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Andy Tran, 23, stands before a set of stairs with a blue railing connected to a handicap entrance at Lanier Middle School in Fairfax City.

Shirtless, in athletic shorts, extra grip shoes and wristbands, he is not trying to figure out how to go down the stairs -- he wants to vault them.

"It's all about finding ways to get over them quickly and without losing your momentum," he said before launching himself over a ledge like a gorilla and then balancing his feet on an inch-thick rail.

Tran is a traceur, the name given to parkour participants, an action sport where athletes use leaping, balancing and quadruped motion to move efficiently over obstacles.

Although the goal is to clear obstacles in a way that does not sacrifice momentum, Tran admits jumping down a flight of stairs, rolling on the ground and then hopping over a bush is not exactly practical.

"We don't often take the most efficient path," he said. "Sometimes we take the hardest path we can, or whatever looks like the most fun."

Tran, a parkour instructor at Urban Evolution gym in Alexandria, said the sport was developed in France, but its exact origins are debatable. The majority of parkour's followers are in Europe, but it is catching on in the United States.

MTV recently broadcast a weekly parkour show called "Ultimate Parkour Challenge." Movies, such as the 2006 James Bond film "Casino Royale," also feature parkour chase sequences.

YouTube videos of traceurs engaging in a game of tag using parkour techniques litter the Internet. An entire video game series, "Assassin's Creed," is built around the idea of using parkour to help the main character accomplish assassination missions.

"It's a growing sport," said Padge Mattaliano, 21, a local traceur.

The Internet also has played a major role in promoting the sport.

Social media websites such as Facebook feature various parkour groups fans can join. Tran and his friends set up jams -- the term for a parkour session with friends -- online and visit online forums to talk about various techniques.

"It's a very community-based sport," Tran said. "The best way to pass on ideas about parkour is online. It has brought together a bunch of people who just love to move."

Classes are even popping up at local gyms such as Urban Evolution. Herndon resident Eli Miernik, 31, teaches a parkour class at the Northern Virginia Gymnastics Academy in Sterling.

"We've been getting a lot of interest," he said.

Miernik said various factors drive people to try parkour, but a common one is conditioning. Conditioning served as the catalyst for Tran's parkour career.

"I was getting fat and I wanted to get myself into shape," he said. "I watched [a parkour video] and said 'I could do that.' "

But there are misconceptions about the sport.

Tran said the media often misrepresent the sport as a spectacle, not an activity. Local traceurs also have encountered resistance when using public and private buildings to set up their techniques.

Explaining parkour to friends and onlookers, who often confuse the sport with "street gymnastics," can be challenging, Tran said.

"A lot of times when I ask people about parkour, they just say 'I have no clue what you're talking about,' " he said. "A few times people have asked me if I'm a stunt man."

Miernik said the biggest obstacle parkour needs to overcome is that it is just an unorganized collection of kids jumping over objects.

"We want people to know that we're a community and we're disciplined," he said. "There's a much bigger philosophy behind parkour than jumping around. We're using it in our daily lives."