Parkour And Freerunning, Dangerous Or Divine?

Have you heard or Parkour and Freerunning yet? It’s not a new thing but now Parkour has made the news most recently due to a severe head injury sustained by a youth in California that was reportedly “doing Parkour”. It was not the first time the sophomore in high school had done this activity at the same site where he was injured on Saturday.

Photo:By CConan at nl.wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Parkour originated in France spawned out of a training discipline for urban areas. The acrobatic and gravity defying stunts are just part of the movement across urban spaces.

Parkour has been described as the fastest way to get from point A to point B.

This type of strength, endurance and agility training has translated into paying stunt jobs for many (or sponsorships), translated into a lifestyle away from drugs and gangs, and is really good exercise, if not just incredible to watch.

See for yourself in this video by Stunts Amazing entitled “The Worlds Best Parkour and Freerunning of 2012” which has over 30 million views (so maybe you’ve seen it). The sequel 2013 was just uploaded last week as well.

The growing popularity of the “discipline” of Parkour and Freerunning has created social groups, parkour maps, professional organizations,trainers and of course gear (such as the ideal Parkour shoes) all widely available online.

The godfather of Parkour, David Belle, created the name from training he would do as a youth called ‘parcours du combattant’, similar to military training through obstacle courses.  The world renowned athlete has acted and done stunts in numerous films and for commercials.

Similar to the opposition to skateboarding back in the late 80’s and 90’s, the opposition to Parkour seems to stem mainly from the liability involved when someone gets hurt or property is damaged. Just like skateboarding as well, more and more parks are being built to address the growing interest and to keep the youth safely contained in a controlled environment.

Skateboarding is a crime, grind prevention
Photo:Public Domain Wikimedia commons

Considering the high level of physical athleticism required Parkour and Freerunning not only gets youth outdoors again, but is obviously good physical training for any sport or active lifestyle. So what do you think, is Parkour and Freerunning too dangerous, or could it be the best thing to come from France since the baguette?