Take Flight

The following information is from an interview with David Belle’s brother Jean François Belle. The details are a little hard to understand, but if you focus on the concepts then it will become very clear. We initially found this text on Parkour.net, but that site is temporarily closed so we are not able to provide a link to the original context. Jean François Belle is also mentioned in David Belle Teaches Parkour to Firemen in Paris and No Obstacles by Alec Wilkinson.

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The Parkour is:

1 – A utility sport that serves you in first place, you move, climb, jump, you don’t continue to be blocked by a wall or by an obstacle that hinders you to advance.

2 – A training method that aims to make you stronger, then, is normal that you have to train very strong.

3 – What must make you more agile, you jump, recoup, roll, co-ordinate your movement as a monkey… agility…

4 – The work force that allows you to increase gradually your physical and psychological capacities to cross step by step what limited or what hindered you to advance and to continue your Parkour… the strength. To carve with that you diminish your fears and your apprehensions to the will of progressive work in jump’s with gap’s, the more distant jump’s. Your body must become accustomed gradually but it is a long work and difficult and, diminished the fears, you learn (and you must) to know your body, its possibilities and its limits.

All of this is Parkour.

But it is also to know to suffer and to know if you made badly (not too much badly) but is also to become hardened… the warlike spirit and determined that one must learn… David it lost some time because it was the only one… nowadays he allowed many to follow much more fast and to prevent all its former errors and all being a constant search and trainings to be able itself to say that I know my body and that I develop an above average physical condition.

David for example, he’s 34 years old and he’s stronger now then when he was 20, but that’s because (Parkour) it’s his life and he lives it every day, because it is an art of living but is also physic… it’s difficult for that who doesn’t know and that doesn’t understand the effort and the physical suffering… because if Parkour is pretty, it is because it is dominated, and that is the result of very effort and suffering…

To train it is enough to find educative exercises (in which) you work regularly and gradually, your physical capacities will increase, it’s automatic, the exercise must be done to the more extreme possible. It is normal and logical, one does not have nothing without nothing.

Later, all people speaks in the acrobatics, if yes or not… for us, the gymnastics and the acrobatics it has the base of trainings in the gymnasium and are also a base of the coordination of the movement of the body. To carry through a jump demonstrates that you know to command and that you dominate your body, and, if making 4m of height, you demonstrate that you have the force, the crave and the physical power to carry through this type of exercise that a specialized gymnast couldn’t do. But one should not chain acrobatic movements on a wall or an automobile, this become only acrobatics for the show, it’s not the useful Parkour, is the “Parkour acrobatic show of.”

If one day you will be in difficulties in the roof of an apartment in flames or you are to be pursued by people how want bad things for you, you use Parkour as in the B13, if you don’t know what to do, then you make pirouets, you make as the Yamakasi on the automobiles or walls as in its film.

We spoke with (non-revealed) brand. They want that David’s Parkour becomes (non-revealed brand Parkour)… they had said that don’t want freerun from the UFF, they know that are we and that we know better than no nobody to speech (about our Parkour), to form, and pure and simply to show what we created.

Parkour is free for he who practices it… is for you, later, if to want to make of this your mark, it is only necessary to be good at it, and not to hide behind the movement that you transformed. But well, the objective is that you understand the spirit and that you (must) advance in security, without useless risks, therefore the goal is also the security. The important thing is to advance in this world with the idea of a basis of an action art that is Parkour… it’s enthusiastic to create an economic sporting movement that can allow many people to live its passion. But we guard so that the ones that live it, deserve it… it’s very simple.

We are going to federate the Parkour of DB, to form instructors with 3 levels of formation with periods of training in France and events in the foreigner so that all and each one of us speak only about one and the same Parkour.

1º period of training will be in (dates not divulged) and only the formed people will be able to form people for Parkour. The objective is to be able to have a national representative for country in contact with us, he will be the judge of what’s happening in his country and to form new practitioners.

One will not try to stop the people who make “extreme Parkour” but this will be practiced on the responsibility of the one making the extreme, such as the person who makes ski out of the ski track.

One will not try to stop that who wants to do Parkour by himself, but if some accident happen and this person doesn’t belong to our organization, it’s a matter of protecting us so that we are not responsible for all the accidents on hearth, and, if that person it’s affiliated, during an event this person will have complete insurance, but if out of the event is on its responsibility.

The goal is to transmit and transmit well.

-Jean François Belle

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Here is an interview that took place in June 2005 between David Belle and CAK010 of PKCali. After the interview below we have also included another video from PKCali that features David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli. You may recognize some of the footage of this video from the Best of David Belle Compilation we posted a month ago, including David’s eye popping saut de chat-saut de bras from the parking structure. PKCali is also prominently highlighted in the video included in our David Belle in California post.

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Ok, so as Jpnphreak3 finishes cutting the video proof that we were with David Belle and Joss, I’d like to share with you some of the knowledge that was imparted upon me by the founder himself.

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet David and Joss the evening of July 12, 2005 and just sit down and chat with them. I also got to spend time doing Parkour with them the next day. Here are some of the things we discussed that I don’t think have surfaced to the message boards and the community and I think will help you learn a little more.

First thing first, when asked for his (David’s) words as to what is Parkour, he said this:

At the physical end, Parkour is getting over all the obstacles in your path as you would in an emergency situation. You want to move in such a way, with any movement, that will help you gain the most ground on someone/something as if escaping from someone/something or chasing toward someone/something. Also, wherever you go, you must be able to get back. If you go from A to B, you need to be able to get back from B to A. You don’t need to do the same “move,” but just get back.

He also stated that Parkour extends beyond the physical. When asked if he thinks of Parkour as playing a role in the hardships we face in daily life, translation was a little difficult so I used an example. I asked, “If someone is having difficulties in a relationship with a girlfriend/boyfriend, do you see those difficulties as obstacles like you do in Parkour?” He responded with an example of his own, “If you are in front of a wall that you cannot get passed, would you just keep banging your head into the wall?… No, you would find a new wall.” He definitely believes that Parkour goes beyond just the physical in more than one way, which leads to the next aspect of Parkour.

I’d like to draw your attention to this as possibly being the MOST important thing I learned from speaking with David, as this seems to have gotten lost in our community. Parkour is about helping people. With the training and knowledge we get from Parkour, we become useful and can help others. The range of situations in which we become useful and helpful is wide. We can help save someone stuck inside a burning building. Or help another Traceur to progress over a wall so that Traceur can then become useful. We need to share with each other what we learn, ways to train, and useful concepts.

Further, it’s about what you can do at that particular moment. If someone is stuck in a fire and you say, “Well, two years ago I could have done something that would have saved you” then you are useless. Parkour is not what you could have done for whatever excuse. If you aren’t able to help someone, what use are you?

David is a very humble person. He doesn’t see himself as being superior. While many people like to say he is god-like, he quickly shakes his head at this notion. He states that he is just a man and claims, “If I break my leg, I can do nothing and am useless.”

Also, Parkour is about progression, continually looking to improve yourself so you can do that much more. David cites an example, “If someone puts you in front of a 30m high wall, tells you to get over it, and then comes back two years later and you’re still there, you’ve made no progress. You should find another wall.” You need to always look to progress. David’s father was always on top of him to fix his movements and get better. There was, and is, always a way to improve. One of the ways to progress is to help each other. Everyone has a different view, physicality, and means of training and applying knowledge from which they can offer advice, options, and assistance. The more you progress, the more you can help.

David also pointed out that while doing Parkour, you need to be focused on what you are doing. Maintaining concentration is key. You must be ready for whatever you are going to do. When a Traceur tells another Traceur to “be careful,” they are not saying, “Don’t get hurt.” They are saying, “Keep focused. Don’t lose your concentration.” If you lose your concentration, that is when you put yourself in danger. You don’t want your mind to be elsewhere. Never do things because of other people watching or daring you to do something if you can’t be focused and dedicated to what it is you are doing. Don’t attempt anything when you mentally are distracted. When doing Parkour, you must dedicate your mind to what you are doing.

When asked about why was PAWA formed and why the world tour, the response was this. PAWA was formed to spread Parkour so as to be helpful to the rest of the world. It’s a means of exercising that part of Parkour…being helpful to others and sharing the knowledge. It is a center point and contact for the Parkour information they seek to share. The world tour allows for the true illustration that Parkour can be done anywhere in the world no matter what your environment. Be it rural, urban, rocks, buildings, trees, France, California, Madagascar, Japan, etc. it doesn’t matter. The world tour also allows David and others to get out around the world and spread the understanding of Parkour first hand. Who better than the founder himself.

When asked about competition, it came out that his view of competition is very different from the general ideas about competitions. He said that they already have competitions. However, the competitions are not ones of war, battling for who is better. The competitions are about helping. Who can help the most people and spread their knowledge. There are no medals or prizes. The competitions are when different people meet up and share their views in order to teach and learn from each other. By doing this, you become the best as you show you are useful and helpful. The more people you help, the more useful you have become as those people will then go on to help others…you win.

We spoke about a number of other topics, but nothing quite so significant for the Parkour community as the above information. If something else comes to mind that I left out, I’ll add it in. I hope this has been helpful for everyone. Thanks to David Belle and Joss for coming out. I look forward to seeing them again next month!!

-CAK010

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http://www.pkcali.com/parkour_plugins/content/content.php?content.8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vxuzg5z4K0

Today we are starting a three part series that will culminate in our 50^th David Belle post.

For our 48^th post we have embedded an interview of David Belle conducted by Mark Toorock of American Parkour. Pierre Morel, the director of District B13, is featured translating. This video is a must see for everyone with any interest in Parkour, from serious Tracers to casual web surfers. The thoughtful questions and experienced answers offer a rare view into David’s mindset, and provide an extraordinary opportunity to hear about Parkour from David himself.

Stay close to MisterParkour.com for our 49^th and 50^th David Belle posts. Tomorrow we are going to feature an even rarer video of David, and we’ll wrap up our finale of this series with David’s most moving work.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3516599005563049665&hl=en

Because of the prominent role Sébastien Foucan played in the Jump London documentary, we wanted to follow up that post with this interview he did with Urban Freeflow. In order not to interfere with the content on MisterParkour.com we have only included the introduction to this interview and a few selected excerpts from it. (The comprehensive interview is 11 pages long!) If you wish to read the complete version of this interview you can download it below or select the web link which will take you directly to its original posting on UrbanFreeflow.com.

Sébastien has done a great deal of work with Urban Freeflow including facilitating many of their visits to Lisses, France and collaborating with them on the Jump Britain documentary. Anyone who has spent any time with Sébastien or seen any of the footage of him from UFF knows how laid back he is and much fun he is to be around. He’s always joking and laughing, and a lot of this personality comes out in this interview.

Although Sébastien is, at times, difficult to understand, we did not want to take the liberty to edit the text at the risk of possibly distorting some of his answers. Reading his responses multiple times will help comprehension, however more important than understanding the specific details we recommend comprehending Sebastian’s heart and the vision he has for the discipline.

This interview between Sébastien and UFF paints a different picture of the originations of Parkour than that which David Belle expresses in his interviews at the New Yorker Festival. Nevertheless, Sébastien does shed light on some of Parkour’s history and provides a never before told explanation of David’s father’s philosophy and how his guidance influenced the development of Parkour. Sébastien also shares his personal views on Parkour parks and potential Parkour competitions.

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UFF – Hello Seb thanks for taking the time out to talk to us in depth. Let’s start off with the beginning. How old were you when you first started Parkour?

Seb – How old? Erm 15 years old.

UFF – And who was with you. Was it a big group or was it just a couple of guys?

Seb – A few of guys. You had Yahn Hnautra, David Malgogne and Frederic Hnautra. When I started to practice, the first basic Parkour, these guys begin before me.

UFF – How many people in total?

Seb – Oh, 5 or 6 of us.

UFF – Did you meet David Belle through parkour or were you friends already?

Seb – No no no. At the beginning my friend was the brother’s, the younger brother of Yahn Hnautra. It was my friend and after I met David. But my first friend was Frederic – hello Frederic. <laughs>

UFF – Why did you start doing Parkour? What was the idea behind it?

Seb – At the beginning it wasn’t like now, it was for move and practice and practice a sport. Just practice sport. And you have a kind of like child’s play, like a game.  Yes, like a game, and I started to practice this kind of game with them. It was just like a small parkour like game. (Jumps about). The first time it was very, very basic.

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UF – Does it take a long time to build to that level?

Seb – Yes. Big level yes, because it’s like everything, the horse. Dance horse. It’s an image, picture. That horse follow everybody. But for me always, when you think you are always alone. It’s a good way you are alone. It’s a bad way when a lot of people. It’s always for everything. Everything was invented when somebody was alone. It’s one of, it’s a key. It is a way.

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UFF – At the time, when you started parkour, what was the aim or vision of the whole PK thing? Where did you aim to take it, what was the general idea?

Seb – I have no idea? <laughs> For me when I started I don’t have an idea, I don’t have a personality, I don’t know where is my way. I am like every kid and after I speak with David and we speak about our dream.  Our dream like if you can fly if you can dream like a kid you imagine if you can to touch the wall and you know blah blah blah (waves about laughing). And David speak to me about his father you know, his father was a good athlete and he told me that you can do anything you want to do. I asked him if I can to meet him. After I met his father and he explained to us the discipline and how you… it was very interesting because his father, when he speak, he speak like you don’t have limits you know like, it’s very important for me this kind of vision because he opened for all of us our vision because we were in our dreams, ‘yes you can do boooom, you know like dragon ball Z you can do rrrr’ it’s a dream for kids. But he try to explain to us you can do what you want if you train seriously if you have a good discipline if you have time if you have moderation if you have determination if you have something blah blah and you need to train train train train. and for me it’s one of the one of the piece of my personality now, one of the pieces of the jigsaw. It’s not what I explain to you yesterday it’s not just one person, da da da, this is one of my pieces of my guide.

UFF – Everybody reads about the start of Parkour and it’s always David Belle and Sebastien Foucan. What is the true story?

……..

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For a complete transcription of this interview please select one of the following links:

Sébastien Foucan Interview with Urban Freeflow.

http://www.urbanfreeflow.com/the_core_level/pages/archives/foucan_interview.htm

With our extensive collection of Parkour videos on MisterParkour.com we have decided to start increasing our text based content as well. We have already posted various news articles, training papers, and video with transcribed text, but we are going to improve our text content by consciously making an effort to do more of the this. One of our first steps towards our goal is this post which transcribes an interview with David Belle. This interview was conducted when David was in Portugal for an article written by Lina Manso for Mundo Universitário in February 26, 2007 (to see videos of David in Portugal please click here.) In the interview David spoke about the “main objective of Parkour” and how he learns best. He also commented on the lacking prevalence of female Tracers. We would like to thank Parkour.net for providing the English translation of this interview, and if you would like to view this article in its original context in Portuguese you can follow the link at the end of this post.

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Lina: What influence did you’re father and grandfather (both connected to the fire department and the military forces -where you also were)in the invention of Parkour?

DB: I began getting interested in what they were doing, until the point I asked myself: what is there beyond this? I turned what I learned into a kind of game, with a lot of silence, flexibility and agility.

Lina: That takes us to the second question. Is this a sport, a lifestyle, a hobby or a philosophy?

DB: It’s an art of life. It is as much urban as it is contemporary. (this part I think something got lost in translation from French to Portuguese by the journalist..)

Lina: Care to expand?

DB: Before anything else, is to learn how to be careful. And never underestimate physical training. And it takes harmony between the practitioner and the space where he practices.

Lina: And who can practice it?

DB: Everyone!

Lina: I don’t think I could jump off a 3 meter high wall…

DB: That comes with training! If you had a Lion chasing you, would you stand still?

Lina: I read some place that it can help you strengthen your self confidence and overcome you’re fears.

DB: The main objective is to know yourself and learn how to overcome your limits.

Lina: How do you see the way Madonna has been promoting the art (seen in the video “Jump”, from her last album, or in the choreographies of the “Confessions Tour” shows.

DB: I simply think she uses Parkour to sell her music not her music to promote Parkour.

Lina: The first time I heard about parkour was in the movie “Yamakasi”. Do you have anything to do with that group?

DB: Yes, they’re cousins of mine I initiated in the art.

Lina: So what have you done to promote the art (since you’ve been doing it professionally since you were 18)? (Again I think the translation during the interview was not that good…)

DB: I’ve been, for example, in the film Banlieu 13 from director Luc Besson. I am now shooting another movie in Prague (Czech Republic), and I think there may be another movie coming soon in Hollywood. Besides that I’ve been in several commercials for numerous brands like TMN (here in Portugal), Nissan and Nike.

We have some exciting new addition planned for MisterParkour.com, including a few new site features and three extensive posting series. One of these series has been in development for some time now and we plan for it to last almost two weeks by itself! Although these addition range in size, they will all further increase the extensive gallery of information on MisterParkour.com and augment the accessibility of our content. We anticipate that these addition will undoubtedly make MisterParkour.com one of the most comprehensive and concise catalogs of the most relevant and influential Parkour information on the web. But before we launch into these endeavors we have a few more posts we’d like to make including this one.

You may recognize the background music used in the beginning and at the end of the feature as that used in the David Belle in Madagascar video. You may also recognize the venue of the Parkour event/workshop because this is the same Parkour event covered by Focus TV in a German news feature we posted more than a month ago. In comparison the Focus TV news feature was much better because it included a lot more Parkour footage in general including more footage of David. Focus TV’s interview with David was more insightful as well. To view that news report please click here. Although we have not been able to translate this entire broadcast, we have obtained a translation of David’s interview, courtesy of Parkour.net, which we have transcribed below.

Here is a fun video of David Belle called Ba Parkour. This video is also featured at the end of the interview Parkour de David Belle.

If you have seen David’s videos before then you will recognize a majority of the clips included in this one. As we have continued to add videos of David to this site we have, like many of our loyal visitors, become increasingly aware of the repetitiveness of many of these clips. Certain footage of David, especially that which was originally included in his Speed Air Man and Et Vous? videos are, in fact, used over, and over, and over again, in video after video. But we also realized something else. Even though these moves are incredibly redundant, they never get old or cease to be entertaining. Even if you have seen this video before and/or many of the clips contained within, we know you will still enjoy it immensely. That is the testament to David’s abilities and just one of the things that makes him so incredible.

http://www.dailymotion.com/airmout/video/x4diap_ba-parkour_extreme

Here is the official and original copy of the interview with David Belle which we posted a couple weeks ago. This video is exactly the same as our previous post except it does not have the Portuguese subtitles or the English translation which we included before. To see that original post with these alternative language options please click here.

In addition to posting this exclusive interview, we have also decided to include the caption below which is currently featured in the video’s original context on DailyMotion.com. We have posted this text in French and in a roughly translated English version, which may actually make you laugh once or twice because our translation is poor. If anyone can provide us with a quality translation it would be much appreciated.

This entire length of Parkour de David Belle is 4:08, but the interview ceases at 2:54. At that point the video transitions into a unique edit of David doing Parkour. This short video includes many classic clips of David in and around Lisses, but it also includes a few clips that you won’t see anywhere else. This video is called Ba Parkour and you can view it without the preceding interview by clicking here.

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J’ai découvert David Belle a travers B13, et j’ai eu la chance de le rencontrer et travailler avec lui dans Babylon A.D. J’ai découvert un homme qui a elevé son art à un niveau international malgré lui. Cette situation le dépasse et le motive. Le Parkour est pour moi l’enfant naturel du Break dance, et cache une véritable pensée et un mode de vie proche des arts martiaux. David est discret et réservé, il n’aime pas avoir à s’expliquer sur ce qu’il fait et ce qu’il recherche, c’est un travail intérieur qu’il s’impose au quotidien, tout comme son père lui a appris. Des jeunes du monde entier découvrent ce nouveau moyen d’expression urbain et découvrent leur propre capacités et limites. On a tous voulu voler, bondir, et redevenir animal. David l’a fait. Je pense que dans quelques années, on se souviendra de lui comme on se souvient aujourd’hui encore des fondateurs d’art martiaux tel que le Karaté et le Judo.. Après l’ITW, je vous invite pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas encore à apprécier en image ce qu’est le Parkour de David Belle. Retenez votre souffle.

I discovered David Belle from B13, and I had the luck to meet him and work with him in Babylon A.D. I discovered a man that has elevated his art to an international level despite him.  This position surpasses him and motivates him. For me Parkour is the natural child of the station wagon dance, and harbors a mentality and a method that closely mirrors the martial arts.  David is discreet and reserved, he does not like to explain what he does to the newspapers and what, for him, is an internal work, just as he learned from his father.  Youth all over the world are discovering this new means of urban expression and discovering their own capacities and limits.  Everyone wants to fly, jump, and move like the animals. David did it. I think that in a few years one will remember David as one now remembers the founders of martial arts such as Karate and Judo.  After the ITW, I hope that you appreciate the picture which is the Parkour of David Belle. Hold your breath.

-M. Kassovitz

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http://www.dailymotion.com/airmout/video/x4djgt_parkour-de-david-belle_extreme

For the last video in our five part What is Parkour? series we present –as promised- this rare video of David Belle. This clip features a conversation between a Tracer and David during which David discusses what Parkour is and what it means to him. David also addresses flips, Freestyle Parkour, the relevance of beautiful movement and much more. The video is in French with Portuguese subtitles, and, courtesy of Parkour.net, we have included the English transcript below as well.

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Guy: So, David Belle.

David: Hello

Guy: You don’t talk a lot, we don’t hear a lot from you, but we do see you a lot on Daily Motion, on the Internet, about Parkour. I would like you to explain to me, in your own way, what is Parkour, what it represents for you, where does it personally come from, and what is behind it.

David: Parkour represents everything to me. It’s a utility art in which I’ve devoted my body and mind to because it comes from my father. He gave the meaning of movement to me. I mean, before all this I’d done athletics, gymnastics, and I was moving to have a good physical condition without knowing what it could be of use to me. So when he started to talk to me about Parkour and how that developed his physical capacities, I started to understand. I understand why we move, why we have arms and legs.

Guy: But what was Parkour to your father ?

David: Parkour is a method of training the physical capacities to overcome life’s obstacles, so in case you have a problem, you are able to protect yourself, your family…

Guy: So it’s “Parcours du combattant”?

David: It’s like “Parcours du combattant” but…

Guy: But more urban…?

David: …to a greater extent, more urban. And from that, came Freestyle Parkour, where you see guys doing flips and completely useless things. But I understand, it’s similar to skateboard or rollerblade at the base. Freestyle Parkour is a fanciful extension to what was created, however there’s no real useful goal to it. Parkour is firstly about the useful side, to teach people how to trust themselves, to learn to be careful. Because some people may say “Woah they are crazy,” but we are way more thoughtful than someone who might fall down the stairs because they didn’t pay attention. That’s what it is to me. It’s a utility art where we learn to be careful, and then when you get comfortable, you see people doing flips and jumps in every direction; it’s like an extension to…

Guy: So it’s a martial art?

David: Philosophically speaking…

Guy: In the philosophy…?

David: The martial part is confronting obstacles. In martial arts, you have to fight, to hurt someone to know that you are strong. But in Parkour, it’s the confrontation between you and the environment. It’s you versus yourself.

Guy: And why is the beauty of the movement not as important as the movement itself?

David: I think the beauty of the movement reflects the love you put in to the utility sport. It’s an expression. You don’t have to make sure the movement is beautiful. The more comfortable you are with the movement, the more beautiful it gets; just like when you see a monkey or a puma getting through a river you say “Woah it’s beautiful”. But when one moves through that river, he doesn’t want to look good; he wants to get through this river, being in agreement (at oneness or in synergy per se) with his own physical abilities and the surrounding environment. I think that with time – body movements begin to stand out, but you have to train on the useful part from the beginning.

Guy: So it’s about saving yourself from a bad situation…?

David: It’s more about the continuity of surpassing yourself, and not feeling suffocated by the walls around us…

Guy: To use the city instead of letting her navigating us?

David: That’s it.

Guy: Nice philosophy man. Stay strong.

David: Thank you.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qqG7b_ZCG4&NR=1

On October 7^th, 2007 David Belle attended the New Yorker Festival in New York City. A Parkour event/workshop was put on during which David performed and entertained extensive questions from the audience. Below are four videos from this event, and we have transcribed a few excerpts from David’s answers as well.

The first and second videos are short versions that include only a few clips from the event. They are succinct edits that feature some of the most important questions and answers from David. All the information in these two short videos are included in the longer versions, but we have put them here in case you do not have the time to watch the longer videos. The third video is 45 minutes long and is the “shortened, cleaned-up version of the footage shot by the New Yorker.” The last video is full length New Yorker version.

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“A lot of people in their mind think ‘If there is a problem this is what I would do, this is how I would do it.’ But the truth is they don’t really know. Parkour teaches you to be sure of what you are able to do.”

“All of the movements in Parkour come from the monkeys and the way they move.” (Alec Wilikinson speaking for David)

“I would like it to become a useful method for all risk jobs and professions, and teach the small ones to be self confident and to learn to be careful.”

“You need to know why it is you want to do it, is it for yourself? It shouldn’t be a sport that you do to impress other people. You have to be convinced that what you’re going to learn is going to make you better and give you confidence. Then after all the other freestyle stuff it’s because you feel good and you’re having fun. But never forget what is essential. You’re never going to see a firefighter who’s going to jump into a burning building to save someone and [see them] do flips and all that. In order to be essential, the more direct possible, to choose the shortest path and that’s what’s really important.”

“We are in a generation where we often tell kids ‘Don’t touch that, don’t go there, be careful,’ all these [people doing Parkour] are future fathers and they will be able to tell their kids what they can do, how they can be careful. Teach your children to be self confident and be strong.”

“For me there is one discipline that developed called Parkour. After that if some people what to turn it into a business and use other terms, use other wordings, other names, where we all do the same thing they are not different kinds of Parkour. Someone who can fight, a real fighter, can fight underground, small, big, everywhere. Parkour is the same you must adapt to everything that’s here, everything that’s around us, and adapt to everything you can do. They are not derivatives. And then acrobatics are different. You can do it here, but you can’t do it for one hour. But you can do Parkour and discover your surroundings for a long time. Whether it is Sébastien Foucan they know it. They all do the same discipline, they all practice the same discipline. Maybe by egos some will appropriate certain things. But for me it doesn’t bother me. I am happy to be here, happy to see every body. I realize that my father is gone. He didn’t leave me anything material, no house, no car no money, but he left me this art. And as long as I am alive I will try to transmit it to as many people as possible.”

“When you have an audience you want to surpass yourself. But you should be able to move as if you’re alone to remain true to what you can do. People can give you energy to move, an audience can give you energy to move. But it’s not worth taking the risk. You only have one life.”

-David Belle as translated by “Maggie”

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Three minute video featuring David performing and answering questions. Questions that David answers in this video include: “When you are walking around a city are you walking, are you jogging or are you always leaping off of buildings and over things?” and “Do you dream in Parkour?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LREyzofKpT4

Five minute video featuring David performing and answering questions. In this video David answers the question: “What is your history with Sébastien Foucan who coined the term Freerunning, and what are your views on Freerunning?”

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7178666569064663025&q=David%20Belle%20New%20York&hl=en

This is a shortened, cleaned-up version of the footage shot by the New Yorker. It is 45 minutes in length. Minutes 1-11 feature David answering questions from the audience. Minutes 11-19 feature the Parkour workshop/training session that took place and this section ends with a short performance by David. The rest of the video (minutes 20-45) is solid questions and answers from David.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8399402550292339173&q=David%20Belle%20New%20York&hl=en

Full New Yorker Version

http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/festival/2007/Parkour