Le Parkour: Difference between revisions

[[File:parkour.jpg|frame|[[Superman|Able to leap between buildings in a single bound!]]]]

 

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]]''.

 

A realistic version of [[Roof Hopping]]—most Parkour is done at or near ground level, because that's where one encounters the most obstacles. If used well this can be a great help to a person running a [[Mobstacle Course]].

 

== Advertising ==

* One of the first things to introduce Parkour to a mainstream British audience was a stunning [[BBC]] 1 ad featuring David Belle [[Roof Hopping]] home to watch his favourite show.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDe7bXqsF04 Austrian Army TV-Ad.]

* A commercial for AT&T High Speed Internet shows a man learning Parkour via online videos.

 

* Parkour seems to be the main mode of locomotion for the stray boys Black and White in ''[[Tekkon Kinkreet]]''.

* ''[[Batman: Under the Red Hood]]'' has some of this while Batman and Nightwing are chasing Red Hood.

* In the DVD commentary for Shane Acker's ''[[9|Nine]]''—the feature film—it's stated that the movements of resident badass 7 were heavily inspired by this, as well as skateboarding and watching female athletes perform other various sports activities. It shows.

* The [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] always had a bit of Parkour in them, but TMNT, the CGI movie, has them doing full on parkour runs of the city. Even more impressive is that each turtle has his own preference and style of moving.

* In [[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame]], Quasimodo pulls off a lot of neat parkour-style moves on the rooftops of the cathedral.

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* In ''[[Colombiana]]'', Cataleya (even as a little girl!) and a random mook use this.

* In ''[[Resident Evil (film)|Resident Evil]]'' and its sequels, Alice uses this at times.

* Spoofed in ''[[Johnny English Reborn]]'' when English is chasing an assassin with these skills; English runs him down by doing mundane things like squeezing between air-conditioner units instead of running over them, using a crane instead of jumping between buildings, and taking the elevator instead of climbing down the scaffolding.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Robot S13 of ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' does this in his temporary body in Ch 25. The author's comments [[Lampshade]] S13's outfit's resemblance to the Hunter from ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' (see Videogames, above), though this was [http://twitter.com/gunnerkrigg/status/5362290445 unintentional].

* ''[[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. 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).

* ''[[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.]

* In [[The Zombie Hunters]], at least one "hunter" zombie is depicted in this way. The author described them as "urban ninjas" but without human inhibitions, like pain, tiredness, or fear of death.

 

** Zuko's used it a couple of times, notably in "The Firebending Masters" when he ran along a wall to avoid a spike pit.

** Also, in one episode during the Ba Sing Se arc, the [[Fan Nickname|Gaang]] make a straight run toward the Earth King's Palace, using [[Elemental Powers|bending]] to clear some obstacles, namely the [[Mooks|palace guards]].

* ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'' has ''finally'' added this to Spider-Man's repertoire, making his [[Roof Hopping]] and [[Wall Crawl]]ing action sequences a lot more interesting.

** Meaning Parker can now [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Parkour]]?

* Done in an episode of ''[[American Dad]]!'' where Stan and Francine start hanging out with a younger, more active couple and pretend to be young themselves to maintain the friendship. There's a pretty neat scene where they go free-running; Francine does quite well for a first timer, while Stan (despite his CIA training) messes up, gets his head caught in a banister, and ends up landing so hard on his leg that it makes his shin bone protrude through his skin. [[Squick|Ouch]].

** [[Played for Laughs]] later in the episode when Stan and Francine's attempt to make their friends slow down [[Gone Horribly Wrong|goes horribly wrong]]. After a fight, the wife throws her ring into the husband's face and free-runs away, screaming angrily.

 

== Real Life ==

[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]

[[Category:Travel Cool]]

[[Category:Walking Tropes]]