David Belle

[Assaultman67]

I think the problem is we aren't really seeing eye to eye of what parkour is.

Yes. That's the problem with a lot of people. There isn't a level at which you are moving that I can point and say "There! You are now doing Parkour!" It's not that if you do a simple turn vault over a railing it's just dicking around, but if you kong it from a run it's Parkour. If you are moving in such a way that is more efficient and quicker than the normal path, you are doing Parkour.

but none of these people are doing it efficiently or much quicker!

infact, look at the videos, half of the time they climb up a wall, leap around a bit, and head back the same way they came from!

Also, from an efficiency standpoint, using the stairs conserves much more energy and puts your body at less risk ... hence more efficient

[Korban3]

but none of these people are doing it efficiently or much quicker!

infact, look at the videos, half of the time they climb up a wall, leap around a bit, and head back the same way they came from!

Also, from an efficiency standpoint, using the stairs conserves much more energy and puts your body at less risk ... hence more efficient

Pish Posh. Although parkours beginnings assume that the stairs are not the safest/fastest/still existing route. For instance, if you are in an office building made primarily of concrete during an earthquake, you could be trapped by your environment. At this point, being able to kick off a wall, grab a ledge, and haul yourself up becomes invaluable. Or maybe you're running from a mugger or something else that wants you dead.
A dead end alley becomes less enclosed if there are balconies in it; a means of escape. While it does seem fanciful, and I often find myself looking at a building going "Yeah, if I could really parkour, that's what I would do.", but if WWIII breaks out, nukes aren't fired globally, and someone's home country is invaded, I'd sure as hell want to be able to get out of some sticky situations. That's what parkour is all about, being able to do something if you have to. It's practical applications do not usually involve climbing a wall and then descending the stairs you just bypassed and running the direction you came, that's just cool stuff to do and is practice. In application, it's one of those things that is never included with the "Zombie Apocalypse Survival Toolkit" but should be.

[Jacktheawesome]

I think the problem is we aren't really seeing eye to eye of what parkour is.

Yes. That's the problem with a lot of people. There isn't a level at which you are moving that I can point and say "There! You are now doing Parkour!" It's not that if you do a simple turn vault over a railing it's just dicking around, but if you kong it from a run it's Parkour. If you are moving in such a way that is more efficient and quicker than the normal path, you are doing Parkour.

but none of these people are doing it efficiently or much quicker!

infact, look at the videos, half of the time they climb up a wall, leap around a bit, and head back the same way they came from!

Also, from an efficiency standpoint, using the stairs conserves much more energy and puts your body at less risk ... hence more efficient

That depends on what you mean by efficiently. Efficient in terms of energy? Ok no, you're right, but that's why you train stamina, so you can continue going for a long time. Efficiently in path? Yes. Why walk on the crisscrossing sidewalk when you could vault all the rails? I don't really know how you don't see that he was moving quicker than walking speed, but ok.
That's for demonstrational purposes. Of course if he was really running from something, he'd take a more direct route, but he's just showing Parkour.

[Renegade_Turner]

The thing is, Parkour is not really "trying stuff."

Any attempt to put effort into a certain action is "trying stuff". This is awkward...

Also, fast-roping out of a helicopter and performing parkour climbs or jumps are two incomparable things. A marine can easily fast-rope out of a helicopter, he just has to use his hands to adjust his fall-speed. Performing a vault up onto a higher ledge is a much more difficult process to do in gear.

[Jacktheawesome]

However, if fast-roping is indeed the fastest and most efficient (path-wise) way to get down safely, he is still doing Parkour.

[Korban3]

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And although ropes and climbing are different, it still stands: If you train with the gear, can do the move with the gear then it's not a huge step to doing the move with the gear. It just takes practice.

[Jacktheawesome]

And they do train with the gear. A fucking lot.

[Renegade_Turner]

Fast-roping isn't parkour in the sense that we're discussing it...

[adwuga]

Well weather they can or not is unproven to us, many different militarilies have incorporated it into their training including the U.S. Marines, and they haven't stopped, so either it's useful in some other way or the can do it in gear. I vote gear.

[underthedeep]

Well weather they can or not is unproven to us, many different militarilies have incorporated it into their training including the U.S. Marines, and they haven't stopped, so either it's useful in some other way or the can do it in gear. I vote gear.

wat?

[Jacktheawesome]

wat

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Fast-roping isn't parkour in the sense that we're discussing it...

I was of the belief that Parkour was what we were discussing, in the sense of itself. People seem to think that to be doing Parkour you have to be in some physical shape, and you have to be doing something daring, and you have to be doing etc. That's not the case. Parkour as a philosophy, which is half of the art itself, encompasses a lot of things.

[Renegade_Turner]

That's silly. Words come to mean mainly what they are perceived as meaning by many people, and what parkour generally means is things like this:



If what you were saying was true, then any form of movement that makes the most logical sense could be seen as parkour in the way you mean it...such as walking down a road.

[Jacktheawesome]

Correct. Although it would be running down a road. If the road was indeed the straightest path between him and his destination. If you are at one point on a straight road, and a point 500 feet down the road is your destination, running as fast as you can would be Parkour. There is no set of moves to Parkour. It is about adapting your movements and body to your environment. If your environment is a straight, flat road, then running up a random wall and making a criss-crossing course would not be Parkour, even if you are using movements people generally associate with Parkour.

[adwuga]

Well weather they can or not is unproven to us, many different militarilies have incorporated it into their training including the U.S. Marines, and they haven't stopped, so either it's useful in some other way or the can do it in gear. I vote gear.

wat?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour#Military_training

Since they are training with parkour, and haven't yet stopped, it must be useful to them. It is more likely that they are doing the parkour in gear, because it wouldn't be that useful otherwise.

[Jacktheawesome]

Oh. It was sort confusing. Yes. Exactly.