Parkour is a relatively new sport/activity, and while nobody can claim to have copyrighted the art of running and jumping, the name "parkour" (sometimes called "free running") is generally agreed to come from France. It's one of those sports which has used the internet to make itself known.

While it looks insane (if not suicidal) to onlookers I've been shooting it for a couple of  years and I've never seen a serious injury. These guys and girls train hard and with safety in mind.

But enough words, and more action.

What's happening here is that he jumped off the railing on the left side and is aiming to land exactly on the rail surrounding the flowers. The guy at the bottom is there in case something happens. In this instance, if my memory serves, he landed it perfectly.

Same thing from a different angle

He's barely using any momentum there, it's just upper body strength.

Who says people can't fly?

Parkour's a very flexible sport in that almost anything can be used. Railings, walls, anything that can be seen as an obstacle.

After this jump, he will land, roll (on the hard ground) and get up as if there was nothing to it. Try it without the appropriate training and you'll find out that there is very much something to it!

A playground is not just for kids if you have the parkour mentality.

When you get a chance to take a reflection shot like this, you take it.

Parkour silhouette WIth a bit of photoshopping (including those dust spots), maybe Apple could license this for an Ipod commercial (he says wishfully!)

If you're not familiar with parkour, I hope this gives you some idea of what it is. There are more parkour shots on my main page in the "parkour" gallery.

Thanks for looking!