Parkour is a daredevil discipline. However, this does not mean that Axel Louis – 26 years old – has not made it his profession. The Curepipien announces the opening of a training center for this sport in September of this year.
Thief vault. Wall run. Cat grab. These are all words that are part of the vocabulary of tracers – those who practice parkour.
This discipline also has ambassadors in Mauritius. Axel Louis, a founding member of Impulsion, is one of them: “I became interested in parkour during my student years. I then took gymnastics classes to improve my skills. And today I am proud to live from my passion.
The young man leads parkour workshops for those who want to get an adrenaline rush: “There is a strong demand for training. Young people want to learn and I help them by training them in this discipline. If all goes well in September, I plan to open the first dedicated parkour training center.”
When asked if it is dangerous, Axel replies, “There is no such thing as zero risk. But, the novice will first learn to understand his body before trying out jumps under our supervision.”
Having had the opportunity to understudy actors in international films shot in Mauritius, Axel also runs a stunt school: “The film industry is booming, so our training school allows Mauritian stuntmen to make a living from their passion.”
The tracer will soon open a training center dedicated to parkour.
Parkour (French: is a training discipline where practitioners (called traceurs) aim to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without assisting equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible. With roots in military obstacle course training and martial arts, parkour includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, plyometrics, rolling, and quadrupedal movement—whatever is suitable for the situation.
Parkour is an activity that can be practiced alone or with others, and is usually carried out in urban spaces, though it can be done anywhere. It involves seeing one’s environment in a new way and envisioning the potential for navigating it by movement around, across, though, over and under its features.
Parkour as a type of movement was established by David Belle in France in 1988, however the practice of similar movements in communities around the world brings into question the relevance of such an attribution. The discipline was popularised in the late 1990s and 2000s through films, documentaries, video games, and advertisements.
