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Silhouetted against the backdrop of The Sage Gateshead, sparkling in the midday sunshine, Callum from Newcastle balances on top of a narrow railing, then launches himself forward and up to land with inch-perfect precision on another thin railing a few feet away.

Close by, Craig from Washington pushes himself up from the railings into a strong handstand while Tim from Stockton does a gravity-defying flip over the pavement.

Preparing to jump

All along the road other teenagers are practising similar moves and every now and then a passerby stops to stare, intrigued. Some even take a few photos on their mobile phones.

What are they up to?

These are some of the members of North East Parkour (NEPK), a group, mainly teenagers, who practice parkour and free running.

Efficient movement

Parkour is a form of human movement charactised by fluid, efficient motion over obstacles in the environment.

The discipline originated in France but has since become a worldwide phenomenon - and the North East of England has its very own burgeoning scene.

NEPK's members come from all over Tyneside, Wearside and Teesside but they get together in Newcastle most weekends.

"Today we've been mainly practising efficient movement," explains Tim, when we interrupt their training session. "But we've also been doing occasional flips because they're a fun thing to train and practise."

Making friends

Like many young UK traceurs, Tim, 16, says he was first inspired by watching the documentary Jump Britain, which features Sebastien Foucan, one of the founders of parkour and free running.

The jumps and moves in the film (some of which were shot just over the river at the Baltic) certainly have a big wow factor but the traceurs featured are extremely experienced.

Tim practises a precision jump

Tim says newcomers to the scene need to be realistic about what they can achieve.

"It's difficult when you start because you're seeing all these people doing the bigger jumps and you're just like 'oh I can't do that'. But you build up mentally and physically until you're ready for the bigger jumps.

"It's all about going at your own pace and working on your own technique and mentality and not being influenced by others."

Craig, 17, agrees: "It's not a competitive thing. Some doubtable websites do point to it as competitive but it's like a friendly community-based activity I think.

"I've made a lot of friends through parkour that I can count as high as the friends I've got at home. I really trust these people."

Breaking the mould

The atmosphere at the jam is certainly supportive. Nobody is pressured into doing a move they aren't ready for and there are even a few rounds of applause when someone does a good jump.

"You should only do something if you believe you can do it," Tim says. "If you don't think you can then you probably can't."

Craig does a back flip

To an onlooker the whole thing can look pretty scary, especially the flips, but Craig is keen to stress that although most of them do practise flips that isn't really what parkour is about.

"If you typed in parkour on YouTube and you didn't know what you were looking for you would probably get a video full of flips and big jumps and it's important to understand that's not what parkour's about," he says.

"Really there's never excuse for a big drop - there's always another way down. And flips are showy but they're not part of parkour."

So what is it about parkour that keeps them hooked?

"A lot of people say that it's an adrenaline rush but I've never really felt that," says Craig.

"For me I think it's more about control and knowing that the more I work at things the better I'll get.

Efficient movement is key

"I'm quite a pessimistic person in every other aspect of my life but when it comes to parkour I can just go out and train and forget about everything and really enjoy myself.

"I know that sounds like a clich茅 but it really happens, you do forget about what's worrying you."

"It's also breaking the mould," adds Tim.

"People see us and think we're being antisocial and we're like vandals but what we're actually doing is expressing ourselves through movement.

"When you walk through a city you see jumps and things that you can do. It's like a mentality that I'll probably always have with me now."

If you'd like to find out more about parkour in the North East visit the NEPK website.

Remember parkour can be dangerous. When you're starting out, it's important to find someone to train with - ideally someone who is very experienced - and never be tempted to try something you're not ready for.