| The Yamakasi |
Meet the modern day samurais
who put a whole different spin on living life on the edge. Bored
with growing up in the concrete jungle of the Paris suburbs, they
called themselves the Yamakasi and developed their own unique form
of high-rise entertainment.
There are currently seven Yamakasi (though
there are rumours they're in the process of training more up) and
they range in age from 19 to 28. Two were born in Africa, two in
Vietnam and three are French. The one thing they do have in common
is a disdain for public transport and a passion for danger.
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Highrise ballet |
Become part of the
view |
Spot the mentalists...
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The name 'Yamakasi' is taken from a Zairian
word meaning 'strong spirit, strong body, strong man'. The guys
see their work as an art form rather than an extreme sport and although
the idea of traversing a city this way may seem anathema to most
mortals, it's the most natural thing in the world for them. "Way
before us, people in the forests ran, walked and climbed to get
around… What we've done is adapt that to our own environment
- to modern life," says Yamakasi Williams Belle (pictured above,
left).
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| It's not just a case of taking a deep breath
and saying, "Hey, remember me?" to the heavens above. The
Yamakasi say their skill lies in "the art of movement"…
and lots of perp work. When it comes to life-threatening jumps - and
most of them are - it's vital the jumper has worked out all permutations
before attempting it. Distances are calculated, risks weighed up,
and timing has to be spot on. |
Lift's out of order again...
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"I'm glad I
take care of my nails" |
Yamakasi admire
the view |
Look no wings |
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| Who needs ropes, huh? |
It's raining men |
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But what about the fear? That most fundamental
of human emotions that keeps us safe when danger is near. "Yes,
sometimes the fear can paralyse you," says Perriere, with an
ambivalent shrug. "But our training enables is to overcome it.
Danger can be your enemy, but it can also be your ally."
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Essential Yamakasi Moves |
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Saut
de fond
(Basic Jump)
This is a jump from one point to another - the jumpers leaps
across a drop, usually between two buildings. |
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Tic-tac
This is the 'Urban Leapfrog' jump where they jumper uses one
obstacle to flip over the next |
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Passé muraille
(The pass wall)
In this move, a wall is used as a springboard to enable the
Yamakasi to take up another position or cross an object. |
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Saut de chat
The 'cat-jump' requires arms and legs to be outstretched in
order to grasp onto the next obstacle. |
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Saut Aveugle
This is the 'blind jump' where they jumper leaps without seeing
the point of landing. |
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Saut de précision
This is precision jumping. This jump requires the most control
and is the most dangerous. The target is a fixed point of small
size, which requires an accurate evaluation of the jump and
landing. |
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| Yamakasi
- The Movie |
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The Yamakasi became widely known
through the Luc Besson comedy caper film Taxi 2 in which they
played a group of Ninja-style bandits who jumped from building
to building. Besson, who has directed a number of cult films
including Nikita, Leon and The Fifth Element, was so impressed
by the boys' rope-free acrobatics he decided to finance a
film solely about them.
Yamakasi The Movie portrays the gang
as a bunch of modern day Robin Hoods - relieving the rich
of their worldly burdens, giving it to the poor, and leaping
off a lot of buildings in between. Except for a single sequence
when the seven scale the exterior of a giant skyscraper with
the aid of digitally-erased cables, special effects are non-existent
and the crew spent half their time with their fists in their
mouths. The critics hated it, but Yamakasi still topped the
French box office, and overnight, what started off as a dangerous
hobby became a lucrative career. For more information, go
to the official
movie page.
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Pictures and text in courtesy to PS2 Passenger
® Sony Entertainment
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