Here are my top 10 favorite David Belle videos. I hope you discover a few videos you’ve never seen before, and I hope these inspire you to dig deeper, train harder, and uncover something about the sport of Parkour that is often lost in the social media age.
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In 2006, I went to a relatively new website called YouTube, and I searched for the term “Yamakasi”. I came across a music video for the song “1980” by Diam’s. The video starred David Belle. Years later I figured out that this wasn’t actually a music video, but that’s irrelevant. What’s relevant is the video hooked me! I was so inspired by David’s movement and physical prowess that I started doing Parkour.
The problem with discovering Parkour in 2006 is that there was no real way to learn Parkour! There were no gyms, no classes, no teachers, no online tutorial videos, and in my home state or Oregon, a population of 3,000,000+ people, there were maaaaaybe only 5 other people who did Parkour if that! And I didn’t even know they existed so I was out of luck. I was alone, and I had no choice but to learn Parkour in the only way I could figure to: I studied David’s videos.
In 2006-2009, most high level Traceurs and community leaders in the USA Parkour scene were fawning over the Yamaksi and Traceurs like Laurent Piemontesi and Yann Hnautra. But for me? David was obviously the one to follow. His abilities dwarfed everyone else by miles, and he had an energy, a style, and a confidence that resonated with me, too. I replayed his videos again and again, analyzing everything I could: his hand placement, his footwork, his arm movements, even his attitude. I wanted to move like Belle, and anytime I found a new video of him, it was like finding gold! I feel like I learned something new in every video I studied, and when there wasn’t anything new to watch, I rewatched the same videos again to try to find something I had missed.
As far as I can tell, it’s analogous to the stories I’ve heard of people trying to learn to read when they don’t have any books. For me, Parkour was reading, and David’s videos were my books. I learned them all by heart.
In 2011, I moved to France to work with David. I became his right-hand man and business manager, I learned Parkour from him directly, and most importantly we became close friends. I was finally fortunate enough to learn Parkour from the master in person, but before then the way I learned Parkour was through his videos. And maybe that’s the way David wanted it to be. One time he and I were speaking, and I explained to him how much the Parkour community wanted his guidance and insight. His response was something like:
“I’ve shown more to the Parkour world than what my father showed me. Look what I became from so little information. If I was able to reach my level based on what I had, then surely others can reach my level, too.”
It has been almost 17 years since I first stumbled across the Coca-Cola BBC hybrid fan edit (that’s what that first video actually was). Given the evolution of Parkour since then, David’s videos no longer have the same “wow” factor as they used to. But they have aged so well that they still resonate, and for me personally, my favorite Parkour videos are still his. Not only did David’s videos serve as my guiding light in my Parkour journey, his videos inspired the first truly global generation of Traceurs, and for that reason I believe they are still some of the most important and valuable Parkour videos in existence.
Here are my top 10 favorite David Belle videos. I hope you discover a few videos you’ve never seen before, and I hope these inspire you to dig deeper, train harder, and uncover something about the sport of Parkour that is often lost in the social media age.
#10. Remington Commercial.
The only newish video to make my list is this ad with Remington that was released in 2014 Hearing David speak about Parkour, his mindset, and his philosophy overlaid onto his movement is amazing. It creates a depth and a resonance that is rare to come by. This was filmed right in the center of Lisses which makes it extra special.
#9. Le Parkour de Nuit (Parkour of the Night)
What was Parkour training really like back in the day? This video is a honest look at one side of it. It speaks to the importance and prevalence of parcours in the discipline, and it also speaks to community, heart, and purpose. This one was filmed in Lisses, and there are some great moments as well. The tree they climb? As of 2013, it was still there. That drop that David takes from it is massive.
#8. On r’met ça (“Let’s do it again”)
A crazy edit, with a cool vibe. It’s as if it was made to represent something more than movement. It’s as if it was made by someone who said, “I don’t care,” and yet because of that it’s worth caring about.
#7. Le Tuyau (“The Tube”)
This video pretty much just shows friends at a beach pushing limits and taking chances to beat the waves. It’s not a Parkour video and yet it is… and yet it isn’t? And yet it’s David. David transcended the sport in a way no one else did or has. When everyone else is still focused on the movement to create resonance, David didn’t have to be focused on the movement to be about the movement. This video speaks to that.
#6. Un Lundi Cool (“A Cool Monday”)
This video shows a handful of friends playing on a bridge and jumping to a tree. It’s only 36 seconds long! Maybe that’s all Parkour needs? Think about it. This bridge is still in Lisses, by the way, but the tree is gone. Also, big props to Kazuma who is in this video. He’s a legendary Traceur that has more insight to Parkour and the original method than almost anyone alive.
#5. Forêt (Forest)
Contemporarily Parkour is usually portrayed as being fun and jumping around with friends. But the core of the discipline is that – a discipline: training, pushing oneself, becoming stronger. David once said, “Parkour is a training method for warriors.” Even through the graininess of the video, this video speaks to that.
#4. On Avance Toujours (We Always Advance)
This is the original Parkour video that inspired so many. Although the movement isn’t as “wow” as it was when we all watched it in the 2000s, the movement still stands the test of time in an incredible way. My favorite part? The BBC gap. If you watch closely you’ll see that he did the jump twice! And it was so easy and smooth the second time. I’m still waiting for someone to do the jump once. Dom? Khedori? Someone please make the jump look as easy as David did so we can finally conclude he was, indeed, human.
#3. Parkour History
This is a video series that came to the public eye in 2012. A local Lissois posted the entire series on YouTube, and after a conversation, he agreed to take it down so we could post it on David’s channel. It’s mesmerizing to see the early movement and the physical prowess of David. Plus the music is epic. In 2012 when David and I published this video on his YouTube, rap music was the prevalent Parkour music genre for videos. Imagining a video paired with a Michael Jackson video didn’t even make sense! Yet somehow David did it, and he did it well. As a side note, David was about 25 years old in these videos.
#2. TF1
The iconic TF1 feature. It’s candid. It’s authentic. It’s special. It’s one of the only videos that also speaks to the history of Parkour by showing photos of Raymond Belle (David’s father) and Jeff Belle (David’s half brother, and also son of Raymond). This is also the only video from the 2000s where David is both moving and providing commentary. Worth pointing out, the “petit saut fond” is a monster drop. I’ve been there and it’s absolutely daunting! I never measured it, but my guess is it’s close to 15 feet (4.5 meters) from the bottom of the foot placement. And the drop at the very end? Belle bounces off the ground. Incredible.
#1. Accroches Toi (“Hang On”)
My favorite David Belle video is “Accroches Toi!”. Roof gaps with rolls are what set Parkour apart, the vaulting technique was for sure a movement innovation, and the wall run was perfected through Parkour. But the precision jump might be the true quintessential Parkour movement because it didn’t exist in any form until Parkour arrived. This video has a ton of them, and they are awesome. About 10 years ago, I spoke with David about this video, and he said they filmed it in about 3 hours. One location, 3 hours, no fancy clips, a bunch of repeat movements? Who does any of that nowadays? And yet it’s still so compelling!! The video oozes style and the technique is flawless.
Those are my top 10. Do you disagree with me? What are your favorites? At the end of the day, you can’t go wrong studying any of David’s videos, so if there’s one I’m underrating, I’d love to hear about it. You can contact me on my website at AdamDunlap.com, or write us through the Parkour.com contact page.
David was a true movement innovator, a true master, and an athlete that was virtually unparalleled in the 20th century. We all owe him a debt of gratitude, and we’re lucky to have this video evidence of his mastery and athleticism.
P.S. This is the original David Belle video I saw that inspired me to get into Parkour in 2006. It’s pretty awesome.
*Many of these videos are hosted on the ‘David Belle’s YouTube.’ This is a YouTube channel I created for him in 2011 while working with him. After I moved back to the States in 2013, someone took my place as David’s manager. In this transition there was some confusion and David’s new management copyright claimed the channel which effectively shut it down! It was wild and totally bizarre. Per my understanding no one has access to this channel anymore. As such, it serves as an archive of videos that David approved posting online in the 2011-2014 time frame, and is not officially associated with him anymore.