Jump Britain

This is a great documentary about the new urban sport of Le Parkour. There are a number of omissions with regards to the history of the discipline which I found slightly disappointing but the action in the programme is second to none. Filmed across numerous landmarks across the UK this shows Sebastien Foucan and a number of other freerunners moving with grace and fluidity through the urban and at times rural jungle.

Parkour is a blend of Philosophy and movement which appears to comprise of death defying stunts laid on for the cameras and some truly beautiful urban gymnastics.

This discipline is truly growing with the urbanfreeflow Ltd website which is mentioned in the show receiving over 1 million hits since the programme aired.

If you want inspiration for a new way to get fit this year check this out, I was inspired by jump London and this took my breath away with it's stunning visuals and the performers clear commitment to the art.

I must say that when I first saw Jump London I was a bit unsure about what exactly it was, but I was very interested. With Jump Britain I was sat at home, beer in hand and ready to see what would happen. I have to say that I was highly impressed. Unlike the first one, which was more targeted on the big moves and impressive moves, this one seemed to delve more into the philosophy and why they did what they did. I was also pleased to see that other members were joining in with Sebastian and his friend. I was a bit unsure when it was just the french, but when I saw people from the UK joining in I was tempted to give it a go myself.

The big shots in it were very impressive, the Stadium roof top had my heart in hand, and the walk across the bridge made my own fear of heights seem like a walk in the park. WHat impressed me the most was the street level moves they did. From my understanding of the documentary it was about fluid movement between the moves. It was gymnastic sort of stuff, but with a heavy Urban feel. I would have been put off if it wasn't for the fact that they guys who were doing it where far from your stereo typical thin gymnastic. These guys were either medium build or built like a boxer. It was great to watch and spurred me into trying to find more information about it.

I found a site called urbanfreeflow.co.uk which has a huge community and un-beknown to me had over 7000 active members and also covered Europe and even as far around as the USA. I hooked up with some guys and girls from Birmingham and a week later I was at a jam (its what they call it) with 20 odd other people. I highly recommend the site and trying it yourself, it was bags of fun. Ache a little bit though.

I personally felt that Jump London was made to show what parkour could do when you got really good at it, and that Jump Britain was a deeper look into why its done and by whom. It also opened my eyes to this new adventure called parkour and made me give it a go.

After seeing this on channel four, I have since seen articles popping up all over the place, Addidas have just released a new trainer that is specifically for parkour, MTV had a segment on it, BBC news, ITV, FHM, all sorts really. From what I can gather its really hitting it big, and its mainly in the UK. They guys that run urbanfreeflow.co.uk where the actual people that were in the documentary. Its really scary to think that anybody can actually do what Sebastian makes look so easy, with enough practice.

I highly recommend that people give it a go. ALso if you haven't seen it, I would suggest you try too. I found very entertaining while at the same time, it made me think very differently about how we move through the world today.

My final thought is that although some of the big shots in Jump Britain wern't as impressive as the ones in jump London, the low level street stuff made up for it ten fold. I would have actually preferred it have more street movement that the big shots. But all in all it was fantastic and highly enjoyable to watch. A big thumbs up.

To create a program such as this, that grabs and holds the attention of the general public and the parkour community, was a feat indeed. Mike Christie and the Jump Britain team have done an excellent job of showing the world more about the art of Parkour and deserve a massive thank you from the entire Parkour community.

It would have been very easy to portray this as 'just another extreme sport' which to some it is, but to the majority of people in the world that practise the art it is so much more. JB captured this when they brought in the British freerunners from Urban Freeflow and allowed them and Sebastien to talk about what Parkour is to them, it showed the effect that Parkour had had on their lives and I feel showed some of the magic that is unlocked inside when people discover it for the first time. It's not just adults playing at being children. It's not about big jumps and crazy stunts, there is so much more to it.

I, for one, look forward to the next instalment in the Jump series. Thank you to Mike Christie and the rest of the Jump Britain team. You have created something truly special and I hope that you will be able to follow the Parkour through what is looking to be a very big and year.

Jump Britain looks at how the urban sport of Parkour (Free-running) has developed in the United Kingdom in the period since Sebastien Foucan and co. took on London in the prequel to this stunning piece of television. J:B examines one of the UK's fastest growing urban sports and meets the people behind its incredible growth. It also follows Sebastien Foucan as he PK's across Britain (Channel 4 insisted on the geographically and politically incorrect title before you ask!) performing on some of the most iconic and spectacular locations imaginable. Indeed, it is hard to fathom how the production team managed to talk anybody into allowing this to happen at all - in one sequence Foucan runs across and then jumps a gap in the retractable roof of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff! Simply mind blowing. It would seem that this documentary may prove to be a defining moment in the development of Parkour, not only in the UK but globally. Its simplicity is its greatest attraction but for all its balletic grace, a certain degree of philosophical pretentiousness remains. Trying to justify and rationalise their chosen activity seems to form their greatest obstacle and a hunger for sustained media attention will invariably further drag Parkour into the mainstream. You get the distinct impression that despite vehement protestations that is exactly where those behind this activity in the UK wish it to go.

J:B is simply a stunning and possibly generation defining piece of television. Like the birth of skateboarding and roller blading, this feels like you are witnessing the birth of something very big indeed...

Parkour is a discipline that involves running, jumping, vaulting, climbing and generally traversing terrain, both urban and rural, in a fluid manner. It originated in France but saw an explosion of interest in the UK scene after Jump London aired in September 2003. Jump Britain follows the story of the UK scene since that explosion, and sees Parkour taken nation-wide.

Jump London was a great documentary introducing Le Parkour to a wide audience, explaining the discipline and showcasing Sebastian Foucan's, Johann Vigroux's and Jerome Ben Aoues' abilities. But it was not without its flaws.

Jump Britain addresses these flaws(notably the kind of Parkour on display and the manner in which it was shot) and builds on the original to produce a much better documentary from the point of view of the Parkour community. In fact, many of us will go as far as to say we could not find a manner in which to improve it. The locations are varied and often lend themselves to both the spectacular, but also the more technical elements of Parkour. The camera angles allow for a proper view of the traceurs(practitioners) runs, which allows the viewer to more properly understand what a Parkour run consists of.

The programme is informative, but contains enough of the wow factor to hold the attention of those who are not so interested in the background to the discipline.

Overall, Jump Britain has improved on Jump London(which was still a great documentary) and set a bench mark that future titles in the series will have to try very hard to surpass. I can't wait.