So what is parkour exactly? Etymologically (oh yes, we’re going there) “parkour” comes from the French word “parcours” which means “route.” Basically, though, it’s a lot of people trying to find the most interesting way to get around, including leaping from building to building, jumping off walls, entering a room through a window, and lurching crazily from surface to surface.

The group in Berkeley seems pretty hardcore. (Hardcore parkour–yes, we had to go there, too.) These traceurs (the trendtastic word for parkour devotees) get accolades from bystanders.

Albert Kong, a linguistics student at Berkeley, is one such dude. “He moves around objects like river water around a stopped canoe. He looks both graceful and strong in the process,” the article gushes.

Pure poetry. Are we the only ones sensing a martial arts movie in the works? “Parkour on Lower Sproul,” perhaps? We can see the tagline right now: One man. One million ways to get around.

French-born parkour goes mainstream [Inside Bay Area]
Image source: JB London under Creative Commons