Parkour

[Deepc]

has anyone taken a serious look at this physical pratice. I figure SF and infantry types could gain some obvious rewards from learning to maneurver in an urban setting. No, no Bourne ultimatum or 007 BS. Merely a serious look at a potentially valuable tool in someones toolkit. How some of these guys pull this stuff off without blowing something out amazes me. My kness and feet would proabably not survive it now, but I gues youth does have its advantages. Would like to hear som discussion on this.

Found this on wiki, so it must be true.
After the attention that parkour received following the film Casino Royale, militaries from different countries began looking for ways to incorporate parkour into training. The British Royal Marines hired parkour athletes to train their members.[48] Colorado Parkour began a project to introduce parkour into the U.S. military[49] and parkour is slowly being introduced into the United States Marine Corps.[5

[RGR.Montcalm]

I've seen PARCOURS (for the heart) courses all my life but they are a far cry from this.

They usually ivolve a running track/trace/trail with 'stations along the way to stop and do certain exercises and that evolved into circuit drills that the Army became enamored with in the 90's.

A circuit drill is very effective but does not use any equipment to conduct the training.

This is a very interesting concept.

[N2Narkosis]

Though some of their stuff is pretty cool, I'd like to see them do it with flak and kevlar, weapon, and a pack before I get impressed with possible military application. Though, I can think of a couple personal moments in the sandbox where having experience in jumping from rooftop to rooftop would have had some advantages...

[The Sheepdog]

Though some of their stuff is pretty cool, I'd like to see them do it with flak and kevlar, weapon, and a pack before I get impressed with possible military application. Though, I can think of a couple personal moments in the sandbox where having experience in jumping from rooftop to rooftop would have had some advantages...

Spot on. The whole application of Parkour would be changed once weight and equipment is added in to the equation. Also, Parkour requires a lot of balance and that would be thrown out of whack once the equipment is added. One thing that could possibly be utilized would be the falling and rolling techniques. Again, that would even be hard with a pack on your back.

All in all, it would possibly be fun to do if you like that sort of thing, but I am not sure about its application in a combat zone.

[dvpj]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eD3aH7Wxbg

[chimbaktu]

Spot on. The whole application of Parkour would be changed once weight and equipment is added in to the equation. Also, Parkour requires a lot of balance and that would be thrown out of whack once the equipment is added. One thing that could possibly be utilized would be the falling and rolling techniques. Again, that would even be hard with a pack on your back.

All in all, it would possibly be fun to do if you like that sort of thing, but I am not sure about its application in a combat zone.


Although I can't attest to wearing armor, carrying a weapon, or being loaded down with a heavy ruck, I've been doing parkour for approx. 2 years and often use a day pack or carry about 20lbs of gear. Obviously this is no comparison to what military personnel carry in the field, but in cities like New York and Chicago it's not uncommon to see traceurs pulling off some ridiculous stuff with a lot of gear.

I think it has a lot of applications in the military beyond some of the more obvious mechanics of landing and falling. Which by the way, should be enough on their own to warrant a more serious look. From what I've seen (and done personally), most people naturally land incorrectly on their feet. They land with their weight back over their arches or on their heels, and it becomes even more pronounced when weight is added. This severely damages your knees, back, and feet and leads to many injuries. Just like how most people don't know how to run properly (which is why there's a seemingly epidemic number of shin splint problems), most people land and fall all wrong. Parkour teaches a person to land forward with their weight over the balls of their feet and to transfer extra momentum into a roll - which is not inconvenienced by a backpack - allowing people to take far greater falls with much less risk of injury.

The fringe benefits of parkour include a much better understanding and feel for one's body. The kinesthetics of parkour makes a person more balanced, more agile, and quicker. It also allows for an alternative view of how to interact with your environment.

I don't think parkour has a place for most of the conventional military, but for SOF units, it might be an effective asset; at least to help reduce training related injuries.

[B 2/75]

I read this and what comes to mind are long lines at sick call... with folks having alot of seriously banged up knees, ankles, and backs.

Learn to roll and fall in combatives training rather than by asking folks to invite injury.

[Ignite]

Deep,
I have been practicing Parkour since January 2008. I'm currently helping write a certification for it as well, breaking down the biomechanics of all the movements.

There is a huge practical use to Parkour. It gives great coordination. You will learn so much about your body when you train Parkour.


If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

[nofear]

I agree that jumping over buildings with full kit on is unrealistic....but I also agree that the mechanics of parkour would have great value in training.

It's taken me years of injury to even start to realise that I need to learn how to run / jump / land properly. It's not as "natural" as most people believe.

[Deepc]

I agree that jumping over buildings with full kit on is unrealistic....but I also agree that the mechanics of parkour would have great value in training.

It's taken me years of injury to even start to realise that I need to learn how to run / jump / land properly. It's not as "natural" as most people believe.

I have blown knees, a bad back and shoulder from falling down in the wrong way. Either jumping out of a plane or jumping out of a bar in the PI..It would be nice to have more than the vibrancy of youth to dispel injuries.

[CobraMach1]

Deep,
I have been practicing Parkour since January 2008. I'm currently helping write a certification for it as well, breaking down the biomechanics of all the movements.

There is a huge practical use to Parkour. It gives great coordination. You will learn so much about your body when you train Parkour.


If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

I definitely agree with the huge practical use for Parkour. I started it recently but had to pull back due to focusing more on boxing and martial arts but have found that learning Parkour, even if only taking a couple of classes, helps build confidence in knowing your body and how to use your environment to move towards or away from an object of interest. It also can improve any martial arts/hand-to-hand combat/boxing, etc as it teaches the proper way to fall and roll. Having more of a background in martial arts which taught me more of how to stop myself when rolling or falling, Parkour (especially as I practice the rolls/falls more) will do wonders for getting back into a fight or away from a fight or out of a bad situation by teaching you how to use your own momentum to get back to your feet without hurting yourself as much (when done properly). And of course the fun things that can be done with Parkour, for this adrenaline junkie, is one of the pulls towards learning it more :)

[ricardo]

David Belle, the star of the movie, Barrio 13, from which this clip is taken
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2VETKjKRo0

started parkour. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Belle

[Justaclerk]

has anyone taken a serious look at this physical pratice. I figure SF and infantry types could gain some obvious rewards from learning to maneurver in an urban setting. No, no Bourne ultimatum or 007 BS. Merely a serious look at a potentially valuable tool in someones toolkit. How some of these guys pull this stuff off without blowing something out amazes me. My kness and feet would proabably not survive it now, but I gues youth does have its advantages. Would like to hear som discussion on this.

Found this on wiki, so it must be true.
After the attention that parkour received following the film Casino Royale, militaries from different countries began looking for ways to incorporate parkour into training. The British Royal Marines hired parkour athletes to train their members.[48] Colorado Parkour began a project to introduce parkour into the U.S. military[49] and parkour is slowly being introduced into the United States Marine Corps.[5

...there are several parkour teams that practice on Saturdays. Although their body positions don't come close to gymnasts and their conditioning is several levels below gymnastics their coordination is remarkable.

On another note, the gym has hosted and trained active duty personnel and the word on the street is they were SOF. Given the conditioning my son goes through I have to side on true on this claim (but awaiting verification).

[Mini-Poly]

Don't know if it's for the Military, but its sure fun to watch. Its basically superhero stuff. Man, I wish I was 20 yrs younger. Would have loved to try it.

[CausticCocktail]

This dude is an FMF corpsman from near my hometown. He was a gymnast beforehand. I'm not sure if he's still AD or not, but he's been doing this stuff for awhile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfzxmFkgQsU

[Ranger5280]

General questions about SOF unit training is acceptable (i.e., what kind of physical conditioning programs are available to make it through any of the SOF selection and assessment courses) but location and/or unit specific questions whether to verify where they may or may not have trained is not acceptable.

[Justaclerk]

General questions about SOF unit training is acceptable (i.e., what kind of physical conditioning programs are available to make it through any of the SOF selection and assessment courses) but location and/or unit specific questions whether to verify where they may or may not have trained is not acceptable.

...I tried to keep it as generic as possible. My bad; I was wide right.

[Doctor_Doom]

...not inconvenienced by a backpack...

A small backpack sure, how about other gear?

[chimbaktu]

A small backpack sure, how about other gear?

I like to do some urban exploration, so sometimes when I do parkour I'm carrying a day pack with some extra clothes, gloves, food, water, rope, flashlights, walkies, camera equipment, knives, bike gear (air pump, tools, spare tube, bike lock, etc.), and probably some other minor little stuff I'm forgetting. It's far from being weighed down or inconvenienced by a huge bag and extraneous stuff, but I imagine that even with full gear that parkour could still be utilized to some effect.

I think the heaviest amount of gear I've had on while doing any kind of parkour was during a 90 mile bike ride from my town to a local state park filled with good bouldering and climbing. So with that, I had my tent, sleeping bag, misc. camping equipment, extra food, a 2.5 liter camelback, camera bag, and some other junk for a 2 day excursion. All in all, I think the equipment totaled about 55-60lbs. When I went climbing I did some parkour and left my tent, sleeping bag, and cooking gear behind which dropped the total weight down to 40-45lb. It took a little adjustment, but I didn't feel severely limited with extra gear. Granted though, I'm not doing free running (flips and more extravagant movements).