Parkour and Guns

So in my story there are three fugitives trying to escape a dystopian country. I'm thinking of having them all know parkour. In this digital tech-heavy world, they are actually very minimal, not even using a cell phone half of the time.

It takes place about 90 or so years from now. So technology has obviously improved since today. I'm also thinking of also having them carry and wield weapons. Before this parkour idea came along, I thought they would wield shotguns, assault rifles and stuff, hell even the MC uses a machete. But that might get in the way, so maybe they could stick to just pistols, knives, or other smaller weapons. But would that also get in the way for if someone were to know parkour?

And what age is earliest for someone to learn parkour? 14?

 

In my experience, falling and landing on my keys is one of the most painful things I've experienced in recent memory. I don't even want to know what that'd be like if it were a machete.

 

I sure hope you don't break the law in about a century or so.

 

I wouldn't worry about laws (except the ones in the story) and 14's good. Have you seen those skateboard maniacs?

I put parkour in my story. A girl uses it to get away from the police by jumping off the top of a very tall building. The readers don't need perfect realism with parkour. It's romantic fantasy stuff.

 

Two things to think about when involving carrying weapons and parkour or other gymnastics. Most holsters, sheaths and such are designed with gravity in mind, so there's a definite "up" and "down" to how they are fitted to the body. Anything that's going to be used by someone flipping and tumbling will need straps top and bottom to keep in from flapping about while they're doing their moves. These days you can buy holsters for the exact make and model of your pistol, but back in the day, one of the cops I worked with had a generic "large frame semi-auto" (or however it was phrased) style holster, and every time he got into a foot pursuit, the weapon would work its way free and go clattering to the deck. Definitely a less than ideal outcome.

The other thing is related to @The Dapper Hooligan's concerns regarding keys. Parkour and free-running involve you putting parts of your body that you don't usually do in contact with the ground. This isn't officially parkour, but if Bo Duke has a large holster or sheath on his left hip, this slide isn't going to go so well.



Ditto with the ninjas with crossed swords strapped to their backs doing all sorts of front roll. Your spine can bend into a C-shape for efficient rolling, 60cm of edged steel in a wooden (or carbon fiber? You did say future setting) isn't going to flex so well.

Possible, but keep these points in mind when you write.

 

I agree with @Iain Aschendale 's point about rolling with a sword on the back.
Most people depict them at a diagonal, drawn over the shoulder, and while
most swords have some flex, they are not to bend that much.

Carrying smaller and lower is more feasible, and you can pad your back to absorb shock
and be able to forward roll a bit easier. Cause they are not impeding the ability for the
spine to arc into the roll, and not get hung up by a long sharp rod.
May take hits on 'cool' factor (sword across the shoulder), but it ain't cool when you wind up with a guard embedded
in your back, as you get stuck to the ground.

Or if you have the tech, you might look into using a folding sword, like the one in Dishonored

As long as you can make it safe to carry around (think of it like a large scale version of a switchblade), and
can transport it without impeding your ability to do all the parkour things. So just like the gun/holster
thing, take that into account.

And there is a wide variety of fighting and throwing knives that can be inserted into a boot with the sheath
clipped on cause will close shave. And smaller flatter combat/throwing knives can be strapped to the fore arms
(hopefully on the outside) as they can be used as a basic armor when not in use, a they would held in their sheathing,
by a simple twist release, or even a strong magnet to prevent them from falling out with the vigorous activities. So
for the average person they could mount 8-9 in. long knives on the backs of their forearms, and it will not restrict
movement in either the wrist or elbow.

As for guns, IDK. Most concealable and easy to carry weapons are not exactly known for their accuracy.
But, you could have some type of gun that folds up in a small caliber (Max. size 9mm), to keep it slim
and much more manageable, while not sacrificing too much in the way of stopping or penetration potential.
Though there is a variety of options when it comes to bullets, so you can figure out which will work best
for your characters needs.
Will not recommend taking the collapsible wrist crossbow, nor upgrading it to a railgun, due to just for the simple
fact that plasma burns don't exactly indicate a good time. Unless you have a hell of a ceramic alloy that dissipates
heat, and can shield the user, along with the pesky problem that rails will wear out and warp from the intense
friction and plasma produced when powered up to firing at near light speeds (but even the ones we have now
can still suffer the same issues, as the ones in sci-fi at much 'slower/lower' velocity/energy potentials.)
However one of my favorites, going back to the old days of wooden legs as a means of concealing a small pistol
(some could accommodate a revolver). So technically you could do something similar with a cybernetic leg
though the barrel and overall mechanism can not be all the way up to the knee, and some fancy mech will have
to be able to have it so you wouldn't shoot your foot off, since the barrel can not pass through the ankle joint,
otherwise the purpose of parkour is severely impeded. But technically speaking you can build a gun into
a synthetic leg, and learn how to use it effectively.
Maybe slim shoulder holstered pistols would work, but I am not too sure how well they would fair, unless
they also strapped to the torso to keep them more solid to the body, so as not to just bash the hell out of the
person, while being concealable.

Hope this is kinda helpful to you.

 

Depending on the weapon system you're using you can sling them in a variety of ways to keep them all nice and snug while you're running about. The ling on the rifles we had in my army days was sort of doubled up and you could wear the thing like a backpack if you felt the need. The SMG I use- well, did until very recently- can be strapped very securely across the front of our tac-vests. They helpfully collapse down to the size of a morbidly obese pistol, too.

 

My swords bend further than my spine can. But it takes a fair amount of force to do so.

Wouldn't want to try rolling with them on my back, though. I'd be likely to come out of the roll with less limbs and body parts than I went into it with.

 

Concealed carry weapons (CCWs) are often small-frame handguns, and with severe penalties in many states for losing concealment, especially dropping the weapon in view of others, that fitted holsters are very popular. You have to give a decent pull to unholster the weapon. These weapons are unlikely to fall out of the holster during pursuit. However, there is a hard lump wherever you place the holster, and you really don't want to land on it, even though the holster may have a flat extension to protect your skin,

 

Could soldiers do a combat roll? What if they fell on their backs or chest, wherever the guns were? What about parkour?

 

Real parkour was developed by, IIRC, a French guy as a means of moving quickly and efficiently towards or away from danger. He intended it for use by soldiers, cops, and medics, and one of the main things was the use of hands (quadrapedal locomotion) where appropriate. Most of the "parkour" videos you'll see on youtube are properly freerunning, which is a more showy and artistic version.

 

That's probably more what my 3 mc's would use parkour for. Using showy and artistic moves could attract unwanted attention...

So it's just using it to move quicker and more freely?

 

If you’ve trained with your weapon, then running with it should feel fairly natural and you’d also know how to hold it and secure it properly. I’m sure you can YouTube some videos of special forces doing obstacle courses with assault weapons and sidearms and gear.

That said, I doubt anyone could be very graceful with a shotgun strapped to their back. Guns are (usually) metal and fairly solid. It’d be like trying to move with a dumbbell strapped to you. Even small guns can be heavier than most people realize. A .45 caliber handgun can weigh up to five pounds: https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/model-460xvr. Of course a 45 is a big ass fun and a glock 9mm weighs less than a pound. So stick to small composite weapons.

 

I'm bringing this thread back because I have a follow up question, and it would be better to write it here. But how reliable would a baseball bat be with this fighting style? In order to make every character's load out more diverse. With the one I want to use a bat with, he's very fast and aggressive, mainly does best as offense. The guns he uses are a sawed off pump action shotgun, and a double action revolver. Though I'm thinking about adding a stock, so he can hit people with it if he needs to. But he's a fugitive, so he needs weapons that he can easily conceal, and he moves around a lot, often using parkour in the process.

Could he still hit someone with the gun if the stock is sawed off? Could the bat be effectively used with one hand? Would it just be better to use a sword or machete?

 

Might be better off with some kind of flexible/collapsible baton thing (fighting stick from Elementary series), or lead filled flexible whip. Don't forget about stealth; darts, bolo and such.