In essence, parkour is simple in concept and difficult in practice. Precision is everything and like everything else, the beginner will need to start small and develop his reflexes by performing a range of exercises. These are designed to incorporate flexibility and strength. It is easy in a few ways. However, if you want to do it right with speed and efficiency then you must practice one exercise sometimes for days or weeks, maybe months at a time. And again, like everything else, you need to continue pracitcing. You can never truly know parkour, it's infinite.
There is something about it that is calming. The fluidity of movement as I would call it brings my mind to peace. You don't think too much about what you are about to do. If you think about it too much then is it not fluid? you just do it whilst expressing yourself at the same time. Of course, you must be aware of the environment and the obstacles it holds but for me that is about it.
It has been 'established' that the concept of parkour was developed in France by David Belle and those who were close to him. I.e. his father and his friends. I have emphasised on the word established because in my mind and basing this on common sense, surely this form of movement has existed long before by the likes of say, primitive humans. Take civilisations that primarilly existed within the numerous jungles of the world such as the Aztecs or Mayans. In order to catch prey which would have most likely been faster than man, every movement they made in the chase had to count. One slip and most probably they would have lost their dinner for the day. The same would apply if one were running away from someone or something.You may be familiar with the popular japanese ninja and shinobi. They used very unorthodox methods to gain entry into enemy strongholds.
"...parkour has always existed. Free running has always been there. The thing is that no one gave it a name. We didn't put it in the box"This supports my thoughts that they didn't actually 'create' it, but more like 'adapted' it to the modern concrete jungles that are now spread across the world. Like all inventors, someone before them had to have built the groundwork and they were the ones forunate to complete it to put it in one way i.e. the well known Thomas Edison and the light bulb.Foucan (along with Belle and others) was a member of the The Yamakasi, the group that first exposed me to parkour. All members have pretty much said the same thing in relation to the origins of the concept. It has always been there. As soceity became advanced and a system of movement (by that I mean, pavements and road etc) is now in place, is there any need for parkour? But parkour isn't totally just about getting around efficiently. It's an essential tool for survival. I believe that as a species, man now depends too much on what they have created. Technology and science which have helped ensure 'survival of the masses' are being depended on too much. Why drive to a supermarket which is literally 10 minutes away to do small amount of shopping when you can perfectly walk there? But the main factor is that we no longer need to hunt for our food. This changed everything. But if there were to be a catastrophic event and we were forced to live in a harsh environment with no modern food supply system working and hunting was clearly required, how many 'normal' people would be able to survive? I don't think many will but then again survival is not all physical, you need to be tough mentally which is why the Yamakasi stand for "Strong Body. Strong Mind. Strong Spirit". I therefore think that perhaps man has physically regressed in certain ways. One thing is for sure is that we are lucky to be alive. Our ancestors were perhaps the fittest and strongest 30-40,000 years ago who had lived in extreme conditions. I don't think many of us could live through what they did now with all the facilities we take for granted.
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