LANGUAGE LEVEL
INTERMEDIATE
FREE RUNNING FREE RUNNING IS TO SEE YOUR ENVIRONMENT DIFFERENTLY AND BEING ABLE TO UTILIZE IT TO DEVELOP YOURSELF! (SEBASTIEN FAUCAN)
G
41 track 12
Speakers: Daniel Craig (British accent)
sports
Free running is a physical art, in which participants (freerunners) attempt to pass all obstacles in their path in a smooth1 and fluid way. Free runners interact with their environment using movements such as vaulting, jumping, somersaults and other acrobatic movements, creating an athletic and aesthetically pleasing way of moving. It is commonly practiced at gymnasiums and in urban areas that are cluttered2 with obstacles. Founded by Sebastien Foucan and inspired by the similar art of displacement (parkour) which was founded by Foucan’s childhood friend David Belle, free running embraces elements of tricking and street stunts, which are considered by the parkour community to be inefficient3 and not parkour. Initially, the term “At the beginning the name free running was an idea of a person called Guillaume Pelletier who worked with us at the time of Jump London. Because some people think what I’m doing is not Parkour now I call it “freerunning.” Because there is a misunderstanding and people put a definition on what I’m doing! I create freerunning and I’ll put my official definition4.” (Faucan) free running was used However, as free runners became interested in aesthetics as well as
useful movement, the two became different disciplines. The term free running was created by Guillaume Pelletier and embraced by Foucan to describe his “way” of doing parkour.Foucan summarizes5 the goals of free running as using the environment to develop yourself and to always keep moving and not go backwards. 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 quickly6 access areas that would otherwise be inaccessible, and escape, the ability to evade pursuers, which means the main intention is to clear their objects
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The easiest way to explain the differences between the two activities is that in parkour you try to get from A to B in the most efficient and natural way, which could be exercised in case of a real threat, whereas8 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.
as efficiently as they can while free running emphasises 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 follow7 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.
The term Parkour has been invented by David Belle and Hubert Koundé in 1998 and the word Free Running has been created much later by Sebastien Foucan for the purpose9 of spreading Parkour in a marketing fashion (they thought the word “parkour” wasn’t international enough and Sebastien Foucan proposed them this word).
Glossary 1
smooth - suave
2
cluttered - desordenado
3
inefficient -ineficiente
4
definition - definição
5
summarizes - resume
6
quickly - rapidamente
7
follow - seguir
8
whereas - considerando
9
purpose - propósito