Photos courtesy of www.keil.tk

 

For Julian Del Campo, 19, Rosario is not just a place to live and work, sleep and shop. Instead, his city is a playground. Metal barriers are launching pads from which to fly high into the air. Walls act as climbing frames and balance beams. The hidden world high up on the rooftops provides a wealth of opportunities for running, jumping and testing the body’s limits.

The growing number of people across the world who practise the discipline of parkour, or ‘freerunning’, are reclaiming the streets, buildings and rooftops of cities everywhere, asserting their urban freedom. Del Campo estimates that Argentina alone is home to around 400 parkour enthusiasts, with more joining in every day.

Parkour, which is derived from the French word parcours, meaning ‘course’ (as in ‘obstacle course’), was introduced to the world by the Frenchman David Belle. For most practitioners, who are known as ‘traceurs’ after the French for ‘tracer bullets’, parkour is personified by Belle, who developed the art as a means of overcoming any obstacle directly and efficiently.

My first glimpse of parkour was in 2001, when Belle ran, jumped and rolled his way across the rooftops and my TV screen in an advert for the BBC in the UK.

“He must have used stunt wires,” the chorus went. But there were no wires, just the human body pushed to its limits. Other global brands to use Belle’s superhuman abilities in their advertising include Nissan and Nike, but his big break came when Luc Besson offered him the chance to star alongside Cyril Raffaeli in the French action movie ‘Banlieue 13’. This film has become a parkour cult classic and is a must-see for any newcomer to the sport.

This year will see parkour’s profile raised further still as it features in a number of films. These include Anthony Minghella’s ‘Breaking and Entering’; ‘Blood and Chocolate’, starring Olivier Martinez; and the next Bond film ‘Casino Royale’. Parkour has also entered the music world, with veteran French traceur Sebastien Foucan appearing on Madonna’s recent video for her hit single ‘Hung Up’.

Growing media interest in this hip new ‘extreme sport’ has lured increasing numbers of young men with physical coordination, time on their hands and access to a broadband connection. Chat forums are the traceur’s communication method of choice when it comes to meeting up with others in different towns, cities or even countries to practise parkour or, as the terminology goes, to ‘jam’.

Photos courtesy of www.keil.tk

 

The Argentine parkour scene is thriving. Del Campo explains why:

“People are getting interested in parkour because it looks and feels great. Parkour is not a sport, a philosophy or an art, it’s a way of life. After just a few weeks of training and learning the concept behind parkour you begin to understand that obstacles aren’t a hindrance; you just deal with them and move on. It’s about overcoming limitations, not only those set by others, but those you set for yourself.”

For Belle, practising parkour was not about monetary gain or glory, although both have come his way. It was instead developed out of a love for adventures and a desire for freedom. His is often seen as the most ‘pure’ parkour, full of grace and fluidity. Although Belle has training in gymnastics, these somersaults and acrobatic ‘tricks’ are seen as inhibiting the natural flow of movement.

“Gymnastics tricks are fun to do and great for training your body and teaching your brain to overcome fear,” says London traceur Chris Scott, 22, who started parkour on the same day as me, in January 2005. He adds: “Somersaults are rarely the most efficient means of hurdling obstacles, so they are not really part of parkour.”

Photos courtesy of www.keil.tk

 

Photos courtesy of www.keil.tk

 

It was my background in gymnastics that led to my own involvement in parkour. I loved the idea that physical movement was not limited to a gymnasium and that the possibilities presented by an urban environment are endless.

In women’s gymnastics, athletes are confined to four pieces of apparatus: asymmetric bars, balance beam, vaulting horse and floor. The specification for each discipline is standardised and the moves you perform must correspond to those in the official Code of Points. Competition is at the heart of modern gymnastics, with skills ranked according to general standards of difficulty. Not so with parkour, which allows individuals to choose the ‘best’ way of traversing obstacles, and the only person you are competing with is yourself.

Despite grazed knees, blisters and chipped nails I’ve been hooked on parkour since I plucked up the courage to attend my first jam, in London. I quickly learned from the assembly of scruffily-dressed youths that parkour does not have to be done at roof level and that a simple vault done cleanly and quickly is ‘better’ than a risky drop from height. Del Campo, a strong advocate of mastering the basic moves before even considering anything more risky, agrees. “It’s not really necessary to hit the rooftops; there’s plenty of parkour at ground-level.”

Photos courtesy of www.keil.tk

 

Parkour’s global appeal was brought home to me in December when the Brazilian television show ‘Fantastic’, which is watched by a terrifying 50m people, sent their presenter to London to film and interview a few of us who train in the city.

And of course the burgeoning Argentine scene offers you the chance to get out onto the streets and learn the parkour moves and philosophy. According to Del Campo, the urban centres of Rosario, Buenos Aires, Mar Del Plata and Córdoba are the hottest spots for parkour in the country. But, he says, there are traceurs in small towns everywhere.

“We’re all one community in Argentina. The most experienced ones help the new guys and I think that’s great. Our mission is to let Argentina know that we’re free from limitations – and that anyone can join us and experience that freedom too.”

Emily Rogers is the only sponsored female traceur in England. She has appeared in films and television commercials, and she has also written on the subject of parkour for several international publications.

For more information on parkour, visit www.pka.com.ar

Photos courtesy of www.keil.tk and Julian Del Campo