Parkour, the sport of traveling through a city by jumping, climbing, swinging or running across and through things instead of around them, has become very popular in Spain in recent years. So, it was nice to see a cool video about parkour in Spain on YouTube today.
The video was filmed by a group of Spanish traceurs who traveled around Spain and seven other European countries, to meet people in parkour and freerunning communities and exchange ideas. They also wanted to find out how they trained, if what they are doing in Spain is any different and how the sport is changing.
What they noticed is a huge change in the technique used in parkour in Spain, with technique being concentrated on more than the ability to cross huge gaps.
They also realized most Spaniards in the parkour community don’t interact with parkour enthusiasts outside Spain, even when it comes to starting up parkour websites.
Part of the quite insular Spanish culture, I’d say and much of that, of course, is due to how few Spaniards speak a language other than Spanish.
Anyway, watch the video. It is an interesting quick look into the sport of parkour which, even as somewhat of an “oldster”, has always fascinated me.