PRINTFlippin' off
You take the high wall, and I'll take the low bench
Elly's Doghouse Productions
Giovani Dambros demonstrates the art of freerunning outside Greensfelder Recreation Complex at Edwin M. Queeny Park in St. Louis in summer 2008. Beginners might not want to try going inverted on a wall spin like this one — unless they aren’t embarrassed to freerun in a helmet.
June 17, 2009 | 12:00 p.m. CST
Think of it as getting from A to B in the fastest possible way by climbing walls, vaulting railings or leaping across buildings. No, this isn’t the opening scene in Casino Royale; this is the too-cool-for-school art of parkour.
Speed, agility, sharp reflexes and bold (if somewhat questionable) risk-taking — there’s no doubt that our culture celebrates the wild, unrestrained dexterity of youth. Think America’s Best Dance Crew or the perilous stunts of Bam Margera and his Jackass buddies.
Nothing takes this love for spontaneous agility further than parkour and freerunning.
Known as “traceurs” (or “traceuses” for females), practitioners consider parkour to be the training of mind and body to overcome obstacles in the most direct and efficient manner possible. To the untrained eye, parkour practitioners on the move might look like a bunch of reckless adrenaline junkies high on more than just
life. But as any aficionado will tell you, parkour is all about practice.
“We ran everywhere,” says Nate Zabel, a former member of the MU swim team and parkour enthusiast. “Downtown Columbia, especially by the courthouse, is a great place for beginners. So is the entire MU campus.” Zabel’s roof-climbing skills were featured in a series of mini-short films for the 2008 True/False Film Festival.
Parkour may look like just fun and games, but it has serious roots.
“It came out of French military training and was used for quick, immediate escape,” Zabel says.
Organized efficiency is the primary difference between parkour and its splinter movement, freerunning. Freerunning, arguably the more popular of the two in the U.S., encourages the freedom of individual movement that often results in artistic acrobatics.
Modern parkour has its origins in Lisses, France. Combining elements of gymnastics and martial arts, David Belle and Sébastien Foucan formed the group Yamakasi. A division in the group led Foucan to found the freerunning movement, which retains parkour fundamentals but celebrates elegance over efficiency.
“I prefer parkour,” Zabel says, “but that’s because I’m too big and too tall to do back flips.”
Giovani Dambros can’t get enough of those back flips and vaults, though. The high school senior and freerunning veteran of three years is a member of the St. Louis-based crew TRICKset.
“It’s more fun to freerun with a group of people,” Dambros says. “You challenge each other to jump higher, vault better.” However, parkour and freerunning philosophies are largely against competition, so the motivation to train is largely personal.
“I do it for the adrenaline rush, that feeling of being completely free,” Dambros says. “It’s also a completely nonconformist way of looking at things. Most people walk down stairs on their legs — we do it on our hands, with a back flip at the bottom.”
And yes, said back flips are as dangerous as they look.
“We were doing parkour and freerunning stunts for a movie being shot in Columbia, and my buddy, Epic, was trying to get some distance in a back flip and ended up falling off the stairs behind the Jimmy John’s and busting his head open,” Dambros says. “He had to get seven staples in his head. It wasn’t a big deal though.”
However, because stitches and shin splints are never fun, Dambros suggests amateurs start small.
“You have to learn how to fall before you can learn how to jump,” Dambros says. “I’ve seen too many people hurt themselves because they wanna jump immediately.”
Breaking and Entering (2006)
Casino Royale (2006)
District B13 (2004)
Jump Britain (2005)
Jump London (2003)
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
Yamakasi (2001)
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