Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
THE STREETS — This video is for those who thought things were cool way before they were cool. This guy was doing parkour back in the 1930s, and his stunts will blow you out of the water.
Parkour, or free running, became popular in France in the 1980s. But it turns out it’s been a thing shocking audiences since at least the 30s.
I’d like to introduce you to Georges Hebert. Hebert was a French naval officer who was impressed with the athletic abilities of indigenous tribes he met in Africa and wanted to emulate their skills. So, he started climbing buildings, jumping off bridges and literally bouncing off walls.
This video is 10 years old, but it only has 5,000 views — meaning you probably haven't seen it.
Somehow, some of Hebert‘s stunts seem more sketchy than some of today’s parkour tricks, and he’s doing it in slacks, loafers and a sweater. That’s next level, people. None of these baggy sweatpants, tight T-shirts and Nike’s. This dude just got done having tea with some socialite and then decided to crawl up a brick wall with a child on his back.
Check out the '30s parkour and appreciate how cool Hebert was before being cool was cool.
Yesterday's Have You Seen This?
