What is parkour? What does it mean?

In today’s article, we want to talk about a sport that is increasingly known and more practiced by the youngest. Specifically, we are talking about what is parkour and how it has become the sport par excellence for many boys and girls.

Parkour is a sport of French origin that consists of overcoming urban obstacles that are found along the way and have to be overcome in the most fluid, fast, and technical way possible. It involves running, jumping, and climbing. Many people consider it to be an extreme sport, although for many others it is an activity that can be purchased with many other sports, such as martial arts.

Where do you do parkour?

As we have mentioned, in recent years parkour has grown considerably until it is present in many cities, making different parts of the cities the perfect places to do parkour.

Among them, the university campuses stand out since they usually have a large space and the architecture is usually very diverse, so it is a place that allows you to experiment with the areas. Urban environments, such as playgrounds are also a good place to start practicing this sport because there are many elements to climb and jump to practice the best movement techniques.

Difference between parkour and freerunning

Both parkour and free running have become sports followed by many people and it is that although they are very similar sports, it is important to comment on a series of differences.

The biggest difference is in the execution and for this, we have to understand that parkour is to move from one place to another using the body as the only tool, and we must move as quickly as possible. On the other hand, freerunning is a sport that consists of moving completely freely through space, overcoming obstacles while performing acrobatics and aesthetic movements throughout the journey, without giving much importance to the speed of movement.

Is there parkour for kids?

Parkour is a sport that can be practiced at any age, although it is important to note that it requires great strength and agility. It is a sport where there is no rivalry or competitiveness since each person wants to improve their own styles, it is for this reason that all those who already practice this sport see it as the art of displacement and that, therefore, it is suitable for adults as for children.

In children’s parkour, the most important characteristic is to carry out training, in which the technique of climbing obstacles is worked using only the hands and feet. In this way, it is important to train from a very young age on how to climb and land in order to know the technique and improve their parkour skills little by little.

Practicing this sport from a very young age makes it possible for children to function more safely and effectively. In addition, it is a sport that provides them with balance, speed, and precision, qualities that they can adopt in their day to day life.

How can you learn parkour?

As we have mentioned, any part of the city can become the perfect place to do parkour since any place is good to be able to start in the world of parkour. For example, you can practice jumping on the steps of a building since you can practice the different levels. In addition, you can also practice landing from any height to avoid injuries and you can increase the difficulty of each of the practices, be it more jumps, more height, or even include rotations in the landings.

In addition, there are numerous trainers who offer their entertainment and best tricks online so you can practice the best movements through these videos.

Who invented parkour?

Parkour is a sport that emerged in France and its name in French means tour. Specifically, it aroused around the 80s, in Lisses, a town on the outskirts of Paris.

The creator was David Belle who was influenced by his father Raymond Belle. He was a firefighter and a military man and taught him the well-known “Georges Hébert Natural Method”, a discipline in which obstacles must be overcome only with the body. David Belle, after learning about this method, began to apply it in his tours of his city of Lisses, thus creating a more modern and updated version.

Years later, people began to follow his training and it was when he met Sébastien Foucan, who years later moved to the UK and surprised everyone with his great skills. Thanks to this, the sport began to internationalize and began to make parkour a phenomenon, a training method, and since 2007 there is even a World Freerunning Parkour Federation.