Sprinting to the concrete edge of the building, his sweat falls heavy behind his feet, his breath short and measured. Every muscle pulses with leopard like power, and his right leg propels him off the roof. No pads will catch him; there is no safety net if he slips, but none of this is in his mind. His only thought is the other roof; two stories and twenty feet away and the landing he has practiced thousands of times. As his feet hit the gravel covered roof, he curls, the rocks pit his back, but leave no mark. He finishes his roll sprinting into the Taiwanese night.
Although David Belle has been in many movies and has been the stunt coordinator for even more, this scene isn’t for any camera, it isn’t even for the tens of thousands of followers of his sport, this was Belle’s way of unwinding after a long day of yelling producers and primed actors.
Before David Belle can be explained his discipline, parkour; that he aptly named after the French word for a military obstacle course. Parkour is the practice of finding the fastest way from point A to point B, and to use the objects in your way to speed up your movements instead of hindering them. Most tracuers (people that practice parkour) are in perfect physical shape because no obstacle can be overcome by using just one muscle group. Any tracuer asked about the benefits of parkour will not only talk about the physical but also the psychological benefits, parkour develops a sense of how to judge risks and knowing your limits that is crucial while running over and around the twisted metal and concrete of the city.
One thing that worries the public about parkour is the obvious risks that are involved in any sport without a large amount of padding; injuries. Parkour is actually the safest sport of all. What other sport focuses on falling and the correct form of hitting the ground from any angle? Not soccer, not basketball definitely not football, the closest one that I can find is the baseball runner sliding into home plate. David Belle was asked in an interview how he kept his knees in good shape and his response was “good form” later in the interview he told the audience that he has never broken a bone and that no one practicing correctly should ever have to worry about that.
Parkour is a discipline that evolved separately from other sports. Parkour’s jumps and sprinting may seem like a sport from the surface, but its attitude is closer to that of the martial arts. David once said “A bad tracuer is one that practices a jump until he can do it right. A good tracuer is one that practices a jump until he can’t do it wrong”. Another thing that sets parkour apart from other sports is the non competitive attitude. Parkour is something that you are suppose to use to measure yourself against your own limits not measure against others and use to show off.
All of the ideals of parkour are mirrored in David Belle’s life. As a boy he was raised by his
father, a man that had served in the military the majority of his life, and graduated from the military academy at nineteen. Also at nineteen he joined the sapeurs-pompiers (French military firefighters) and became part of the first helicopter division in France.
David said that he was raised to be useful and that if there was any emergency he should be able to handle it. As he grew up his friends were also physically adept, their childhood games of tag and follow the leader were more active than the world had ever seen this soon evolved in to David’s sport of parkour. Before he was fifteen he had participated in karate gymnastics and many other athletics.
Once he turned fifteen he left school and joined the same fire brigade that his father was enlisted in, and he set a new record for the rope climb a record his father once held, but he was discharged from the brigade because of a wrist injury and did not return.
The regiment life style didn’t draw David like it did his father; although he loved running the obstacle courses he found that freedom, the freedom he only found in his new sport of parkour, was what he craved the most. This freedom from not only walls but also other people’s ideals is why there is such a strong noncompetitive attitude in parkour
When a wall is cleared in one smooth motion it shows not only that the bricks and mortar can be overcome. It is a statement to society that says I don’t believe in your barriers. It declares on roof tops that breaking free of the city is possible. It is a way for every tracuer to trace their own path through the urban restraints. It is a way to express the beauty of muscle and blood, skin and bone.
A way to illustrate The Art Of Movement.
href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CJoe%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List">
Sprinting to the concrete edge of the building, his sweat falls heavy behind his feet, his breath short and measured. Every muscle pulses with leopard like power, and his right leg propels him off the roof. No pads will catch him; there is no safety net if he slips, but none of this is in his mind. His only thought is the other roof; two stories and twenty feet away and the landing he has practiced thousands of times. As his feet hit the gravel covered roof, he curls, the rocks pit his back, but leave no mark. He finishes his roll sprinting into the Taiwanese night.
Although David Belle has been in many movies and has been the stunt coordinator for even more, this scene isn’t for any camera, it isn’t even for the tens of thousands of followers of his sport, this was Belle’s way of unwinding after a long day of yelling producers and primed actors.
Before David Belle can be explained his discipline, parkour; that he aptly named after the French word for a military obstacle course. Parkour is the practice of finding the fastest way from point A to point B, and to use the objects in your way to speed up your movements instead of hindering them. Most tracuers (people that practice parkour) are in perfect physical shape because no obstacle can be overcome by using just one muscle group. Any tracuer asked about the benefits of parkour will not only talk about the physical but also the psychological benefits, parkour develops a sense of how to judge risks and knowing your limits that is crucial while running over and around the twisted metal and concrete of the city.
One thing that worries the public about parkour is the obvious risks that are involved in any sport without a large amount of padding; injuries. Parkour is actually the safest sport of all. What other sport focuses on falling and the correct form of hitting the ground from any angle? Not soccer, not basketball definitely not football, the closest one that I can find is the baseball runner sliding into home plate. David Belle was asked in an interview how he kept his knees in good shape and his response was “good form” later in the interview he told the audience that he has never broken a bone and that no one practicing correctly should ever have to worry about that.
Parkour is a discipline that evolved separately from other sports. Parkour’s jumps and sprinting may seem like a sport from the surface, but its attitude is closer to that of the martial arts. David once said “A bad tracuer is one that practices a jump until he can do it right. A good tracuer is one that practices a jump until he can’t do it wrong”. Another thing that sets parkour apart from other sports is the non competitive attitude. Parkour is something that you are suppose to use to measure yourself against your own limits not measure against others and use to show off.
All of the ideals of parkour are mirrored in David Belle’s life. As a boy he was raised by his
father, a man that had served in the military the majority of his life, and graduated from the military academy at nineteen. Also at nineteen he joined the sapeurs-pompiers (French military firefighters) and became part of the first helicopter division in France.
David said that he was raised to be useful and that if there was any emergency he should be able to handle it. As he grew up his friends were also physically adept, their childhood games of tag and follow the leader were more active than the world had ever seen this soon evolved in to David’s sport of parkour. Before he was fifteen he had participated in karate gymnastics and many other athletics.
Once he turned fifteen he left school and joined the same fire brigade that his father was enlisted in, and he set a new record for the rope climb a record his father once held, but he was discharged from the brigade because of a wrist injury and did not return.
The regiment life style didn’t draw David like it did his father; although he loved running the obstacle courses he found that freedom, the freedom he only found in his new sport of parkour, was what he craved the most. This freedom from not only walls but also other people’s ideals is why there is such a strong noncompetitive attitude in parkour
When a wall is cleared in one smooth motion it shows not only that the bricks and mortar can be overcome. It is a statement to society that says I don’t believe in your barriers. It declares on roof tops that breaking free of the city is possible. It is a way for every tracuer to trace their own path through the urban restraints. It is a way to express the beauty of muscle and blood, skin and bone.
A way to illustrate The Art Of Movement.
No comments:
Post a Comment