Parkour where you can practice. Parkour training for beginners at home. What it is

How a French firefighter helped his son become the inventor of an unusual sports discipline, who can do parkour and why it is not just a sport, but a worldview, said a tracer, coach and school director "Parkour perception" Pavel Ageenko.

Dear fathers, who did not climb garages, construction sites, trees and concrete fences as a child - raise your hand. Yeah, there aren't any. Well, is it any wonder that our children also love this activity? The fact that they call it the strange word “parkour” should not scare us. After all, someone calls floor washing “cleaning” - and nothing, the essence of the process does not change.

However, if everything were so simple and the main “trick” of parkour was just an extravagant name, probably schools and special courses teaching this art of climbing and jumping would not be opened one after another in different cities of Russia. They don’t open courses on picking apples from someone else’s orchard (“apple fetching”), although this activity has also always been popular among children.

This means there is something special about parkour. We just need to figure it out What. It is quite logical for this purpose to go to one of the schools where parkour is taught.

If you arrive at the Mendeleevskaya metro station at the right time, find in the crowd some young man in wide sweatpants, a sweatshirt and a backpack, easily flying up five steps of a flight of stairs and jumping over the railing, and follow him, then you will come straight to school “Parkour perception” (“Perception of the world through parkour”).

Well, there, lovers of the art of overcoming obstacles, among whom there are boys and girls, boys and girls, men and women, begin a three-part training session: warm-up, strength exercises for all muscle groups and practicing elements on apparatus.

— Pavel, what brought you to parkour?

- I am 24 years old. I started training in 2006, before that I was involved in a number of other sports disciplines: gymnastics, karate, basketball, swimming, etc. My parents are professional athletes: my father is a master of sports in gymnastics, my mother is a biathlon. They sent me to various sports sections. But something didn’t suit me there.

I loved climbing construction sites, it was interesting to me. And in 2006, when I graduated from school, I once saw at a construction site how the guys were jumping and performing various mesmerizing elements. I asked them what they do? They explained to me that this is parkour. A few days later I watched Luc Besson’s film “Yamakashi”, where the guys also did pirouettes that inspired me. I started looking for information about parkour on the Internet, but there was very little of it at that time. At one of the forums I met young people, we met and started training together.

— You said that in other sports, unlike parkour, something didn’t suit you. What exactly?

— In general, parkour is not a sport. Sport is always a competition. People evaluate you. In the ideology of parkour there is no competition with anyone. You are only competing with yourself. It’s not like the media shows: “Parkour is an extreme sport where young guys who have nothing better to do jump on rooftops, putting their lives at risk.” I try to convey this to my students: parkour is a gradual, comprehensive physical development through spiritual development. Spiritual, because you overcome yourself.

— How did you become a coach?

— At one time, parkour changed my worldview. I'm trying to give people what helped me back in the day. When you overcome yourself, it transfers to other types of your activities. Of the seven years that I have been doing parkour, I have been teaching for 4 years. I’ll say right away: during this time I had no severe injuries or fractures.

The birthplace of parkour is France. In the city of Lisse, in the suburbs of Paris, two people met - David Belle and Sebastien Foucan. David Böll's father was a fireman, at one time he began to develop a technique that would allow him to climb buildings and save people with increased efficiency. This could not but affect young David. As a teenager, David, together with his friend Sebastien Foucan, practiced the elements developed by his father, not yet realizing that he would become the founders of such a movement as parkour (fr. parkour, distorted from parcours, parcours du combattant– distance, obstacle course). Over time, Bell and Fukan diverged. David advocated that in parkour there should be no commerce, no competition, but only rational, effective overcoming of obstacles from point A to point B. For example, a person is having an asthma attack, you quickly run to the pharmacy to deliver him medicine. Sebastien Foucan, on the contrary, dreamed of making money and acting in films. He created his own special direction, which became known as freerunning. free running- free running). Freerunning is based on spectacular acrobatics. Freerunning competitions are held. Parkour fans claim that freerunning is quite dangerous.

— Pavel, can everyone attend classes?

— There is an announcement about training on our school’s website. A new person comes, I look at his desire to study, I find out if there are any injuries or health problems. This affects the amount of load. There are no special criteria. I train three times a week and train with the guys on equal terms. The main thing for me is that the lesson takes place in a friendly atmosphere. When we do an exercise together and someone fails, we always support each other. We have a chant. The instructor begins: “Let’s start together!” The guys pick up: “We finished together!” We start training together and finish it together.

Pavel Ageenko in training. Photo: parkourperception.com

— Pasha, what do you think about the division of parkour into men’s, women’s and children’s?

— If we talk about girls in parkour, then everything is a little more difficult for them, due to their physiology. And when teaching, you need to communicate with children differently, more in a playful way.

— Who is the oldest parkour athlete you know?

- Parkour guy? You probably mean tracer? (Tracer - from English. tracer- a person who overcomes obstacles). At one time, a 42-year-old man came to our classes. Now we have men 36-38 years old in our group. Parkour doesn’t seem to be for everyone, but at the same time anyone can do it.

— How compatible is parkour with bad habits?

— The philosophy of parkour presupposes a healthy lifestyle. One of our mottos is: “Be strong to be useful.” Useful for yourself and others. Because all the skills that you acquired during training, you can apply in an extreme situation. But each person decides for himself what to do, what to do, what to consume. Science has proven that if you play sports and take drugs such as tobacco (nicotine is one of the first drugs among physical and psychological addictions), it is much worse for your body than if you simply smoked.

By the way, I’ll tell you a secret: I have bronchial asthma. I have been living with this diagnosis since the 5th grade; before, I couldn’t take a step without an inhaler; I took it with me everywhere. Over time, I started running. It was very difficult. I was out of breath. But training began to help, and now I can easily do without an inhaler. And I take part in 10 km races, subjecting my body to intense physical stress.

In general, if a smoking person comes to my training, I don’t tell him: “It’s bad. Do not smoke". I try to show an alternative way, to convey to people in my training the parkour that helped me.

— Would you like your children to do parkour?

— I will definitely open the world of parkour to my child. Let him decide for himself whether he needs it or not. But in general, I would just like him to play sports.

— How do the parents of your young students feel about their passion for parkour?

— Over the past 5 years, attitudes towards parkour have changed for the better. Now they are happy to send their children to the parkour section. Often parents themselves come to classes to see how the training goes. It’s great when your child doesn’t hang out somewhere unknown and with someone unknown, but trains in the gym with normal kids.

Parkour is like physical education, only better. For example, in England, elements of parkour are taught in physical education classes to increase class attendance.

— How has your life changed with parkour?

— I admit, I used to be shy and rather insecure. Since I started doing parkour, every day I overcome myself and my fear.

— So, thanks to training, fear disappears?

- By the way, no. The fear has not disappeared. Fear is a defense mechanism. He tells you: “Stop.” In parkour you should only do what you are 100% sure of. All injuries happen because you do something you're not sure of.

Confidence can be gained through numerous training sessions, during which you move from a simple exercise to a complex one. If I jump two meters, then I have to practice this jump many times in order to take the bar higher in the future. It is also important that your mind is clear when you jump. The more you stand and prepare to jump, the more likely you are to get injured.

The basic elements of parkour are taken from nature. The names of some of them speak for themselves.
- The “monkey” element (from English - monkey) is one of the most effective elements in parkour, which is used by tracers around the world. This is a jump over a railing where you push off from an obstacle and carry your body through your arms.
— The element “cat lip” (English: “cat jump”) is when you grab the edge of the wall with your fingers, your feet rest against the wall, and in this position you move along the wall. This exercise greatly strengthens the muscles of the arms, legs, back and abs.
- The “roll” element (English roll – ride) – a somersault over the shoulder, used when landing and continuing the movement. This element is needed for safety so that the joints are not subjected to heavy loads.

— Where can you practice parkour?

— The peculiarity of parkour is that in a month you will not look at the world the same way you did before. Walking down the street, you will be looking for where to work out, or how to get to work faster. I have already said that in a certain situation you can help people: run for medicine, remove a cat from a tree, and even catch up with a thief. The whole world is your training ground.

— Perhaps there should be some kind of prohibitions and restrictions?

— There are practically no prohibitions. You need to be aware of the actions you take. That is, if you, for example, jump from roof to roof, you must realize: why are you doing this, why and are you confident in yourself? It is also important to realize responsibility for your actions. You must not disrupt public order, damage other people's property or harm their health.

A parent need not worry about his child if he takes his first steps and tries something new under the supervision of an experienced coach or instructor. But in his free time, outside of group classes, the child can get injured, so the instructor’s task is also to explain what the child should and should not do on his own. Otherwise, the child’s safety already depends on himself and on his upbringing, since it is not possible to look after a person all the time.

Photo: parkourperception.com

Elements:

Drop - a jump from a height, performed from a place or from a cat leap position. You can absorb the fall only with your feet, or with your feet and hands (well, or with one hand).

Spring - jumping over any obstacle without touching it. For example, flying over a railing, bush or car.

Up from down - a jump into the distance from a great height, ending with a roll.

Blind is a variation of the spring, but its peculiarity is that when pushing, the tracer does not see the landing point.

Gap - like the blind, this is a type of spring. The difference is that the obstacle to be overcome is a gap, that is, a large distance at altitude. The trick is performed both from a standing start and from a running start.

Accuracy - jumping onto a small object (for example, a railing or parapet) and then maintaining balance on it; performed from the spot. Sometimes when landing, grasping or touching an object with your hands is used, which gives greater stability.

Running accuracy - Akurashi performed with a running start.

Turn precision - turning on a narrow object by jumping and then maintaining balance on it. Can be performed both 180° and 360° degrees.

Fly roll - a jump after which the body is extended parallel to the ground, and the landing is a roll.

Two hand vault - a vault performed with two hands, the whole body or only the legs passing to the side of the hands. It can be performed both in a group and without it.

One touch is a vault performed with one arm at a right angle to the railing. In any variant, but without rotation.

Monkey vault - Two hand vault option. Decoys are used extremely often when overcoming parapets or for climbing onto objects. This is a vault jump in an even group, supported by two hands. You can also carry the body between your hands, although usually you just push your hands away from the railing. To perform running decoys, you must first make a jump, then place your hands on the railing or parapet.

Monkey splits vault - a vault in which the body is in a vertical position, the support is on two hands, the legs are widely spread to the sides.

Reverse vault is a vault with a 360° rotation, with the back going over the obstacle first, the body in a vertical position. Rotation can go through either one or two hands. You can also do it both in a group and bent over.

Speed ​​vault - vault using one hand. The body is parallel to the railing (or any other obstacle).

King kong vault is a vault performed like a decoy, only it is performed over a long distance. The body should be parallel to the ground, placing the hands on the far edge of the obstacle.

King kong vault (double) - a version of king kong, only two hands touch the obstacle (usually near the beginning of the obstacle and at the end). Helps to cover longer distances.

King kong (running) - a variant of king kong, instead of one touch, you run with your hands over an obstacle (however, the body must be parallel to the ground). At the end, the hands can be placed to perform a decoy, or a push with one hand is performed from the obstacle to dismount.

King kong splits are a vault jump performed over a long distance, starting with a jump with the body stretched parallel to the ground (flying over an obstacle), followed by pushing off with the hands from the far edge of the obstacle and carrying the body over it with legs wide apart to the side.

King kong to kash - king kong going into cash (after supporting with hands, straight legs come forward and then the whole body follows them).

Cat vault - overcoming a railing or parapet while running at an angle towards it. The tracer first jumps out keeping his body parallel to the ground, then alternately places and removes his hands on the parapet or railing (as his hands pass over the obstacle).

Dash vault is a beautiful trick, performed with a running start, pushing with one leg, keeping your legs at the corner in front of you. The legs first pass over the obstacle, then the arms are placed. You can bring it to a tuck “bent over” or perform it with your legs not together, but apart (“straddle”).

Dash vault (360°) - a variant of the dash, when there is a strong push with your hands and a 360° turn. You need to whip with your legs, otherwise you simply won't have enough momentum to turn around.

Kash vault - monkey, after which the legs are brought forward and only then comes the dismount. The higher your legs are raised, the more beautiful the trick looks. The legs can be either together or apart.

Turn vault - a vault with a 180 turn and grabbing the railing or parapet on the other side, preferably in Cat Leap (well, on a wall without ledges you can’t do it any other way). Login can be done as from any other vault (usually, however, it is done as needed).

Turn vault (underbar) - performed only on the railing. After the turn vault, the legs pass under the obstacle and the tracer flies back to the place of the push with a whip.

Lazy vault - when running parallel or at a slight angle to an obstacle, the tracer leans on it with his near hand, raising his legs in front of him with a corner, moving the center of gravity over the obstacle in flight, changing his hand. The pushing leg can be either the one farthest from the obstacle or the one closest. For beauty, grabs, scissors or other feints may also be performed during the trick.

Thief vault - lazy vault used when traveling long distances. To perform, you need to push off strongly from the obstacle with your hands.

Lazy vault (360) - after lazy, pushing with one hand and making a swinging movement with the other, turn your body 360 degrees. Rotation can occur either along the longitudinal axis, extended parallel to the ground, or in a vertical position.

Tic-Tac vault (parallel) - Can be used when the railing runs parallel to the wall, not very far from it. The tracer, placing his hand on the railing, pushes away from the wall, using its strength to fly over the railing, performing a one hand vault.

Tic-tac vault (perpendicular) - Can be used when the railing is adjacent to a wall (or other obstacle from which you can push off). It is from this wall that tick-tock is performed. There are three main variants of this trick: a) Running parallel to the railing, a hand is placed on it with a simultaneous push from another obstacle, the force of the push is used to fly over the railing, performing a one hand vault. b) Running onto the railing, tic-tac is performed, then a hand is placed, and a one hand vault is performed. c) Running onto the railing, a parallel carry (speed vault) is performed, at the same time a tic-tac is performed.

Barrel vault - Arabian somersault over a railing or parapet, supported by one arm. Legs straight.

Gate vault - performed as follows: the tracer rolls over the fence on his stomach and, holding the top of the fence with one hand and leaning on it with the other, throws his legs over to the other side, turning his body behind his legs in flight to remain facing the direction of movement. Can also be performed on railings.

Overturn - Modified Gate Vault. Rolling over an obstacle with support on your stomach and then grabbing the obstacle with both hands, throwing up your legs and turning over your head with your hands.

Pop vault - When overcoming a high obstacle with a running start, a wall pop is performed, then after taking off from the kick, either a monkey or two hand vault is performed.

Walltouch spin - If the railing is located a short distance from the wall, then when running straight towards it, making a one hand vault or two hand vault, you can jump over the railing, then rest your foot on the wall, push and, leaning on one hand, fly back.

Palm spin - A vault jump with a 360° rotation through one or two hands and landing on the point from which the element began. Usually performed with two hands. In this case, the hands are placed at your side, crossing, and as a rule, one hand is placed before the jump, the second after. With this embodiment, most of the support falls on one hand, while the other hand performs the twist. When performing an element through one hand, the rotation is set by the swing of the second hand and/or body. An option is possible when the support is on one hand, the twist is set by the second, which is removed immediately after the twist is completed.

Palm spin (pop) - Palm spin on high obstacles, performed after a run-up and a kick off the wall (wallpop).

Palm spin (reverse) - Palm spin performed towards the back (relative to the hand placed on the obstacle). First, one hand is placed on the edge, and a jump is made while rotating around this hand. Usually after this there is a twist with the second hand away from the obstacle.

Rail flip - The name says it all: a flip over your head on a railing, supported by two hands.

Underbar - Overcoming a railing or any opening by flying under it, carrying first your legs and then your whole body. Can be performed from a running start, from a standstill, or after a wallpop or tic-tac (as in “13th District”).

Underbar (360) - Flying under a railing or into any hole, holding the top edge with your hands, first carrying your head, then your legs and turning your body 360° in flight. May be performed after tic-tac or wallpop.

Drop in - After taking a vertical handstand on a parapet or railing, the tracer begins to fall forward, assumes a tuck and thanks to this gets to his feet.

Roll - Roll is one of the most important elements in parkour. This is a roll primarily over the shoulder to reduce the load on the legs when landing. Used by tracers all over the world after landing from a great height, or to maintain movement speed.

Cat leap - Jump onto a wall with your hands grasping its edge with the feet of your bent legs resting in front of you on the wall. Used when jumping onto higher walls, or when jumping over a distance slightly greater than what the tracer can jump over. Cat Leap also refers to the position of hanging on your hands on the wall, with the feet of your bent legs resting on it.

Cat to cat - A jump with a 180 degree turn from a cat leap to a cat leap, between two walls or obstacles that can be reached in a cat leap.

Corner - Jump from cat leap to cat leap at a corner with a 270° turn.

Dismount - Jump or dismount from a cat leap position with a 180° or 540° turn.

360° wall hop - Jump with a 360° rotation and then enter a cat leap.

360° wall hop (pop) - Push your foot away from the wall, followed by a 360° turn and entering the cat leap position.

Wallpop - A running push from a wall performed to gain additional height. A two-push option is possible if there are protrusions on the wall.

Tic-tac (one-two) - A push from one obstacle to overcome another or gain height. For example, a push from a wall to fly over a railing or a push from a tree to increase flight range and/or change trajectory. The push usually comes from the surface, located on the side of the tracer.

Double tic-tac - Pushing first from one obstacle, then from another, to overcome a third.

Wallrun - Run along a vertical wall. It can be done both with the aim of covering a certain distance, and with the aim of gaining height. It is also possible to run through a corner or through two corners.

Wallrun (360°) - Differs from Wallrun in that it simultaneously rotates 360° along the longitudinal axis. In this case, most often only 2 steps are taken.

Hand balance - Balancing on an edge or railing in some kind of handstand.

Cat pass - Passing an obstacle on your hands.

Double tap - Pop vault option. It is performed with an additional push or jerk with the hands on the upper edge of the wall in order to reach and grab the railing that is on the wall.

Olle flip - Roll over an obstacle without touching it with your hands or feet.

Five Point Slide - Slide along the railing at the fifth point.

Acrobatic tricks:

(Frontflip) - A forward somersault where the twist is done by swinging your arms from behind your head. Performed from a place or running (push with two legs).

(Front flip down) - A forward somersault, when first a jump is made with a jerk of the arms up, then a twist is set by swinging the arms from top to bottom. Used primarily when performing somersaults over an obstacle, such as a railing or bush. It is usually performed with a running start.

(Front flip back) - A forward somersault in which the swing occurs with the arms behind the back. The legs are in a tuck, the hands are not grasped. Gives a very high twist rate, which makes it easier to land on straight legs when performing a somersault on a plane. Performed with a running start.

(Frontflip curve) - Forward somersault with straight legs. The tighter the legs are pressed to the chest, the higher the speed of the twist. It is usually performed with a hand grip on the hips, but other options are also possible (for example, with your arms spread wide, if the stretch allows you to keep your legs close to your chest, or with your legs spread slightly to the sides). It is usually done from a height, from a place or a run (push with two legs).

(Frontflip blansh) - Forward somersault, without tuck with a straight body. performed from a height, with a running start (push with two legs).

(Frontflip curve 180°) - A forward somersault while bending over, with a 180° twist during the extension. Usually done from a height, with a running start (push with both legs).

(Frontflip wave) - A forward somersault, when the twist is done by swinging the leg and/or arms behind oneself, followed by a tuck. Performed with a running start (push with one leg).

(Frontflip wave blansh) - A forward somersault when the spin comes with a swing of the leg. Performed without taking a tuck, with a running start (push with one leg).

(Frontflip wave sag) - A forward somersault with a body bend. Performed with a running start (push with one leg).

(Superman) (gymnasts call it a “long forward somersault”) - A forward somersault, after the jump the body is extended parallel to the ground, the tuck comes to the end. It is usually performed from a height, with a running start, and can be used to overcome obstacles.

(Superman curve) - Superman in a bended tuck. Performed in the same way as a regular superman.

(Backflip) - Backflip in a tuck. When jumping from a height, your back may lean back.

(Backflip curve) - A backflip performed in a tucked position. Performed from a height.

(Backflip sag) - Backflip, without tuck, with a back arch. Performed from a height.

(Backflip blansh) - Backflip without tuck, with a straight body. The twist is set by waving your hands. Performed from a height.

(Backflip wave) - A backflip in which the twist is set by the swing of the leg.

(Backflip screw) - Backflip with rotation around the longitudinal axis, in a tuck. The screw can vary widely.

(Backflip blansh screw) - Backflip with rotation around the longitudinal axis, body straight. The screw is either 180° or 360°. Few parkourists do more.

(Angel drop) - A bending back somersault performed from the Cat leap position.

(Overbah) - When jumping forward, a backflip is performed. It is done in a group, from a place or a run. From high.

(Overbah sag) - Overbah performed without tuck, with a back arch. From a place and from a height.

(Overbah reverse) - Forward somersault when jumping back. Done from above.

(Lemming) - Overbach, in which the twist is done with a swing of the leg. Performed with a running start. Typically from a height, but can also be performed on a plane

Corks-cru - Overbach with propeller. With or without a group.

Strekosat - A backflip with a running start, in a plane perpendicular to the run line.

(Flywheel) - Sideways rotation, through the head, body in a vertical plane. Performed with a running start.

(Arabflip) - Sideways rotation, in a vertical plane, in a tuck.

(Arabflip throw over) - Arabic flip, in which the back is horizontal and the legs are thrown over themselves. Performed in a tuck or bent position. In parkour, both jumping from a height and overcoming obstacles can be used.

(Mysty) - Arabian somersault, after which the tracer becomes facing the opposite direction of movement. Achieved by pressing the head to the shoulder. In gymnastics it is considered a gross mistake.

(Dacascos) - Sideways rotation (as in an Arabian somersault) in a plane perpendicular to the take-off plane.

Internal lateral - A jump from a height with a sideways rotation, in a plane perpendicular to the edge of the obstacle from which the jump is made, in the direction opposite to the direction of the run (with the head towards the edge).

(Segun Fai) - Randat without arms. Can be done with a screw. Done with a running start.

(Bedouinflip; butterfly) - Rotation in a horizontal plane, the body parallel to the ground. The legs usually go one after the other, swinging above the head. Options: rotation can take place not in a horizontal plane, but at an angle - this is a variant from capuyero. Also, the legs may not move out of the plane of rotation. Often performed in tau-lu programs in wushu.

(B-twist) (jan-tui in wu-shu) - Rotation of an elongated body around a longitudinal axis in a horizontal plane. The approach is like a Bedouin approach, only instead of swinging your legs there is a rotation.

(Screw) - A running jump is made forward, the body is extended parallel to the ground, and rotation occurs around the longitudinal axis. Belle did it (after that he entered the Cat leap right away).

(Wallflip) - Backflip with a wall kick. Alternatively: after 2, 3 or 4 steps along the wall.

(Wallflip screw) - wallflip with rotation around the longitudinal axis, 180° or 360°.

(Arabian wallflip) - Arabian somersault, after one, two or three steps up the wall.

(Trinity flip) - Bedouin somersault off the wall.

(Wallscrew) - Front screw after pushing off with both feet from the wall.

(Wallflip front) - A forward somersault after pushing off a wall or after taking two steps up a wall.

(Tic-tac frontflip) - After kicking off the wall from the side (tic-tac), a front flip is performed. Done with a running start.

(Frontflip Handpop) - When running towards a wall at an angle, perform a normal forward somersault, with a hand push from the wall, which changes the trajectory and gives additional height.

(Wallpalm) - A trick in which the tracer runs up to a wall, jumps out, places two hands on the wall, and rotates through them in a plane parallel to the wall. As a rule, one hand sets the twist, the other provides support (although there is little support there).

(Wallpalm pop) - Side flip after one or two steps along the wall, in a plane parallel to the wall.

(Wallpalm reverse) - From a running start, place your hand on the wall, throw your straight legs to the side with rotation through your hand (in a plane parallel to the wall), then twist with the second hand. A rare trick.

(Ozi flip) - Forward somersault with a grab for a pole or tree

Some people think that parkour is a way to move in space. Some people think that this is a way of perceiving reality. “There are no barriers,” they repeat after the founding father, “There are only obstacles that must be overcome.”

In fact, the tracer only overcomes himself. Your own fear, weakness, lack of training, norms instilled in childhood, including the norms of the culture of movement and socialization. Overcomes the civilization-instilled habit of subordination, traffic rules and falsely understood moral standards. Overcomes the initially instilled in a “civilized” person’s discord towards the world around him and “non-conflict” towards society.

When they say that man has “subjugated the environment by creating a world convenient for himself,” many do not think that this same “convenient world” of cities with its streets that one must walk on, fences that one must not jump over, and trees that one must not climb climbing, with its limitation of movement speed, also subjugated a person.

By accepting the conventions of modern urban civilization, we renounce nature. Is it necessary to do this?

That is why the “white man” has always lost in a fair fight for life in the forest to every single animal and human predator - Indians, Hindus, peoples of the north, black hunters, eastern martial artists... that is people who have not lost touch with nature, capable of constantly being aware of his body, his movement and body position in space - even during rapid movement. Such awareness and the ability to go anywhere and survive in any situation was originally inherent in good hunters and warriors, which our civilization, alas, no longer needs. But this is by no means a reason to sit in a comfortable armchair and gain weight.

Parkour for beginners

So, the first thing a tracer who has decided that he wants to learn parkour should start with is his motivation. Parkour assumes the psychology of a hunter who, while pursuing prey, does not stop in front of obstacles and does not give up on the goal. Even if this goal is not to catch up with a deer, but to pass through the city in a straight line. The thoughts “impossible, impossible, I can’t, they won’t understand me” must leave the consciousness. You can't learn parkour at home. And show-offs also have no place in a tracer’s head.

A tracer is a person free from everything, including the need to capture the imagination of others or conform to their views on how he should (or should not) behave. This is not a cynical self-contradiction, it is a calm decision to live the way you like and not interfere with others living their lives the way they like. The best tracers rarely attract attention.

A good hunter will not constantly walk around the city and tell everyone how cool he is. A real hunter hunts, a real tracer walks through the city, and so quickly and skillfully that the townspeople can hardly see him for more than a few seconds.

The tracer does not perceive an obstacle as an obstacle; this is precisely its psychological difference. As long as a person sees an “obstacle”, perceives it as an “obstacle”, he is not free. There is such a wonderful Soviet film, “Sorcerers”. There were wonderful instructions for passing through walls: “I see the goal, believe in myself, and don’t give a damn about the obstacle.” This is exactly how you need to learn to do parkour. The tracer also passes through space, as if it were homogeneous and unobstructed by definition. This requires willpower and mental strength.

So, everyone who wants show-off and unfading glory in the eyes of girls - alas, is not for us. It’s not parkour that makes a person cool, but cool people who come to this sport to become even cooler. We enjoy the work of muscles, speed, awareness of our unstoppability and all-terrain ability. Well, the girls, as they say, come later.

Parkour is a sport that, in addition to a specific psychological attitude, also requires considerable physical preparation. This is the case when moral strength, physical strength, reaction speed, coordination of movements and the ability to make an accurate assessment of the unit of space through which you are now moving must be united. Parkour is exclusively motor improvisation, but improvisation is based on well-developed and automatic skills of conscious movement.

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How to become a tracer

To learn how to do parkour, you obviously need lean, strong and very resilient muscles, flexible joints with powerful ligaments, because sometimes the entire weight of the body falls on one supporting hand, and the body bends or twists in a jump, without support. You need a powerful, well-developed breathing system that is capable of interval loads, and legs that are accustomed to long interval running. You need tenacity of fingers, good reaction and excellent coordination of movements.

Where to learn parkour? Now almost everywhere you can find parkour clubs or at least guys practicing it, so a beginner should look for experienced fighters in his city. As they say, either they will find their feet, or Google will help. It’s easier and safer to learn exercises in a team– experienced masters know how to do the trick and will back you up if anything happens.

You can exercise on the street, in the gym, or at least at home. Even if you decide to learn parkour on your own, it is better to learn the exercise in the gym, then learn parkour tricks in practice, on location.

Trying to immediately perform a difficult jump or flip, without having developed motor skills and flexibility, a beginner is at great risk. You can hardly expect anything from doing parkour other than dislocations, fractures and bruises if the body is not physically developed, and you yourself have a very vague idea of ​​where which leg or arm (and at what second) should fly during a jump.

What sports will help you quickly learn parkour?

Bodybuilding (more precisely, body fitness)

Of course, you will need a gym and work on weight machines. But a special training program is needed. The tracer does not need the loose, heavy and voluminous muscles of a bodybuilder. In addition, such hypertrophied muscles are also “slow”; the training process itself causes the slow fibers to grow. Classic powerlifting with its hyperdeveloped chest and muscles of the torso and arms, which allows you to press two of your weights from the chest once, is also useless.

It is quite enough if the tracer works in the gym with a barbell of his own weight, but works for endurance, for example, 5-6 sets of 15-20 repetitions. Actually everything “hard” training should be based on the principle of increasing semi-dry mass and developing endurance, the whole body is trained in one workout, and at least four different exercises must be done for one muscle group in order to force the muscle to work at different angles and loads until complete exhaustion. The training is not easy and takes about two hours.

This will allow, firstly, to obtain a dry and light body without fat, which the muscles will easily move in space, secondly, it will provide the full development of all bundles of each muscle and all the assistant muscles, thirdly, it will avoid the problem that often occurs in jocks. clumsiness and amplitude strength, when a muscle can work at full strength only in one position that is familiar to it. Semi-dry mass training gives you simply beastly endurance on the track. It is also important that a well-pumped body is less likely to be injured.

Special attention you should pay attention to exercises for the strength of the finger grip and the development of the tendons of the wrist and ankle, to exercises with your own weight - push-ups, pull-ups with different positions of the hands, to paravertebral (deep back muscles, “pillars” along the spine) and powerful abdominal work, especially obliques abdominal muscles. It is important to pump up your hamstrings, without it, parkour is not parkour, but tears.

Such training programs are usually designed for tourists, mountaineers and rock climbers.

Dancing or martial arts

These two arts (or sports) are combined here solely for their effect on our motor and analytical skills. Both martial arts and partner dances teach you to work closely with a partner, constantly adapt to an unknown quantity - his more or less unpredictable movements, coordinate your movements synchronously with him, without losing your line of movement and control over your surroundings.

Sparring or dancing also gives you endurance, patience and the ability to observe and choose the most advantageous line of movement in real time. In other words, a partner in sparring trains the tracer’s sense of contact with obstacles on the track, gives the skill of accurately assessing rapidly changing spatial conditions, the characteristics of obstacles, and the ability to instantly adapt to them by choosing the right movement.

Regular and balanced nutrition and sleep patterns are very important for parkour.. It is impossible to keep your muscles in working condition, eating chips, and even then in fits and starts, and chronically lacking sleep. It is also advisable to get rid of the habit of alcohol and smoking. As they say, nothing personal, just science: nicotine causes spasms of smooth muscles. By smoking a cigarette before going out on the track or training, a person provides himself with a persistent spasm (narrowing) of blood vessels for an hour and a half, through which the heart will heroically try to push blood during running. In other words, we get oxygen deficiency and overload of the heart muscle from scratch.

After training, muscles require an increased amount of oxygen for another hour to rest and repair damage. A cigarette immediately after training will deprive them of this chance. As for alcohol, you need to remember that it puts a strain on the liver, which will already be clearing away a mountain of waste after the race. If you don’t care about the liver, think about the fact that 100 grams of vodka per day stops the production of testosterone in the body. And where there is no testosterone, there are no muscles and courage.

And in fact, for happiness you need parkour, not surrogates.

We invite you to watch a video about how to learn parkour correctly.

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What it is

Playing parkour is very interesting, but let's find out how this youth movement appeared, so we will try to lift the veil of secrecy for you.

The word parkour is translated from English as an obstacle course, which characterizes this activity very well. But you need to understand that the obstacle course will not only be physical (barriers, roofs, walls), but also psychological, requiring deep spiritual and moral development from a person.

The art of parkour is the ability to feel and control your body, to always be calm and calculating, and also to quickly assess the situation and your abilities. In some ways, this is reminiscent of professional martial arts, where before teaching people how to use dangerous techniques, it is always agreed that they will only use them if there is a threat of causing serious harm to themselves and their loved ones.

For some reason, many people think that parkour is just jumping on roofs, benches and other obstacles. And among people, there is an opinion that doing this is very easy - you just need to go to special sites and start training, but this is a very strong misconception. Unlike football and other sports, where you just need to sign up for a section and run around the field passing the ball to each other, to start doing parkour, you need a lot of skills, and most importantly, not only physical, but also spiritual development.

Real tracers (people who practice parkour), before they start “jumping across rooftops,” must have good reactions, the ability to fully control their body, down to certain muscles, and good physical and spiritual development. Before starting to overcome even the most minor obstacles, the average tracer takes from 1 to 2 years to prepare. At this time, for the general development of your body and reaction, the following are perfect: playing tennis, long-distance running, steeplechase, rock climbing and similar sports.

In schools, professional tracers teach students meditation, self-knowledge, concentration and a number of their own exercises that help them feel their body, feel their life, their energy and their strength. Such training perfectly strengthens the will, attentiveness and helps especially hot-tempered people cope with anger.

The emergence of parkour

The history of the movement is divided into several unrelated stages occurring in different places and at different times. The ancestor of parkour is considered to be the so-called “Natural Method”, which appeared in France at the very beginning of the 20th century. The philosophy of this movement was constant physical and spiritual development, control of one’s feelings and the desire for self-knowledge. The Natural Method training program included such disciplines as long-distance running, steeplechase running, martial arts, long jump, jumping over obstacles and from great heights. But serious attention was paid to spiritual development. As they said then - “hardening the spirit and mind.”

But the history of the movement called parkour begins in 1997, when David Bell, who had previously been engaged in self-training alone, recorded and posted several videos on the Internet, showing his achievements to the whole world. After these videos spread all over the Internet, Bellem founded an entire school through which he began to promote his ideology to the masses. Over time, Davido gained many followers, not only in France, but throughout the world. David did not charge a penny for his lessons. Subsequently, one of his followers, Sebastien Foucan, began to charge money for parkour lessons, which strongly contradicted the ideology that David promoted, which is why Foucan left the group and founded his own movement - free running Free Run (freerunning).

Computer games

Parkour games for boys have become great entertainment that simultaneously combines their physical safety with an adrenaline-pumping activity.

Screenshot from Mirror's Edge, DICE, Electronic Arts, Valve Corporation.

There was only one parkour game released for the computer, called Mirror’s Edge. It was born in 2009 and won the attention of many gamers with its unusualness and gameplay. In it, you found yourself in the future and you were asked to go through a series of dangerous tasks to find and transfer packages with information, avoiding enemies trying to take them over and jumping on the roofs.

A famous series will also be Prince of Persia, which perfectly combines fights, puzzles and jumping on window sills, running along walls and climbing over protruding stones.

Flash parkour games are most often represented by ordinary runners, in which you have to overcome dangerous cliffs and climb tall buildings.

Parkour is the art of moving in space using only your own body, when surrounding objects (benches, curbs, trees, stairs) are perceived not as obstacles, but as obstacles that need to be able to get around or overcome. It is based on the desire to circumvent restrictions and disobey them.

Parkour is considered an extreme sport. It is quite dangerous, especially for those who are still learning. It often leads to fractures and serious injuries, but many parkour practitioners believe that it all comes down to the quality of preliminary preparation. In addition, some use special protection.

Preparation

Parkour requires excellent control of your own body. To move in space completely freely, you need to be in good physical shape. Rock climbing helps with this. Many athletes also engage in various martial arts, where the emphasis is also on overcoming oneself, the ability to cope with one’s own weaknesses, and challenge oneself. Acrobatics and weightlifting often run parallel to parkour.

It is also important to be able to quickly navigate in space, remember the path taken, and also look for a new one. Parkour practitioners are taught to identify key points where they can stop.

The philosophy of parkour and the opinion of its creator

Parkour has a founder - David Belle. He believes that we are talking about something more, not just about movement, but about the desire to overcome obstacles and solve the problems facing you. In his opinion, you can turn the world into a kind of training ground, learn to switch perceptions in such a way that the tasks facing you begin to be perceived in the same way as you see physical objects when doing parkour.

That is, instead of insurmountable obstacles, there is something that can be bypassed, which is quite possible to cope with. At the same time, parkour is built on rationality, which sharply distinguishes it from freerunning, where much attention is paid to entertainment and the ability to make an impression. In the latter case, it talks about the importance of learning to move beautifully, to control your body in order to impress others.

Difference from freerunning

Freerunning is more suitable for advertising. His followers, together with the founder of the movement, Sebastian Foucan, much more often than parkour athletes, took part in various filmed television shows, videos, staging stunts and other things. As a result, much more is known about freerunning, although some people confuse it with parkour. In general, this is not surprising, because athletes’ training is often fundamentally identical. Discrepancies begin at the stage of mastering additional elements. Parkour athletes rely on efficiency and endurance, while those who engage in freerunning focus on entertainment.

Development of parkour

Historically, parkour originated from a military discipline that took root in the army, was tested in two world wars, and helped many survive. Then one of the servicemen began to practice it in peacetime, becoming a firefighter. This was the father of founder David Bell, Raymond. Who received many awards for his bravery and heroic rescue of several people from fire in a critical situation.

David, who sincerely admired his father, decided to develop his abilities. Together with Sebastien Foucan, he began his first training sessions. But after some time, their paths diverged, since David perceived his art outside of commerce. Fukan did not see anything wrong with making a business out of it; he began to take money for teaching parkour.

In modern world

Parkour is gradually gaining more and more recognition. In the UK, for example, some schools began to include this art in their programs. A Parkour Academy was founded in the northern capital of Russia. Many representatives of law enforcement agencies talk about the desirability of such training for personnel, especially for operatives, because the possession of such skills allows them to more effectively pursue criminals.

To the cinema

The general public learned about parkour after the release of the film “Yamakashi: New Samurai,” which told about a new criminal group that had unique skills in moving in space. By the way, Belle refused to star in this project; he reacted quite negatively to it, saying that parkour should not cause people to associate it with theft and the world of crime. Afterwards, 2 more films were released, “District 13” and “District 13: Ultimatum,” the scripts for which were written by Luc Besson, in which Belle had already starred.

In one of the films dedicated to the adventures of James Bond, the chase scene at the very beginning includes elements of parkour. Jackie Chan began to use this same art in combination with fighting techniques in his paintings.

Game industry

"Mirror's Edge" is one of the games where the action is dedicated to parkour. It received high marks from experienced tracers. It is distinguished by amazing realism and conveys movements well. The characteristic style of player movement in space can be recognized in the famous Assassin’s Creed series.

What is parkour?

Parkour can be called a discipline or an art. Externally, it is a way of moving in space, which includes jumping, pulling up, hanging, somersaults, of course, running and much more. It also involves evasion and balance skills. It is very important to be able to group and fall correctly, which makes it possible to avoid serious injuries.

Parkour cannot be called a traditional sport. There is no competition here, the result does not matter. The process itself is important, the ability to control your own body. And this is another element that sharply distinguishes it from everything else.