Added on Aug 22, 2012

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Remember getting in trouble for jumping over the living room couch or trying to balance yourself on the front porch railing? Now you can unleash your inner Spiderman by getting into parkour, a fitness concept perfected in France that's becoming an international phenomenon. YouTube is saturated with parkour videos�there's even footage of a parkour dog! But what is parkour? The official American Parkour website describes it as a ""physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one's path by adapting one's movements to the environment."" The origin of parkour can essentially be traced back to the beginning of humanity, but the modern philosophy was inspired by French soldier Raymond Belle, who designed the concept for military training. Raymond's ideas were further developed by David Belle into the ""running, jumping, vaulting, climbing, balancing, and quadrupedal movement"" collectively considered parkour. Freerunning is an offshoot of parkour, and is believed to be more creative than the traditional method. The critical part of how to do parkour is to start with the basics. Practice rolling to diminish damage to your body on impact. Next, practice jumping and landing. Continue practicing until you can master controlling your body. This will be critical when you start bounding off of walls and over trash cans. Once you are ready to start vaulting and are able to keep the terminology straight (know the difference between a gate vault and kong vault) you can get really adventurous with wall runs, turn vaults, and cat leaps! The many benefits of practicing parkour include improved physical fitness, enhanced balance and agility, and increased self-confidence. The goal is to challenge yourself to be the best you can be. Are you ready to accept the challenge? If you're interested in furthering your exploration of martial arts as part of your physical fitness regimen, then check out our exploration of MMA and capoeira on Stylequirk.com where you can find that and so much more. http://www.stylequirk.com http://www.stylequirk.com/health/parkour-fitness-without-limits

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