About halfway through Book 2, Yamini begins her studies of parkour. It is then that we get a glimpse at the priority system Narran has chosen to use in order to help Yamini master such a high level skill. What I'm running with in this first draft is my best guess at a traceur's philosophy. While I personally do not practice parkour, the order of priorities Narran suggests seems logical enough to be believed, just as Yamini's instructions to Avatar on the subject of polefighting in Book 1 seemed logical. I have every intention of finding and interviewing a real life traceur to evaluate my take on parkour philosophy. Hopefully I am not far off!
Narran's basic principles are as follows:
Awareness: The ability to actively perceive one's surroundings for the purpose of quickly plotting an effective and efficient course from point A to B. This includes rendering several usable planes for running and climbing, locating stationary and anticipating moving obstacles, and neutralizing, evading or dispatching foes along the course. Limited experience can be gained, to a point, from standstill evaluation of an arena. Further experience can be achieved only by physically navigating a course. Awareness is the top priority and must be mastered first.
Balance: The ability to maintain a heightened kinesthetic disposition despite course difficulty, distraction or duration. This includes compensating for uneven, shifting, narrow, multiple and vertical surfaces at varying velocities. Advanced levels require performing tumbles, flips, various aerial feats, and distributing weight to more quickly and easily traverse an obstacle or lessen impact from a fall. Balance is a high priority, second only to awareness.
Speed: The ability to move rapidly. More than simple sprinting, a rogue must be able to quickly maneuver his or her arms as well as legs in order to grab onto, push or pull various obstacles. Without proper speed, distance between jumps cannot be closed, momentum cannot be built on vertical surfaces, and the chance of being caught increases. "An idle rogue is a dead one." Speed is of moderate priority and should be perfected after awareness and balance are mastered.
Strength: The ability to repeatedly lift, push and pull weight. A rogue's main concern while running, jumping and climbing is body weight. In order to be properly prepared for a flee circuit, one must be able to lift and hold his or her body weight several times, or over a lengthy duration. Uncomfortable positions, such as that of an extended crouch or clinging to the side of a wall, aid both in hiding and escaping. Occasionally the rogue must carry excess weight, depending on the mission. It is thus advisable to train well beyond the practical threshold. Strength is a moderately low priority.
Endurance: The ability to sustain awareness, balance, speed and stength over long periods of time. What appears at first to be one of the more valuable attributes, endurance is actually the lowest priority. Considering that a rogue who properly utilizes the previous four attributes should be able to navigate a course and escape with relative quickness and ease, endurance lessens in importance. "If a rogue finds that she is out of breath and can no longer perform the feats necessary to escape, that rogue has made a mistake somewhere and thus deserves to be caught." Endurance should be perfected to a degree, but should not be given priority over the other four attributes.
What we have here is a chain of priorities: Awareness > Balance > Speed > Strength > Endurance. The further down the chain, the more an attribute's efficiency relies on the ones above it. Awareness is of utmost importance. Balance is essential, but worth nothing if the rogue cannot plot an adequate course in his or her mind. ". . . balance without awareness leads to faltering feet." Speed is essential to physically move from point A to B and to evade capture, but speed is useless if the rogue stumbles and falls. Strength is necessary to overcome many common obstacles, but worthless if the rogue is too sluggish or imbalanced to reach them. Lastly, endurance should be used mostly as a training component to improve the other four attributes. Accomplishing extraordinary feats in a short amount of time is more advantageous to a rogue than maintaining par performance over long durations.
