American Parkour | Freerunning

It is not often that I watch MTV, but I have to say that I am glad I did tonight. Right after a typically amusing episode of Nitro Circus, the Ultimate Parkour Challenge came on. As it was being introduced it dawned on me that I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. A few minutes in and a few video clips later, it was pretty clear…and what immediately came to mind was the opening chase scene from James Bond 007: Casino Royale. Take a moment and watch this, if you haven’t already seen it. Hell…watch it again if you already have. This is sick:

I knew this scene was incredible. I just didn’t know it had a name. Now it does for me: parkour. According to our good friend, Wikipedia, parkour “is a physical discipline of French origin in which participants run along a route, attempting to negotiate obstacles in the most efficient way possible, as if moving in an emergency situation, using skills such as jumping and climbing, or the more specific parkour moves. The object is to get from a Point A to a Point B using only the human body and the objects in the environment around you. The obstacles can be anything in one’s environment, but parkour is often seen practiced in urban areas because of the many suitable public structures that are accessible to most people, such as buildings and rails.”

So this show is on MTV right now pitting 8 of the world’s best Parkour athletes in a skills-based elimination competition. The first segment of the show separated the 8 athletes into two teams of four. Each team was tasked with putting together a team video highlighting their ability, creativity and teamwork. In a word – amazing. This stuff is insane.

The contestants were:
Daniel Ilabaca
Pip Andersen
Mike Turner
Daniel Arroyo
Brian Orosco
Tim “Livewire” Schieff
Ryan Doyle
King David

The second leg of the competition was a time trial through a short obstacle course. What strikes me as I watch is the extreme fluidity of motion, the complete body control and when those break down…the extreme damage that these guys endure. It is a fascinating testament to what the human body is truly capable of.

The final round was an individual, freestyle interpretation of a small course with defined launch and landing points. The athleticism and fearlessness of these guys really is incredible. I get the occasional butterfly when I make a controlled jump off my roof…yanno…maybe 10 feet. These dudes are moving at full speed and hurling themselves in front tuck and corkscrew flips across 25-30 foot gaps. Nuts.

Obviously, I’m a little late to the party on this since it’s a philosophy and way of life developed over 100 years ago by the Frenchman, Georges Hebert. There have even been a few parkour video game titles, including Mirror’s Edge by the folks at EA Digital Illusions CE. All of that aside…wow.

Seriously. Way cool.