Starfleet Academy Parkour Team

SAPT Emblem

With the motto Dif-tor heh bIHeghjaj majQa', combining the Vulcan Dif-tor heh for "Live Long and" with the Klingon bIHeghjaj majQa' for "May you die well", the SAPT or Starfleet Academy Parkour Team was founded by Ava MacGregor and Lanista, who ultimately wound up serving together aboard the USS Mithrandir-A. The Old-Earth slogan for this activity was être et durer (to be and to last), but this was rejected as the team motto as Lanista has difficulty pronouncing French.

Parkour (or PK, not to be confused with Psycho-Kinesis), is a sport (or perhaps a martial arts discipline) developed on Old Earth. The object is to transit from one location to another by the most rapid and efficient means possible. It is essentially the athletic endeavor aimed at finding (and conquering) obstacle courses where there are officially none.

The terms for those who engage in this activity are traceurs for men and traceuses for women, though in the 25th Century, the masculine term tends to be used almost exclusively, though no disrespect to the feminine gender is intended.

Parkour emphasizes efficiency, including the avoidance of injury, and spatial awareness. Benefits to critical-thinking can also be shown.

Modern parkour is an outgrowth of ancient parcours du combattant, the Old French military's obstacle course training.

Movements

There are fewer predefined movements in parkour than gymnastics, as it does not have a list of appropriate "moves". Each obstacle a traceur faces presents a unique challenge on how they can overcome it effectively, which depends on their body type, speed and angle of approach, the physical make-up of the obstacle, etc. Parkour is about training the bodymind to react to those obstacles appropriately with a technique that works. Often that technique cannot and need not be classified and given a name. In many cases effective parkour techniques depend on fast redistribution of body weight and the use of momentum to perform seemingly impossible or difficult body manoeuvres at speed. Absorption and redistribution of energy is also an important factor, such as body rolls when landing which reduce impact forces on the legs and spine, allowing a traceur to jump from greater heights than those often considered sensible in other forms of acrobatics and gymnastics.

According to David Belle, you want to move in such a way that will help you gain the most ground as if escaping or chasing something. Also, wherever you go, you must be able to get back, if you go from A to B, you need to be able to get back from B to A, but not necessarily with the same movements or passements.

Despite this, there are many basic techniques that are emphasized to beginners for their versatility and effectiveness. Most important are good jumping and landing techniques. The roll, used to limit impact after a drop and to carry one's momentum onward, is often stressed as the most important technique to learn. Many traceurs develop joint problems from too many large drops and rolling incorrectly. Parkour has sometimes received concerns for its health issues due to large drops. Communities in Great Britain have been warned by law enforcement or fire and rescue of the risk in jumping in the high buildings. Although David Belle has never been seriously injured while practising parkour, there is no careful study about the health issues of large drops and traceurs stress gradual progression to avoid any problems. Despite this, the American traceur Mark Toorock and Lanier Johnson, executive director of the American Sports Medicine Institute say that injuries are rare because parkour is based on the control of movements not on what cannot be controlled.

Basic movements

Some movements defined in parkour are:[3]

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.

Balance -- Walking along the crest of an obstacle; literally "balance."

Cat balance -- Quadrupedal movement along the crest of an obstacle.

Cat pass/jump, (king) kong 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 the saut de chat, but reversed. David Belle has officially rebuked this vault however,[citation needed] and thus its inclusion as a parkour movement is debatable.

Dismount, swinging jump -- Hanging drop; lacher 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.

Drop -- Literally 'jump to the ground' / 'jump to the floor'. To jump down, or drop down from something.

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.

Gap jump -- To jump from one place/object to another, over a gap/distance. This technique is most often followed with a roll.

Landing -- Bending the knees when toes make contact with ground (never land flat footed; always land on toes and ball of your foot).

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.

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.

Pop vault, wall hop -- Overcoming a wall, usually by use of a kick off the wall to transform forward momentum into upward momentum.

Precision jump -- Static jump from one object to a precise spot on another object.

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.

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 Ukemi of martial arts such as Judo, Ninjutsu, Jujitsu, and Aikido.

Speed vault -- To overcome an obstacle by jumping side-wise first, then using one hand, while in the air, to push your body forwards.

Tic tac -- To kick off a wall in order to overcome another obstacle or gain height to grab something.

Turn vault -- A vault involving a 180° turn; literally "half turn." This move is often used to place yourself hanging from the other side of an object in order to shorten a drop or prepare for a jump.

Underbar, jump through -- Jumping or swinging through a gap between obstacles; literally "to cross" or "to break through."

Vault -- To move over an object with one's hand(s) on an object to ease the movement.

Credits

The wikipedia entry: [[1]]

Miscellany

This entry is being developed...