Running, jumping, making us laugh

Remember when you were a little kid and your Mum would say; 'Go outside and play, stop moping around the house.' So out you would go and you would run around the neighbourhood with some mates pretending to be secret agents, or jump off the garage to see if you could fly. It was all fun and games until you went home, tired, bloody and dirty and complained that you had to eat your vegies.

While most of us grow up and move on, it seems that some people don't. These people simply start doing parkour. Doing what? You ask. Parkour, I say. And stop interrupting.

Parkour, as described on Wikipedia is: to move from point A to point B as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body. It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything in the surrounding environment — from branches and rocks to rails and concrete walls — so parkour can be practiced in both rural and urban areas. Male parkour practitioners are recognized as traceurs and female as traceuses. What this means is that a group of people who couldn't afford skateboards or BMX's were feeling left out so they developed a new sport.

So now you know. Of course it's possible that you've seen Parkour, after all it's "the freshest thing crackin". The new Bond movie featured a Parkour chase between Bond and a random baddie through, over and across various 'obstacles'. TV show Top Gear featured a race between the sensible one, driving a sensible car through London traffic, against a couple of 'young blokes in silly trousers.' Parkour won that one. Even Madonna, who is apparently at the cutting edge of what's hot, despite being a fifty year old woman in a leotard, featured Parkour in a recent filmclip. There's also a cheesy movie which features a chase between David Belle, the so called inventor of Parkour and a group of other guys who are equally adept at leaping across buildings.

By the way, here's a movie cliche for you. Pay attention when you go to see a new movie that has the latest, most popular, most difficult craze, whether it's a martial art, Parkour, Skydiving or snowboarding down a mountain firing an Uzi. You will notice that the Big Boss will have a gang of henchman who are almost as good, but not quite as good as, the main character. This will give the main character a chance to show off his skills dispatching underlings in a fancy display. Of course there will always be one angry looking guy who stands over the right shoulder of the Big Boss and glares psychotically as the hero makes wise cracks. Hands up if you're ever surprised that the final showdown is between the hero and this psycho who is just as good as the hero but with the added benefit of steroids/no conscience/big muscles/bad breath. These things are no match of course for the hero's belief in what he's doing is right due to the fact he is fighting for a deceased loved one/a crippled yet plucky youngster/the fact that he has the law/God/America on his side. Here's a tip to wanna be Big Bosses. Send in the psycho guy first, if he can't beat the hero, then just bloody well give up.

But I digress...

Yes, Parkour, that's what I was yapping about. I did have a point to make. I say that David Belle is the so called inventor of Parkour, but he coined the term in 1998. It's my contention that there was another young man responsible for this phenomenon, and who was doing it, in a movie, many years ago. For the sake of my friend Mike, I'm going to reveal this person in a picture.

'No, don't get up.'

Yes that's right, Ferris Bueller, seen here doing Parkour over a couple of sunbaking ladies, he's also seen in the movie going through a house, over a fence, and through some hedges. All of which is done with style and humour and not a single henchman around. That, my friends, is where Parkour comes from.

Of course Parkour practioners, or traceurs, probably won't like this but to them I say this.

Your mother's a traceur.

See Ya,

Jeff.

PS: Rooney eats it.