Origins The practice of similar movements have existed in various communities around the world for centuries prior to the foundation of a parkour movement, which was influenced by these earlier traditions. He noted, "their bodies were splendid, flexible, nimble, skillful, enduring, and resistant but yet they had no other tutor in gymnastics but their lives in nature." During World War I and World War II, teaching continued to expand, becoming the standard system of French military education and training. Inspired by Hébert, a Swiss architect developed a "
parcours du combattant"—military obstacle course—the first of the courses that are now standard in military training and which led to the development of civilian
fitness trails and confidence courses. coincident with the release of the feature film Tarzan's New York Adventure.
Raymond and David Belle Born in 1939 in
Vietnam, Raymond Belle was the son of a French physician and Vietnamese mother. During the
First Indochina War, his father died and he was separated from his mother, after which he was sent to a military orphanage in
Da Lat at the age of seven. He took it upon himself to train harder and longer than everyone else in order never to be a victim. At night, when everyone else was asleep, he would be outside running or climbing trees. He would use the military
obstacle courses in secret, and also created courses of his own that tested his endurance, strength, and flexibility. Doing this enabled him not only to survive the hardships he experienced during his childhood, but also eventually to thrive. After the
Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, he returned to France and remained in military education until the age of 19, when he joined the
Paris Fire Brigade, a French Army unit. is considered the founder of parkour. Raymond's son,
David Belle, was born in 1973. He experimented with
gymnastics and
athletics but became increasingly disaffected with both school and the
sports clubs. As he got older, he learned of his father's exploits and was increasingly curious about what had enabled his father to accomplish these feats. Through conversations with his father, he realised that what he really wanted was a means to develop skills that would be useful to him in life, rather than just training to kick a ball or perform moves in a padded, indoor environment. The group eventually included David Belle,
Sébastien Foucan, Châu Belle Dinh, Williams Belle, Yann Hnautra, Laurent Piemontesi, Guylain N'Guba Boyeke, Malik Diouf, and Charles Perrière. The group began calling themselves the
Yamakasi, from the
Lingala ya makási, meaning strong in one's person, or "strong man, strong spirit" and the training philosophy of
Bruce Lee, considering the latter to be the "unofficial president" of their group. For example, no one in the group was permitted to be late for training, as it would hold back the whole group. If any member completed a challenge, everyone else had to do the same thing. During their training, no one was allowed to complain or be negative. Few excuses were allowed. For instance, if someone claimed that his shoes were too worn out in to make a jump, he had to do it anyway, even if it meant doing the jump barefoot. Respecting one's health and physical well-being was one of the foundations of the group. If any member hurt himself during or after the execution of a movement, the movement was deemed a failure. A movement executed only once was not considered an achievement; only with repetition was the challenge complete. Every movement had to be repeated at least ten times in a row without the traceur having to push his limits or sustaining any injury. If any mistake was made by any traceur in the group everyone had to start all over again. Despite the huge emphasis on the collective, each traceur had to progress and develop independently—"to create the means to be yourself"—and there was a complete trust within the group. If a member violated the principles, the group could meet without the offending person to discuss various punishments. Anyone deemed unsuitable could be temporarily or even permanently banned from the group in order to uphold its disciplines and values.
Name and split In 1997, David Belle's brother Jean-François invited the group to perform for the public in a firefighter show in Paris. For the performance, the group named themselves
Yamakasi, from the
Congolese Lingala ya makási, meaning strong in one's person, or "strong man, strong spirit". Sébastien Foucan also invented a name for what they were doing: "''l'art du déplacement'' (French for "the art of movement"). (see
§ Derivative terminologies and disciplines below). ==Organizations==