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M2rock
UF KREW
(4/3/04 8:16 am)
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Pre-History of Parkour
There are tons of examples of things which Parkour draws on, and many people who came before us.
I'd like to build up examples of these without turning it into a "Jackie Chan is THE man" thread 
Please add stuff which you are reasonably certain is factual, and site any references you can to back it up.
UF - Home of Traceurs Worldwide |
Artful Dodger
(4/3/04 8:57 pm)
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Pre-History (from general forum)
I'm a bit of an amateur historian, and I've always been interested in this sort of thing - "if you don't know where you come from, it's hard to tell where you're going".
I'm just getting a handle on where Parkour itself comes from - hence my interest in Seb and David, and wondering whether they had any contact with Don Jean Habrey. He was the first person I can personally recall who combined a martial arts-type philosophy with urban gymnastics. He's a bit of a mystery man - as far as I know he's still active, and very into the spiritual side of things.
Let's say that Jackie Chan's movies were a major inspiration for modern Parkour. We know that Jackie is a big fan of the great silent film comedian/stuntmen, and he has payed tribute to some of their classic stunts in his own movies - for example, the climactic action in "Shanghai Knights", on the face of Big Ben, was inspired by a Harold Lloyd stunt sequence from the 1920s, etc.
Now, Lloyd, Keaton and Fairbanks were all products of the vaudeville tradition - Keaton, especially, was an expert knockabout acrobat who had been training since he was two years old! Their movie routines were quite often based on circus and pantomime stunts, which were inspired by the old commedia dell'Arte tradition, which goes back to Italy in the 1600s!
From another angle, the Hong Kong action movies where Jackie Chan got his foot in the door were based on Beijing ("Peking") opera - read his autobiography, "I Am Jackie Chan!", for a detailed account of his training at one of the last surviving Beijing opera schools. It's pretty brutal stuff, but it produces incredible talent. Beijing opera is based on the old Wu Xia stories about supernaturally skilled martial artists (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, etc.) which go way back into Chinese folklore and mythology.
Then we have sporadic "outbreaks" of Parkour-like activity popping up all over the place, like the Cambridge Builderers in the '50s, or the "Human Fly" craze that swept across America in the '20s. Those guys were into some very extreme stuff ...
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Artful Dodger
(4/3/04 9:00 pm)
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More pre-history
* I wonder if David Belle and Sebastian Foucan were ever influenced by Don (Jean) Habrey. Habrey is a martial artist and stuntman who was quite famous during the early-mid 1980s - as I recall, he featured in a TV commercial in which he was freerunning through a half-constructed building. In 1986 he wrote a book (in French) called Combat Vital, explaining his philosophy of "urban shamanism" through street gymnastics.
* As well as Jackie Chan movies for inspiration, it's worth watching classic silent film heroes like Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Doug Fairbanks. Whether they were doing comedies or action/adventure, these were some seriously skilled (and creative) athletes - check out their chase scenes to see where Jackie got a lot of his ideas!
* Has anyone here ever read "the Urban Adventure Handbook"? It was written in 1990, more about Buildering and Urban spelunking, etc., than Freerunning/Parkour, but there are a lot of good ideas and some sound philosophy in there, plus stories about using Buildering skills to evade security guards, etc.
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Artful Dodger
(4/3/04 9:02 pm)
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And more ...
In Japan, for example, there's the tradition of Shugendo, which basically translates as "enlightenment through accomplishment". It's like Parkour in that it is not really a religion, more a form of spirituality in which you test yourself through physical feats. Shugenja dangle headfirst off the tops of mountains and sit underneath icy waterfalls, among other things. I saw some once, halfway up Mt. Fuji, but there was a typhoon blowing in and I don't think they pressed on ... very sensible.
Similarly in Korea, there's a discipline called Charyok, also spelled Charwyk, Charuk, etc. - basically extreme gymnastics in mountain forests. I don't know if anyone still practices the art, though.
In Ireland, just off the coast of County Kerry, there's a huge rock sticking up out of the water - it's called "Skeillg Michel" or something like that. Anyway, people have been testing their courage and skill against that rock for hundreds of years - the idea was that if you could climb all the way up (there's a particular route, which is apparently the only way to do it and survive) it was like doing penance for past sins.
In the mid-'80s there was a sort of documentary called "Gizmo" - a collection of strange newreel and early TV items from the '40s, '50s and '60s. About half the items featured weird inventions and the other half were "physical feats" like lying on beds of nails, etc. There's about 1 minute of footage of an Italian-American guy doing some of the most extraordinary urban gymnastics I've ever seen - seriously, this guy was GOOD! He's shooting up walls, cat-leaping, the whole bit. He spends about 30 seconds on the walls and rooftops of his neighbourhood, and in the next shot he's flying through a tree in a local park - just unbelievable skills.
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Artful Dodger
(4/3/04 9:03 pm)
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Springheeled Jack
I'd like to nominate Springheeled Jack as an unofficial, international PK mascot. According to legend, he first appeared in England during the mid-1800s, "terrorizing" people by leaping out at them on dark nights, then disappearing by performing incredible leaps and jumps (over houses, etc.). SHJ fever hit big-time during the late 1800s and sightings continued from all over England, and other parts of the world, until at least World War 2.
Ghost? Alien? Victorian PK master? No-one knows for sure, but SHJ is definitely one of the patron saints of Parkour ...
See www.spartechsoftware.com/dimensions/crime/SpringHeeledJack.htm for more details!
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M2rock
UF KREW
(4/3/04 9:34 pm)
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Re: Springheeled Jack
Thanks Artful!!
I'm going to follow up on a few of the ones I've heard about and see if I can get a little more backing before I go saying they are true  so far I ahve heard one from a taxi driver and one from a guy who does sales presentation training ...
UF - Home of Traceurs Worldwide |
Artful Dodger
(4/3/04 10:21 pm)
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Buildering history and Human Flies
Basically, people have been climbing on buildings as long as there have been buildings ...
"Buildering goes way back in climbing history. Newell Martin climbed on the Yale campus in the 1870s, and Geoffrey Winthrop Young wrote the first buildering guide in the 1890s, for Cambridge University, I believe. Oliver Perry-Smith climbed on buildings in Philadelphia(?) after returning from Elbsandstein in the early 1900s. The Night Climbers of Cambridge by 'Whipplesnaith' was published in the 1930s."
cucc.survex.com/jnl/1983/roof.htm
www.stanfordalumni.org/ne...dness.html
www.metroactive.com/paper...-9549.html
www.detnews.com/history/fly/fly.htm
Pix of Human Flies and Building Acrobats in action, from the 1920s -www.thefilmvault.com/dare...flies.html
www.thefilmvault.com/dare...obats.html
There's heaps of online info. about Buildering history, and I reckon someone should track down a copy of "the Night Climbers of Cambridge". I found this quote, apropos to PK as well -
""For outlaw he is, and unless he take the common precautions of outlawry, there will be trouble."
 
Edited by: Artful Dodger at: 4/3/04 10:37 pm
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TonySaprano2
(4/10/04 1:30 am)
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Re: Buildering history and Human Flies
This = a awesome thread!
Spring heeled jack = a amazing but sinister figure - bit like e_z 
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Pokey
(4/12/04 2:44 am)
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Springheeled Jack
Spring Heeled Jack Apeared with Jackie Chan in his cartoon: Jackie Chan Adventures. I didn't realize he was a real character of legend. The episode was good. That show in particular has a lot of PK in it, unrealistic PK, but still PK.
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Krazie26
PK Soldier
(4/15/04 1:16 am)
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Re: Pre-History of Parkour
Sup Guys, I just posted this in General Parkour Talk, but I figured this would be a better place to put it.
Quote:
What up guys?
The wierdest thing just happened to me, I was sitting on this messageboard, when my Dad walked in the room. We conversed a bit and then he invited me to come out and work out on the bowflex with him (9:00 pm). Anyway, I turned it down and made a sarcastic little joke about him going out and doing some parkour with me (At this point, I have not told my Dad anything about it, and I assumed he knew nothing of it).
After I had said that to him, he gave me the strangest look, and in a quizitive voice, he asked, "What do you know about Parkour?". Anyway, it turns out my Dad was in the Army, and they had to do this thing called Parkour. They were given a map and a compass and had to get to a certain destination as fast as they could and get past obstacles on the way. When they got to the point, they had to carry out a certain objective (Which could be anything from carrying someone on a strecther, to scaling a 40 foot wall).
Did anyone else knew this existed? Oh, and this was about 20 something years ago when he was in the army.
I just thought that was pretty cool, and that maybe the army was the orginal inventors of Parkour and not Dave and Seb? hehe.
O, and this is a true story, so don't doubt me, lol D:
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karlos the monkey
PK Saboteur
(4/15/04 9:32 am)
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Pre-History of Parkour
anyone heard of crazy monkey? well its like this short cut show on MTV2 (like 3yrs ago). it was about these four blokes who did very very simple parkour, just wondered if anyone else had seen this?
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ucof
(4/16/04 10:18 am)
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:umm:
Wernt Ninjas doing lots of jumpy stuff before even David Belle and Sebastian Foucan were even a glimmer in their fathers' eye??
Surely Ninjas invented it?
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andromedjae
Newbie
(4/20/04 1:16 am)
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Contact Improvisation, Feldenkrais Method
M2rock asked me to post this here. These aren't exactly historical influences on Parkour, but they have some things in common with Parkour, and I thought you'd like to know about them. Maybe you'll even find them useful.
I'm not a traceur; I'm a Feldenkrais Practitioner, personal trainer, and former dancer. I specialize in working with athletes of all kinds to improve their power and coordination, reduce the wear and tear on their bodies, and recover from injury. I also love to watch people moving through space in creative ways, and you guys definitely fit the bill. I really enjoyed what I saw of the first PKUSA day on April 3 in New York.
You reminded me of the people who do contact improvisation; I think Parkour and contact have a lot in common. Contact improvisation is basically a form of dance that developed in the 70s out of an interest in everyday movement and a desire for alternatives to the ballet and modern dance aesthetic. Sometimes it's performed before an audience, but mostly people just do it in jams for their own enjoyment. You don't need any previous dance training to do it, though a lot of people are also modern or ballet dancers. There's a thriving scene. Basically, contact improv people look at dancing with each other the way traceurs look at moving through a playground. The only difference is that in contact your partner is also moving, and in Parkour your partner (the environment) isn't.
Contact can be quite spectacular, but the point isn't to be spectacular, it's to have a highly attuned, spontaneous relationship with another person in movement. Philosophically there are also a lot of similarities with PK. I've been looking for a good website to recommend, but contact people are not generally technophiles, and I could only find one video clip. Here's the link to a page of photos, including a brief video of Steve Paxton, one of the inventors of contact, doing a spiral roll:
www.contactimprov.net/photos/index.html
Maybe it'll give you some ideas. You could also look at the main page of that site, www.contactimprov.net, for more information about the form and places to try it. The magazine Contact Quarterly is the main information resource for this community. I don't know if they have a website.
I also wanted to suggest that the Feldenkrais Method would be a big help to people who do PK, both to help you learn new skills faster in a very safe way and to recover more fully from injury. I'm not trying to sell my services here, and I figure that most of you aren't in my area anyway, but there are
Feldenkrais practitioners all over the world, and some of them are also licensed Physical Therapists who would be covered by your health insurance if you're injured.
I gather that sooner or later everyone who does Parkour has to deal with injury, and taking care of yourself so that you heal properly now is really important. Too many people who come to me as adults have back pain or whatnot that is directly traceable to injuries sustained in their late teens that were never properly treated. Just a word to the wise.
Hopefully I'll be able to watch some more Parkour in person before too long. Meanwhile, may all your landings be soft and your rolls smooth.
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TonySaprano2
(4/20/04 6:29 am)
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Re: Contact Improvisation, Feldenkrais Method
Great post andromedjae - i can see a definate parralell to PK there
In case any1's searching for that clip on your page (it took me a wee while ) heres the direct link -
www.contactimprov.net/photos/stvroll.avi
You know sideways rolling like that i never thought to practise!! Something else to try in the backyard
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Artful Dodger
(4/20/04 8:37 am)
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Influences
Hi Andromedjae,
definitely agree with everything you say here. I've done a lot of contact improv and incorporate some of the basic principles and exercises into my own work (training actors and stunt performers for fight scenes, etc.) There are profound parallels between CI and Parkour and the link is well worth exploring, as with Feldenkrais.
Cheers,
Dodger
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