Welcome to the Parkour Encyclopedia: Swiftanica!
Hey Swift and Cincinnati parkour community!
We’ve heard from a lot of parents who want to better understand what their kiddos are doing in class—what’s a Kong? A Lazy Vault? A Tic-Tac? We get it, parkour has its own language! To help bridge that gap, we’re putting together Swiftanica, a Parkour Encyclopedia.
This is a work in progress, and we plan to keep expanding it over time. If there’s a move you’d like to see added, let us know! Check back periodically as we continue building out this resource.
Without further ado, here is Swiftanica!
Disclaimer:
Videos and Techniques laid out in this Encyclopedia are shared from external sources and do not necessarily reflect the teachings and practices at Swift Movement.
Table of Contents
VAULTS
Safety Vault
The Safety Vault is a type of vault used in parkour and freerunning. Often recommended as the first vault to learn, it is considered one of the easiest vaults, and many other vaults are variations of it. It also does not require any commitment (it is one of the few vaults than can be performed slowly), it is not as intimidating to perform as more advanced vaults, and it can be used when momentum has been lost.
Technique:
- approach the obstacle face on
- place the outside hand on the obstacle and the outside leg on the obstacle
- lift the inside leg through as the body moves over the obstacle
- land on the inside leg and continue forward running movement.
Speed Vault
The Speed Vault is a vault used in Parkour. A Traceur or Traceuses will use this vault to quickly overpass an obstacle, such as a low wall, railing or barrier, while preserving forward momentum for additional movements such as a roll or underbar. It is used frequently in all types of urban environments.
It is performed by: – Running up to the obstacle. – Pushing off of one foot. – Placing one hand on the obstacle (if you jumped off of your right foot use your right hand and vice versa). – Swinging both legs over the obstacle to one side. – Landing on the ground and continuing running.
It can be turned into a safety vault, the most basic vault in parkour, by placing the outside leg on the obstacle as you pass (to maintain height) and then swinging the inside leg through. It can also be turned into a Two-handed vault by placing the outside hand next to the inside hand on the obstacle.
Technique:
- Run toward the obstacle
- Launch off of the leg on the same side as the hand placed on the obstacle,
- Brush hand on object just enough to launch yourself forward over the obstacle,
- Come out in one-footed run, landing on the leg you used to launch over.
Lazy Vault
The Lazy Vault is a vault used for moving over an obstacle sideways or diagonally while still running or moving forwards.
Technique:
- Run parallel or diagonally to the obstacle
- Place inside hand on an object and force inside leg over the object
- Push off with outside leg while swinging an inside leg over the object in an arc
- Follow inside the leg’s arc with outside leg while letting go of inside hand and touching the ground with the inside leg
- Touchdown with outside leg while pushing off of object with outside hand
- Run out with split feet
Thief Vault
The Thief Vault is a slightly modified or hybrid movement of the Lazy Vault and the Dash Vault. It is less well-known and is considered by some to not be a useful technique or even a proper movement. It is used as a slightly faster alternative to the Lazy Vault, and the exit is more perpendicular to the obstacle as in a Dash Vault, rather than being parallel to the obstacle as in a Lazy Vault.
Technique:
- Approach the obstacle as you would in a lazy vault, with the inside arm on the obstacle.
- Jump off using your inside leg, and rather than swinging it over the wall, swing your outside leg up and over before the inside leg.
- Place the other hand behind you, keeping the elbow bent not straight to absorb the impact.
- Push off with your hands and exit in the same way you would in a dash vault; with your legs split, and come out running (or use an appropriate landing if necessary).
Disclaimer: A Thief Vault can be dangerous if performed incorrectly or without proper preparation. Perform this movement with caution!
LANDINGS
Precisions or “Pre’s”
Are techniques used in Freerunning to accurately move from one obstacle to another. Most precision techniques both start and land on a precise spot, with limited or no extra momentum. The two most common types are precision leaps and precision jumps. Many vaults, cat leaps, and even flips can be incorporated into precision techniques.
Cat Leap or “Cat”
The Cat Leap is a technique used in Parkour and Freerunning to land on a vertical object, such as a ledge, a wall, or a fence.
Cat leaps are one of the most common techniques used, and should be learned and practiced at an early stage.
They can be done from a running jump, a precision, a lache or a number of other techniques.
Technique:
- Preform a precision, vault, a running jump or any other technique that will give you enough forward momentum,
- Move both your hands and feet to prepare for contact,
- Absorb the impact with your legs and catch the top of the object with your hands,
- Pull yourself up
- and then run as fast as you can.
Safety Tap
The Safety Tap is a type of landing. It is often used for smaller drops and when rolling is not possible.
Technique:
As always, land on the balls of the feet. Have your feet about shoulder width apart. Bend the knees to absorb the impact. Do not let your knees “out” (when your heels hit your butt), and keep your knees above or slightly behind your toes (it is fine if your knees go slightly forward of your toes, but don’t let them go too far). Make sure the knees are pointing in the same direction as the toes. Keep your back straight; do not arch or curve it, and maintain your lumbar curve. Place your hands down on the ground (not too hard), and use them to push off and keep running.
BAR TECHNIQUES
Lache
The Lache is parkour or freerunning move used to swing off of a bar or branch. After swinging the traceur can grab onto another bar or branch, or land in a precision, crane or cat.
Technique:
- Hang on a bar or a branch
- Try to swing forward and backward by moving your legs forward and backward
- Once you’re swinging, gain momentum by going backward
- Swing forward and when reaching the most forward point, throw yourself off the bar with your hands
- Now, if you want to land on a second bar, pop your hips up, extend your arms to grab it and continue swinging. If you just want to land in any other place, use the landing technique you prefer, such as a crane, a cat, etc.
Disclaimer: A Lache can be dangerous if performed incorrectly or without proper preparation. Perform this movement with caution!
Underbar
he Underbar is a Parkour movement where one swings one’s body under a bar in a fluid manner.
Technique:
- With enough forward momentum, jump up feet first and place hands on the bar
- Swing under the bar, extending the body
- Arch your back
- Follow through
360 Underbar
The 360 underbar is similar to the regular underbar, but with a full twist of the body. It is often used in free running, although some believe it to be efficient enough to be used in Parkour.
Technique:
- With momentum, grab the bar, palm down, with one hand (let’s say the left). Reach under the bar and place the right hand palm down to the left side of the left hand.
- Pull your body underneath the bar upside down. Get the right elbow over the bar.
- Turn your head to look forward (in the direction you are going).
- Shoot the left knee underneath the bar, bring the other leg through and continue forward.
WALL TECHNIQUES
Climb Up
A Climb Up is a movement used in Parkour and freerunning to go from a hanging position to the top of a wall. It is similar to a muscle up, but also using the feet to push off with.
Technique:
- Starting from a hanging position, bring your feet up close to your hips.
- Push out with your feet so that your hips move away from the wall.
- At the same time, pull up with your hands.
- Shift your grip so that you can push down with your palms.
- Push upwards into a cast position; from there you can easily bring one foot on top of the wall, but one may have struggle putting a feet on the ledge, so he/she may use the shinbone to get upon the obstacle (although this should be avoided if possible).
Wall Run
The Wall Run is a widely used movement in Parkour, used to get over a wall too high for a vault. It is also used in Freerunning ( Wallflips are based on wallruns).
Vertical
In a vertical wall run, the traceur runs straight up the wall.
Technique
- Run towards the wall with strides a little longer than usual but not too long, not too slow nor too fast.
- When near the wall, take a small jump and plant the balls of your feet slightly higher than hip level. Lean back.
- Bend the knee of the leg that is on the wall, and push off with the other leg. Bring your chest close to the wall, and at the same time push off with the leg that is on the wall.
- Once you begin to kick off the wall, bring your other knee up towards your body, increasing your center of gravity and thus transforming your momentum up the wall. Reach upwards. If preformed correctly, it should transfer your horizontal momentum into vertical momentum.
- Grab the top of the wall, and preform a climb up.
Horizontal
The horizontal wall run, or tic tac, allows a traceur to overcome a gap or other obstacle in which running over the ground would be difficult or impossible.
Technique:
- Run diagonally towards the wall at a good pace
- Jump towards wall
- Place one foot on the wall and push off forward and upward
- Turn your body so that you are facing parallel to the direction of motion.
Tips + Warnings:
- Placing your foot too low on the wall can cause your foot to slip and your body to slam into it.
- Make sure to lean back when your foot touches the wall. Contacting the wall with your chest back and then bringing it close to the wall will convert the momentum of your run into upwards momentum. Leading with your chest will stop your momentum.
- If your foot is slipping when trying to push off, place your foot higher. If you are pushing off away from the wall, place your foot slightly lower.
- Be careful about trying a wallrun on a slippery surface.
Tic Tac
A Tic Tac or simply Tac is a movement used in Parkour and Freerunning. It consists of pushing off of a wall, similar to a wallrun, but moving across the wall rather than up it. It is usually used to get over an obstacle next to a wall.
Technique:
- Run up to wall at an angle.
- While leaning away, place the closer foot on the wall as you push off with the standing leg. Do not stay too far from the wall.
- Bring your chest close to the wall as you push off forward and upward.
- Turn you body and reach in the direction you want to go.
- Land in a roll, precision, crane, cat, run out or use whatever technique is best suited for the situation.
Common Variations –
Extra steps can be added if more distance needs to be covered. If one extra step is to be added, first push off on the weak (away from the wall) leg, then push off again with the strong leg. For a third step, push off with the strong leg, the weak leg, and the strong leg again.
Tic tacs are often combined with flips in tricking and Freerunning. A common combination would be a tic tac followed by a sideflip.
COMBINATIONS
Double Kong
A Double Kong is a type of vault. It is similar to a regular Kong, but is used to get over two obstacles (or one long obstacle). The approach and takeoff is exactly like a regular kong, but rather than letting one’s feet touch, the traceur pushes off twice.
It used both in Parkour (since it is an efficient way to get over gaps) and in freerunning (since it is visually impressive). There is also a variant known as a triple kong were the traceur pushes off three times rather than two; however, this is a very advanced move and is rarely attempted.
