Modern Tarzan: a parkour athlete fearlessly conquers the jungle (11 photos + 2 videos)
His name is Leo Urban and he is known as the "real life Tarzan." This 30-year-old Frenchman performs acrobatics in jungles around the world using only his bare hands and feet. He climbs up trees, swings and jumps from branch to branch so deftly that he is nicknamed humanzee - chimpanzee man. 
Leo Urban's bold performances, captured on video, have earned him more than two million followers on the social network Instagram. Leo is a master of “primitive parkour”. He runs, jumps and swings through the trees with incredible agility, like a member of the wild.
Originally from the mountains of Andorra, Leo has been practicing parkour and rock climbing for nearly two decades. He had a chance to conquer the Tour Montparnasse skyscraper in Paris, 209 meters high. But his vocation is trees, which he calls “the skyscrapers of nature.”
“The thrill of climbing trees is much greater than climbing buildings or rocks,” says Leo. “You feel as if you are alone with a wild world, where its own laws reign.” 
When asked why he climbs trees barefoot, Leo replies: “It gives me better grip. After all, real Tarzans don’t have shoes.”
Leo's training time can vary from two to nine hours a day. He claims that he does not adhere to a specific regime, since “the life of animals does not follow a strict schedule.”
According to Leo, he deliberately includes fear in his training: “Fear helps me progress and awakens my animal, primal essence.”
Leo always feels stressed before a climb, but he admits that it goes away during the climb. Concentration on the process displaces all doubts. “After successfully conquering a tree, you feel reborn. This feeling cannot be described in words, and it stays with you forever.”
Leo conquered numerous islands of Indonesia, the forests of Europe and the deserts of Africa. The most unusual climb was in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. Of all the places he has visited, Sumatra remains his favorite, thanks to its giant trees, dense network of vines and thrilling jumps.
One of Leo’s most vivid impressions was communicating with the Mentawai tribe on the island of Siberut. “Watching life in the forest, I gained respect for people who know how to hunt and climb trees like real Tarzans,” Leo shares his impressions.
He admits that falling is an integral part of his training. But he rarely suffers injuries that prevent him from training. His last serious injury was more than 10 years ago. Once in Sumatra, he almost fell when he jumped from a tree 25-30 meters high to a branch just below.
“I fell a few meters and managed to catch myself on the tree below with one hand, which was very impressive,” he explained. “It was very rough and I got pretty scared.”
He was injured then, but overall he was lucky: “It could have ended much worse. But moments of danger allow me to focus better on what I'm doing."
Climbing trees is a source of inspiration for Leo and a way of communicating with his primal side. “For me, trees are the same as mountains or rocks,” he says. “It’s as much a source of inspiration for me as watching big animals.”
Leo claims that “primitive parkour” has many advantages: “What I like most is the freedom. The opportunity to go further and overcome your own boundaries every time.”
According to him, this practice offers a chance to free yourself and reconnect with your primal self. “It makes you stronger both physically and mentally,” he says.
Now Leo is preparing for new exciting adventures in the jungle, where he plans to conquer even taller trees and set new records. His fearlessness and skill are truly impressive and he continues to inspire his fans around the world.
