Take Flight

Over the years we’ve brought to the world a slew of amazing Parkour mixtapes and demos that showcased Take Flight Traceurs from around the world. We just uploaded video #61 and it is the best we’ve ever had the privilege of being a part of.

The video titled Lisses 2012 stars Take Flight artist Zokan, who is also the artist behind the music in the video. The video shows his movement through the Lisses, France. Shot entirely from a first person perspective, the editing transitions are brilliant as the interplay between music and movement.

A lot of videos will make you want to do Parkour. This will make you want to live it, and it will put visiting Lisses, France at the top of your bucket list if it’s not already there. Enjoy.

Spring has been here for two months and summer is just a few short weeks away itself. For the majority of the Northern Hemisphere this means the sun is out, and finding ways to cool down is now a staple of daily living, commuting, and even possibly sleeping. This is awesome for you if you love Parkour because it means we are liquidating our warmer Parkour apparel and the prices simply cannot be beat!

With summer looming we are clearing our warehouse of our Parkour 91 Hoodies! We have four color combos (2 for women and 2 for men) and we are dropping the prices by 50% on all of them! Now you can get an authentic Parkour 91 Hoodie to wear on cool nights, lounge around in, or save for winter which will be here in no time. The prices for each of our Parkour 91 Hoodies is now only 19.95!

This is a limited time offer that will only be going on while supplies last. Regularly priced at $35, the Parkour 91 Hoodie is now at a discount price that simply can’t be beat. Get to the Take Flight store now and pick yours up today!

We are extremely excited to announce the online launch of our Parkour 91 Hoodie! The process was months in the making but well worth the effort. We couldn’t be happier with the result, and we think you’ll feel the same way.

Over the past few months we’ve received numerous requests from Traceurs around the world to produce a Parkour specific sweatshirt. As soon as we received the first of these request, we got to work on the new product. The result is a sweatshirt designed to point us back to the roots of Parkour and its founder.

The Parkour 91 sweatshirt brilliantly displays Parkour across the chest with the number 91 in the background. The design says “Lisses, France” below this and for a clean urban flair we also placed “91” on the left sleeve. What is the significance of “91” you ask? That is the best part! In France there are province codes for every province (95 in all). Paris, or more specifically Lisses, lies in code 91.

In order to bring the Parkour 91 Hoodie to as many Traceurs as possible we have produced them in four varieties, including two men’s variations and two versions for women. Made of 80% Cotton and 20% Polyester, these hoodies will not only stand up to the quality and comfort you have grown to expect from Take Flight, they may indeed be the most comfortable hoodie you’ve ever worn. Since they are newly featured on our site we have them at a special price of only $29.95. This is a limited time offer so get to the Take Flight store and be one of the first to get yours today!

We really have come to an unfortunate impasse here at MisterParkour.com. With the worldwide collection of David Belle videos practically used up (because they are all already on this site), we have been unable to find very many new videos to feature that compare well to the content we already have. With that said we are always looking for new “True to Parkour” videos, text, and articles of all kinds to feature so if you know of any feel free to let us know through our contact page.

Even though the new opportunities to feature David on this site are almost gone, a few remain. Here is a video that we thought, in general, was pretty good. It features Team Tracer’s during their 2006 trip to Lisses, and David even shows up for a couple frames. Although this 10 min video features an uncommon and possibly unfitting musical soundtrack, the footage, action, film quality are superb.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8075513937428283918

This video is titled La Releve and it was one of the first Parkour videos ever made. La Releve is a classic in its own right not only because of its historical significance but also because it monumentally influenced the spread of Parkour around the world. Filmed in Lisses and Evry before Parkour had spread beyond the borders of France, this video is comprised of solid Parkour and provides a rare glimpse back into the sentiment that surrounded the original Parkour community. La Releve features Sébastien Foucan, Stephane Vigroux, Johann Vigroux and is a must see for anyone interested in the history of Parkour and for any Tracer with any admiration for those that helped develop and spread the discipline.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jWs1TC5eGw

With only the top two commercials left in our Top 10 Parkour Commercial Countdown we have decided to take a short break and post some exclusive behind the scenes footage from the Nike Presto ads.

As we mentioned yesterday in the featuring of Le Chat Effravant (Scary Cat), the commercial that came in at #3 or our Top 10 Parkour Commercial Countdown, in spite of the commercial’s unsurpassed creativity and humor, the one drawback to the ad was the brevity of the finished product. With only a 30 second final commercial it was difficult, if not impossible, for any viewer to fully appreciate the true athleticism that was required of David Belle, Sébastien Foucan, Stephane Vigroux and the other Tracers involved in the production.*

Luckily we were able to locate some exclusive behind the scenes footage from the Nike Presto shoot which we have embedded below. This edit, with a wider variety of footage, wide angle shots, and movements such as those at :53, 1:00, and 1:05, reveals an incredible level of athleticism that was not developed in the shortened Le Chat Effravant (Scary Cat) commercial.

*Example: The jump performed by David at :05 in Le Effravant Chat (Scary Cat) is the same jump featured at 1:00 in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9inly-ZfcY

The #3 commercial in our countdown of the Top 10 Parkour Commercials ever made is the second of three ingeniously designed Nike Presto commercials created by the advertising giant Wieden+Kennedy.

Featuring both David Belle and Sébastien Foucan as well as a slew of other famous Tracers, this commercial titled Le Chat Effravant (Scary Cat) is the action packed result of nothing short of pure creative genius. Incredible from its high flying beginning to its laughter educing finale, one of the only drawback to the commercial is its brevity.* At 30 seconds in length this advertisement leaves the viewer wanting much more, and the short edit also undermines the incredible athleticism that was required for a majority of these shots. Nevertheless, the presence of David and Sébastien, and the utilization of some of the most famous training locations in Lisses, France overshadows any downside to the commercial and makes this production extremely enjoyable for the everyday consumer and especially entertaining for the knowledgeable Tracer.

As the most talent packed, the funniest, and one of the most historical Parkour-featuring advertisements ever made, the Nike Presto Le Chat Effravant (Scary Cat) commercial is well deserving of a high position in our countdown and comes in at the #3 spot.

*Another ‘drawback’ to this production was the inadvertent injury that Stephane Vigroux sustained during the commercial’s filming. You can hear Stephane speak first hand about this incidence in Urban Freeflow Vol. 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj8Cw9WuHMQ&hl=en

We continue the top 10 Parkour commercial countdown with the #7 commercial filmed in Lisses, France. This is one of the three Parkour-featuring Nike Presto commercials made in 2000 that are now considered Parkour’s “big break.” Created by the world renown advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, the Nike Presto ads were not only the first to feature Parkour, they also set a bar for the creativity for Parkour utilization in advertising that has still never been matched.

This commercial showcases the founder of Parkour David Belle, and features him repeatedly performing one the most famous jumping sequences in Lisses, France. Although the action in this advertisement is impressive, and the conceptual material clever and well developed, the ultimate potential of this commercial was ruined when the end left audiences saying, “Ewwww” instead of “Awesome!” Nevertheless, you have to give props to David for great action as usual and recognition to Wieden+Kennedy for unrivaled creativity. This commercial made in 2000 for the Nike Presto is called Premier Amour and it comes in at #7.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3024125420329608868

Making our countdown at #9 of the 10 best Parkour commercials ever made is this 2005 commercial for BONT featuring David Belle. We weren’t able to verify whether or not this production was ever actually used as a television advertisement. Regardless, the prominent featuring of the BONT brand makes this production as good as any commercial, and the score it received from our criteria granted it a spot in the countdown.

This commercial features David sporting a BONT t-shirt and performing Parkour in one of the most famous Parkour destinations in the world; the suburbs of Lisses, France. Great action from David himself and some unique production brings this commercial in at #9.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4dij1

Some of the original footage…

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2932922233800781573&hl=en

Here is a video made by a few Russian Tracers after their first trip to Lisses. Tracers featured in the video include David Belle, Romain Moutault, and Sébastien Goudot to name a few. The video showcases many of the famous spots in Lisses, and includes unique footage of David at the staircase and on the Dame du Lac.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6574138543707776200&hl=en