L’art du déplacement, or parkour, is an extreme activity that originated in France, and has seen a large increase in participants during the last few years. Parkour is a combination of vaulting, jumping, running, and climbing. It focuses on a practitioner of parkour, or a traceur, moving through an urban setting in the fastest and most efficient way. Parkour is often called an art, due to the freedom of expression displayed in the moves and the traceurs’ seemingly effortless flow through their environment.
Parkour is great because it requires little equipment and almost anything can be worn. Before doing parkour, it is important to have the proper apparel, which will facilitate your progression and make your training session much better. When dressing for parkour, certain items should always be taken into account.
Clothing
Comfort, mobility, and flexibility are all big factors here. For warm days, a tee shirt and shorts are usually fine. However, if the weather is colder, a light hoodie can be worn, along with athletic pants or sweat pants. These serve another purpose, as they help to cushion rolls on concrete.
Gloves
Some traceurs like to wear gloves. However, this practice is widely discouraged by the parkour community. Gloves reduce the traceur’s sense of touch as that person overcomes an obstacle. Many believe that a beginning traceur should go through the process of toughening up his or her hands. Once the traceur’s hands are thoroughly callused, that person will never have to worry about hurting their hands while training for parkour.
Shoes
This is the most important component of a suitable parkour attire. Shoes have a large impact on a traceur’s ability to move through the environment. A few factors should be considered when picking and wearing your shoes. You want a lightweight, cheap, and flexible shoe that has good grip. Most traceurs prefer shoes without arch support, and it is vital to find the balance between too much padding and too little padding. While too much padding protects a traceur more, it also encourages bad landing habits and can reduce his or her feel of the environment. Too little padding, on the other hand, merely forces the traceur to take smaller drops. It is for this reason that experienced practitioners of parkour encourage beginners to start off with less padding. They believe it encourages safety and proper landings. Some traceurs even practice parkour barefoot.
Some popular shoes include Feiyues, Fivetens, K-Swisses, and Onitsuka Tigers. All these shoes have excellent grip, are lightweight and are fairly affordable. Traceurs go through shoes very fast, so price is important. However, each traceur likes to wear different shoes, so some of these might not be for you. Two more options are the Vibram Fivefingers and the WFPF KO’s (World Freerunning and Parkour Federation’s Know Obstacles Shoes). The Fivefingers are unique, sock like shoes that offer amazing flexibility and feel, while the KO’s are shoes designed specifically for parkour.
Other Items
A bag can be brought for parkour, usually containing a water bottle, phone, and any other necessities. In general though, no other items need to be brought or worn for parkour.
As always have fun while training for parkour, and remember to practice safely.
