My kids have started taking parkour so I’ve had a lot of time to think about parkour while sitting and watching them practice.  For those of you who are not familiar with parkour, here’s a video of David Belle, one of the founders doing what he does best http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x98jCBnWO8w.  Now my kids aren’t at this level yet, but a father can dream!

Anyways, what make martial arts like parkour and unlike a track meet?  Track meet have specific events with specific techniques for those events.  You see every hurdlers jump the hurdles the same exactly way.  Every high jumpers tackles the high jump in almost the same manner.  You can use high jump techniques for a hurdle. Some people think martials are is like that.  You have techniques for when someone punches your and you can techniques for when someone kicks you.  You can’t use the punch techniques for kicks.  Unfortunately some instructors teach the martial arts this way too.  Regimented movement and techniques.

However, to me, martial arts is more like parkour.  Parkour teaches you techniques.  And while the techniques may have specific purposes, they can be used in a variety of situations.  No restriction is in place that only a certain technique can be used for scaling a wall or jumping a fence.  Technique are taught and it is up to the traceur (someone who practices parkour – don’t ask…it’s French, I would have called them parkourers) to choose what techniques to use when based on their ability.  Someone may use their hands to vault over a bench, whereas someone else may just jump over it.  Parkour teaches your body how to move, and a traceurs goal is to get from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible using any techniques in their arsenal.  Unlike a track meet, their terrain and obstacles are everchanging.

This is what martial arts is–a set of techniques that teach your body how to move and it is up to the practitioner to select the right movement for the situation.