About
Parkour is a discipline that aids in passing obstacles. To move from one place to another using only the possibilities of the human body. Practitioners (known as traceurs) train their bodies and minds to move about their environment with efficiency. In an emergency situation where someone might try to reach a spot by running up stairs and down set walk ways - a traceur would use their skills to find a quicker alternative. Instead of using the stairs they might swiftly leap or climb to the next level. Parkour allows one to see things like walls, buildings, and fences as part of their pathway rather than something that is blocking them. Much conditioning is needed in order to beautifully execute maneuvers that could possibly be harmful to ones body. Practice of safe landing, precise motion, reaction time, balance, explosiveness, and strength are all involved in parkour training. The kind of movements used by a traceur we're not necessarily invented or belong to parkour, but they are what inspire the discipline. Things like jumping, rolling, swinging, and climbing are natural movements of the human body. A traceur perfects these motions and devotes his time to making them useful.
The word "parkour" was adapted from "parcours du combatant" which refers to obstacle courses that were used in methods taught by George Hébert. Hébert believed one should take to their physical training as a way of adapting practical abilities that could be useful to ones life and the lives of people around them. Thus he developed a form of training called "The Natural Method of Physical Culture". This method involved practice of walking, running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, equilibrism (balancing), throwing, lifting, defending and swimming. Hébert shared his teachings with various students. Most of which were rescue workers and the military.
David Belle was essentially the founder of le parkour. His father Raymond Belle was a Vietnam soldier who practiced Hébert's methods. He passed those methods on to David and always encouraged him to use his physical training to be useful. When David Belle moved to Lisses, he and his friends grew up exploring the landscape and enhancing their skills. The architecture in Lisses had its arms outstretched waiting to be embraced by parkour. The housing areas provided balconies, gaps, walls, railings, and great heights all waiting to be put to use. Belle spent around twenty years enhancing his skills until him and his friends became a wonder in their society. Eventually their fame and teachings expanded to a global level. Parkour is now practiced all over the world, but is still an elusive activity that most people (including some practitioners) fail to understand.
British Columbia is home to many traceurs who actively practice parkour. The first ever B.C. Parkour Gathering was held at Simon Fraser University on Sept 30 th , 2003. Since then about two hundred men and women have emerged and shown interest in learning the discipline. PKBC.net's aim is to rebuild the community and create a venue for like minded people to talk and arrange meetings. When parkour first became popular in North America it was seen as nothing more than a spectacle of moves or tricks that could be done using ones environment. Hence the name of the first B.C. crew was "Concrete Circus". It took some time for experienced traceurs from around the world to reach out and explain the philosophies of true parkour.
There are now a good number of knowledgeable practitioners in B.C. that understand proper conditioning and theory behind parkour. If one is interested in learning the discipline they can simply sign up on our forum and arrange to meet traceurs who are willing to demonstrate training methods. There are classes available in West Vancouver for those who feel more comfortable learning parkour by conventional methods and enjoy the motivation brought on by a teacher - student relationship. There are also many gymnastic clubs that have drop in nights. Various traceurs will attend these nights to practice basic techniques in a padded environment.
Parkour is about finding your path and we urge you to take your time and do not rush yourself to reach a certain level. The media often takes this discipline as something that is too dangerous to be practiced by everyone. This could not be further from the truth. Parkour is only as dangerous as you want it to be. In the end it will be your own patience, will, and fears that decide how damaging or how beneficial parkour can be for you. It is simply a natural way of developing the body, and like anything else it has unlimited levels of skill and understanding.
Welcome to parkour in B.C.