“The 1st National Parkour Tournament attracts hundreds of fans in Beijing this month. The extreme sport’s popularity is growing quickly in China. [Photo: CFP]

Romain Abeck came to China three years ago when parkour was just a French word pretty much unheard of in the country. Now he is happy that he has found his niche here.

Parkour, sometimes called free running, is an urban sport focusing on surpassing all obstacles in one’s path as smoothly and fast as possible using just the body.

Originated in France in the 1980s, the sport is now gaining popularity among young Chinese enthusiasts.

Abeck, the 27-year-old French parkour enthusiast, is now operating a training club in Beijing. He also works there as a parkour coach, teaching members how to move, jump and avoid injuries.

He recalled that there was virtually no parkour training school or club in China when he first arrived in Beijing in 2006.

“Very few people had any knowledge about the sport,” he said. “So one of my dreams was to start one myself in China.”

Today there are at least 100,000 people participating in the sport in China, according to an estimate by the Chinese Extreme Sports Association.”

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And as I couldn’t find a website for the tournament itself, I thought I’d add a link to “5 best Parkour Fails“