Agtarap 7
Melissa Agtarap
Professor David Hurst
English 001
March 19, 2018
Parkour
Parkour is a sport that is not necessarily new but it is exciting and is performed by people all around the world. David Belle, who created Parkour because of his desire from childhood to figure out a way to move in an effective and easy way through the world. The purpose for Parkour is to get from one place to another quickly and efficiently as possible. Vaults, balance, discipline, and confidence are all a combination of what Parkour is.
What is Parkour? Parkour is a non competitive sport and that right there is why it is appealing to the public. It is French that means “the art of movement”. People trying it for the first time do not have to do their best automatically even though it is very dangerous. A person who practices Parkour is called a Traceur. Traceurs take the safest and the most direct path to get through their course. Parkour can just be done literally anywhere and at anytime because the space, like buildings or structures, is provided for you to use already. Parkour is achieved at any level and is for anyone.
Agtarap 1
David Belle created Parkour from his imagination because of his desire from childhood to figure out a way to move in an effective and easy way through the world. Although David is known as the creator of parkour, the origins can be traced all the way back to his father, Raymond Belle, and his time as a child in Vietnam. Raymond Belle was a fireman and served in the military in France. He needed to get from one place to another as a fireman and military
Agtarap 2
officer because it was a matter of life and death not like going on a train and going to to work. An example would be trying to get into a burning building, save as many people and get out in the fastest and most efficient way. David was born fifteen years after that in Marine Seine, France on April 29, 1973 and was told by his father about all his stories that taught him his life-saving techniques. Because of his fascination, David thought he would be able to put all of these strategies in a fun way together. He and Sebastien Foucan, his friend, started to jump with a purpose and found this movement but little did they know that they started a following and would have such an impact on many people around the world today. Parkour is considered a way of life and involuntarily changes your perspective of everything in the urban and rural environment. You see opportunities and you can’t help but perform parkour when you walk, or visit areas in the country or city. You can no longer see things as they are once you do parkour. You shout, “I can do it here!”, when an opportunity arises. An example of this can be someone that doesn’t do parkour and they see a picnic table as something to sit or eat on but a traceur would see it as an obstacle to jump over. A traceur in parkour does not do parkour to impress other people but because they love the challenges and benefits it provid...
