Parkour should remain an alternative: a manifesto
Parkour is currently in the process of sportisation : development of institutions outside and above the game ; commodification ; development of competition ; quantification of performance ; regulation ; standardisation ; creation of artificial places functionally dedicated to parkour, and separated from spaces of everyday life ; abstraction and codification of the corporal skills , development of particular training courses, autonomisation of the game in comparison to the utilitarian roots of the parkour…
This manifesto wants to claim an other parkour. Not necessarily the one from the « origins », but the one which is dear to us, which has transformed our lives and has the potential to transform those of others. The one which is experienced as an alternative to the dominant sports model. The one which appears unique to us. The one which makes us say : parkour is not, and will never become like other sports. And yet…
The purpose is not to rally everyone. But to reaffirm the practice we believe in. […]