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Le Parkour: Difference between revisions
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Parkour (and its similar offshoot free-running) is a physical discipline originating in [[France]], more specifically, a suburb of Paris called Évry (although it's worth noting that the inventor's father/teacher was born in [[The French Colonial Empire|a French-controlled Vietnam]]). It can be summed up as "[[X Meets Y|acrobatics meets assault courses]]" -- whereas free-running is a far more demonstrative discipline best described as a form of skateboarding which is practiced ''[[Rule of Cool|without a board]]''.
Parkour is based on general principles of survival: Should one ever need to get from Point A to Point B as fast as possible, the shortest distance is always a straight line. The goal, therefore, is to get past, over, under, or through various obstacles without wasting any time. And it just happened that Évry's central agora is an incredible mishmash of stairs, decks, catwalks and roofs at different heights -- and thus, the best way to go in a straight line from A to B in Évry was jumping and running through obstacles.
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* Technically speaking, [[Spider-Man]] takes it [[Up to Eleven]]. Because when you can jump four stories, swing on webs, and stick to walls, the fastest route from A to B can change significantly. Doesn't change that parkour is essentially one of Spidey's powers.
** So would that be [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Le Peter Parkour]]?
** There is a famous Spidey story where he is forced to track a villain to Suburbia and basically relies on free-running to get around because web-slinging doesn't work well on one-story houses.
** The Spidey villain Screwball has no powers, but her skill in Parkour.
* Spidey's pal [[Daredevil]] tends to do this kind of thing more, though.
* Being [[Badass Normal|Badass Normals]], [[Batman]] and Co. essentially use parkour (with the aid of jump lines) when they're flying around rooftops.
** And now Batman has selected Bilal Asselah, a French free-runner, to take up the mantle of "Nightrunner" as part of the Batman Incorporated program.
* [[Captain America (comics)]] villain Batroc does this, combined with the French martial art Savate, as his shtick (he's called Batroc the Leaper for a reason). This is played up in the one-shot issue "Captain America and Batroc", where he comes to identify as a traceur after befriending a group of young practitioners.
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* The 2010 movie ''[[Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time|Prince of Persia the Sands of Time]]'' has Dastan doing Parkour, of course.
* Featured in ''[[The Tournament]]'' focusing on a group of assassins, competing in an underground fighting tournament put together by [[The Omniscient Council of Vagueness]]. One of the characters, "The Frenchman" used Parkour to good effect.
* Seen in ''[[Exit Through the Gift Shop]]'', when an apparent graffiti artist in France escapes from two policemen by quickly scampering to the roof of a building.
* In ''[[Transformers: Dark of the Moon]]'', Sam Witwicky does some Parkour moves as he's running through a debris-and-wreck-laden street near the climax of the movie.
* During ''[[Tron: Legacy]]'', Sam briefly does a few vaults over police cars near the start of the film. Attention isn't called to it, and it could easily be missed by someone who doesn't know what to look for. Parkour featured much more heavily in ''[[Tron Evolution]]'', and may appear in ''Tron Uprising''.
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* An episode of ABC's ''[[The Forgotten]]'' focuses on this.
* An episode of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' opens with police chasing an unnamed fellow who navigates the alleyways using this technique. One of the cops pursuing him discovers Parkour isn't as easy as the suspect on the run makes it look.
* In an episode of ''[[Covert Affairs]]'', Ben Mercer and Jai engage in a short chase through a shipyard that has them both employing some parkour type moves including Ben doing recognizable vaults.
* ''[[Ninja Warrior]]'': [[Promoted Fanboy]] Levi Meeuwenberg is a professional free-runner, whose skills have made him one of the most successful non-Japanese participants in the history of the program.
* ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' uses elements of this in Bran Stark's climbing {{spoiler|in the pilot epiosde, anyway}}.
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* ''[[N]]'' is nothing but this, since you play as a [[Ninja]] whose only power is wall-jumping.
* [[In the Hood|The Hunter]] from ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' not only moves in this style and can even be made to do Parkour moves by the more skilled Versus player, but was given the duct tape on its arms and legs not just because [[Rule of Cool|it looked cool]], but also because it was apparently [http://accelagirl.deviantart.com/art/Left-4-Dead-Hunter-Part-2-107838271 based on Parkour style.] (It's to eliminate the air pockets that would naturally occur in the jacket, making the person more aerodynamic, and prevents the jacket from getting caught on things.)
** All of the Common Infected seem to have somehow gained the ability to climb walls and fences that would be difficult for even
* This is the main mode of travel for ''[[Sly Cooper]]''.
* Some of the swinging/roof-jumping sequences in the 3D ''[[Bionic Commando]]'' sequel have this feel.
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* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' features a martial art called "Parkata Urbatsu", which is described as a descendant of Parkour, free-running, and "Youtubing". It appears in "Mallcop Command". However, since it's on a space station, you have to take into account the fact that the station is rotating whenever you jump. Inevitably, to catch their targets {{spoiler|(who turn out to be pro Parkata Urbatsu enthusiasts illegally filming their stunts)}}, the mercenaries have to master it via a crash course by Commander Shodan. With emphasis on the ''crash'' part.<br />Schlock got really good at it, and now he sometimes uses it just for general moving around. Shodan actually asked one of the Mallcop Command perps to help him "un-teach Schlock Parkata Urbatsu" (she declares Schlock an artist and refuses).
* [http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3510 This strip] of ''[[Sinfest]]''.
* ''[[Last Res0rt]]'': "[http://www.lastres0rt.com/2010/06/if-real-zombies-ever-learn-parkour-were-doomed/ If real zombies ever learn Parkour, we're doomed.]"
** Technically that's a vampire, not a zombie.
* In ''[[Rusty and Co.|Rusty and Co]]'', Gelatinous Cube knows Parkour. [http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-5-3/ No, really.]
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