Parkour and Free Running

[OmahaBeef]

I was just wondering if anyone here has heard of Parkour (or its close relative Free Running). They are both similar arts of movement where you try to pass through an area in the quickest and most efficient way. Parkour and Free Running are getting more popular and are starting to show up in TV shows and movies. (Remember the chase scene at the beginning of the new James Bond movie? That's an example of Parkour.)

Here are a few videos I thought people might be interested in watching:
(This one takes a minute or two to really get going, but just keep watching because its worth the wait.)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEbYtOEftc0[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjQxIRWZu0c[/youtube]

Heres a few documentaries the BBC has done about Parkour in the past few years which are very informative about the origins and philosophy of the discipline:
Jump Britain
Jump London
Jump Westminster

Wikipedia: Parkour - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...and finally the largest website for Parkour/Free Running: Urban Freeflow: The Official Worldwide Parkour/Freerun Network (its British)

and the largest US site: American Parkour


Its really some cool stuff. Even if you dont end up watching all these videos (which I dont expect many people to do) watch the first two. The guys who have been doing Parkour for a long time can really do some pretty amazing things!

(...and if you are an OSU student who may be interested in learning Parkour, PM me.)

 

[OCBuckWife]

I have an online friend that is in college in Wisconsin. He does parkour. He took a class in capoeira as well recently to increase his flexibility for parkour.

 

[OCBuckWife]

I have an online friend that is in college in Wisconsin. He does parkour. He took a class in capoeira as well recently to increase his flexibility for parkour.

Here is a short video of my friends, learning themselves some parkour. :-)

[YOUTUBE]iRpNkGCmQ_0[/YOUTUBE]