Thread: Tell Me About Parkour

1) It depends for who really for me and my friends it was quite easy cause we did all sorts of stupid stuff when we were young. We climbed on roofs and trees climbed over fences jumped from stuff and all. Me and my friends are in a good physical form so its no problem for us to start training, however training techniques is hard and takes alot of practice but for us its just easier to learn than for people who never did this sort of stuff. But I belive everyone can do parkour if they will just improve abit their physical condition, and confidence.

2) I would say yes, but you can keep yourself safe if you will do what you are capable of and not try something that you know you might get hurt from. I fell from about 7 meter height landed on my feet couldnt walk for 2 weeks. I was climbing on some building from the outside on the windows and when I tryed to reach the next window I slipped and fell, though I did manage to get to the top before Basicly you should do things that you know you can do, yet still make progress in your training.

3) Im sure there is, search on the net for parkour teams in your area. Here in Israel we have Parkour days every once and a while when all the people who do parkour meet in some town and have fun.

I think one of the best exircises to start with is pullups you should be able to do 10 easy. And if you want to have fun go out and play a little game we call straight line spin around and stop, the direction you look at is your path and you need to move there in a straight line over anything that stands in your way. You should avoid going of this line as much as possible.

Not that I've ever done parkour, but I would say that in order to be successful in such a thing as parkour, you kinda of HAVE to go to the gym. At least, lots of body weight exercises as cardio (the latter I suppose you can get from parkour itself, though).

It's also a great way to destroy your knees/other joints when you're older. As Nefarious said, dropping from 7 meters without knowing HOW to drop 7 meters can put a lot of pressure on your joints, if you do not land correctly. I read an article about parkour, I believe, where there was this "jump" pad that tests how much pressure you land with. With very, very minute differences in body position in landing, the person's pressure in the jump varied greatly. Even the people who jump across buildings... sure, they know very, very well how to land in a jump. But no matter how you land. If you're jumping down 50 feet, your knees are going to take a beating. That's just my safety advice, as long as you keep the jumping to a minimum (it honestly doesn't look that cool, anyways... I mean the jumping across huge buildings which you probably wouldn't do anyways or jumping from a very high place to a very low place... some jumping os of course okay), parkour should be pretty safe and fun and still be pretty awesome.

Thanks for the Replies guys, i must say that i myself am not too keen on the jumping across buildings and off high drops because i know that it would ruin my joints, i'm more into the sort of going for a run with a friend and we mark a place where we are running to and race there and see who gets their first in like different terrain, like vaulting rails and steps and things, really getting a good workout, i think it would be really fun, a good workout for the body, but as i said, jumping across buildings is a bit too much for me atm, i think i'll get started by swinging on some occasional rails and jumping off small gaps with style haha! Nah i suck really, but i can try. Thanks once again for the replies so far.

I also am interested in this sport, I've seen some incredible stuff done, though I think it's misleading as to how easy and fun it looks. I'd be afraid to break my ankles and all, but I'm sure it can be learned with training like anything.

Here is an interesting site I found :

http://www.learnparkour.com/new/home...tutorials&l=en

Thanks bro, i just checked that site, its got some really good info, if i can get maybe get some gymnastics sessions and get a bit more flexible i may give this a go fully, thanks for the help dude.

Yeah, I've always found Parkour rather interesting. But my knees already give me problems from fencing. I wouldn't be able to walk if tried Parkour.

I always used to jump off stuff when I was little, though. That was fun.

There's lots of information about parkour on the internet, some of it good, some of it potentially harmful.
People will tell you that this is parkour, this isn't, that you have to do something this way or that etc.
It doesn't matter.
Just go outside and learn how to use your body. Work on everything slowly and gradually, when you move try to be silent, listen to your surroundings and your body.
Barefoot is good as it strengthens your foot, gives you a greater feel for your surroundings and prevents you from doing stuff that you are not ready for, such as large drops or jumps.
Give your body plenty of time to recover and grow stronger.
If something hurts, rest and then find out why. You may have to stretch something or strengthen something else. Don't just wait till the pain goes away and hope that it will be alright.

The UK has many experienced traceurs so theres a high chance that there will be some in your area to teach you.

I've been doing Parkour for a while, and it really isn't very hard to get started, but... be warned. Warned I say! *Creepy old man pointing with knarled stick*
Do lots of knee/ankle exercises and stretches or face the curse of injured joints.

Also pay attention and focus; a good portion of Parkour injuries are caused by lack of complete focus.

I would also advise you to go a good forum dedicated entirely to Parkour, like, Parkour.net

It's okay to get kinda in it, but don't be all hardcore and wear a helmet and shit like that. There's a group at our school that are hard-core parkours, and they're FREAKIN' LOSERS!!!!! They're all computer geeks and outkasts who've never even licked a girls eyeball before (don't ask).

Oh yea, and just so you know DON'T LET ANYONE... AND I MEAN ANYONE TELL YOU THAT PARKOUR IS THE SAME AS FREE RUNNING!!! Free running is for looking cool purposes only. It's sorta like urban freestyle break-dancing or some shit like that.

Parkour however, is soley to get from one place, to da other, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! You're not allowed to go backwards, and backflips are not part of it. Backflips are only for looking cool, it doesn't help you get there faster. So if someone does a flip or some sort of trick for no reason, he is doing Free Running, not Parkour.

INFRAREDKELP HAS SPOKEN

It's okay to get kinda in it, but don't be all hardcore and wear a helmet and shit like that. There's a group at our school that are hard-core parkours, and they're FREAKIN' LOSERS!!!!! They're all computer geeks and outkasts who've never even licked a girls eyeball before (don't ask).

Oh yea, and just so you know DON'T LET ANYONE... AND I MEAN ANYONE TELL YOU THAT PARKOUR IS THE SAME AS FREE RUNNING!!! Free running is for looking cool purposes only. It's sorta like urban freestyle break-dancing or some shit like that.

Parkour however, is soley to get from one place, to da other, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! You're not allowed to go backwards, and backflips are not part of it. Backflips are only for looking cool, it doesn't help you get there faster. So if someone does a flip or some sort of trick for no reason, he is doing Free Running, not Parkour.

INFRAREDKELP HAS SPOKEN

Originally Posted by Infraredkelp

Oh yea, and just so you know DON'T LET ANYONE... AND I MEAN ANYONE TELL YOU THAT PARKOUR IS THE SAME AS FREE RUNNING!!! Free running is for looking cool purposes only. It's sorta like urban freestyle break-dancing or some shit like that.

Parkour however, is soley to get from one place, to da other, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! You're not allowed to go backwards, and backflips are not part of it. Backflips are only for looking cool, it doesn't help you get there faster. So if someone does a flip or some sort of trick for no reason, he is doing Free Running, not Parkour.

Free running is not doings flips and stuff for no reason, and just because someone does a flip it doesnt mean they are a free runner. It means they like to do flips.
Parkour is not solely being able to get from one place to another. Thats like saying martial arts is all about kicking someone. Parkour is a way of training with the goal of being able to move quickly and efficiently from one place to another, it is not the act itself otherwise everyone is doing parkour whenever they drive a car.
Free running is different from parkour in the motivation of training, parkour aims more towards a useful, altruistic goal where you train in order to be able to use your training someday to help someone (including yourself)
Free running on the other hand is trained with the motivation of moving as it is a pleasant act in itself or as a way of expression. This can involve more acrobatic movements.

Originally Posted by Capoeirista

Free running is not doings flips and stuff for no reason, and just because someone does a flip it doesnt mean they are a free runner. It means they like to do flips.
Parkour is not solely being able to get from one place to another. Thats like saying martial arts is all about kicking someone. Parkour is a way of training with the goal of being able to move quickly and efficiently from one place to another, it is not the act itself otherwise everyone is doing parkour whenever they drive a car.
Free running is different from parkour in the motivation of training, parkour aims more towards a useful, altruistic goal where you train in order to be able to use your training someday to help someone (including yourself)
Free running on the other hand is trained with the motivation of moving as it is a pleasant act in itself or as a way of expression. This can involve more acrobatic movements.

You basically rephrased what I said, except more decorated. In parkour, you can't just drive a car, because the whole point of parkour is that you can only use yourself and your surroundings. And martial arts isn't all about kicks, it's all about kicks AND PUNCHES