Georges Hébert

Georges Hébert (1875 to 1957) was a French naval officer and physical educator who created la méthode naturelle, the Natural Method, a system of physical education and training later called Hebertism. Born in Paris, he entered the École navale in 1893 and sailed to South America, the West Indies and North America. He admired the strength and agility of people who had trained only by living in nature, and he helped coordinate the rescue of about seven hundred people after the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée on Martinique, an experience that shaped his motto, Être fort pour être utile, meaning be strong to be helpful. He replaced static, repetitive gymnastics with natural and utilitarian activities such as running, jumping, climbing and carrying, and joined physical capacities to training in courage and ethics. From 1904 to 1912 he tested the method on marine fusiliers at Lorient, and in 1913 he opened the Collège d'athlètes. His ideas drew on Francisco Amorós, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn and Georges Demenÿ, and they strongly influenced the early philosophy of parkour and French military obstacle training.