Damien Walter's 2009 parkour free running showreel

Check out parkour free running master Damien Walters's latest showreel. (Thanks, Vann Hall!)

Previously:

Urban sport of"Parkour" for wannabe spidermans - Boing Boing

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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Anonymous

Alternate Universe:
Reese: You got Parkour in my Penutbutter!
Damien: You got Penutbutter in my Parkour!
Reese: I will call it Reese’s Parkour Butter Cups!

Yes, this guys Parkour skills are more awesome than chocolate!
spiderman0521

@37 – What is Danny MacAskill (the bicycle guy, uh, god) going to do to top that, make cold fusion practical and portable? Holy crap.
Anonymous

It’s not parkour, it’s free running.
Anonymous

veh kool.

this is equally awesome, and not something i’d seen before:

BIKE PARKOUR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o
TroofSeeker

Here at RedBull R&D we’ve been experimenting with various stimulants. Our receiving clerk, one Mr. Walters, received a package that was leaking. He finished his work for the year, then started running around like a crazy person.
The video is in slow motion.
alowishus

Does this guy run with Chase Armitage? Check this out, my favorite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unmIRB55RJE
Anonymous

I would pay money to watch police try and catch this guy on foot.
Daemon

Actually, I think a lot of what he’s doing would technically be Free Running and not Parkour.

The differance, as I understand it, is that free running tends to be flashy, while parkour is all about efficiency. They are equally cool in differant ways.
Antinous / Moderator

Where’s the Yakety Sax version?
Tdawwg

That pole-climbing he does by jerky increments around 2:00 is nuts.
weatherman

This guy is definitely one sick ninja. As much as I appreciate seeing him do all the tricks, I still want to see the blooper reel though.

@knowles: are you talking about the trick at 1:21? That was one of the coolest ones, in my opinion.
BrotherPower

And they cast Ben Affleck for Daredevil?

Huh.
Brother Provisional

I wonder how long it will take for this to become an Olympic sport?
Anonymous

Technogeek: didn’t you see the opening foot chase in Casino Royale?
Anonymous

That’s called gymnastics. That guys is a gymnast.
Anonymous

that was sick!!!!
u should check out the brazilians or the africans….. pretty cool….
Anonymous

“Parkour! I need those pictures of Spider-Man!”
ruzkin

Sorry to be such a stickler for semantics, but the majority of Damien’s (excellent) showreel isn’t parkour at all, but just very elaborate gymnastics.

Parkour is a physical and mental training method designed to get people out of trouble as quickly as possible. It was developed over three generations of French military firefighters (David Belle, his father Raymond Belle, and Raymond’s father-in-law) for the purpose of saving lives in extreme situations.

The last thing you will see in parkour is a flip. If you’re in a burning building, or racing to save someone from drowning, or a car crash… why risk your life showing off?

For easy info, check out http://parkourpedia.com/
spiderman0521

Most of it is way too flashy to be parkour. Not question about the level of his awesome though, a truly amazing and talented guy. For a more pure look at parkour in a feature movie, watch Banlieue 13 (District 13) with David Belle. Whoa.
dculberson

I’m curious as to how much of it is due to a known and oft-repeated route with elaborate choreography versus improvised as obstacles come up. The physical portion of it is no less impressive either way, but the outcome of anon11′s scenario (the police trying to catch him on foot) would hinge quite a bit on that.
Takuan

what a compendium! We live in a time where a grand synthesis is finally possible of all human martial/movement systems. From all times and all cultures. You could dress this man in national and historic costume for this reel and have a complete human history lesson and travelogue. I can see him in Chinese opera, leaping bulls in Minos, on a myriad of battlefields and performance stages.
pinehead

Damien Walter could be the recruitment poster child for male gymnastics. If I was some young punk and I saw that video, I’d have my butt in a gymnastics class the next day.
ravenword

I think I prefer David Belle’s style as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x98jCBnWO8w
hbl

Ok, we get it, parkour and free running and gymnastics are not the same thing.

Regardless of the semantics, this dude had better be a bloody well paid stuntman/choreographer. A lot of the moves reminded me of the Ninja Assassin rehearsal vids last year. Except on fire.
Enormo

Jesus wouldn’t stand a chance against him!
Anonymous

Fithos! Lusec! Wecos! Vinosec! I wonder if he knows that he’s using music from FFVIII in his showreel…
rawbacon2

Very, very cool, if only I had a sense of balance.. instead I fall of chairs.

Even more fascinating: Scientology ads on BoingBoing.
Anonymous

0:25 and 2:19 sure look like a Prince of Persia audition to me.
TroofSeeker

This is what X, extreme sports, has done for athletics. I challenge anyone in history to match this man’s skills. Or Shawn White’s.
X is a revolution in athletics. Eat this, Greece!
frankieboy

now I’ve got a headache.
Quiet Noises

Match his skills? I’m sure Dominic Lacasse could show him a thing or two.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKIQo4WnwTg
Anonymous

Just looked at the Lacasse video and he ain’t got jack to what i just saw Walters do. And, considering his superhuman feats, he can pretty much call whatever he’s doing whatever he wants to.
Anonymous

its awesome cool. i thank God for giving you that incredible skills and its a big encourage and motivation for a trying hard stunt like me… thanks for that inspiration moves if you could only come here in the philippines to teach us that great skills you have… serdge
technogeek

The thing I like about this reel is that it emphasizes just how hard he trains in the gym before attempting these moves in less-controlled situations without safety equipment.

Though if he has any sense, some of the “real world” moves were less uncontrolled than they appeared. Careful photography can make a huge difference, and clearly he’s working with someone who has some clue about how to use a camera. Not taking anything away from his very real skill, but part of the art is finding ways to control and minimize risks while hiding that from the viewer.

Hollywood really ought to hire a few of these guys for a chase sequence, if that hasn’t already been done.
dapascha

I’m in awe. Also, a little dizzy.
plorry

Oh my good Jesus, I want this man’s powers.
Anonymous

Anon@20: lol

And where in the HELL do his pants go at 1:00??
knowles

oh man, i lol’d at 1:15 when he does that backwards squatting hop over those huge mats. this is an awesome post.
Antinous / Moderator

I haz a jealous.
arkizzle / Moderator

Humans Rule!
Cowtown2

If someone would teach these parkour guys kendo and a few cheap confidence scams, we’d have the closest thing possible to Jedi Knights.

Well, I guess they’d have to get into international diplomacy and Zen Buddhism too, but whatever.

Okay, and magic tricks too.

And hypnotism.

Alright, alright, Jedi are really cool.
nosehat

WOW!

I want this guy to move to Hong Kong and start making movies RIGHT NOW!