Basic movements
Some movements defined in parkour are :
| Synonym | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| French | English | |
| Atterrissage [ateʁisaʒ] or réception [ʁesɛpsjɔ̃] | Landing | Bending the knees when toes make contact with ground (never land flat footed; always land on toes and ball of your foot). |
| Équilibre [ekilibʁ] | Balance | Walking along the crest of an obstacle; literally "balance." |
| Équilibre de chat | Cat balance | Quadrupedal movement along the crest of an obstacle. |
| Franchissement[fʁɑ̃ʃismɑ̃] | Underbar | Jumping or swinging through a gap between obstacles; literally "to cross" or "to break through." |
| Lâché [laʃe] | Lache, swing | Hanging drop; lâcher literally meaning "to let go." To hang or swing (on a bar, on a wall, on a branch) and let go, dropping to the ground or to hang from another object. This can refer to almost all hanging/swinging type movements. |
| Passe muraille[pas myʁaj] | Pop vault, wall hop, Wallpass, wallrun | Overcoming a tall structure, usually by use of a step off the wall to transform forward momentum into upward momentum, then using the arms to climb onto and over the object. |
| Dyno | This movement comes from climbing terminology, and encompasses leaping from a position similar to an armjump, then grabbing an obstacle usually higher than the initial starting place, often used for an overhang. This movement is used when a more simple movement is not possible. | |
| Passement[pasmɑ̃] | Vault , Pass | To move over an object with one's hand(s) on an object to ease the movement. |
| Demitour [dəmi tuʁ] | Turn vault, Turn Down | A vault or dropping movement involving a 180° turn; literally "half turn." This move is often used to place yourself hanging from an object in order to shorten a drop or prepare for a jump. |
| Passement | Speed vault | To overcome an obstacle by jumping side-ways first, then placing one hand on the obstacle to self-right your body and continue running. |
| Lazy vault | To overcome an obstacle by using a one-handed vault, then using the other hand at the end of the vault to push oneself forwards in order to finish the move. | |
| Saut de chat[sod ʃa] | Cat pass/jump, (king) kong vault, monkey vault | The saut de chat involves diving forward over an obstacle so that the body becomes horizontal, pushing off with the hands and tucking the legs, such that the body is brought back to a vertical position, ready to land. |
| Dash vault | This vault involves using the hands to move oneself forwards at the end of the vault. One uses both hands to overcome an obstacle by jumping feet first over the obstacle and pushing off with the hands at the end. Visually, this might seem similar to thesaut de chat, but reversed. David Belle has officially rebuked this vault however,[citation needed] and thus its inclusion as a parkour movement is debatable. | |
| Reverse vault | A vault involving a 360° rotation such that the traceur's back faces forward as they pass the obstacle. The purpose of the rotation is ease of technique in the case of otherwise awkward body position or loss of momentum prior to the vault. | |
| Planche [plɑ̃ʃ] | Muscle-up or climb-up | To get from a hanging position (wall, rail, branch, arm jump, etc) into a position where your upper body is above the obstacle, supported by the arms. This then allows for you to climb up onto the obstacle and continue. |
| Roulade [ʁulad] | Roll | A forward roll where the hands, arms and diagonal of the back contact the ground, often called breakfall. Used primarily to transfer the momentum/energy from jumps and to minimise impact preventing a painful landing. Identical to the basic Kaiten or Ukemiof martial arts such as Judo, Ninjutsu, Jujitsu, and Aikido. |
| Saut de bras[sodbra] | Arm jump, cat leap | To land on the side of an obstacle in a hanging/crouched position, the hands gripping the top edge, holding the body, ready to perform a muscle up. |
| Saut de fond[sodfɔ̃] | Drop | Literally 'jump to the ground' / 'jump to the floor'. To jump down, or drop down from something. |
| Saut de détente[sodə detɑ̃t] | Gap jump, running jump | To jump from one place/object to another, over a gap/distance. This technique is most often followed with a roll. |
| Saut de précision [so d presiziɔ̃] | Precision | Static or moving jump from one object to a precise spot on another object. This term can refer to any form of jumping however. |
| Tic tac [tik tak] | Tic tac | To step off a wall in order to overcome another obstacle or gain height to grab something. |