I have noticed that lots of articles on parkour are not as complete as I think beginning traceurs might need or want. So here is some basic parkour philosophy and moves.


I am going to start with my interpretation of parkour philosophy. In my mind, the main idea of parkour is self improvement. No matter your skill level try to do a little more each time you train. Vault a little bit higher obstacle, try some new combo you learned or made up. It doesn't matter as long as you try a little higher each day. Another big thing is humility. I really hate martial arts fanatics, they always seem to think everyone needs to respect them because they could throw them to the ground in a heartbeat and anyone who doesn't respect them is an idiot. Don't take that path. A little showing off never hurt anyone but never tell people they are lesser beings because they don't practice parkour or are less skilled. Honestly older traceurs are usually totally happy to show the newbies skills but I have met some real jerks.


Here is a list of moves, good technique, and good objects to start out on.

Kong vault-Probably the most popular vault. It is done by diving towards the obstacle and pushing yourself back into a running position with your hands. Try this at a gymnastics gym a lot before trying it outside.
Dash vault-Leap towards the obstacle with your legs out in front of you and push off of it when you come over. My explanation isn't the best so you might want to look up how to Dash Vault on Youtube. Try at a gymnastics gym.
Speed vault-Run towards the obstacle as fast as you can then jump side ways and put your hand down as you go over. Pretty easy if you have an okay idea on what you're doing so try it on sturdy three foot fences or railings before progressing to larger fences. This can be paired with a wall run to get over walls or chain link fences quickly.
Safety vault-Same as a speed vault but you put the foot on top of you down and shoot the lower one through. I don't think I did too good a job explaining this and the speed vault so once again check the tube, heck if you're confused on anything look it up.
Attack-Run at a wall at forty degrees and jump at about four feet away and kick of the wall with one leg out stretched to keep running. Great for getting over low railings. Might be a good idea to know how high up you are though.
Wall run/pop vault-Run towards a wall then jump at it and put one foot up on the wall at the peak of your jump. I am really unsure if this is how I actually do it so looking this up is a must.




This should be enough to get beginners off the ground and flying. One last very important thing. Learn to roll correctly. If no one you know can do a good roll for parkour an Aikido roll is very similar. Happy running.