A couple of years ago I heard a couple of terms from a of my teen students. "Parkour" and "free running".
I thought that I would do a little research and share that here...send me your thoughts.
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What is Parkour?Parkour (sometimes also abbreviated to PK) or l'art du déplacement
[1] (
English: the art of displacement) ) is a physical discipline of French (Paris) origin in which participants attempt to pass obstacles in the most efficient way possible as if moving in an emergency situation, using skills such as jumping and climbing, or the more specific parkour moves. The obstacles can be anything in one's environment, but parkour is often seen practiced in urban areas because of many suitable public structures that are accessible to most people, such as buildings and rails.
Parkour is an art of movement in which you train the body and mind to overcome obstacles. A parkour practitioner, called a traceur (male) or traceuse (female), uses their surroundings to improve their ability to move in space. By interacting with obstacles, be they urban architecture or the natural environment, the practitioner becomes more comfortable controlling his body and navigating any terrain.
The meat of parkour is the discipline of daily training, physical and technical, to heighten the body’s natural movement elements such as strength, speed, balance, coordination, precision, power, and endurance.
The application of parkour is efficient traversal when circumstance necessitates it, such as being chased, or needing to reach a destination. While this is the practical application of the training, one could do parkour their entire lives and not ever have to use it in this way, similar to a martial artist never getting into a fight. Though it may never have to be utilized in this way, the benefits of parkour are far reaching. Being that parkour is made up of a lot of movements that are natural to the human animal, the body is strengthened evenly and synergistically, meaning all the parts of the body learn to work together. This helps to balance the body and improve all movement in general.
Aside from the physical benefits, many people find training parkour develops mental clarity, confidence, self-discipline, the ability to deal with fear, and many other mental gains.
What isn't Parkour?Parkour is not acrobatics, tricking, stunts, recklessness, or jumping off high objects for no reason. It is not any movement or activity that doesn't fit in the above description "What Parkour Is". It is also not "What you make of it" ... it is predefined and has a purpose, if something doesn't suit that purpose, it is not Parkour.
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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.
Here is an extreme example of parkour/free runningThis is DANGEROUS! Read the following if you are interested in parkour or freerunning.
How Old do I need to be to Start Training? advice from a parkour/free running practitioner
Its not age so much as attitude. When I was 14 I was very independent, but also very immature. I would have probably killed myself if I had either gotten the motorcycle I wanted so badly or if I had seen some of the Parkour videos out there!What's most important is your patience, and willingness to train correctly and safely.
There is NO need to ever go on a roof, and nothing about being on a roof that makes you any better at Parkour or Freerunning. What makes people good is practice, consistent, safe practice. Going big leads to injuries which leads to less consistent practice. Going too far outside your comfort zone leads to hesitation, leads to injuries, leads to less practice.
Parkour and Freerunning are not about "balls" or "guts", they are about honing your abilities so that more things are within your realm of safe possibilities. Even then there is a risk of danger, "even monkeys fall from trees". So, I can't tell anyone a specific age is right or wrong, but here's a guideline: if you are disciplined (yes, Parkour is a discipline, funny how bad words and good words are the same words ) enough to train for three hours a week by setting up a goal or plan and sticking to it without jumping off anything over your own chest height for a month straight, then you are suited for Parkour and Freerunning safely and will probably get good at it.
On the other hand, if you go out to train precisions, and ten minutes later you're jumping off 6' walls and rolling before you know how and doing running jumps, then Parkour and Freerunning are not for you, you will only end up hurt."
Don't go out training alone, and if you're less than 18 don't go meet "people from the internet" without at least a few friends or even a parent. There are a lot of other pieces of advice about starting to train that aren't included in this article but exist in others, like whether to start in a disciplined martial arts program with a credible instructor, a gymnastics gym with proper padding, training alone or with friends, etc.
Contact me and let me help you create a training plan to improve your skills! Call me at 856-235-0414 or email me at masterliciaga@dinotokarate.com . See you on the training floor!...
Master Liciaga
Get a poster, photograph or small statue that inspires you in a martial arts way. It could be your Bruce Lee autograph under the photo of him kicking the snot out of an actor on Enter the Dragon. Or maybe your favorite punching poster. 
(here's one of Bruce Lee, and for the ladies, one of Ms. Kathy Long)
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