Where did the start of free running and parkour come from? Who is the person responsible for this new physical discipline? Well, the man that began the concept was a French naval officer by the name of Lt. George Herbert.
Lt. George Herbert
In 1902 a volcano, on the Caribbean island of Martinique, blew and Herbert coordinated the rescue and escape of over 700 people, indigenous and European. He witnessed heroism and tragedy that day which reinforced his belief that, to be of value, athletic skill must be combined with courage and altruism, "Etre fort pour être utile"-"Be strong to be useful." Herbert admired how the indigenous people of Africa and elsewhere moved and their physical development. He created a physical discipline he called "the natural method" using climbing, running, and man-made obstacle courses to recreate natural environment. This discipline was turned into the basis for the French soldiers in the jungles of Vietnam and became known as, "parcours du combattant.” (“The path of the warrior”)
David Belle
A former French Special Forces soldier, Raymond Belle, returned home and taught his son, David, the discipline of le parcours du combattant and the teachings of Hebert. Later on David took the knowledge of his father's teachings and his knowledge of gymnastics and martial arts to create Parkour.
Sébastien Foucan
David Belle along with his then best friend, Sébastien Foucan established a group of traceurs (people who practice Parkour) called Yamakasi. Being the first organized group Yamakasi began to develop a following in France which included filmmaker Luc Besson. With Besson's film, "The Yamakasi," the growth of Parkour was accelerated. Around the same time Sébastien went his own way starting what he called "Free Running" which differed from Parkour in that it wasn't just getting to point A to point B as fast as possible but also how creative the movement could be. In 2003, Mike Christie's film "Jump London," followed by "Jump Britain" in 2005, showed the growth of the sport on the streets of the UK's largest city. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8fSXGP9wvQ
It wasn't until Sébastien's appearance in the opening chase scene in "Casino Royale" in 2006 that people in the US realized that Parkour and Free Running was out there.
Finally in 2005, it was the sudden game-changing arrival of Youtube
that allowed free runners around the world to post their videos and
share their latest discoveries, that is when Parkour truly went global.
Since then there have been new leaders and pioneers emerging and doing their own things, creating groups, and starting events and competitions to further spread the influence of Parkour and Free Running.
Standing on the edge of a 20 foot wall that drops straight down to hard soil. Getting the urge to just jump off, do a trick in midair, land safely at the bottom, and just keep on going like nothing was there. How many people can say they've experienced that sensation? Free runners, as they're called, are the ones who experience this every day. The reasoning for this is that free running/parkour is a way of life for them. Free running is the art of moving from one point to another in the fastest and shortest way possible. I have personally done some free running in my life and still continue to this day. I love getting that rush of jumping off or over something and either dropping a few feet, landing, and keep on going or connecting it into another move or trick.
Some say that free running can be a sport and be put into competitions, but most say that free running is more of a way to express themselves and their passion for movement. I want to spend my time exploring how the life of a free runner is similar or different from any other person and why they do what they do. I found a video that helps explain why some people became free runners and why they keep doing it. The video is called "Parkour Documentary: People in Motion."
In another video, called "Free Yourself," it is said that parkour is a way to make your own path and break away from the social path that was made for everybody. It forces a person to become an individual and "step outside the box" when there is no box in parkour. It's said that you can never truly know what parkour is like just from somebody telling you about it, you have to go out and experience it yourself. All in all what I've come to realize so far is that you just have to go out, experience parkour/free running yourself, and just be free and be an individual in a world that has built paths for us already.
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