Blog Archives

May 19 2014

Parkour doesn’t have to be on foot

Parkour has become more and more popular and you often watch a video to see people scaling buildings and leaping over various obstacles, but Ronnie Shalvis is taking parkour up a notch. Ronnie brings in a car and shows off his parkour skills by leaping, jumping, flipping and sliding all over a car. Ronnie doesn’t just stop with parked cars either, but also flips and jumps over a moving vehicle all at a park structure showing you that there is nothing you can’t do with parkour with a little time, a lot of talent and your imagination. He doesn’t even just leave it to jumping over or around a car, but going through as well leaving you shaking your head as you watch.

+ Who

Ronnie Shalvis stars in this car parkour video. He jumps, flips and slides over a parked car leaving you watching in amazement and wonder as he performs each stunt. The leaping and flying over a parked car is one thing, but Ronnie also adds a touch of style by jumping over a moving car as it’s driving by all filmed by Warialasky. Ronnie is a professional parkour trainer, free runner and stunt coordinator from Utah and has spent the last seven years training and perfecting his craft and for the last two years has worked as a professional stuntman with his crew.

+ Where

This video of Ronnie Shalvis is an urban landscape featuring a parking structure where he does all his parkour stunts. From moving cars to parked cars, Ronnie shows off his skills in parkour and free running. The Moscow – Minsk House provides the soundtrack as we watch Ronnie do his thing keeping the video upbeat and high energy.

+ What

Kicking off this video, Ronnie Shalvis drives into a deserted parking area and stops. Getting out he gets right to work showing of his parkour skills (0:14). After a few backflips to get a bit of distance, Ronnie leaps to the top of the car (0:18) and flips off before launching into his next set of skills. He leaps and jumps over the entire car (0:23) in a mix of power and grace. One of the most exciting moments is the complete jump over the car (0:42) without touching it at all adding in a little rolling flip. As the video continues, Ronnie opens the back doors on the car (0:51) and goes right through showing off his dexterity. An eye-catching moment is the leap off the cement wall (1:03) over the car driving by ending in a tuck and roll. After a few leaps over the car onto the cement wall (1:11) Ronnie really shows off his power by hurdling several parked cars (1:18) with different and unique moves.

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Feb 02 2014

Team Zoic at Rebounderz

This fun video highlights Team Zoic, a parkour and freerunning team out of Orlando as they take on and conquer Rebounderz, a trampoline park in Orlando Florida. The team bounces around the trampolines, doing flips and kicks from trampoline to trampoline and into a foam pit. They also play dodgeball and dunk basketballs. The guys show off their parkour and freerunning skills all over this trampoline park and show how to get the most out of an amazingly fun theme park. Watch this video and you’ll definitely get the itch to head to the closest trampoline park to you get some bouncing in.

Rebounderz is the best trampoline park I’ve been to so far. Last time I was in Orlando I visited out another one called Airheads first, but it was closed for a kid’s birthday party. When I visited Rebounderz I was glad I hadn’t paid at the other one since it looked way better equipped. I spent a few hours jumping around and playing dodgeball. It’s amazing how tiring it is if you go all out.

+ Who

Team Zoic, or Zoic Nation, are a group of traceurs/freerunners from Orlando, Florida in the United States. The members are Jon Watson, Andy Taylor, Angle Santiago, Gareth Norvell, Mark Stowell, Will Brown, Crazy Stupid Kid Jimmy, Casey Jones. They have a very active presence on social media including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Vimeo. In their own words, they are a group dedicated to having fun and spreading their love of parkour, and not getting tied down in defining what it means to do parkour, free-running or tricking. They are simply all about having fun and accepting all styles as they get better and enjoy life.

+ Where

This video was filmed at Rebounderz in Orlando, Florida. Rebounderz is an indoor trampoline arena promising family fun and fitness. They have an open jump arena, with trampolines on the floor and sides that adds up to 24,000 square feet to jump. They also have a foam pit jumper, where you can launch yourself into a pit of foam squares, a dodgeball arena, and a basketball dunking jumper. They also host parties (which include pizza) and summer camps. On the Rebounderz website you can take a virtual tour, sign your wavier form (all jumpers must sign a waiver) and book your party.

+ What

The video begins with the Zoic crew getting out of their cars and heading in to the arena. They begin jumping (0:17) into the foam pit, and then take on the open jump arena (0:24). Shots of foam pit jumping and open pit jumping and flips are mixed until (1:18) when the crew gets together for an exciting game of dodgeball. At (1:38) we see some breakdancing on the floor. More dodgeball and shots of Rebounderz are joined by more foam pit jumping and then (2:15) basketball dunking. (2:35) the video ends with Jon Watson, the Youtuber and member who uploaded the video, talking about next week’s video and instructing users about how to manage their Youtube subscriptions.

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Dec 05 2013

Parkour video compilation of 2013

Parkour has been quickly gaining popularity in the past few years and this video is great example as to why. It can be hard to get a grasp on the concept of parkour when it is explained in words.  This video shows what all the fuss is about. Parkour is more than jumping and stunts, it is an art form. Art such as parkour is not meant to be described or heard, but seen and lived. This video shows what parkour really is and why people do it. 

+ Who

This video is compiled by MonthlyWinner (a channel on YouTube) and contains multiple freerunners’ stunts. The stars of the video that wanted their names(or aliases) known are as follows: In Motion, Cherepko, MegaMatrixs, sonicvova, DragonFireTeamLive, and AlexandeR RusinoV. Many of these users are simply interested in parkour and have multiple posts about them. For the others it seems to be a smaller interest of theirs. Their YouTube libraries contain a large amount of other parkour and stunt videos similar to those shown in this video. While some of the people in the video are from America, others are from France and Russia which shows the international popularity of the sport. While many users prefer not to have their names disclosed, they do have many of their stunts available under their aliases shown above.


+ Where

The video takes place in multiple undisclosed locations. The users come from America, France, and Russia as well as other countries of origin. The nature of parkour calls for city areas as well as other stunt friendly locations and that is exactly what the video shows. There are no famous landmarks or recognizable location that can be used to decipher precise location, but actor locations can be found on their YouTube channels. It can then be assumed that the videos likely took place in their countries of origin. Terrain also includes construction areas, malls, residential areas, parks, and several parkour training centers.


+ What

The video shows a compilation of parkour tricks from different people on multiple terrains. These tricks show many common moves as well as some that are seen as far more risky and are rarely performed by casual freerunners. Many of the stunts include jumping from high heights and landing flawlessly as well as standard freerunning techniques. There are multiple people doing the tricks in the video and all of them perform many styles of parkour. In contrast to most parkour videos, this video gives a good focus in cooperative parkour moves in combination with solo stunts. The video is a focused compilation of only parkour and is targeted primarily at parkour fans.


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Dec 02 2013

Parkour in Japan

Check out this video of some guys doing parkour in Japan. These guys are pretty good and have great energy. Most information is in Japanese but from what I could figure out, they’re a parkour group called TADIKARAO consisting of nine members: Sulivan, Tabito, Yuto, Masa, Masaru, Shun, Kenji, Atsishi and Kai.

+ Video transcript

This video begins with footage of a man holding a few passports. The man then boards a plane and arrives in Japan. He leaves the airport and the visual cuts to the sunrise and railing near a sidewalk. A young man then takes a running start and jumps over the railing, lands on a small concrete ledge, then continues running. The young man then flips midair and jumps over a large pile of tires. Another young man jumps in the shot and yet another is introduced with a close-up.

By the time the first minute of the video is over, about six young men have made an appearance. Each one appears his own style and specialty. The group is filmed running, jumping, twisting, flipping, and wall running throughout a Japanese locale. Most of the places where these men are performing are deserted or almost deserted. They are featured at a park, a playground, and a beach or port of some sort. The video must have been shot over a period of a few days because the performers’ outfits change is some places in the video. At the two minute mark, one man is performing, and two men from their group are filming.

When the hidden camera man (the one recording all three of them) is taken into consideration, there are at least three camera angles per performance. The use of multiple angles allows the audience to see more the performance, as well a better perspective regarding the nature the particular routine being performed. Instead of just seeing it head on or only from the side, the audience is provided with a 360 degree view. The men in this video seem to be very close and they make an excellent team. This sense of kinship between them adds to the viewing experience. Instead performing in a way that is business like or with an “this is work” attitude, they seem to be sharing the joy of the performance with one another and with the viewers.

They are enjoying the company and skill of their companions. As a result, they worked well together and created an amazing video. These guys live and breathe parkour. Several times in the video, they jump from high or far places and land gracefully in lower, more precarious places. Wall running is also featured. Tire piles and playground equipment acted as a stage for their incredible tricks as well. Several camera angles are utilized. All of the performers are extremely talented, the scenery is beautiful, and the overall feel of the video is welcoming and breathtaking. It is also rewarding to watch. It was inspiring and fun at the same time. It was also very well made. The cameras were steady throughout the recording process and the quality of video was excellent. The performers were a joy to watch and the video was very entertaining. This is a highly shareable video.

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