by Alan Parker

Created on: July 28, 2010

Parkour is a new sport that is all about overcoming obstacles in your path using only the human body. This sport is a non-competitive discipline that focuses heavily on overcoming your own obstacles, whether they are physical or mental. Parkour’s birthplace is thought to be in the small town of Lisses, France. From this small town, the popularity of Parkour has exploded and is now practiced all over the world. Traceurs (ones who practice Parkour) connect through a variety of websites such as americanparkour.com and urbanfreeflow.com. Parkour is now spreading to become one of the most popular sports in the world, maybe it will even become as popular as skateboarding.

Knowing that Parkour is spreading, let us take a look at the reasons why it is becoming so popular:

*Internet

One of the biggest reasons Parkour is spreading is because if the easiness and ability to share both videos and ideas online. This is allowing people all over the world to take notice of and start practicing Parkour. Many of the top Traceurs have made videos that have become viral videos on the internet. This exposure has caused many converts to Parkour and will continue to.

*Popular Culture

Parkour has recently been featured in many movies and professional videos. Some of these include the Jump music video by Madonna, the show Ultimate Parkour Challenge on MTV, the movie and video game Prince of Persia, and the video game Assassin’s Creed. In all of these, Parkour has been featured heavily. These appearances of Parkour in popular culture have made many young men and women want to practice the art.

*Wow Factor

When you see somebody doing a flip off of a building, jumping over and through obstacles like they’re walking in a park, and leaping from point to point with the grace of a squirrel, you get inspired. Too people who have never heard of Parkour, a Parkour video appears to be a bunch of super humans jumping from building to building like Spider Man. This factor makes people research it more and look up tutorials, practice, and learn the art.

*Philosophy

The main philosophy of Parkour is that Parkour is the physical discipline to overcoming any obstacles in ones path by adapting ones movements to the environment. This willingness to overcome any obstacle is very exciting and inspiring to people who are attempting to learn Parkour, making them work extremely hard until they have overcome their own obstacles, both mental and physical.

Overall, Parkour is a sport whose popularity is exploding with the use of the internet. Popular Culture is catching on fast by featuring Parkour in music videos, movies, and video games. The philosophy and wow factor of Parkour only aids its spreading more and one day, Parkour is sure to be one of the most popular sports around.

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