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What is Free Running?

Thursday, 05 October 2006

What is Free Running?

Free running was meant to start out an anglicized term for Parkour. It was first suggested to Sebastien Foucan during the filming of Jump London. Free Running has grown to be descriptive of a sort of "cousin" activity to Parkour - Free Running is more expressive and creative in nature, with moves such as acrobatics, flips, and spins added for flair, creativity, or just because someone wants to. The main difference then between Parkour and Free Running is that Parkour is defined by purpose "get somewhere quickly and efficiently using the human body", and Free Running is defined by the activity or art of moving through your environment however you want, moving your way, following your own path.

Users' Comments

Display 50 of 54 comments

1. 05-28-2007 15:52

I am fairly new to the whole Parkour and Free Running thing can you give me some tips?

Kiel2034

2. 06-21-2007 16:35

hello

jdub21

3. 06-25-2007 06:44

Hello! I just started Parkour and I love this website

Thanks alot for everything ^^

Tonyy

4. 07-09-2007 13:30

This sight has really encouraged me to get off the couch and go outside thanks.

muffinmanpolio

5. 07-24-2007 13:21

The_Avid

6. 07-25-2007 21:15

:-)

azadi

7. 08-16-2007 15:30

nicely put.

Ocelot

8. 08-23-2007 11:02

just started got any tips?

Takbir

9. 09-04-2007 14:53

any for me?

littleninja

10. 09-20-2007 07:43

this year i turned 36 years old. i made a resolution that i would pay more attention to my physical health and stop all the destructive crap that all of my friends visit upon their bodies. there have been some fitness goals that i've wanted to attain since i was a small boy, so this is the year i started martial arts and gymnastics. my friends now laughingly say i'm in training to be a super hero. i've been seeking one final training technique that could bring the other two together in a pragmatic way and i think parkour/free running might be the ticket. i'll keep you posted on my progress!

hucfinn

11. 11-07-2007 13:47

if your just starting Parkour or Free Running, you should pay very close attention to the videos on this site or on YouTube.com...I began PK by immitating what i saw on YouTube and now I'm fairly decent, you ust gotta remember that first you wanna start out small, don't try and jump from rooftop to rooftop your first try. First you should practice your standing long jump while on the ground and improve on that, and then you can take that and transfer it to a gap or a building or whatever, plus the stading long jump helps improve the strength in your quads, calves and hamstrings, all of which are essential to many if not all of the vaults in PK/FR...then you can start practicing the vaults that you've learned throught the videos on things like park benches, or on an old car like me :grin

...or on anything else that you might want to try them on. After that, you can start on wallruns, speed, endurance, and acrobatics if you do Free Running. If you practice all of those at least twice a week for a 1/2 hour or more, you'll see improvement in no time.

nikolastynan91

12. 11-14-2007 08:55

I want some fucking information about it.I have an exercise to school and i really need that info.I am just joking.Well ok all that theoritical but how about practical
I just read parkour sites and i i cant stand up and go out to parkour.I really want to know how to parkour.Some help m8.Some.See.When i try to go out i am just afraid that i will embarassed.Some help PLx.I really need it. :-)

INdy

13. 11-20-2007 12:07

psh, you just gotta ignore everybody and what they think. There are going to be some people who think its odd, but thats how it is in every sport or exercise. Just keep it up and do it because you want to, and you might even inspire msomeone else to try it, and then you'll have a training partner and we will have one more traucer/traucess/Free Runner to add to our happy lil family :grin

nikolastynan91

14. 11-29-2007 05:11

hey man. Just forget bout what other people think! At least we care enough about our bodies or are brave enough to do this kinda stuff! if people think its weird its b/c they dont know about it! Keep it up! And in the words of an awesome dude..."Give it all, train hard and live FREE!"-Xin Sarith Azuma Phan Wuku

redshadow

15. 01-18-2008 06:44

Xin was the one who inspired me to do this

Brockamo

16. 01-19-2008 02:04

flykid

17. 01-22-2008 04:40

i'm kinda a big guy but not fat and i keep landing on my shoulder when i try to do a basic roll any tips?

ThorLJ

18. 01-22-2008 12:22

ya man. i was trying to pk for a while before i found a good way to practice. what i did was i got an open period in my school day and i would go to the gym and practice for an hour every other day. this worked great so really, really don't underestimate the magnitude of how much pk you can do in just a school gym. i oculd set up piles of mats and practice almost every vault ive seen on them and also work on acrobatics off of them. so if your a noob i suggest get going at a gym and start there. then you can move your parkour outside and are good enough to really start training.

tatums

19. 01-23-2008 03:26

what do parkour perople do to look forward to do? any pro's? any good reasons for practicing plz answerany careers?

ThorLJ

20. 01-25-2008 09:54

:-)

Iamguitarhero

21. 02-03-2008 07:21

uh yah ive been in parkour with parkour florida for 3 months some tips youtube tons of tips,tutorials yah get over there and jjust monkey walk and strech before u go out

urban_flip5

22. 02-18-2008 17:06

i should suggest that they make a chatbox on the side think i should bring it up but any how ChatBox

Nsung214

23. 02-22-2008 03:49

LOL i am new to pk haven't done it before cause i never had the time ... so how???

sky2210

24. 02-28-2008 12:32

Hey this is OMEN a teen free running group are ages range from 12 to 15 and there are 5 of us. were not that great but we all love this sport!!!!!!!!!!! i'm monkey man the second oldest but i'm pretty good i'm practiceing frontflip 180's right now

lol its awesome. but we were wondering if anyone had tips for us? :upset

OMEN

25. 02-28-2008 12:34

OMEN

26. 02-28-2008 12:35

second youngst sorry

OMEN

27. 03-04-2008 12:15

i love free running! started not too long ago. its all that I want to do

cps428

28. 03-11-2008 02:50

yeah I've always wanted to find an activity that can test me and not bore me as easy as my schools sports and i enjoy this a lot. some friends and i get together on the weekends at a park and help each other.

SWORCHANOVE

29. 03-14-2008 11:31

exactly, we always push each other to try new things while were running. but i still can't convince them to try flat ground backflips or backflips off the wall, there worrid about hurting themselves but they don't realize that if they trust and believe in themselves they can do anything

Urban_Ninja1324

30. 03-14-2008 13:00

THIS WEBSITE HAS MADE ME WANT TO FREE RUN I AM PRETTY BENDY AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW SOME TIPS

turtlehead

31. 03-14-2008 13:00

THIS WEBSITE HAS MADE ME WANT TO FREE RUN I AM PRETTY BENDY AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW SOME TIPS

turtlehead

32. 03-15-2008 08:17

does any body know anyone who PK/FR in portland maine usa. i just started.

krazybeever

33. 03-16-2008 18:07

hey whats up

True_Ninja

34. 03-17-2008 14:58

any body out there or is it unheard of in maine!!!!!!?????????

krazybeever

35. 03-24-2008 09:22

yea.. so people...reading my comment, get of your computer chair, go out and start running! parkour and free running is so much fun! i have been doing free running for about a year now i am finaly able to jump up anywhere and do a backflip almost antime i want! it's sweet! altho...yet i am still a beginer.

many of you are YOUTUBE-ers, the next time u go to youtube search JOE EIGO! he is probably the worlds greatest!

have fun out there.

peace.

ac~

MDParkour

36. 03-30-2008 04:05

hey what do I do if i want to start real free running based on proper gymnastics/acrobatics and i don't have a gym around me I'm in Wyckoff, NJ and I'd like to know if there's any place near me

:grin

and chase armitage and all the guys from 3run are way better than joe eigo

and12121212

37. 03-30-2008 06:35

hey crazy beaver, what's the parkour in maine like?

and12121212

38. 04-02-2008 08:13

hey everyone! some guy at a park got me into it a while back.. i saw him doing it at a park.. i didnt understand.. but that was years ago. i understand it.. and i love parkour/free running! i aint that good.. but im still learning.. im pretty new at it.. but i can do alotta vaults and a front flip.. thats all.. does anyone in Virginia do PK?

SmashTheStAte199

39. 04-03-2008 12:29

I love jumping over stuff... now I just need to learn how to do it gracefully!

I can't wait to start!

Jagular

40. 04-06-2008 07:48

i been locking for somebody in houstan,texas to freerun and to parkour

crazy 8

41. 04-06-2008 07:49

i mean looking

crazy 8

42. 04-16-2008 14:11

I want to start pk but i don't know exactly how i should do it. Should i just jump into training starting with the basics?

learn2fly

43. 04-26-2008 09:44

im new to this free run stuff and im started in gymnastics for tumbling, but im only 12, would that put me at a disadvantage? any tips on free running?

Anon

44. 04-26-2008 09:46

any of u guys live in canada? lol

Anon

45. 05-09-2008 16:35

I am 13 and have done gymnastics for nearly 11 years would this be an advantage in free running or parkour Because I have never done PK/FR and would like to start