In the discipline of parkour

Parkour

Parkour is a method of movement focused on moving around obstacles with speed and efficiency. Originally developed in France, the main purpose of the discipline is to teach participants how to move through their environment by vaulting, rolling, running, climbing and jumping...

, a vault is any type of movement that involves jumping or leaping over an obstacle while putting weight on it with one's hands. Parkour vaults enable the practitioner (traceur) to quickly and efficiently pass over railings, tables, walls, and platforms.

There are many types of vaults that have standard names in parkour. Nevertheless, parkour is not limited to pre-defined types of movement, because the discipline is about moving freely and efficiently negotiating obstacles, not about performing tricks.

Basic vaults

• Monkey vault : Both hands are placed on the obstacle; both legs are pulled up in a squat position with the hips raised and the traceur pulls himself/herself over.
• Lazy vault : One hand is used to swing both legs over an obstacle and the other is placed behind your body to create stability and a way to further propel your body.
• Two-hand vault/Side vault : Both hands are placed on the obstacle and the body goes alongside the arms, with the legs parallel to the obstacle.
• Safety vault: Similar to the two-hand vault, except easier. Place both hands on the obstacle, then the outside foot is placed on the obstacle and the inside arm is then released, while the outside foot pushes the traceur off the obstacle.
• Speed vault : A jump sideways but in the center of the obstacle, while one hand is used to push oneself forward. This is similar to the lazy vault, however the inside hand does not touch the obstacle.
• Kong vault : A monkey vault, except that you dive parallel to the object- only placing your hands down at the end of the obstacle. The hands are then used to push down and the legs are put in a monkey position.
• Dash vault : Jump first, then place hands down to carry oneself over. The result will be a sitting position halfway through the vault, with the arms used to push off the obstacle.
• Reverse vault (not to be confused with the 360 side vault): Place one or two hands on the obstacle and perform a backwards spin over it.
• Pop vault : Run towards an obstacle and place one foot on it, kick upwards, grab the top of the obstacle and go over it.
• 180 Turn vault : Place one hand on the obstacle, preferably in the underhand position, place the other on it normally, then turn over 180 degrees.
• Underbar : Jump and go feet first between two bars or a bar and a wall, then pull yourself through.
• Kash vault : A combination of the Kong and Dash Vault. The execution is similar to a Kong Vault, except at the end of the vault, the traceur pushes himself/herself up in order to give some space for the legs to exit as a Dash Vault.
• Diddie Kong vault : Like a kong, but hands come down in succession, one in front of the other.

Intermediate vaults

These vaults are considered advanced parkour techniques and are often harder to execute.
Some of these vaults are more commonly used in free running

Free running

Freerunning is a form of urban acrobatics in which participants, known as freerunners , use the city and rural landscape to perform movements through its structures...

, which places less emphasis on efficiency and simplicity of movement.

• 360 vault : Like a speed vault, but with a 360-degree turn about the hand.
• Cast bomb : backwards kong to backflip.
• Kong gainer : A kong vault into a gainer
  Gainer
  A gainer is an acrobatic skill in which the acrobat performs a backwards somersault while still moving forward . In diving, this is known as reverse rotation...
  
  .
• Dash bomb : A dash vault, but with a frontflip after the dash.
• 360 degree underbar vault.
• Upperbar: An underbar mixed with a dash vault, used in order to go under a bar while using an upper momentum.
• Turn underbar vault.
• Double kong vault : A kong with two taps; useful to get over two obstacles at once.
• Triple kong : A kong with three taps.
• Gate vault : One's weak hand is placed on top of an obstacle's surface while the strong hand goes below for strength in rotation over at a 45-degree angle.
• Sky vault : A one-handed cartwheel
  Cartwheel (gymnastics)
  In gymnastics, a cartwheel is a sideways rotary movement performed by bringing the hands to the ground while the body inverts and the legs travel over the body, coming down to a standing position.-Terminology:...
  
   over an obstacle.
• Jackie Chan
  Jackie Chan
  Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
  
   vault : Tic tac to a no-handed dash.
• Vert vault : Hands are placed in a regular vault fashion but one leg is kicked up over one's head.
• Split one : Done in a lazy vault fashion, but at the peak of power the legs are split.
• Rocket vault : Done in a lazy fashion, both legs go together and are perfectly straight, and the feet are grabbed by the traceurs hand.
• Straddle vault : Both hands are placed at the top of the obstacle and splits are done to overcome the obstacle.
• Rail flip vault : Two hands are placed on top of the obstacle and a frontflip / forward handspring is executed.
• Trophy vault : To roll over an obstacle as efficiently as possible. Usually done after spoiling a move.
• Vertical : Run at a horizontal surface at an angle and spin oneself 360 degrees around the surface.
• Screwdriver : A kong vault, but when the hands are placed, a twist is done to go four feet further over the obstacle.
• Lazy "turn" : A lazy vault, but with a turn to land in a cat position.
• Dive roll : A dive over an obstacle with a roll to withstand the shock at the end.
• Carriage : A wall walk, but with a Kong right at the peak of the walk.
• Palm spin : A thief vault, but hands spin the body in a 360-degree motion.
• Barrel : A double-leg reverse over an obstacle with one hand.
• Flare : A double-handed cartwheel, but legs are straight and together.
• Star : A cartwheel over an obstacle.
• Crane : A jump landing on one leg, using or not using your hands to get up.

Variations

• Thief 360 : A thief vault but with a 360-degree twist. It is usually immediately followed by a roll.
• Inside monkey : A monkey vault but the legs are outside the arms; the legs are still bent monkey-style.
• Inside dash : A dash vault but the legs are outside the arms.
• Underbar 180 : An underbar, but hands are used to twist body in a 180-degree motion.
• Double jump : Practitioner uses a higher object/obstacle to jump from to gain more height/distance.
• Dash 360 : A dash with a 360-degree twist.
• Dash bomb barani : A dash bomb with an aerial, or barani, instead of a front flip.
• Weave: Practitioner goes through an opening (for example, between two bars) and quickly comes out the other side.
• Blisto : Like a regular vault but with a 360-degree twist. A blisto with a 720 is a "blast".
• Wall climb : Like an upward wall run, but hands are used to push oneself upward.
• Cat grab : Clinging to an obstacle in a squat position.
• Cat leap : To jump for distance and go into a cat grab.
• Pop : One of the most basic and popular moves. Traceur will run at a wall or fence and "pop" (kick) and propel themselves upward to overcome the obstacle, which is usually taller than them. (ex. Pop regular = kick up wall and then do a regular.)
• Monkey Roll : A monkey vault followed by a roll, without landing on your feet before the roll.

Extreme styles

These styles require considerable strength or flexibility. These vaults are more commonly used in free running

Free running

Freerunning is a form of urban acrobatics in which participants, known as freerunners , use the city and rural landscape to perform movements through its structures...

, which places less emphasis on efficiency and simplicity of movement.

• Jeeper / Awkward / Pendulum : In a vert motion but body is turned quickly and one leg goes over the head while the other goes below the body.
• Spring forward : A rail flip but with a spring flip and legs are spread out.
• Scissors : In a lazy motion, but legs move side by side in a scissorlike cutting motion.
• Superman : In a kong motion, but hands do not touch the obstacle.
• Cannon : A jump but legs are in monkey form and arms go around cupped legs.
• Underbar 540 : An underbar but with a quick 540 twist
  Corkscrew (trick)
  A Corkscrew is a martial arts or dance move that is believed to have originated from Wushu and Capoeira. Because of the difficulty and appearance of the move it has been incorporated into various other athletic activities, namely Tricking and Break Dancing...
  
  .
• Gate flare : Like a sideways gate vault motion, with legs perfectly straight.
• Blast crane: Jump to blast and land in crane.
• Double in : A kash but with two kongs.

Some combinations

• Magic vault : two-hand to speed to lazy
• Cat to cat
• Precision to cat
• Kong to cat
• Kong to precision
• Kong to handstand
  Handstand
  A handstand is the act of supporting the body in a stable, inverted vertical position by balancing on the hands. In a basic handstand the body is held straight with arms and legs fully extended, with hands spaced approximately shoulder-width apart...
  
  
• Dash to cat
• Gate turn
• Lazy turn
• Screwdriver to kong
• Kong to kash
• Pop grab
• Pop grab to cat grab
• Reverse to cat
• Speed to cat
• Speed to crane
• Double kong to cat

Jumping styles

• Crucifix air: When in the air, legs are straight down and arms spread out.
• Coffin: Like a crucifix, but arms make an X motion on chest.
• Angel: Legs go behind body and arms go with them.
• Eagle Air: Legs are curled slightly to chest, arms are straight out to sides.

External links

• Guide to Parkour - Search under "Basic movements" for a word description of how to do some of the vaults
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZhgIn4iVzg Over 103 vaults