Parkour - Using Space in New and Innovative Ways

Storage centres are one example of people using space in creative ways; storage rooms have been used for everything from housing stamp collections, to a location for dance studios, martial arts classes, and workshops.

Parkour is a physical discipline of French origin, in which individuals creatively use their environment in terms of traversing elements in urban and rural locations. Practitioners are called Traceurs, and demonstrate unbelievable dexterity and creativity in manoeuvring and re-thinking seemingly level urban environments. The name comes from the French word for “bullet”, and aptly signifies the speed and grace which these artists navigate urban spaces. 

The main goal of Pakour is to move from one point to another as quickly as possible by creatively using the space you are given. Generally practiced in urban areas, this discipline requires the utmost level of fitness and proficiency. Parkour is even practiced in the French army. Traceurs navigate obstacles as quickly and creatively as possible whilst developing spatial awareness and remaining injury free; the unofficial motto is
"être et durer", French for ‘to be and to last’



Parkour is very similar to the practice of free running, another similar discipline, and is seen as a legacy of Georges Herbert. Herbert was a former naval officer and was impressed by the physical skills of indigenous Africans during his travels there. He exclaimed that their stature and skillset were astonishing despite their lack of gymnastic training. Simply navigating their natural environment had led to the level of dexterity and physical capabilities that Herbert witnessed.  Herbert, inspired by this, became a physical education teacher in Reims, France.

Children are naturally inquisitive of their environment, and navigate spaces in a similar creative way. This natural reaction to the environment means children can occupy themselves for hours with just outdoor play; running, jumping and climbing in their surrounding environment. We tend to lose these skills when we reach adulthood, yet Parkour is a platform through which to channel this creativity. Herbert’s teaching developed from schools, to groups of adults such as the military, which then led to the development of ‘parcours’ – an obstacle course which was standardised in military training.

The discipline has since been popularised, not least due to worldwide circulation of professional and amateur videos from online video streaming sites. Practitioners in these videos can often be seen executing specific landing techniques, and roll upon landing from great heights. There are concerns over the safety of this discipline, but practitioners claim it is safer than skateboarding, for example, because in using your hands and feet only you are avoiding working with unfamiliar tools.

Furthermore, the popularity of Parkour has been at least partially due to appearances in television and films. Several documentaries such as “My Playground” demonstrate in full the nature of the practice. In other examples, Parkour only features for a short period of time, such as a Top Gear episode in which presenter James May races a traceur. Similarly, the US version of “The Office” features Parkour in one episode; staff climb on chairs and imitate the practices of Traceurs. Bear Grylls also uses Parkour and mentions it in the “Texas” episode of his series. Parkour also features in several high-profile games such as Assassins Creed, Prince of Persia and Left for Dead.

Sources

Urbanfreeflow.com
Parkour.com
Parkourgenerations.com