , which usually means “follow” ^[9] , but is also referred to as “go faster” in slang ^[10] . In a documentary film interview with director Craig Pentak, Stephane Vigroux (one of the founders of Parkour, the founder of Parkour Generations) spoke about the definition of a tracer as follows ^[11] :

“Currently, the word tracer is an independent definition. But initially we called our team that included: my brother, Sebastian Gudo , Toma, Malik Duf , Mikel Ramdoni , Jerome Benaes , Sebastian Foucan , David Belle and me. It was a team created after Yamakashi, and we called ourselves “Tracers” (meaning, another team - a different name). And today it is a common designation. The authors of this word were a team of young people, but for me it’s not so important, because it limits the discipline ”

• Freerun
• Yamakashi
• The True Story (Tracers), Short
• " Thirteenth District ", the film
• " 13th district: Ultimatum ", the film
• Mirror's Edge , PC game
• David belle
• Industrial tourism and urban research
• Damn Soccer Players , film

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