Parkour and Free Running: Amazing Urban Acrobatics and Building Jumping

Parkour or Free Running Building Summersault

What if you saw the building walls and other urban obstacles around you not as barriers, but as tempting challenges? Parkour practitioners and free runners do just that, putting into practice things most of us just associate with the movies. In real life, however, veterans practice these amazing arts of travelling quickly and smoothly through cities.

Parkour and Free Running

Parkour emphasizes efficiency of movement, while free runners focus on fluidity and elegance. Parkour has its origins in gymnastics and martial arts, combining movements from each and applying them to urban settings. Free running evolved as an offshot of parkour, adding elements of harmony and style to basically strict utility.

Amazing Building Leap

Many of the movements shown in pop cultural images and videos look simple but, perhaps unsurprisingly, are the culmination of a great deal of practice. Wall jumping, rolling and long-distance landings require careful shifting of body mass that, in turn, helps practioners absorb impacts that seem impossibly dangerous. Like the urban exploration of abandonments, these activities are at times also illegal.

District 13 Parkour

In recent years, more and more references to parkour and free running have emerged in popular culture. In fact, many people have seen parkour in movies without realizing the stunts are being performed without digital editing or other behind-the-scenes trickery. Know of related links or resources? Feel free to add them below!

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Posted by Urbanist September 10th, 2007
Urban, Urban Art, Urban Images, Urban Videos, Urbex, Various
Comments: 30

Comments

Comment from _ugly
Time: September 10, 2007, 4:52 pm

i fucking love this site. you guys rock.

Comment from Elvis
Time: September 11, 2007, 5:06 am

Ahh I love free running videos!

Comment from Unabsolute
Time: September 11, 2007, 12:37 pm

Nice article. I was amazed by the opening scene in Distict (Barrio) 13, the movie shown above, and never knew that the fluidity of movement had roots in anything other than a film maker and his imagination. Thanks for the info.

Comment from Al Ebaster
Time: September 11, 2007, 1:27 pm

That would be sooo useful for urbex! Now I just have to get into shape…

Comment from What is going on, blog
Time: September 11, 2007, 1:49 pm

Your site really entertains the artist and creativity in all of us.

Comment from giL
Time: September 11, 2007, 2:17 pm

I think I may know a related resource. I think Parkour or l’art du déplacement (as well as BASE jumping) were actually practiced by a few people long before they had a name for it. Check out here at http://individualathome.wordpress.com/2007/09/12/36/ for a short youtube with Burt Lancaster (who also co-produced the film) as Captain Vallo, the eponymous pirate. Isn’t that an early Parkour? :)

Comment from WebUrbanist
Time: September 11, 2007, 4:49 pm

@Elvis: yup, there are some great ones on YouTube too

@Unabsolute: indeed, all of that filming was done without the typical Hollywood trickery, and is one of the best film examples or parkour (though others are linked to above)

@Al: urbex and parkour would definitely go well together :)

@What: thanks!

@giL: LOL, yah, it is definitely parkour-esque at the least - there are certainly many examples that could be considered related to parkour in its many forms

Comment from Robin
Time: September 11, 2007, 7:09 pm

Hey guys,
Nice to know it has a name. My 9 year old gymnast does the wall climbing thing, but hasn’t got the building jumping down pat just yet ;-).
Thanks.

Comment from Ryan
Time: September 11, 2007, 7:16 pm

That is so freaking intense. I think I know a guy who does something like that.

Comment from Jeremy Kitchen
Time: September 11, 2007, 11:59 pm

There’s a little bit of parkour in the latest Bond flick as well. Definitely not as long, creative, or as breathtaking as some parkour videos I’ve seen, but cool to see it in mainstream media nonetheless :)

Comment from forkicks
Time: September 12, 2007, 1:19 am

Go check Die Hard 4.0 for more, amazing fight scenes using this technique, by a french actor/athlete.

Comment from Phil Blunt
Time: September 12, 2007, 2:29 am

This is some amazing stuff, check http://www.samparham.com this guy rocks!

Comment from Adrienne Zurub
Time: September 12, 2007, 5:21 am

No Sh*t U have to be in prime shape to do any style of free running, jumping (geez, I’m tired already) & acrobatics. I saw free running, jumping and leaping in Paris, and on a TV show. I believe free running orginated in Paris.

Comment from rony john
Time: September 12, 2007, 7:31 am

Man,i would love to do this..

Comment from Halil
Time: September 12, 2007, 8:31 am

I think i should try the same as this guys:-). Really cool

Comment from AgentSully
Time: September 12, 2007, 8:08 pm

makes Xtreme Games look timid.

they need to add this as a category….

Comment from Edie
Time: September 13, 2007, 6:48 pm

Wow!

Comment from Neilb
Time: September 20, 2007, 4:18 am

Totally cool pics…
I’m a budding photographer myself.. i keep a photo-log at Badoo of some of my pics, I’m thinking of upgrading my camera to an SLR, based on my style is there anything anyone hwere could recommend?? My link is below.

http://neilb.badoo.com/entry/7/

Comment from sabeeh khan
Time: September 21, 2007, 10:22 pm

im based in toronto , can sombody plz telme of n institute or club teaching parkour in toronto.desprately need ths info.thanx.

Comment from sabeeh khan
Time: September 21, 2007, 10:22 pm

im based in toronto , can sombody plz telme of n institute or club teaching parkour in toronto.desprately need ths info.thanx….

Comment from voz
Time: October 7, 2007, 8:18 am

I believe there was a movie based around this jumping about 2 years ago, But i forgot the name. It was filmed in the UK .. I THINK!
I am too chunky to try any of those moves!

Comment from Tig
Time: January 22, 2008, 2:22 am

Am in Paris this weekend (Jan26th08)…anywhere I can check anything to do with parkour out??? Please!

Comment from Astarlia
Time: February 29, 2008, 5:41 am

This is one of the best and clearest articles on between parkour and freerunning, especially their differences and their history. I’m so impressed.

Comment from bboy monkey
Time: April 10, 2008, 7:41 am

that was some cool stuff there mate

Comment from cristian
Time: May 4, 2008, 10:47 am

troppo bello le parkour la prima volta chelo visto mi sono meravigliato subito dopo ho provato a imitarli riesco ma non quanto l’oro io sono anche alleato perchè faccio arti marziali quindi riesco tranquillamente be comunque e stupendo vedo di poter iscrivermi ciao