High flyer: A member of a parkour community jumps over a wall in Kuningan, South Jakarta, recently. As part of the community, parkour hobbyists explore human agility, learning how to jump and climb using certain techniques. (JP/J. Adiguna)

They climb, they jump, they land and they fly. Taking inspiration from France, youngsters in Jakarta befriend the city's walls, learn about discipline and boost their self-esteem.

The youths are ordinary people living ordinary lives, but they push past doubts and boundaries because of an urban sport known as parkour.

Jakartans can watch them practice every Sunday morning at Senayan Sports Complex in Central Jakarta or the Soemantri Brodjonegoro arena in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

Parkour was founded by David Belle in France in the mid-80s.

The aim of the urban sport is to move from one point to another efficiently and quickly, using agility and the nimbleness of the human body.

Male parkour practitioners are called traceurs, and female practitioners are called traceuses.

Belle spread the trend worldwide through Yamakasi, a French film about a group of traceurs bounding across Paris' urban reality, stealing from the rich to pay for medical bills.

In Indonesia, an interest in parkour stirred among the urban youth in 2003. There were no official communities of the sport, however, until July 2007, after seven Indonesia parkour en-thusiasts met in an parkour Internet forum.

After some chats, they launched the Indonesian Parkour Community website, parkourindonesia.web.id.

"Today, there are parkour communities located in as many as 14 cities in Indonesia, with around 500 members in total," Muhammad Fadli, a founding member, said at a weekly work-shop in Kuningan recently.

The national community keeps in touch, mainly through the Internet, and sometimes arranges to visit each other's cities to conduct joint training sessions.

Despite the growing popularity of the sport, there are still a lot of misunderstanding in Indonesia regarding the philosophy and essence of parkour.

"Parkour is often considered an extreme sport, but it is not despite the athleticism elements," Fadli said.

"It is an art form, in which we can learn a lot about life, discipline and self-esteem."

He said parkour had not only improved his health, but also changed his way of thinking and his perspective of life.

"I became a more positive person. The aim of parkour is to look for better and efficient ways to reach your goals, which I apply to real life, whether it is in work, relationships or problem solving," he said.

Abeng, a marketing agent who joined the community four months ago, agreed with Fadli. He said he had learned more from parkour than simply how to run, jump and slide more quickly.

"I learned how to take responsibility. Because if you force yourself to perform a technique you haven't mastered, you'll end up injuring yourself," Abeng said.

"Like in real life, for every action you take there is a cost to pay, so you have to know your limitations, accept it, but also train harder to be better."

Fadli and Abeng said they hoped the public would see the discipline of parkour as more than just a bunch of men and women running around in jumpers, gazing at the city and leaping through the concrete jungle.

"In France, Parkour is used as a self-development and confidence building method for prison inmates," Fadli said.

"I hope people can appreciate the philosophy and essence of the art."

Fadli said that for now, the Indonesian Parkour Community will focus on physical development rather than technique.

"We have only been training for a year, while it takes years to master the skills of the parkour showcased in Yamakasi or on YouTube videos," he said.

"We know our limitations. Hopefully, with constant discipline, we can finally express our art through exploring Jakarta." (hdt)

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