I find myself feeling...inadequate.

[Riverdance]

This man (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLnZYPlmgc0) is Cyril Rafaelli, a french martial arts and parkour expert. He stars alongside David Belle (inventor of parkour) in District 13: Ultimatum, and while I knew David Belle was legit, I wondered about this guy, so I googled him. Now I just feel stunned and inadequate. I do really appreciate a guy who does his own stunts though, so go him :smallbiggrin:

[Icewalker]

Love it. And if you're feeling inadequate, then take up gymnastics, and then freerunning and/or parkour! You may not be THAT, but you can still be a traceur if you put work into it! Life is yours for the taking. Go become what impresses you.

[Crow]

Dude, parkour is easy.

All it takes is hard work and patience. If you put those in, you'll be good at it.

[Reluctance]

I'll see your parkour and raise you this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x7-gHCLPcA).

[Crow]

I'll see your parkour and raise you this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x7-gHCLPcA).

Oh my gods! Now I feel inadequate!

[dehro]

yes..I remember watching both movies he did with David Belle.
also, I seem to remember him playing one of a couple of bad guy/brothers in another action movie...where he got his butt kicked

[Riverdance]

I'll see your parkour and raise you this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x7-gHCLPcA).

All I had to see was the title of the tab, "Iron Crotch Truck Pull." That guy is hardcore. How many uses are there for one's crotch that there is an "iron crotch quigong" kung fu style? :smalltongue:

[Anxe]

My first thought on seeing the thread title was, "They have a pill for that." Pretty cool stuff though.

[Icewalker]

I'll see your parkour and raise you this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x7-gHCLPcA).

:smalleek:

Yeah, yeah that's...yeah. Okay then. I certainly can't do that, and honestly...that's okay with me.

[Morph Bark]

Dude, parkour is easy.

All it takes is hard work and patience. If you put those in, you'll be good at it.

If those are the requirements for something to be easy, anything humanly possible is easy.

Still, gotta admit the man's got skills. I wouldn't do that, but mostly because I'd rather not put myself in a position where I can easily fall on my head.

[Crow]

If those are the requirements for something to be easy, anything humanly possible is easy.

Well...yeah. Some have physical and mental gifts that make the hard work enroute a little easier, but the hard-working and dedicated guy will usually end up better than the lazy gifted guy.

The hard-working and dedicated gifted guys though...they become truly great. But the regular hard-working guy is still damn good!

[inexorabletruth]

@ Crow: Parkour isn't actually easy. And not just anyone can do it.

Parkour, like most skills that require dexterity and strength, is a dangerous and highly challenging sport that can result in cuts, bruises, bone breaks, torn ligaments, and in some cases, death. However, that said, life is for the living. It's no fun just sitting around waiting for something to happen. But get a physical before you go and tell your doctor what you plan on doing, so he knows what standard to check your health by.

Personally, I have too many old injuries (many of them from gymnastics and other forms of acrobatics similar to parkour) to get into something that requires extraordinary agility and quick reflexes like parkour, so I do rock climbing instead. It's more deliberate and strength based, so I can take time to contemplate my next move.

[Crow]

@inexorabletruth

Yes, it is. If you put the work in. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aueht9w5pHU&sns=em)

That is a video pieced together from training video shot quite some time ago. You see, we watch our videos not to stroke our ego, but to find weakness, and points to improve.

You'll notice we don't look like super ninjas, like most videos you'll see. In fact, we look pretty bad! That is because this video shows us practicing, learning, doing things at safe heights, and learning new movements. We don't shoot "polished" videos because they are useless for everything but ego-stroking. This video only shows the hard work.

But you know what? Everything in that video is easy for me, now. Hell I can do things easily now, that I would never have attempted when those clips were shot.

Practiced properly, parkour is safe, and yes, even easy.

[Heliomance]

@inexorabletruth

Yes, it is. If you put the work in. (http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DAueht9w5pHU&v=Aueht9w5pHU&gl=US)

That is a video pieced together from training video shot quite some time ago. You see, we watch our videos not to stroke our ego, but to find weakness, and points to improve.

You'll notice we don't look like super ninjas, like most videos you'll see. In fact, we look pretty bad! That is because this video shows us practicing, learning, doing things at safe heights, and learning new movements. We don't shoot "polished" videos because they are useless for everything but ego-stroking. This video only shows the hard work.

But you know what? Everything in that video is easy for me, now. Hell I can do things easily now, that I would never have attempted when those clips were shot.

Practiced properly, parkour is safe, and yes, even easy.

Link broken, goes to the YouTube mobile homepage.

I'd really like to get into parkour, but I'm not sure how. And I don't have the confidence to start randomly climbing on things by myself!

[Crow]

Link broken, goes to the YouTube mobile homepage.

I'd really like to get into parkour, but I'm not sure how. And I don't have the confidence to start randomly climbing on things by myself!

Fricking mobile phone. Link *may* work now.

What I did when I started, was basically spend a few hours browsing americanparkour.com

After I was armed with some knowledge of what to start with, and how to do it safely, I just started going out and practicing. Sometimes I would spend a whole session working at one skill, while others I would work a medley. Even walking place to place at my job, I was looking at everything differently. "How many ways can I make it there". Sort of a mental training, I guess.

Really, anyone can do it. Nobody starts out awesome, and everybody does it differently. As you progress though, it will become "easy", and your friends will swear you are a ninja.

There are some traceurs on this board who are certainly "better" than me. So if you put up a flag, I am certain you can get some excellent suggestions on how to get started.

[Icewalker]

First, I would look for a class or any legitimate teaching. The probability of finding something like that is very low, but it's worth looking. What is much more likely is the existence of groups of traceurs in your general area, who may often do meetups and even beginner lessons, often never in the same place, making it more likely that you can catch an introductory lesson.

Second, Americanparkour.com is GREAT. The tutorials are excellent and well presented. The fitness details are super helpful. However, all this is still just online tutorials. What I would personally recommend is a gym, or some other form of good padding (better than grass, ideally, although not necessarily) on which/in which to practice everything until you're reasonably comfortable with at least basics.

Most of parkour you can kind of improv, wing it, and pick it up as you go, especially if you are already fit and coordinated. With tutorials, and CAUTION, you can learn a lot on your own. The one thing I would say you should absolutely NOT learn on your own is the roll. Because if you really botch a roll at the wrong time, you don't fall over, you break something.

Parkour is not for everyone. Not really. But just in the same way that, say, wrestling isn't for everyone. Your average person, your below average person, even your person who seems incapable can almost definitely learn something, even a lot. There's a quadruple amputee who is a professional MMA fighter. But you can imagine how insanely difficult it was to become so: how much you may be capable of, how difficult it is, and how dangerous it is, depends very much on YOU, and while your own dedication is what really matters, things outside your control can be limiting too.

Inexorable: I'm totally with you on this one. Old strains, old injuries, are not good when precision and dexterity are vital, and if they are bad enough then they can stop you from doing anything more than simple moves. Won't stop you or people like you entirely if you really dedicated yourself, but you wouldn't be David Belle, and if with your body, it'd be a waste of time compared to a different sport like rock climbing, it's your body and you know it best. (Also, rock climbing is awesome. I need to do more of that myself...)

Also, the comment about seeing your doctor first: It's a good plan. Personally, I haven't, but I have regular checkups and am always active in various physical activities, martial arts and the like, so it's already par for the course, especially as I'm still in my prime.


As a last note, Crow said other traceurs with more experience should jump in with comments? Despite jumping in with more comments, I am not a traceur with more experience! Just a caution. I've got a LOT of practice with self-teaching this kind of thing, and a wide spread of this and that, a bit of gymnastics, etc, but I am definitely not any kind of practiced traceur. I just put a lot of thought into these things!

[inexorabletruth]

@inexorabletruth

Yes, it is. If you put the work in. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aueht9w5pHU&sns=em)

It's a nice video clip, and it brings back memories. But I stand by my opinion and respectfully disagree. Any young, able-bodied person who isn't riddled with old injuries that will never fully heal can do this. But someone with a blown knee, dislocated rib, fading rotator cuff, bad hip, bad neck, and a right wrist that's been fractured one two many times can't do that anymore. (Me... what? I live hard.)

But no, even in perfect health, it's never safe to be inverted, mid air, over concrete. Like with any other high risk physical activity: motorcycling, mountain climbing, skydiving, skating (any kind), martial arts training, gymnastics etc., an important part of preventing injury or death is being aware of, acknowledging and respecting inherent hazards.