Taking Life as an Obstacle Course

It is not a sport or a spiritual practice; not a pastime for bored urban youth, nor a form of military training – though many people think it’s all of these. We are talking about parkour – an activity that’s become a way of life for many people. The concept is encapsulated in the name, which derives from the French word for “obstacle course”, parcours. Until the middle of the last century it was simply an element of French military and firefighter training, but now parkour is a worldwide movement.

For traceurs (as devotees are called), parkour is a way of life and a philosophy. It is a practical, satisfyingly valid response to the existential dilemmas of our age and our urban environment. Humans have always strived to expand the limits of the possible. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries this urge was epitomized by technological progress and ever growing cities that represented opportunity. Automated manufacturing, sophisticated infrastructures and access to cornucopia of goods and services made urbanization seem like the solution to human happiness.

Yet walk down the street of any metropolis and you’ll realize that it’s just the opposite. Cities are colossal machines that reduce their inhabitants to insignificant cogs; to survive, one must run an endless obstacle course. This challenge – or affront – to human nature tends to produce two responses: submission to the daily grind alleviated by voyeuristic immersion in the lives of celebrities, or flight from the cities to an imagined utopia of leafy suburbs or bucolic villages.

It took a simple genius to formulate a response that reconciled our urge for striving and freedom with the constraints of urban life. David Belle was born in 1973, into a French family of limited means. As a child, his maternal grandfather Gilbert Kitten, a retired sergeant of the sapeurs-pompiers (firefighters), told him stories about real-life heroes. His father Raymond had served as a soldier in Indochina and then as a firefighter in Paris, where his colleagues dubbed him “a force of nature”. No wonder David felt compelled to emulate their physical courage and prowess…

Young David became skilled in athletics, gymnastics, climbing and martial arts. At fifteen he quit school to devote himself to training his body and spirit, understanding that one depended on the other. Yet he was only attracted to sport per insofar that he could use those skills to save a life, or move without falling into a trap. Running, jumping, climbing all kinds of heights, balance, the ability to overcome obstacles…David was obsessed with those things. He wanted to be free of obstacles, limits and fears, to walk wherever he pleased.

Meanwhile, he moved to Lisses, a suburb of Paris, where he met the people who would become his associates for the next eight years, calling themselves the Yamakasi. During military service, David obtained a First Aid certificate but an injured wrist prevented him from joining the firefighters. Having recovered from this, he joined the Marine Infantry at Vannes, where he became the regiment’s champion rope-climber (as his father had been) and won the Essonne obstacle course.

Yet David felt that a regimented life in the army was not for him. His love of adventure and freedom were too strong, and jobs as a warehouse worker, security guard and furniture salesman left him unfulfilled. After a trip to India to get a black belt in Gong Fu, he realized that parkour was his life’s mission. With a few friends, he shot footage of his abilities, and showed one to a team from Stade 2 TV.

They were so impressed that they made a report about him, which brought parkour worldwide fame. Ever since, David and other traceurs have been filmed for music videos, adverts, presentations and cinema – yet all he cares about is pushing the limits of human ability by constant self-perfection. Since founding PAWA – the Parkour Worldwide Association – he has traveled the globe, displaying his skills, sharing his experience and looking for new obstacles to overcome.

Parkour embodies the notion of reaching any location without physical limitations or equipment. If humanity has long imagined cities where cars move vertically as well as horizontally, vertical pedestrians already exist. Fences, walls, stairs and roofs are sidewalks for a skilled traceur; whatever obstacles lie between A to B are merely sports apparatus.

The stunts they perform are better seen than heard, and even then it’s sometimes hard to believe your eyes. Hopping from rooftop to rooftop like squirrels; climbing up and down the sheer faces of buildings like Spiderman; vaulting walls and fences as easily as you climb stairs, or running into openings that look too narrow to squeeze into...

All these stunts are the results of hard training. Parkour involves an enormous effort; beside exceptional fitness, endurance of pain and capacity to avoid trauma, it requires utter concentration and self-control.