What is the point of Parkour?

**Angie** · 02-12-2010, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by LonoClone

Does this mean we have permission from the mods to post Dali paintings? Some of them might get me banned.

Probably not the ones of his sister naked.

**marothisu** · 02-12-2010, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by LeSchmick

What's the point of you? What's the point of football?

Yep, if you really think about it..there's no real point to anything. Football, baseball, etc except it's fun.

Parkour is fun although it has other benefits. The US Military started using it a little bit a few years ago for some training, some of the DC cops are trained in it, same as san diego PD, and I believe part of the NYPD as well.

This is from a gym in DC, the owner happens to do Parkour too:
"Yesterday 10 Law Enforcement Officers of different varieties came for a taste of Primal training. There were 4 officers from a "TAC" tactical team which is an undercover street crime force, one of whom is also on the S.W.A.T. team, one officer on REACT community centric force, and 5 patrol officers. Jesse Woody and Mark Toorock brought them through a workout that included some of the basic drills as well as some general conditioning. One was back today with another S.W.A.T officer who was instantly hooked on Primal. "

http://primal-fitness.com/index.php?...d=408&Itemid=1

**LonoClone** · 02-12-2010, 07:48 PM

Originally Posted by marothisu

Yep, if you really think about it..there's no real point to anything. Football, baseball, etc except it's fun.

Parkour is fun although it has other benefits. The US Military started using it a little bit a few years ago for some training, some of the DC cops are trained in it, same as san diego PD, and I believe part of the NYPD as well.

So how does a person get into Freestyle Walking/Parkour? I guess I can imagine someone walking by the same park bench every day on the way to work, and then one day, just deciding to do a flip over it. Is that pretty much how it happens? All of a sudden like that? Or is it something that a person always knew they had in them, but were never able to explain, until the day when they see a group of young men in baggy pants trying to run up the side of a building, and all of a sudden it just clicks.

**marothisu** · 02-12-2010, 07:55 PM

Originally Posted by LonoClone

So how does a person get into Freestyle Walking/Parkour? I guess I can imagine someone walking by the same park bench every day on the way to work, and then one day, just deciding to do a flip over it. Is that pretty much how it happens? All of a sudden like that? Or is it something that a person always knew they had in them, but were never able to explain, until the day when they see a group of young men in baggy pants trying to run up the side of a building, and all of a sudden it just clicks.

It really depends on where you live. If you live in a big city, it's pretty easy.

A few ways. First, you could find someone who's been doing it for a long time, is smart about it, and knows what they're doing. Not someone who just decided to do it one day and jump from 10 feet up. Someone who actually knows how to train. That's why videos are important WHEN it's a training video..like good exercises to do.

If you live in a bigger city, there are gyms that offer training sometimes, or you could look it up on google "__________ parkour", meetup.com, or americanparkour.com forums.

Also, most people who do parkour are nothing like skateboarders. Baggy pants would be extremely stupid to do while doing parkour. It would be so counter productive it's not even funny. You will know exactly the serious ones from the not so serious ones just by how they dress, honestly.

If you want to know what it's ACTUALLY all about, because unless you do it or know someone who does it, you would have no idea. This is a documentary from a section of London and explains how they started including it in gym classes and also how the crime rate went down in Westminster when more juveniles got involved in it:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvP_HfVa2Rs"]YouTube - Jump Westminster[/ame]

I can just tell you though after doing this for four years, it has payoffs in non physical activity. You start seeing everyday problems in different ways and how to approach them differently.

**Longhorns3131** · 02-12-2010, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by Angie

Do you know any of the people in the videos that CycloneNick posted, or anything about the ISU parkour-ers? I was just curious if there was a GSB-funded club or anything like that; I'm sure that there would be some relief of university liability if people signed off or something.

Actually yeah, my roommate is in Parkour, I myself kind of think it's stupid and yes is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Also it isn't a funded club or anything, its a independent club called team impulse.

**LonoClone** · 02-12-2010, 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by marothisu

It really depends on where you live. If you live in a big city, it's pretty easy.

A few ways. First, you could find someone who's been doing it for a long time, is smart about it, and knows what they're doing. Not someone who just decided to do it one day and jump from 10 feet up. Someone who actually knows how to train. That's why videos are important WHEN it's a training video..like good exercises to do.

If you live in a bigger city, there are gyms that offer training sometimes, or you could look it up on google "__________ parkour", meetup.com, or americanparkour.com forums.

Also, most people who do parkour are nothing like skateboarders. Baggy pants would be extremely stupid to do while doing parkour. It would be so counter productive it's not even funny. You will know exactly the serious ones from the not so serious ones just by how they dress, honestly.

If you want to know what it's ACTUALLY all about, because unless you do it or know someone who does it, you would have no idea. This is a documentary from a section of London and explains how they started including it in gym classes and also how the crime rate went down in Westminster when more juveniles got involved in it:

YouTube - Jump Westminster

So, in your opinion, those guy in baggy pants definitely were not parkouring? I wonder what they were up to, then?

In any case, what if you live in a rural area, but are still interested in parkour? Could you use things like hay bales and farm equipment and stuff? I guess what I'm trying to say is that Parkour appears to be limited to urban environments, and that doesn't really seem fair. I'll bet people could really pull off some really cool moves in a hayloft or something, but if it's not recognized, then what's the point, right?

**marothisu** · 02-12-2010, 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by Longhorns3131

Actually yeah, my roommate is in Parkour, I myself kind of think it's stupid and yes is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Also it isn't a funded club or anything, its a independent club called team impulse.

That's free running.....which is a huge difference. Parkour is concerned with getting from point A to point B as efficiently as possible while trying to minimize your energy output to do it.

The second you see a flip or anything like that, it's not parkour because a flip is not efficient. Parkour is much more "philosophical" than free running because it deals with getting through an "obstacle" in an efficient manner and solving a problem with a positive outlook.

Free running has the same movements, but not so much conerned with efficiency. This is why some field police officers will train in parkour because it can mirror what they do if they have to chase somebody down in an urban setting (via fences, walls, etc). They don't waste their time with free running.

So yeah, huge difference.

**Angie** · 02-12-2010, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by Longhorns3131

Actually yeah, my roommate is in Parkour, I myself kind of think it's stupid and yes is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Also it isn't a funded club or anything, its a independent club called team impulse.

I wonder if the campus police try to bust them or anything. I'm sure there are people who really know what they're doing, but I'm sure there are more who don't. I guess I don't know enough about liability and everything to know how much the school would be at risk if someone jumped off some steps or something if they did it on purpose? Thanks for the info - I had no clue.

**Longhorns3131** · 02-12-2010, 08:07 PM

Originally Posted by marothisu

That's free running.....which is a huge difference. Parkour is concerned with getting from point A to point B as efficiently as possible while trying to minimize your energy output to do it.

The second you see a flip or anything like that, it's not parkour because a flip is not efficient. Parkour is much more "philosophical" than free running because it deals with getting through an "obstacle" in an efficient manner and solving a problem with a positive outlook.

Free running has the same movements, but not so much conerned with efficiency. This is why some field police officers will train in parkour because it can mirror what they do if they have to chase somebody down in an urban setting (via fences, walls, etc). They don't waste their time with free running.

So yeah, huge difference.

I'm just going by what they tell me lol.. Actually right now my roommate is in skAnkeny at the gymnastics place there doing their flippy flops. I really could careless what its called they just tell me they do parkour.

**marothisu** · 02-12-2010, 08:07 PM

Originally Posted by LonoClone

So, in your opinion, those guy in baggy pants definitely were not parkouring? I wonder what they were up to, then?

In any case, what if you live in a rural area, but are still interested in parkour? Could you use things like hay bales and farm equipment and stuff? I guess what I'm trying to say is that Parkour appears to be limited to urban environments, and that doesn't really seem fair. I'll bet people could really pull off some really cool moves in a hayloft or something, but if it's not recognized, then what's the point, right?

No, I just mean if they have skateboarding pants on trying to parkour, there is probably something they're missing.

Yes, you could use anything and it's not really limited to urban environments although that's the easiest way to do it. The thing is that parkour is vastly misunderstood by people who don't research it or anything.

Watch the video i pasted and you'll know. The real aim at parkour has NOTHING to do with showing off. It's all about bettering yourself, gaining confidence, and having a positive outlook on life. it kind of pisses me off all the videos online where people just show off.

Here's the thing. I said it's all about gong from point A to point B as efficiently as possible right? So let's say you have this:

A=============================B

Let's say the = is flat ground and there's a wall only 5 feet north of that path i put above. Anyone who knows what they're doing, is not going to go out of their way to jump over the wall in parkour. It's not efficient, waste of time because it's out of the way. Again, there's a reason why some cops train in parkour.

**Longhorns3131** · 02-12-2010, 08:09 PM

Originally Posted by Angie

I wonder if the campus police try to bust them or anything. I'm sure there are people who really know what they're doing, but I'm sure there are more who don't. I guess I don't know enough about liability and everything to know how much the school would be at risk if someone jumped off some steps or something if they did it on purpose? Thanks for the info - I had no clue.

I'm not sure if the campus police try and bust them, but they do get yelled at from some of the university employees about how there going to break their neck.

**marothisu** · 02-12-2010, 08:09 PM

Originally Posted by Longhorns3131

I'm just going by what they tell me lol.. Actually right now my roommate is in skAnkeny at the gymnastics place there doing their flippy flops. I really could careless what its called they just tell me they do parkour.

Yeah, no they do free running and tricking, not parkour. If it was parkour, they wouldn't be practicing backflips.

**marothisu** · 02-12-2010, 08:10 PM

Originally Posted by Longhorns3131

I'm not sure if the campus police try and bust them, but they do get yelled at from some of the university employees about how there going to break their neck.

The cops don't care is what I've been told by my friends who still do it on campus. The only time they care is if they're actually climbing the facades of buildings or on the roofs.

**Longhorns3131** · 02-12-2010, 08:12 PM

Originally Posted by marothisu

Yeah, no they do free running and tricking, not parkour. If it was parkour, they wouldn't be practicing backflips.

Thanks for clearing that up.

**Angie** · 02-12-2010, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by marothisu

The cops don't care is what I've been told by my friends who still do it on campus. The only time they care is if they're actually climbing the facades of buildings or on the roofs.

This isn't meant to be sarcastic at all - but if Parkour is about getting efficiently from Point A to Point B, why would they go to inefficient places (like building facades or on the roof) to get there? I took it to mean that you want to get from a place where you would naturally be to another you would naturally be as quickly as possible.