Many great gifts have come from the French; the Statue of Liberty, "French fries" and of course Gerard Depardieu. None of these gifts, however are going to be much help should James Bond or John McClane come running for you. That's where the urban art form rooted in the streets of Paris known as Parkour, or l'art du déplacement, will come in handy.

If you'd like to learn this art form without tasting concrete, PK Cali offers a class for beginners to learn the basics of Parkour in the friendly confines of a gym. Recommended by our friends at Thrillist, beginners class with PK Cali meets every Thursday at 8 p.m., starting September 6 at the LA School of Gymnastics (8450 Higuera St, Culver City). The 90 minute long classes will teach some of the commonly used techniques like rolls, vaults and climbs as well as the philosophy and usefulness of Parkour.

Space is limited, so run, vault and climb over to your phone, if you keep your phone in a high hard-to-reach area. The rest of us can just pull our phone out of our pocket and call to register for class.

Because you never know when you might have escape the wrath of the angry chicken...

Nike Presto Commercial featuring Sébastien Foucan

Photo by Marco Gomes via flickr