One of three papers Mark Toorock had us write while we were studying at Primal Fitness in Washington, DC.
Early History of Parkour
Ness, Luke and Kai
Parkour can be traced back to many different practices and people in history. It is easy to say that Parkour is a river with many tributaries of running, Martial arts, gymnastics, and general full body fitness flowing into it creating a new sport.
According to the APK website Parkour has been around since humans have needed to hunt and avoid being hunted. As long as humans have moved efficiently Parkour has existed. Humans naturally move with grace, especially as children. It is only later in life that we start to lose the ability to move smoothly through an environment. Parkour involves learning new skills by pushing the limits of what our bodies can do and acquiring new abilities.
Parkour websites all start their timelines of Parkour with Georges Hebert, who after serving in the navy and viewing different cultures physical ability returned to France to teach a new method of fitness. His new method involved using your surroundings to get fit, not only physically strong, but physically useful. He called this new idea "Natural Method." In addition to being physically fit he believed that athletic ability had to be combined with courage and confidence. He would teach sessions consisting of ten fundamental groups: walking, running, jumping, Quadra pedal movement, climbing, balancing, throwing, lifting, self-defense, and swimming.
One thing that many of the timelines do not mention is the other influences on Parkour, or people that shared a similar discipline with Georges Hebert. One example is the samurai who had a similar philosophy to Georges Hebert that if you can conquer an obstacle in your mind you can conquer it in the physical world.
Other major influences on the shape of Parkour include people from fields that would not be expected such as comedy. Charlie Chaplin used physical humor in much of his routine, diving across stages, hanging from planes, and leaping out windows. Although these moves cannot be defined as parkour they are similar, using your body to move efficiently through an environment. Yamakasi, a current Parkour team, leaps through obstacles and into windows much the same way that Charlie Chaplin did. Jackie Chan used physical comedy in his films, the jokes that he used in his movies were often intense physical moves. He trained himself to be able to fall off of a building and make it look like a mistake, as opposed to an intentional move. Jackie Chan first learned acrobatics and martial arts from the circus that he was given to by his parents who were too poor to raise him. Other people that used traits of Parkour in their performance are people that practice martial arts. Bruce Lee used chase scenes in his films that involved dare devil moves through urban cityscapes. Jet Li and Tony Jaa also took their martial arts skills to the streets moving their fights through, around, and over obstacles, like construction sites, urban Asian environments, boat yards, and fancy gardens. These scenes can be seen in The Protector and The One.
Parkour also includes many gymnastic moves. Athletes would train themselves to be able to swing and move around on various obstacles such as parallel bars, pommel horse, rings, and vaults. Once these skills are taken onto the streets they are essentially Parkour. Though the names for the different moves may not be the same in the gym as they are in the city they often require the same skills. A vault over a pommel horse can be done over a railing or wall. The same with the balance beam, instead of a beam try balancing along the edge of a building.
The theory of skateboarding is similar to that of Parkour. Using your natural environment, buildings, drain pipes, and sidewalks to perform a new sport and sharing techniques is what happened with both Parkour and skateboarding.
Parkour influence can be seen in many action films involving gun fights or chases through an urban environment, as seen in The Mark of Zorro, 1920. In which Douglas Fairbanks is chased by a group of soldiers, he uses wall climbs, precision jumps, monkey vaults and low bar to escape. His escape relates to parkour as he used his environment and his body to move faster and get away. These actors had to undergo physical training before they could shoot the scene.
The last link in the chain of early Parkour is Raymond Belle who influenced Parkour by passing the "Natural Method" of fitness onto his son, David Belle. Raymond Belle received his fitness training from the French military, in Vietnam, and then back in France. His own extreme physique allowed him to become a member of an elite firefighting squad, which ties back to what George Hebert said. "Etre fort pour etre utile" (To be strong is to be useful).
By passing on the art of efficient movement to David Belle, Raymond had completed the chain of events that would lead to the creation of Parkour. What David Belle and others then created had aspects of all sorts of different fitness regimens and practical purposes.
