How Do We Define Parkour?

How do we define Parkour

Lee, John

Freshman Composition

Mr. Beall

18 February 2013

How do we define Parkour?

I'm always asked, "Why do you do that?" "How do you do all that?", but the most frequently question is "How you not scarred when you do this crazy stuff?" But see have you ever found yourself daydreaming hard about getting out of a busy hallway or a busy street? There has to be another or faster way around all this. Try and imagine yourself in what I call a "military obstacle course" in which you take full advantage of the physical talent of your athleticism, free minded using the surroundings for the most creative type of travel you'll ever experience. In these upcoming paragraphs I will be explaining the history and its ups and downs to the sport.

In the year of 1902, "a French soldier Georges Herbert was stationed in Saint Pierre, Martinique when all of a sudden volcano explodes."(American Parkour)From all the chaos that was going on Georges Herbert had an eye-opener, which led to his motto that still holds the truth for the performance of Parkour, "etre fort pour etre utile" which means: "be strong to be useful." Being struck with enlightenment of the native tribes and the way they moved he created the saying that is still used today called "methode naturelle" which involved learning all indispensable athletics. Decades later, another soldier Raymond Belle, positioned in Vietnam has a son named David Belle and teaches him about "methode naturelle". This new movement of life made a great impact in his life to such a degree that he continues to practice this new style of movement and ends up bringing it to the Parisian suburb of Lisses. Today, these practices have accelerated in life itself. Here are 3 subjects that I've come to realization about the mental negativity that keep a mental block from performing these crucial movements." (American Parkour)

First, "Knowledge is empowering. With knowledge comes confidence." The back tuck also called the back flip, is usually the trick people would fear most as a beginner. When trying my first flip I would try and visualize doing it just for a second rather than focusing on it. Too much thinking can abuse the mind by playing awful tricks on you. I've always acted upon my actions first then thinking about it because I have been doing this for so long, which is wrong in reality as people say. Worrying is no longer an option especially dealing with big stunts. You just have to go for it. There's a first for everything in your life, why not take a chance.

Second, learn from your mistakes, even if it's a trick either you would never dream of doing or the fear takes over your mental state of mind. Failure is the most important lesson to learn from because we can use it to achieve greatness.