Patty Loew:
We move from space travel to a more down-to-earth way to defy gravity. Climbing and leaping are basic elements of parkour, an athletic discipline that combines running and gymnastics. "In Wisconsin" reporter Andy Soth shows you how  parkour is played in Madison.

Andy Soth:
This is no quiet stroll through the park. On an otherwise quiet summer day on the UW campus people are jumping, vaulting and flipping. As risky as this may appear they'll tell you that what they're doing is far from reckless. It is a discipline like dance or the martial arts. It's technique of moving quickly and efficiently through space no matter what obstacle is in your path. It's called parkour.

Woman:
Derived from the French word “parcourir” that means to run through a course or route.

Andy Soth:
Alissa Bratz would know. She teaches middle school French in Milton and it was her love of French culture that brought her to parkour.

Alissa Bratz:
I saw it in a French film.

Andy Soth:
The film stars the father of parkour. Even before the movie his athletic feats were an Internet sensation. Parkour has developed a small but devoted following. Devoted enough that dozens of practitioners from across the country gathered in Madison for a parkour jam that Bratz organized.

Alissa Bratz:
A parkour jam is like a music jam.

Mark Toorock:
Once you've vaulted over a railing, jumped off a curb, once you've done even the smallest part of it you're always looking around and saying I could launch off that rock, I could climb up that pole or climb that tree and you just see the world as a playground.

Andy Soth:
They may see the world as a playground, but they'll also tell you they treat that world with respect.
Mark Toorock:
Our first ethos is leave no trace. When we go to an area we're not harming it or destroying it. We're not hooligans.

Andy Soth:
Parkour enthusiasts are mindful of the reputation skateboarders have gotten over the years and the restrictions imposed upon them but they also reject transportation technology, even something as simple as a board with wheels. And see parkour as a way to connect with the most basic, ancient skills of human survival.

Mark Toorock:
Originally we had to run, crawl, jump, climb, swim and do these things just to exist, to either go get our food or to run from something that thought we were food.

Andy Soth:
The flips and spins feed another basic human need, the desire for self-expression.

Andy Soth:
This more playful form of parkour is called pre-running. Both those who do parkour and free running tell you it has to start with the basics.

Alissa Bratz:
There is a strong, strong feeling in the parkour community that you don't want to practice jumping off of anything higher than one, maybe two feet for probably your first year.

Andy Soth:
The Madison parkour group always starts its weekly practice with a series of warm-ups. Then it's on to more challenging drills. And soon they're getting the attention of passers-by.

Man:
Parkour would imply getting from Point A to Point B as fast and fluidly as possible. We train our bodies and minds to be able to move fluidly over those obstacles without hampering us.

Andy Soth:
Even the skateboard dudes are intrigued. Bratz gives one thrasher an impromptu lesson.

Alissa Bratz:
You want to do that same landing on this wall. Get a running start. Awesome, good.

Andy Soth:
But soon he's wanting to try something more radical.

Alissa Bratz:
The idea is not about how can we be more extreme, it is not about that at all. The idea is how can I make myself stronger, parkour has really taught me to sort of harness my own strength.
Andy Soth:
That's what happens when you choose to overcome obstacles.

Mark Toorock:
I can find my own path, whether it's through an area or just through life in general.

Patty Loew:
Alissa Bratz has helped start a parkour group at Milton High School and is working to create a statewide parkour organization.