Le Parkour

A vague comment on a Making Light open thread led me into an amusing hour or so of research about the French originated phsyical art called parkour - including discovery of a local parkour group. I have to say, previously being able to be fit enough to do indoor wall climbing was inspiration to get fit. Being able to act like Spiderman? Entirely more motivating.

I understand this is mostly practiced by younger kids, but there's something natural and great about it.

The brief definition, from American Parkour:

Parkour is the art of moving through your environment using only your body and the surroundings to propel yourself. It can include running, jumping, climbing, even crawling, if that is the most suitable movement for the situation. Parkour could be grasped by imagining a race through an obstacle course, the goal is to overcome obstacles quickly and efficiently, without using extraneous movement. Apply this line of thought to an urban environment, or even a run through the woods, and you're on the right path. Because individual movements could vary so greatly by the situation, it is better to consider Parkour as defined by the intention instead of the movements themselves. If the intention is to get somewhere using the most effective movements with the least loss of momentum, then it could probably be considered Parkour.

I discover this with the same sort of delight with which I discovered urban exploration - something going on all around me, in familiar places, which I somehow had never seen before. I like that the world is dense and rich, and that I am constantly learning new things which exist. Maybe someday, once I'm a bit more fit, I'll be flying over walls too. Maybe.