For you observant people out there you may have noticed the very obvious spelling mistake throughout this lense and may be shouting at the screen - 'Parkour' not 'Parcouring', au contraire, whilst Parkour is a sport involving movement from A to B as efficently and effectively as possible, 'Parcouring' refers to a multitude of disciplines including free running, track and field, Le Parkour, Move Artistic, Capoeira and many more.


This is the first time that a competition of this type has been staged and is set to be a platform for all sports involving innovative, artistic and acrobatic movement. The aim of competition is to complete a 600m course of obstacles by incorporating stylish elegant techniques and good condition in the fastest time possible.


Athletes from all around Europe are set to take part with teams representing the UK, Germany, Russia and Bulgaria. 150 athletes will get wittled down to just 12 who enter the finals on Sunday 10th June. The winning athlete not only takes the Parcouring World Championship title, but also is given the chance to appear as part of a film crew in an action movie and be treated like a star for three days with travel, accommodation and food all paid for!


For two days the competition, as part of Munich's 'Streetlife Festival', takes over the main street in Munich, Leopoldstrasse, to banish the cars for the location of the event. It looks set to be an awesome few days so if you're in the area pop down and check out what the parcouring is all about and support athletes taking part! If not keep an eye on this lense for regular updates from the d3o team over in Germany!

Fronted by Head Coach Brad Wendes, the UK makes a formible force to be reckoned with!


The team of 12 guys from all around the will travel out to Germany at the beginning of June to represent their country.


- Brad Wendes
- Brad Moss
- Jason Matten
- Jay (Chuck Norris from Chelmsford)
- Bobby Gordon Smith
- Ashley Holland
- Kieron Kiyani (Cord)
- Chima
- Serious John
- Timmo Hill
- Ash Allen
- Khan McCaffrey


Keep an eye on the lense for more info about each of the guys taking part and how they get on in the World Championships.

My name's Brad Wendes and I've been practicing Parkour for around three years.

I came from a gymnastic background and got involved in Parkour as another form of expression and fitness. It soon became much much more to me, and has helped shape the person I have become. In the past few years I've been a major influence in the UK development of Parkour, and helping to teach newcomers the correct ways to train and discover the discipline properly.

My involvement in Parkour has taken me to Paris, New York, Northern Ireland & Scotland to name a few places. I've been on national television, and helped shape the positive development of many young people all over the UK. My main drive is to help people, becoming a development athlete for d3o has given me a chance to do this. I am currently working as a professional performer, using many of the skills learned through Parkour to make me a stronger performer. My real passion is coaching though, and I look forward to a future working with young people all over the world to help them have the life I am living. All it takes is everything you've got...

The three famous d3o questions:

Favourite Meal: Chinese Crispy Duck

Favourite Place: New York City

What gets you out of bed in the morning?: My alarm clock, followed by the thought of a long day training.

I've grown up with sport playing a crucial role thoughout my activities including, Swimming, Athletics, Football, Rugby, Cricket and Basketball. However growing up, some lost their appeal and I needed a greater degree of freedom. I found this for a while through skateboarding but still found many limitations. After winning a competition to go to Nass '04 and meeting Sebastien Foucan, Jerome ben Aoues and Johann Vigroux, from the TV documentary Jump Britian, I became interested in Parkour, did some research and started practicing.


Through Parkour I have found a complete freedom, becoming able to work with my environment and get to wherever I need quickly and efficiently. Parkour is the way I live my life, and I believe these skills would have been essential in pre-historic times, when to run, hunt, chase, jump and climb would have been essential for survival.


I aim to show and teach others the discipline 'founded' by David Belle and share what I have learnt through my time practicing. Parkour not only helps focus my body physically, but also my mind in the way I approach problems and challenges in life, the philosophy inherent with Parkour teaches valuable lessons which I would be lost without. Through practicing I have joined the Worldwide Jam Street Team who aim to teach and aid the growth of Parkour. I have Toured across the UK for Samsung, advertising their new K5 MP3 players, taught at several workshops, demonstrated at various functions and worked with several magazines newspapers and photographers to date.


The three famous d3o questions:


Favourite meal: Dinner, I don't eat an awful lot, but by the time I get home after training and practicing I'm pretty hungry, nice to get a home cooked meal when I get back, Beef stew and dumplings perhaps?


Favourite Place: As much as I love Rochford and Southend where I live and train, there's a park in London I use to train in and I love it. There's so much to do even though many would look at it as a simple childrens park, the adaptations for parkour and training your body.


What gets you out of bed in morning?: I like sleeping, but knowing I've got a nice place to train and practice sorted for the day, I'll get up pretty quick.

I saw Jump Britain a few years back when it first aired. Like many people I flocked to London for a gathering of those wishing to train and wanted to learn the 'big stuff' when I hadn't even given thought to how to walk properly, let alone crawl. Shortly after that session I joined a gym and
began training. Whilst Parkour was always something in the back of my head it got sidelined whilst I became further interested in fitness and
developing my body.


I found my body adapted surprisingly well to the new strains I placed upon it and started training harder still. Two years down the line I had changed
my physique quite significantly, not only in appearance but in a functional capacity.


I started looking into other areas of training such as martial arts and yoga and it was at this point I heard of a group who hired out a gym for Parkour. I went along and found my now changed body responded in ways I couldn't have
imagined.


Since then I've continued to push my body looking for physical challenges to overcome. I don't refer to what I do as Parkour, some may say I am
practising it, but others will give it a different title. I prefer to leave the definitions to the onlookers and move as I wish, free from imposed
boundaries.


Who/what is your major influence?: Daniel Illabaca is someone I find
inspiring, his movement is just amazing.


What's your favourite meal?:
I don't really have a favourite meal, I have a fairly clean diet and try to
tailor my nutrition to my training, although smoked salmon and carrot cake
are two particular favourites that do come to mind (preferably not on the
same plate)


Where's your favourite place in the world?: Wadi-Rum in Jordan.


What gets you up in the morning?: An alarm clock

I saw videos of Team Evolution and it was something new and fresh that i just couldn't miss out on.


Who/what is your major influence?: Team Evolution, Danny Illabaca, Joe Eigo, Tony Jaa


What's your favourite meal?: T bone steak


Where's your favourite place in the world?: London so far, but i hope to see a lot more of the world!!


What gets you up in the morning?: My mates calling me up and telling me to come out and train!!

Parkour (aka Le Parkour, PK, l'art du deplacement) specificaly refers to the artistic discipline of moving from A to B as efficiently and quickly as possibly utilising the abilities of the human body. Originating from an urban setting but performed in both rural and urban environments, athletes must overcome obstacles such as walls, rails, rocks, even rooftops in an efficient yet stylish and artistic manner.

One of the key features of Parkour is efficiency. The activity calls for athletes to perform moves in a way that consumes the least amount of energy or by the most direct path. This philosophy includes the ability to avoid injury where d3o steps in! By providing superior, lightweight flexible impact protection d3o technology helps athletes gain increased control leading to freedom of movement and a psychological advantage.

The psychological aspect of Parkour is clear. In order to overcome obstacles traceurs must also overcome physical and mental barriers, calling on inner strengths. The presence of the protective qualities of d3o hopes to aid this ability.

Originating from France, Parkour has stuck to its roots with it's terminology all relating back to the French influence. Here's a quick run down on the terms commonly used for the moves referring to vaults...enjoy!!

Passement - Vault - general term of overcoming an obstacle by vaulting.

Passe muraille - Pop vault, wall hop - Overcoming a wall, usually by the use of a kick off the wall to transform forward momentum into upward momentum.

Demitour - Turn vault - A vault involving a 180 degree turn, often used in order toplae yurself hanging from the other side of an object in order to shorten a drop or prepare for a jump.

Reverse vault - A vault involving a 360 degree rotation so that the traceurs back faces forwards as they pass an obstacle in order to maintain position.

Check the lense out soon for Lesson 2: The Jumps!!

Ok the jumps!!!!


Franchissement - Underbar, jump through - Jumping or swinging through a gap between obstacles


Lache - Dismount, swinging jump - To hang or swing and let go, dropping to the ground or to hang from another object


Saut de bras - Arm jump, cat leap - To land on the side of an obstacle in a hanging/crouched position, the hands gripping the top edge, holding the body, ready to perform a planche (muscle up or climb up)


Saut de chat - Cat jump/pass, king-kong vault - To dive forward over an obstacle so that the body becomes horizontal, push off with the hands and tuck the legs, such that the body is brought back to a verticle position, ready to land


Saut de detente - Gap jump - To jump from one place/object to another, over a gap/distance. This technique is most often followed with a roll


Saut de precision - Precision jump - Static jump from one object to a precise spot on another object

I started Parkour because I saw clips of the discipline on the Internet and it surprised me. Shortly after that I saw the documentary Jump London and then I knew that this was going to be big in the future.


The three famous d3o questions:


Favourite meal?: My favourite meal would have to be BBQ chicken pizza with garlic bread and a small dip of honey and mustard sauce!!


Favourite Place in the World?: My favourite place in the world would be New York because it is so big and colourful!!


What gets you up in the morning?: The thing that gets me out of bed would be the fact that I am about to eat a huge breakfast!!!