Le Parkour

I investigated free running today, something I knew was in the early scenes from Casino Royale. It looks like an exciting sport, but also something with practical applications either in my own life, or that of a (more active) character. That led me to the Wikipedia Parkour page which explained the difference between parkour and free running.

Parkour, the name of the discipline, was thought of by Herbert Kuonde, — a friend of David Belle's, but not a practitioner — and it derives from "parcours du combattant", the military obstacle course of the French marines. Kuonde took the word "parcours", replaced the "c" with a "k" to suggest aggressiveness, and removed the silent "s" as it opposed parkour's philosophy about efficiency.

Traceur is the substantive derived from the verb "tracer". Traceur normally means "to trace", or "to draw", but also translates as "going fast".

There is an Australian Parkour Association, so I might have to attend a few beginner training sessions to experience it myself. Although I will certainly have to a) get fitter, and b) get my joints and back stronger if it's to be truly enjoyable.

I've added some Parkour clips below to demonstrate how it works.

BBC ad using parkour:


Aussie parkour traceurs:


UPDATE: There is an active online community for Australian traceurs as well.