Free running is a form of urban acrobatics in which
participants, known as free runners, use the city and rural landscape
to perform movements through its structures. The moves include movements
from parkour, adds aesthetic vaults and other acrobatics, such as tricking
and street stunts, creating an athletic and aesthetically pleasing way
of moving. These moves are usually practiced in gymnasiums that are cluttered
with obstacles.
The term free running was coined during the filming of Jump London, as
a way to present parkour to the English-speaking world. However, free
running and parkour are separate, distinct concepts, a distinction which
is often missed due to the aesthetic similarities. Parkour as a discipline
emphasizes efficiency, whilst free running embodies complete freedom of
movement, and includes many acrobatic maneuvers. Although often the two
are physically similar, the mindsets of each are vastly different.
Although often the two are physically similar, the mindsets of each are
vastly different. The founder Sebastien Foucan defines free running as
a discipline to self development, following your own way.
While free running and parkour share many common techniques, they have a fundamental difference in philosophy and intention. The aims of parkour are reach, the ability to quickly access areas that would otherwise be inaccessible, and escape, the ability to evade pursuers, which means the main intention is to clear their objects as efficiently as they can, while free running emphasizes self development by "following your way". Foucan frequently mentions "following your way" in interviews, and the Jump documentaries. He explains that everyone has their way of doing parkour and they shouldn't follow someone else's way of doing it, instead they should do it their way. Free running is commonly misinterpreted as being solely focused on aesthetics and the beauty of the certain vault, jump, etc. Although a lot of free runners choose to focus on aesthetics, that is just "their way", the goal however is still self development. In free running you may employ movements of your choosing. You might also do certain movements solely for their aesthetic value and the challenge of execution. Free running is essentially complete freedom of movement.
Free running moves are not very easy to define, for runners combine street
stunts and parkour techniques. Free running focuses on the freedom of
movement and parkour techniques such as vaults. Street stunts tend to
be performed on flat ground or off a height, whereas free running movements
tend to involve the use of obstacles or the general idea of movement from
one place to another. Some examples of free running stunts are reverse
vault, superman frontflip, and 360 wallrun.
