What is
Parkour?
Parkour, known as Le Parkour or PK
in short is not something that can be
easily described or explained. Actions
speak louder than words, and the art of
movement does exactly that.
Parkour is about moving, moving in a
way in which you don’t let anything stop
you, moving through your environment
and overcoming any obstacles that come
in your way.
Parkour was created by David Belle
and his childhood friend Sebastian
Foucan.
David joined the fire service but felt
too restricted by the regulations and
wanted to be free. His only real love was
obstacle courses. He then left for India
and acquired a black belt in Chinese
Kung Fu. He also gained a certificate of
30
honour for gymnastic agility, and that’s
when Parkour was born.
So, in a nutshell,
what is Parkour?
Parkour is the art of forward
movement. It’s being able to interact
with your environment, to get from one
place to another in the most efficient and
quickest way possible. It involves running,
jumping, vaulting, and climbing obstacles
in natural and urban environments.
Tricking
Tricking as such is not Parkour. But
you will see many traceurs (the word
used for people that partake in Parkour)
practicing tricks such as flips. The
traceurs who perform the tricks only do
so to better themselves mentally and
physically and wouldn’t use them in a run
as they’re not efficient to use.
What can Parkour give you?
• Physical fitness
Parkour is one of the best ways of
keeping you fit and healthy.
• Mental ability
You may not believe this, but Parkour
is a very good way of bettering yourself
mentally. If you are to overcome
obstacles physically, you need to first
overcome them mentally. The fear of
falling and hurting yourself comes into
play, but if you can overcome the mental
obstacle or fear in your mind, you better
yourself and become more confident.
• Friends
There are more people partaking in
the art of Parkour than you may think. To
find people that share the same passion
as you do gives you a great feeling.

What do you need for Parkour?

All you need for Parkour is to be
relatively fit and have a good set
of running shoes. It’s not like other
activities where you spend lots of money
on equipment. You also need to have a
good understanding of the different basic
moves and a good amount of practice.

Pros
Great form of exercise, athletic, cardio
and strength training. It’s a fun activity
you can do with your friends or a creative
way to get from point a to point b.
killed. I wouldn’t mind doing Parkour
Cons but I get nervous just having to jump
Can actually be quite dangerous if not over a small wall.
done right or if you try to perform or learn
the different moves and attempt to jump  It’s awesome to watch, but yeah, you
from high places. have to be a touch insane to do it.
Most definitely not safe.
Is Parkour a safe sport?  Let me put it this way. One of the
reasons I’m still alive is because
 I don’t consider it a sport. Of course I don’t do this.
it isn’t safe, that’s the entire point. Antz and Red Leo from the Street Monkey
 One of my friends teaches Parkour in
Washington. I’ve asked him about it.
Even he admits it’s pretty stupid. He acquire — здобувати
says all the people they train have to agility — спритність
sign a ton of waivers as the likelihood flip — сальто
gain — одержувати
of you getting injured is pretty high. in a nutshell — двома словами
 I don’t agree that it isn’t safe. For insane — божевільний
interact — взаємодіяти
beginners and those who just try obstacle — перешкода
to show off it’s not safe, but for overcome — подолати
professionals it can be quite the regulation — правило
rush. There are videos everywhere of restricted — обмежений
vaulting — стрибок (через перешкоду,
people being stupid and attempting з жердиною тощо)
jumps which they are not ready for, waiver — відмова
and thus they end up getting hurt or

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