Sunday 23 September 2007

L'art du déplacement

I've decided that Parkour is the first thing in a while to make me wish I could do my life all over again. It's like dance and climbing and extreme sport mixed all together and may be the coolest thing I've ever seen and I'd love to feel that rush.

I remember seeing a tv commercial that had these crazy people running and jumping off buildings, but I didn't realize it was more than a one off thing.


Parkour and Free Running 

Seriously. Have you ever seen anything cooler? Human beings amaze me sometimes. I love seeing the body used in such cool ways and people pushing themselves beyond what we expect we are able to do.

And yes, I will confess, my attention was brought back around to this sport by Survivor China and this guy who in the first episode talked about this sport that he did and how it was looking at the best way to get over things; walls, rails, whatever. Effing cool.

There is some amazing footage out there, so if you've got an hour to kill, go ahead and Google Parkour or Free Running. Amazing.

11 comments:

Likalia said...

I remember watching a couple documentaries (or tv shows - can't recall exactly) about David Belle (creator) & Sébastien Foucan (he was the guy in Casino Royale that James Bond chases), and thinking it was just amazing what they could do.

I personally would be terrified I'd hurt myself doing it. Though as you say must be am amazing feeling!

Victoria said...

It is seriously amazing and they must hurt themselves ALL the time!

(in fact, I've ignored all the "injured" videos on youtube!)

Anonymous said...

People pull the craziest stunts.

When I first saw "extreme"
skateboarding, I thought it was cool,
but it has since lost its appeal.
However, the super-G still hasn't lost
its appeal. The intensity doesn't show
up on camera because they're using long
telephoto lenses. But it doesn't
require much imagination to know what
it feels like to race down a ski run at
90 km/hr with your face less than a
metre from the ground. And when they
catch air for 2-3 seconds, they're
dropping by 45 metres or 130 feet!

Yvonne said...

Freaky stuff!
Suddenly the Cirque du Soleil artists (which I love!) seem like wussies!

Delton said...

Very cool. I hadn't heard of this before, so thanks for the intro to it. I recognized quite a bit of the same types of movements from my martial arts training days, and it was neat reading the wiki article about the philosophy attached to it.

Yes, we humans can do amazing stuff once we manage to trick our brains into believing (or else just turn our brains off entirely)!

McGone said...

If you haven't already, watch Casino Royale (as likalia said) at least for the opening action scene. It's pretty amazing. Plus, being a spy you might learn a thing or two.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's so cool! You should take it up...I didn't see any girls in the video jumping all over the place! (And I'm all for equality.)

Victoria said...

YNBF, I think you'd have to be super brave to do super G. (pun not intended)

Yvonne, I know what you mean! But I bet they'd be totally into it :)

Delton, I do wonder if it's a "tricking" or "turning off" of the brain... maybe a bit of both?

McGone, I saw Casino Royale, but silly me, don't remember that scene. Good thing there's youtube to save the day! wheeeee! Also, I can not confirm nor deny what I might have learned watching that movie, or what they might have had me show them. Ha!

A martini, I've seen a few girls doing it, and it's just as cool. I don't think my body would put up with all the falls but... well... maybe! :D

Anonymous said...

Yeah, this stuff is amazing!

I would think that this may be standard training for Canadian Spies going forward.

bon bon said...

it would probably help to have some type of monkey in your lineage.

Victoria said...

Well Slinger, I'll suggest that to the Spy Powers that Be!

Bon Bon, I think that would be an advantage for sure! : )