Take Flight

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