 | | Parkour |
The first open Parkour meet-up will be taking place in Jersey on Saturday 16 December 2006 from 12:00 at Hue Court in St Helier. What is Parkour?Le Parkour and Free Running are the same thing, Free Running was a term used to describe the motions of the sport in Jump London (a TV programme about the sport), with the ideas of free movement inspiring the name. Parkour was developed in France and originally comes from the word ‘parcour’, loosely translated as ‘obstacle course’. Obstacle course seems to be a fairly accurate definition of the sport, the people who take part treat city landscapes as one big playground, using the architecture in a way that is as stylish and graceful as possible.  | | Parkour (c)screwgravity.com |
Rails, walls and roof gaps are used in a series of vaults, climbs, leaps and improvised movements. However this isn't a sport to be taken lightly and certainly isn't something that you can do without any practice, don expect to jump from the steam clock on to a moving bus without killing yourself, the sport requires immense discipline and practice. Parkour has been influenced and developed from Buildering (the use of buildings as rock climbing opportunities) and gymnastics (among others). Techniques perfected in these sports have been combined to create a hybrid ‘extreme’ sport, with displays of the discipline found in the gymnasium coupled with hazards of performing on concrete surfaces. There are a wide variety of motions found in the sport and this means that different traceurs (people involved in the sport) style themselves according to what comes most naturally and appeals to that person’s taste. We have spoken to Jersey’s law officers and can't find anything that legislates against Parkour, however it is recommend by experts that you practice in a safe environment like a gym. | 
Watch the