Yamakasi are a French group of practitioners of l'art du déplacement, free running, street stunts and other types of acrobatics.
[*Daniels, Mark. "Generation Yamakasi", French Documentary with English subtitles, Accessed April 18, 2007]
Overview
The group resembles, and has its origins in, that of parkour which involves surmounting (often) urban obstacles as efficiently as possible. The philosophy of the Yamakasi, however, is that of aesthetics and complete freedom of movement from point A to point B, as opposed to parkour which focuses on efficiency of movement between point A to point B, without the emphasis on aesthetics. Hence Yamakasi perform flips and tricks, while traceurs and traceuses (parkour practitioners) do not.
Yamakasi was created in 1997 by former members David Belle, Sébastien Foucan, Yann Hnautra, Charles Perrière, Malik Diouf, Guylain N'Guba-Boyeke, Châu Belle Dinh, Williams Belle.
The group was disbanded. David Belle, Sébastien Foucan and other practitioners split due to disagreement over the definition of l'art du déplacement and money. After one year the group was recreated without David Belle, Sébastien Foucan and other practitioners, but with Laurent Piemontesi, Châu, Williams and Yann.
In Korea, some practitioners use the term
Yamakasi, instead of main terms
parkour or
free running, when they are training.
[Korean Yamakasi Association; "Introductory information", Accessed October 11, 2007]
Etymology
Often mistaken for Japanese, the word
yamakasi is actually taken from the Lingala language, which is spoken in the two Congos.
Ya makási can mean "strong body, strong spirit, strong person", though in French usage its meaning is closer to "high energy".
References in popular culture
- The characters in the 2001 French film Yamakasi use the sport to steal money from seven rich people to get enough money to afford a heart replacement surgery for a child.
- The Yamakasi group return in 2004 with a sequel, 'Les Fils Du Vent'.[1] The Yamakasi move to Bangkok and battle the Yakuza and their Thai associates who are attempting to take over the city. Châu Belle Dinh, a member of the Yamakasi, who plays 'Baseball' in the first film; switches sides to play a bad guy with good intentions.
- ESPN did a parkour report in 2007 with Laurent Piemontesi and Châu Belle Dinh members of Yamakasi.
References
Parkour
YamakasiYamakasi
