The Yamakasi (Lingala: ya makási) are the original group of l'art du deplacement (parkour) practitioners from Lisses, France.
The name has been used in popular references to parkour, including in French films about admirable lawbreakers who do their physically demanding deeds for charitable ends.
[7] The group began calling themselves the Yamakasi - Congolese Lingala ya makási, meaning strong in one's person.
[8] The group complemented their training with values and principles shared with all members,[8] such as honesty, respect, humility, sacrifice and hard work.
[14] In the late 1990s, after David's brother sent pictures and video to a French TV programme, the popularity of parkour began to increase.
A series of television programmes in various countries subsequently featured video footage of the group, and as the popularity increased, they began to get more and more offers.
[17][18] Several films and documentaries of the Yamakasi have been made - all without David Belle or Sébastien Foucan, who had left after disagreements on the core values of their movement.
In 1998, the Yamakasi were featured alongside graffiti artist Darco in Le Message, a youth-oriented short film produced by Bruno Girard.
In a 2004 semi-sequel, Les fils du vent,[19] the group moves to Bangkok and gets entangled in a battle between the Yakuza and the triads.
The French documentary Génération Yamakasi, released in 2006, showcased the group's movement and philosophy, and how they passed it on to urban youth.