LOS ANGELES—One small step, one giant leap: The evolving art of parkour. Imagine a sport that can trace the roots of its technique as far back as the days of indigenous man, tribal survival and nomadic existence. This sport celebrates the ancient tradition of freedom of the mind, encompassing virtual meditation, willpower, patience and strength. It is a sport that promises the ultimate in fitness and mental agility and courage, that has graced our movie screens in the most extreme of action scenes, a sport that considers jumping from one roof of a building to another as an average routine. Welcome to parkour.

Parkour is the modern name recently given to a form of free running, an art of tremendous strength, movement and agility, derived from the French word “parcours” meaning “obstacle course.” Parkour, similar to “traceur” under French terminology meaning “tracer,” or Parisian slang “to move with speed,” is the unassisted, efficient movement over obstacles, including buildings, walls, fences, stair rails and even trees. It is usually confined to urban areas but can take place anywhere that appears impossibly difficult, challenging and diverse.

So who on earth would put a name to the apparent insane activity of jumping off the tops of high story buildings, one may ask? About twenty years ago, in the leafy suburbs of Paris, a young kid named David Belle and his friend Sebastian Foucan created the foundations of parkour as a socially-accepted physical activity. In the 2003 movie “Jump London,” Foucan said, “Le Parkour has always existed, free running has always been there, the thing is that no one gave it a name, we didn’t put it in the box. It is an ancient art of The Neanderthals - in order to hunt, or to chase, or to move around, they had to practice the free run.” The evolution of parkour to what is today owes much thanks to martial arts and the teachings of such current legends as Bruce Lee, and to the movie stuntmen who pushed the boundaries of risk to the extreme.

Visually, parkour is most pleasing to the eye, leaving you literally on the edge of your seat in suspense at the impossible moves they seem to pull off with ease. It encompasses elements of gymnastics and dance, where the fluidity of movement shines through over even the most dangerous of obstacles. Expression of creative movement is encouraged, testing all areas of physical agility, strength, endurance and flexibility, demanding a high level of fitness and mental focus. Spinning and aerial rotation is often used along with explosive power moves and base jumps. The promoters behind parkour explain as follows: “With training for parkour comes fitness, patience, perseverance, self-awareness and a reassessment of the world around you. It is very common for new practitioners to quote having ‘Parkour Vision’ after beginning training and starting to see and relate to the physical world in a completely new manner.”

One would imagine the practice of parkour to be high up there on the danger zone list, too, yet on the contrary, statistics say as a physical craft it is a lot less dangerous than you would expect. The key, according to the guys who live and breathe for parkour, is preparation, understanding and respect for the body’s ability. It is relatively injury-free, seeing a lower percentage of injuries than football, basketball and soccer. Parkour practitioners wear simple comfortable clothing and running shoes, to best equip them for a free range of movement.

Parkour is not shy in its global impact, either. Parkour athletes were hired by the military in recent years to help improve the agility of soldiers and to enable fast and creatively controlled movement. It was brought to the media’s attention most recently following the success of such films as “Casino Royale” and “District 13,” which showed fantastic scenes of parkour excellence. Parkour has gradually expanded across the world and is now well-practiced throughout the U.S., Africa and Asia. Because no expensive equipment is required, parkour has no focus on social standing and so appeals to a wide range of youths from all backgrounds and walks of life.

Some sadly still frown upon parkour, thanks to the lack of understanding of its practices, despite one of its key principles being to respect the environment, nature and people. A respect of property is vital in keeping with the positive image and respect that parkour deserves, and its most devout followers follow these beliefs as a matter of principle. Despite its intense level of movement and demand, parkour is a very peaceful practice and doesn’t tend to brand itself as a sport per se, but more as a lifestyle choice.

Its background philosophy of peace, freedom and bonding of communities works against a competitive edge, leading to the creation of an ever-growing friendly network around the globe. As such, it has not merged into the commercial world of competitive sports. It wasn’t until three years ago, however, that Urban Free-flow, a parkour-dedicated association, hosted the Barclaycard World Free-running Championships in London.

This was closely followed by the Art of Motion events, staged by Red Bull across the U.S. and Europe. Events continue to prove popular, and parkour appears to be evolving with modern times despite its seemingly closed off  appearance to the entertainment world. Many would argue if it isn’t a competition, where is the room to excel? Some say that it needs this competitive branding in order to diversify, receive subsequent funding for greater recognition, and to become more widely accepted in the public eye. Yet most devout practitioners believe competing in parkour as a participant whose sole aim is to beat their opponent, would go against the core notion of ‘freedom of spirit’ and of social bonding, with no rules or regulations to comply with, facilitating its vision as a living work in progress.

So whether parkour does evolve as a competitive sport with a potential for Olympic status or not, is of little concern to a sport with a history this rich and socially embracing. Thanks to its outstanding ability to bring fitness, a sense of living and liberty to young communities both wealthy and underprivileged, parkour has etched its mark firmly on the radar of a sport that has an immense positive outlook, regardless of its competitive debut. Let's hope it sticks around for many years to come, on both our movie screens, in the best of the best action films, and as a worldwide, socially viable sport that embraces freedom and movement, paying legacy to a survival mechanism that has long stood the test of time.