Kids need to be carried down the fire escape. A grandmother needs help exiting the building.

What do you do?

Rush to the rescue, of course.

After all, isn’t that what your years of physical training were for? The climbing, the squatting, the lifting: Everything was a preparation for the freak chance that one day you may need to play the hero.

Christopher McDougall’s newest book, Natural Born Heroes, is 324-page ode to our yearning for physical preparedness. Based around the tale of how a small band of fighters on the island of Crete subverted their Nazi invaders, the book explores the many ways people hone themselves into fit and useful humans.

While it isn’t a parkour book per se, you will be pleased to know that he uncovers the origins of our sport, from Georges Hébert’s Méthode Naturalle, all the way to David Belle and the Yamakasi. He even explores the streets of London while attending a meet-up with Parkour Generations students.

His passion for human movement is infectious. After a few pages in, you’ll be chasing him across the globe, training Mov Nat in Brazil, and tomahawk throwing outside of Philadelphia.

Few authors write about learning to use your body so well. From the subtleties of body position during Wing Chun Kung Fu, to the ideal pacing for ultra-endurance running, McDougall captures our deep fascination with how to become better athletes.

Aside from being an adventure tale, it is chock-full of anecdotes about past presidents, special agents, and human physiology.

The book is hard to put down, but as soon as you do, you’ll be running out the door to start your own hero training. That’s a guarantee.

It brought me into myself and taught me the connection between my body and mind. Thus, it was no accident that when I started to read books about the spiritual dimension of martial arts that I became even more enamored. I saw how my time spent in the dojo was crafting me into a better person. Obtaining goals, overcoming obstacles, becoming a better citizen, karate was helping to steer my young self toward a more fulfilling life.

Vincent Thibault’s book, Parkour and the Art du’ Deplacement: Strength, Dignity, Community, captures the spiritual essence of parkour in the same light as those early martial arts books. In highlighting humility, effort, and social awareness, he makes a compelling case that parkour is a powerful vehicle for transforming oneself into a better citizen.

It is a poetic little book that opens the door to a whole new discussion about the role of parkour in our world. Previous authors have explored the physical practice of parkour, but none dive so deep as Vincent in regard to how the practice itself changes the individual.

Don’t expect his book to help you obtain a better kong vault or a more efficient climb-up. Other books can help you get there. This book, it’s something different.

It’s the type of book that all parkour athletes need to read, regardless of one’s level of expertise.

Less about technique and more about self-cultivation, books like this are what will reorient parkour from a hype-driven extreme sport, into a discipline that can benefit millions of lives, for years to come.

Good parkour training will go some way to helping you reach your true potential and you will come to realize that your limits are far beyond what you could ever imagine.   – Dan Edwardes

For my second parkour-specific book review, I take a peek at Dan Edwarde’s “The Parkour and Freerunning Handbook.” If you’re unfamiliar with Dan, he is the co-founder of Parkour Generations, as well as the co-creator of the A.D.A.P.T. and Parkour Fitness Specialist certifications. 

What does that mean?

He doesn’t just teach people parkour. He founded an organization that teaches others how to teach parkour.

That’s a serious credential.

So, about the book: It’s a thin little volume, weighing in at 144 pages. Yet, don’t let the size fool you. Within the pages you’ll find a solid primer on the skills needed to get started in parkour.

One of the main things that really stands out is that Dan covers both the mental and philosophical framework for parkour, alongside the physical. For instance, after identifying running, jumping, climbing, and balancing as foundations, he singles out stealth and touch/sensitivity as two more skills that need cultivation. He goes on to mention how parkour is a transformative practice, in which you hone your inner self through targeted effort. And, my favorite part is that he includes enjoyment as just as important as exercise, rest, and proper nutrition for one’s overall well being. To take it a step further, the last page of the book has the heading “Philosophy and physicality”.

How cool is that?

He sounds like the type of guy we’d all want to hang out with, and his passion for the discipline captures why parkour is so popular.

Another aspect that I really appreciate is the discussion of the need to “forge your body” through specific conditioning. That’s the purpose of this Parkour Conditioning website, so his emphasis on toughening your tissues and building “body armor” out of your muscle really resonates.

Moving beyond the first chapter, the book dives into movement skills. There are three pages devoted to landing, with solid advice for injury avoidance.

Balls of feet, people!

Following that he instructs everything from rolls, standing jumps, running jumps, balancing, vaults, mounts, wall runs, drops, laches, and underbars. What we know as “cat leaps”, he refers to as “arm jumps”, and yes, they are highlighted as well.

Now, I consider myself an aficionado of exercise illustrations. Maybe it’s an attempt to reconnect with the picture books of my childhood? Perhaps it’s a natural interest for someone who prescribes exercise for a living?

Regardless of my reasons, I was excited to find that Dan uses illustrations to describe movements in the final tutorial section. On an image or two you have to squint your eyes to understand what is being shown, but the pictures are a unique addition and add style over regular photos.

Aside from the skills taught in the middle of the book, the tutorial section includes more complicated drills like the “Corkscrew Pop-up”, “Turn Vault” and “360 Tic Tac”.

It’s enough of a teaser that you are left with desire to start exploring more advanced skills on your own.

Bottom line: The book achieves what it states in its title — it’s a solid handbook for those looking to get acquainted with parkour/freerunning. With basic movements and a sampling of more advanced skills, it’s a well-written and easy to follow resource to help you get on your way.

Did I mention it’s super affordable?

At only $10 on Amazon.com, you’d better clear some space on your bookshelf for this gem!

Yet, it can be done.

Many months ago, I received a copy of the 2^nd edition of “The Ultimate Parkour and Freerunning Book”, by Jan Witfeld, Ilona E. Gerling, and Alexander Pach. Given the relatively recent release of Mad Skills, I had been more than busy with my own promotions, so I really didn’t have the time to do a proper review.

Things have finally slowed down a bit and I had a chance to pour through the book over one weekend.

The first thing you notice is its high production quality. From the foldout cover to the full-color interior photographs, the publishers put out an excellent product. The action shots are crisp and the sequences truly capture movements from start to finish.

Digging into the book, you’ll find a thorough history of parkour and freerunning. Georges Hébert, méthode naturelle, Raymond Belle, the Yamakasi, David Bell, Sébastien Foucan, and l’art du déplacement — you’ll gain a nice understanding of parkour’s development to the present day.

There is even a long passage directly from Tim Shieff, one of my favorite athletes!

The authors then delve into muscle fiber function, energy sources utilized in training, and general strength and conditioning. If you’ve never taken a physiology course, it is a nice primer on how your body works under athletic loading. 

Tied into the initial section are a few pages devoted to training principles that beginners should observe. Footwear, clothes, safety awareness and general behavior — it’s a nice refresher.

After that, the book dives into specific skills. By my count, there are about three-dozen movements described. Given the breadth of moves used by traceurs and freerunners, one might argue that it is a shallow account of potential skills. However, for the individual getting started, it is more than enough to get you going down the right track.

One of the neat things that the authors do is to include illustrated diagrams of how instructors might set-up obstacles to assist with teaching their students. They also cover how to “spot” someone for safety and how to provide cues for error correction.

It bears mentioning that this book is an excellent resource for aspiring coaches. Aside from offering ways to help students at a one-on-one level, the book goes into how to bring parkour and freerunning into schools and classroom settings. There are even 6 distinct lesson plans for how one might structure a series of classes. 

In summary, you can think about this book as a general textbook on parkour and freerunning. It’s enough to get beginning students familiar with concepts, movements, and philosophy. And then it has the depth to inform aspiring coaches on some of the basic science and teaching techniques needed to help athletes develop.

Give it a peek. If you don’t already have a book on parkour and freerunning in your library, then fill the void with this worthy addition!

My interest in picking up the book was pretty straight forward: I wanted to improve my ability to do a variety of static gymnastic holds, such as the planche, and front/back levers. These skills don’t necessarily translate to parkour conditioning, but they are sick nonetheless.

The book certainly succeeded in its instruction. After one four-week cycle of training, I’ve been able to progress to advanced tuck planches and straddle levers. I’m a convert for sure.

The information within this classic is straight forward enough to help everyone from beginners to upper level athletes improve with their skills. If you’re interested in getting stronger with bodyweight movements, I would recommend it without reservations.

Without giving away too much, some of the main highlights from the book include:

• 242-page appendix of pictorial exercise descriptions (handstand variations, ring skills, planches, levers, pull-up variations, iron cross development, and the flag)
• Rip-out training charts for exercise progressions
• Plenty of practical reminders such as “elbows in” for handstand push-ups and use 6-seconds as the main goal for static holds
• Discussion of periodization cycles (microcycles, mesocycles, macrocycles), and the idea of DUP or daily undulating periodization
• 69 pages of potential injuries and possible treatment approaches, along with 35 pages of prehab/mobility/flexibility skills

Finally, my favorite take-away from Overcoming Gravity is that if you’re serious about getting stronger with gymnastics strength, then you cannot neglect your posterior shoulder musculature.

You must do V-sit and Manna progressions!

Buy it here on Amazon.com. (non-affiliate link)

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