Topic: Should I Do Parkour or Freerunning?

[Andy Keller]

A really cool (sad for everyone who has learned ANY movement,) thing I learned from Knox;

"Forget the names. ALL the names. Forgot Parkour, Freerunning, Tricking. You are moving. Forget Monkey, Kong, Dash, Vault. Just move. Movement should have no restriction. If this was real, you wouldn't care. You should make your OWN path, your OWN movement. Only THEN is it TRULY natural, is it truly TRUE. Y'know how the Yamakasi guys did it? THEY made it all. I've taught you the names, And their movements. Forget it and MOVE!!! "

Something along those lines. It was more epic

So, lose the names. Don't teach newbies names. Teach them how to learn how THEY move. Don't make them fit the mold.
-Blanc

I agree with the underlying idea about escaping the mold, but I disagree with completely forgetting names.

They're there for a reason- so we can refer to and break down our movement. It's easier to say "Try a thief, then kong to cat" than it is to say "Swing your inside leg over first and plant your forward hand, then pass off to your other hand, then dive over and plant your hands on the far edge and push off so you can end hanging from the ledge with your feet against the wall to stop your momentum."

Now I know that's an exaggeration, but I hope you get my point.

[WoodlandGhillie]

You get what I'm saying though right?

Also, have you met Knox?

[Andy Keller]

Not sure if I've met him. I'm pretty sure never in person. Seen the name though.

I do agree with learning how YOU move, not how others move and copying that. I think there's a decent balance, however, because people starting from scratch are a lot more motivated if they have goals to shoot for, not just "moving." I think we're currently pretty close with that balance generally, but maybe just a bit too rigid.

[Kingshu aka K9]

I should refine.

What I mean to say is, the ideas behind the two 'arts' seem different.
Pk seems to be more direct in its goals of obstacle leaping and what have you.
Fr is more about having fun and expressing yourself inside your surroundings..

and I believe it to 98% of the time play out according to this notion.

again, this is all my opinion.

Sir, your photograph shows a UF glyph. So, it's pretty much a contradiction. Since those are the people who originally brought about the idea of unification of parkour. But your view is more like apk's.

Anyways, I completely agree with you. I am a purist traceur who practices efficient parkour only. But this doesn't mean that I do not respect the Freerunners who do flips. Flips are beautiful and I really appreciate them.

IMO, This whole argument has spawned due to lack of respect and the belief that "I am right and everyone else is wrong". Nobody is WRONG. It's just everyone's way of movement is different. This is something we should respect and not argue about. There is a line of difference that separates parkour and freerunning. That does NOT, at all, mean that both arts are conflicting or opposing. There should be mutual respect between Traceurs and Freerunners.

As of now, I clearly see three groups of practitioners (who have/need to have mutual respect for each other):

1. PURIST Traceurs:
Practitioners who practice only efficient parkour. They are very few in number.

2. LIBERAL Traceurs:
Practitioners who mainly practice efficient parkour but also include beautiful flips ocassionally. However, they do define both separately. This is the group with the most number of members.

3. FREERUNNERS:
Practitioners who practice everything from parkour-like moves to acrobatic flips. They do not distinguish between the two and consider both arts to be the same.

in my opinon why the eff does it matter? i was confuzzled for awhile.

There is nothing to be confused about. Whenever in doubt, just think that a dog is chasing you. Now think about your movement. "Will this movement help me escape from these dogs?" If the answer is yes, then it is parkour.

Also, this list may be different for different people. This person explained this very beautifully:

Well if you ask me flips should definitely be considered parkour, not only because they build technique, vertical, agility, timing, coordination, and spatial awareness, but also because sometimes they really do help you get places faster. Like a diving frontflip over a railing with a drop gets you farther, quicker and with less effort than the old vault and roll. And frontflips help the roll flow better if you do it right, if I'm going for a high drop I'd rather frontflip than just jump. I can also swing farther off a bar if I launch myself outward at an angle and backtuck than canceling some of the momentum to stay upright.

For him, the list includes flip. For me, the list is still different. The "Dash vault" that most people (even the PURIST group) consider to be parkour, hardly seems efficient for me. For me, this is not parkour either. So it is different for everyone. This difference holds the true essence of parkour/freerun. If we all practice in the same way, we'll just be clones of each other.

In the words of Blane (I forgot the exact words): We all do different things and call it parkour. And that is a good thing.



Finally, it is all a matter of respect. RESPECT solves this.

@Shane: I love the way you explained why YOUR list of efficient movements include flips. But, even you'd agree that what you wrote at last was somewhat disrespectful. I know you strongly beleive you are right. And you are. In your own way. This doesn't make the others wrong. Two people CAN be right at the same time. And that is RESPECT.


I am writing a full article on this, which will be completed soon and be up on the Parkour India website.

[Sunseri3]

I'd say Parkour, because in free-running your just doing parkour, but your making it more "Unusual" and difficult by focusing on what you WANNA do. not what you CAN do.

[mickeynotmouse]

 I don't see what's wrong about defining parkour and freerunning differently.

Is it any different than saying a bee is different than a wasp?

[7Erik7]

The word ''efficient'' in parkour seems to often be misinterpreted.

All of the nine founding guys, including David Belle, has said various times that parkour is about being useful to other people. It's the core. Everything else, having fun, being creative, practicing acrobatics, dancing - It's on the other side, just for the fun, like David said in an interview. You can go around and talk all about this ''efficient movements'' you practice all day, how this is very important in parkour, otherwise it's not efficient, but the real question is if you're useful or not. If all you do is practicing what I refer to pure parkour movements, but if you don't fight discrimination, or if you don't have the guts to chase down a robber in a real situation, or if you're not helpful to your family, friends, random people - you're totally useless and the 'efficient' movements and mindset you've learned are totally useless and you're not considered as good in parkour.

However, If you're just out on the streets to practice acrobatics and just enjoying the movements, feeling good about yourself in competitions, just for the fun for yourself, you're not a traceur, freerunner or whatever you call it. Movements doesn't define parkour. It's the spirit that defines the core of the dicipline. Movements have existed since we started to walk and the definition of movements is movements, not parkour.

Finally, people should stop arguing about being efficient movements and concentrating on being strong inside and outside to keep the true spirit litt.
Parkour, freerunning, art du déplacement - founded by the same guys - the yamakasi - all of it focusing on what's mentioned above.

[Kendy]

Is it any different than saying a bee is different than a wasp?

no, but bees and wasps are very different so >.>

[mickeynotmouse]

no, but bees and wasps are very different so >.>

Just as different as parkour and freerunning?

[admiralsanchez]

The word ''efficient'' in parkour seems to often be misinterpreted.

All of the nine founding guys, including David Belle, has said various times that parkour is about being useful to other people. It's the core. Everything else, having fun, being creative, practicing acrobatics, dancing - It's on the other side, just for the fun, like David said in an interview. You can go around and talk all about this ''efficient movements'' you practice all day, how this is very important in parkour, otherwise it's not efficient, but the real question is if you're useful or not. If all you do is practicing what I refer to pure parkour movements, but if you don't fight discrimination, or if you don't have the guts to chase down a robber in a real situation, or if you're not helpful to your family, friends, random people - you're totally useless and the 'efficient' movements and mindset you've learned are totally useless and you're not considered as good in parkour.

However, If you're just out on the streets to practice acrobatics and just enjoying the movements, feeling good about yourself in competitions, just for the fun for yourself, you're not a traceur, freerunner or whatever you call it. Movements doesn't define parkour. It's the spirit that defines the core of the dicipline. Movements have existed since we started to walk and the definition of movements is movements, not parkour.

Finally, people should stop arguing about being efficient movements and concentrating on being strong inside and outside to keep the true spirit litt.
Parkour, freerunning, art du déplacement - founded by the same guys - the yamakasi - all of it focusing on what's mentioned above.

Spot on, IMO. It doesn't matter if you prefer to add a flip or two to your movement. At the end of the day, all that matters is whether or not you can do what you need to do if the time comes. It's up to you whether you'd like to be able to side flip over something just because you can or if you'd rather just do it the "regular" way by konging or speed vaulting. And I don't think it's necessary to differenciate between Parkour and Freerunning. I like the idea of just saying you add tricking to parkour/freerunning and being done with it.

[pancakerz]

i'd say the difference is like driving comparing driving to drifting.
one's quick and efficient, the other is flashy and fun.

[Jørdan]

The way I see it, parkour and freerunning and other activities are pretty much the same thing. It's just focusing on certain aspects of the activity.

I prefer freerunning because there's more room for creativity, plus I find it funner.

Do whatever you want, don't feel the need to label what you do or focus/not focus on something just because it's considered "parkour" or "freerunning".