Parkour and freerunning get used interchangeably. While they share a lot in common, there is a small difference.
Parkour is simply about maneuvering through your environment efficiently using jumps, swings, and vaults. No need for flips, wall spins, and other acrobatics. With freerunning, efficiency is less of a concern, and you can throw in these types of cool-looking acrobatic movements as well.
So when you’re watching YouTube videos of people doing flips and spins off walls, that’s freerunning; if they’re just jumping and vaulting over urban obstacles without acrobatics, they’re doing parkour.
Why Practice Parkour?
park4
Parkour is fun! In parkour, you basically treat the world around you like a giant playground. It’s fun to find novel ways to maneuver through your environment, and, yes, pretend you’re running away from ninja assassins and/or zombies. It harnesses your inner child that has long been dormant and just wants to run around, explore without limits, and simply play again.
Parkour is great exercise. Running, jumping, climbing, swinging. Parkour is a full-body workout that will simultaneously improve your body awareness and coordination.
Parkour is a challenge. Parkour will require you to push yourself physically and mentally. Starting out, you may not be able to do certain moves, but with time, you’ll gain the strength and coordination you need to master them. You’ll face obstacles that you think you could never surmount, but when you dig deep within yourself, you’ll find that you can push your body beyond what you saw as its limit. In short, parkour can help activate the primal switch of manliness within all of us for a challenge. As you overcome these challenges you’ll gain confidence in yourself that will carry over into other parts of your life.
Parkour is a great way to make new friends. Parkour is a social sport. It’s typically done in groups, and the parkour community is very friendly and supportive. It’s not competitive; rather, the goal is to have a good time and to help each other improve.
Parkour can help save your life. We’re big proponents of the idea that every man should be able to save his own life should the circumstances arise. Parkour gives you the skills and physical conditioning to do that. We joke about zombies and having to escape and evade in an urban environment, but what if the day comes when your life depends on being able to run, jump, and climb over obstacles? Would you be able to do it? Parkour can help. It’s particularly handy when you have to jump from rooftop to rooftop.
Parkour makes you more creative. Parkour requires you to look at your environment creatively. Instead of interacting and maneuvering through the world as some architect or city designer wanted you to, you do it the way you want. Stairs? We don’t need no stinkin’ stairs! Oh, you want me to use this little pedestrian bridge? I’ll just jump over this gap and swing under this rail. Every fence, wall, or gap becomes an opportunity to try a new move. This sort of playfulness and creativity can seep over to other areas of your life, helping you find creative solutions to problems at work or in your relationships.
How to Get Started With Parkour
Find a parkour group. The best way to get started in parkour is to find a local group and attend a parkour jam. People in the sport’s community are super friendly and supportive of one another. You’ll get insights from folks who have been doing it for awhile, plus you’ll have someone there to spot you on particularly hard moves. And of course, if you take a bad fall, you’ll have someone who can take you to the hospital. Most big cities have parkour meet-ups; you can find them on Meetup.com and the American Parkour forums.
Another great way to get started is to join a parkour gym like the Tempest Freerunning Academy if you’re lucky enough to have one in your area. These types of gyms are pretty new, and there aren’t too many out there right now, but more will likely be cropping up in the next several years as the sport continues to grow in popularity.
Be safe. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Your goal is to have a good time and push yourself beyond your comfort zone, but without hurting yourself. Your first question before any movement should be, “How can I do this without injuring myself?” Make sure to train with a group or a partner so they can spot you on demanding moves and call for help if needed. Before any training session, check the environment for any potential hazards, like broken glass and the like. In short, don’t be stupid.
Take it slow. Know your limits. Just because those around you are doing crazy flips and aerials from giant buildings, doesn’t mean you have to. Don’t try to do too much too soon. It’s going to take awhile for your body to adapt to the physical demands of parkour. Don’t move on to more complicated moves until you’ve mastered the basics. On a related note, don’t get so cocky about your abilities that you don’t take every move seriously. Pride goeth before the fall, and in parkour that fall can really hurt.
Respect private property. Stick to doing parkour in public spaces like parks and city plazas. Try to avoid times with high pedestrian traffic. If somebody asks you to leave, politely say, “Sure thing!” If the police confront you, be courteous, explain what you’re doing, and comply with requests to take it somewhere else. Parkour is a new and unfamiliar sport in the U.S. Anything you can do to give it a good name will help in making it more acceptable.
Basic Parkour Moves
Balancing
Balancing is a vital skill to have in parkour. You’ll often be walking and jumping on to small areas like rails and wall edges. You need to develop the muscle strength and coordination necessary so you don’t go tumbling to the ground. Practice balancing by standing and walking on rails. Consider taking up slacklining to help improve your balance.
Parkour is simply about maneuvering through your environment efficiently using jumps, swings, and vaults. No need for flips, wall spins, and other acrobatics. With freerunning, efficiency is less of a concern, and you can throw in these types of cool-looking acrobatic movements as well.
So when you’re watching YouTube videos of people doing flips and spins off walls, that’s freerunning; if they’re just jumping and vaulting over urban obstacles without acrobatics, they’re doing parkour.
Why Practice Parkour?
park4
Parkour is fun! In parkour, you basically treat the world around you like a giant playground. It’s fun to find novel ways to maneuver through your environment, and, yes, pretend you’re running away from ninja assassins and/or zombies. It harnesses your inner child that has long been dormant and just wants to run around, explore without limits, and simply play again.
Parkour is great exercise. Running, jumping, climbing, swinging. Parkour is a full-body workout that will simultaneously improve your body awareness and coordination.
Parkour is a challenge. Parkour will require you to push yourself physically and mentally. Starting out, you may not be able to do certain moves, but with time, you’ll gain the strength and coordination you need to master them. You’ll face obstacles that you think you could never surmount, but when you dig deep within yourself, you’ll find that you can push your body beyond what you saw as its limit. In short, parkour can help activate the primal switch of manliness within all of us for a challenge. As you overcome these challenges you’ll gain confidence in yourself that will carry over into other parts of your life.
Parkour is a great way to make new friends. Parkour is a social sport. It’s typically done in groups, and the parkour community is very friendly and supportive. It’s not competitive; rather, the goal is to have a good time and to help each other improve.
Parkour can help save your life. We’re big proponents of the idea that every man should be able to save his own life should the circumstances arise. Parkour gives you the skills and physical conditioning to do that. We joke about zombies and having to escape and evade in an urban environment, but what if the day comes when your life depends on being able to run, jump, and climb over obstacles? Would you be able to do it? Parkour can help. It’s particularly handy when you have to jump from rooftop to rooftop.
Parkour makes you more creative. Parkour requires you to look at your environment creatively. Instead of interacting and maneuvering through the world as some architect or city designer wanted you to, you do it the way you want. Stairs? We don’t need no stinkin’ stairs! Oh, you want me to use this little pedestrian bridge? I’ll just jump over this gap and swing under this rail. Every fence, wall, or gap becomes an opportunity to try a new move. This sort of playfulness and creativity can seep over to other areas of your life, helping you find creative solutions to problems at work or in your relationships.
How to Get Started With Parkour
Find a parkour group. The best way to get started in parkour is to find a local group and attend a parkour jam. People in the sport’s community are super friendly and supportive of one another. You’ll get insights from folks who have been doing it for awhile, plus you’ll have someone there to spot you on particularly hard moves. And of course, if you take a bad fall, you’ll have someone who can take you to the hospital. Most big cities have parkour meet-ups; you can find them on Meetup.com and the American Parkour forums.
Another great way to get started is to join a parkour gym like the Tempest Freerunning Academy if you’re lucky enough to have one in your area. These types of gyms are pretty new, and there aren’t too many out there right now, but more will likely be cropping up in the next several years as the sport continues to grow in popularity.
Be safe. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Your goal is to have a good time and push yourself beyond your comfort zone, but without hurting yourself. Your first question before any movement should be, “How can I do this without injuring myself?” Make sure to train with a group or a partner so they can spot you on demanding moves and call for help if needed. Before any training session, check the environment for any potential hazards, like broken glass and the like. In short, don’t be stupid.
Take it slow. Know your limits. Just because those around you are doing crazy flips and aerials from giant buildings, doesn’t mean you have to. Don’t try to do too much too soon. It’s going to take awhile for your body to adapt to the physical demands of parkour. Don’t move on to more complicated moves until you’ve mastered the basics. On a related note, don’t get so cocky about your abilities that you don’t take every move seriously. Pride goeth before the fall, and in parkour that fall can really hurt.
Respect private property. Stick to doing parkour in public spaces like parks and city plazas. Try to avoid times with high pedestrian traffic. If somebody asks you to leave, politely say, “Sure thing!” If the police confront you, be courteous, explain what you’re doing, and comply with requests to take it somewhere else. Parkour is a new and unfamiliar sport in the U.S. Anything you can do to give it a good name will help in making it more acceptable.
Basic Parkour Moves
Balancing
Balancing is a vital skill to have in parkour. You’ll often be walking and jumping on to small areas like rails and wall edges. You need to develop the muscle strength and coordination necessary so you don’t go tumbling to the ground. Practice balancing by standing and walking on rails. Consider taking up slacklining to help improve your balance.