Learn the principles of Physics to know how the extraordinary stunts that you see on the videos of parkour are performed by the so called ‘human.
Friction
Parkour is striving to gain the best results by optimally applying the laws of physics, and even such a simple thing as friction plays its role in these flashy acrobatic movements. The Coefficient of friction is a decimal fraction stretched between 0 to 1, that is the ratio of static or kinetic frictional force between the shoes of a parkour athlete and the wall.
When bricks or walls are leaped on, a foot is made normal to the surface, pushing against it and therefore, normal force is directed into the wall. The normal force when coupled with the frictional force due to the frictional coefficient of the wall allows an athlete’s foot to be able to adhere to the wall and commence an upward climb. The grander the circle means more the coefficient of friction and hence the athlete can get a good grip and bounce away to the next wall.
Zigzag Technique
As such techniques are critical for successful execution of combat parkour, a zigzag motion is a technique challenge. It involves the athlete continuously pushing between two vertical surfaces alternately and incrementally gaining height. Such a motion somehow relies both on the timing of the athletes’ movements and the forces produced to keep the person in this upward moving position.
A horizontal velocity is generated as the athlete leaves the first wall allowing him to travel horizontally to the second wall. At the contact with the second wall, there is a normal contact force from the second wall which act as a frictional force which helps the athlete to push off and turn back to the direction of the first wall. As this pattern is persisted, the performer will continue pushing towards the upper level of the building and will do it without the effects of gravity.
Conclusion
It is hard to simply stand back and observe the strolling acrobatic movements and jumps and not simply be mesmerized by the sight of these feats of parkour, even the most ordinary street exercising for parkour is not that easy, but it has always been interesting to study. Understanding the biology and physics, combined with muscle training to make such movements possible. If you are into running or jumping up high, this part of the movement was probably the most daunting for you and if it happened, you no doubt marveled at yourself and your own razor knowledge of physics.
