Parkour - Freerunning - Tricking

Getting Started

Handy information for beginners (and experienced alike):

What is Parkour?
Parkour is the most efficient way to travel from point A to B. In parkour, every motion must be as close to 100% efficient as possible in taking you from your start point to your destination point. Therefore vaults, drops, jumps, rolls, wall climbing, and catgrabs are part of parkour, but spins, flips, and direction reversals are usually not. "Traceurs" (the French name for one who practises Parkour) utilize obstacles and the spaces between them to create a forward flow, taking physical objects meant to restrict motion and using them to enhance it instead. A parkour video usually follows one or more traceurs in constant motion throughout an environment, as they overcome a variety of different challenges such as fences, walls, and gaps. Most parkour videos will include very few shots of "safe locations" such as a gym, because the key to parkour is interaction with the real, outside world.


What is Freerunning?
Freerunning takes the basic skill sets of Parkour and Tricking and combines them into a single activity. "Freerunners" often take part in parkour-like runs, but move without self-imposing any efficiency restriction, and so include spins, flips, and direction reverses to attempt to increase the overall aesthetic appeal of the run. A free-running video usually follows one or more freerunners in fairly constant motion throughout an environment, with occasional pauses for techniques like handstands, flag holds, and flips from stationary positions on obstacles. Freerunning videos will include almost any kind of location, from safe environments like a gym or a pool or a sandpit to urban environments like an escalator or a rooftop to natural environments like a forest or a cliff.


What is Tricking?
A subset of freestyle gymnastics and martial arts kicking techniques. Tricking involves tight spins and flips usually done on level ground with plenty of space. Although tricking can be done in single techniques, there is usually an emphasis on a continuous flow from move to move to move, with momentum remaining high throughout. Because of this, tricking requires the ability to generate explosive power with single-leg takeoffs and a great deal of coordination and body control. "Tricksters" or "trickers" usually do not utilize any obstacles, but sometimes a small obstacle might be flipped over or used to boost height. A tricking video usually shows just one trickster in a variety of different environments, often including a gym or a grassy area, because the emphasis is on the trickster's motions themselves, on his flow and his ability to flip and spin, rather than on the dangerous nature of his environment. Indeed, it is in a trickster's best interests to seek out the ideal soft, flat terrain so that he can push his limits without unnecessary risk.

More comprehensive definitions can be found here.


Where to start:
Becoming a traceur (one who practices parkour) or a freerunner (one who practices freerunning) involves training. You could sit at a computer and research, chat about and watch endless parkour videos… But the best time to do this is when you can not physically train - during rest and recovery time. Maybe even to inspire training. Many experienced traceurs and freerunners will stress that this is the most important part of participating in either of these disciplines: Training. Also, practice! The second most important point is repetition, repetition, repetition. Only through practice and repetition can you gain a level of competency required to deal with all situations.

Something that is also often overlooked is body training. Parkour and freerunning do lend themselves well to allowing people of varied skill levels participating and gaining enjoyment from them. However if you wish to push yourself, or get into any of these disciplines seriously you will need to prepare your body to a base level of fitness before you can truly start to try some of the bigger movements or tricks. If you don't you will be risking injury, which could limit your ability to participate in the future. Most important is to be aware of your own limits and work within those. If you do this you will have many years of enjoyable and safe training ahead of you and you will always be amazed at how much faster you progress in this manner.

Also of supreme importance is to always warm up and stretch before going out and doing Parkour or Freerunning. This will become very apparent to you as you gain in experience. A good warmup is one of the most neglected parts of training with begginers. Without a good warmup you are running the risk of tearing muscles or doing yourself more damage than good. A warmup can be as simple as running around the outside of the house a few times untill you feel your heartrate increase and a slight warm feeling, possibly with a light sweat, over your body. Once you have achived this give yorself a few basic stretches and your training session will be much more productive.


Basic Skills and Techniques (Parkour):
Both Parkour and Freerunning have a basic set of "movements" that are utilised in the respective disciplines. These should not be thought of as moves to be mastered but rather as a group of suggested efficient movements that others have found to be useful. There is no hard and fast "right and wrong" way to do many of these moves, though it is wise to try to enact them as close to "the ideal" as possible as many skilled people over many years have found these methods to be the most useful efficient.

No two people move exactly the same - there are good guidelines on how to make movements smooth but small modifications to fit your build or body type are not out of the question.

For some of the movements the French name has been included. Many of these moves came from the French parkour movement and as such you might hear of them referred to as either their English or French name, depending on who is speaking. It's a good idea to be familiar with both all names for a movement and avoid confusion.


Straight/Speed vault (French: saut): This basic vault comes naturally to most. It can be done with one or two hands and is used to pass short, narrow obstacles such as fences and railings quickly.
When learning this move, start by using both hands, approach the obstacle (waist height is a good start), place both hands down and jump, pushing with your hands and swinging your legs to one side (whichever is comfortable). When you can do this easily, try swinging your legs on the opposite side. You will find areas where you can only go one way, and being able to adjust to your surroundings will be a great asset in your training.

When you feel very confortable with this move try performing it at speed with only your lower hand lifting you over the rail. This will add speed and efficiency to your move and is what gives the vault its name the "Speed vault".


Monkey vault (French: saut de chat):

This is one of the most common vaults and one of the basic of movements used in both parkour and freerunning. The monkey vault can be described by breaking it down into the following steps:
1) Select a rail or wall to monkey vault over. You don't have to be able to jump over it, but pick an obstacle you can vault over normally with ease. Also make sure of what's on the other side - vaulting into a 5-metre drop is a recipe for disaster. I find rails the easiest obstacle to start with. The obstacle mustn't be too low, either - it should ideally be somewhere around your belly button or slightly higher.
2) Run up to the obstacle at a medium rate, somewhere between a jog and a fullout run.
3) Place both hands on the rail, a little wider than shoulder width. Make sure there's enough room for your feet to get between them.
4) Jump, tucking your feet up and bringing them between your hands. Make sure not to clip the rail with your feet, so tuck up a lot!
5) While you're at the top of the rail, look for your landing. Pick a spot for your feet to land.
6) Once your feet are through, let go with your hands and prepare for your landing. Try and land softly, minimising impact.

The goal of this vault is a nice smooth motion. The main key to this vault that most people miss is to lean forward. All vaults in Parkour and Freerunning require commitment. The monkey is the most basic demonstration of this principle. If you don't get enough lean into your movement you are likely to clip your feet as you will be too vertical. Forward momentum and leaning into the vault will lift your legs up behind you and virtually eradicate the chance of them catching. Keep this in mind when rehearsing this movement.


Drop and Roll (French: saut de fond, roulement): Rolling is an essential skill in parkour - it is used to transfer the impact taken by the body from drop. When rolling, remember to roll diagonally across your back, not straight over your spine. Work on your rolls on soft surfaces like grass and sand before using them on concrete surfaces. If the drop is not high enough to warrant a roll, or there is not enough room to roll, try to land safely through the balls of your feet, compressing with your body, bending your legs and placing your hands on the ground in front of you (usually between your knees) to help absorb the impact.

Keep in mind that rolling from a straight vertical drop is next to pointless. All your momentum is traveling straight down and trying to re-direct this momentum at 90degrees to your current motion is difficult and will not work well. When dropping from a height, it is best to try to add some horizontal motion to your fall by (if possible) pushing away from the obstacle and turning to land into the roll. In this manner you will have some horizontal motion - you can use this momentum to help transfer the downward motion into a more efficient and impact absorbing roll in a direction.

If you are going to drop straight down off of a small height or you are really stuck from a higher height as far as space goes then make sure you land and try to minimise the bend of the knees and keep the knees outside your hands to avoid smaking your face into your knees if the force is greater than expected. You can see a good example of this here


Kong (French: saut de chat): The kong is a vault used to pass longer obstacles by diving over the obstacle, pushing with your hands and bringing your legs through. The kong looks very similar to the monkey vault, the main difference is that in the kong both your hands and feet are off the ground at the same time.

When you become confident with the monkey vault, progressively challenge yourself by attempting to vault longer obstacles, such as picnic tables and garden beds. I personally (Kai) found a good way to get my kongs working well was to find a wall I can monkey in the standard way. I then placed a marker on the ground in front of the wall when I would nomrmally plant my feet for the jump. After repeating the monkey vault a few times I moved the leaf about 1 foot further way from the wall and made this my point for takeoff. Do this a few times until you are confortable with it. Using this method you can move the marker further and further away at your own speed and work up to the vault in your own way. I found that I ended up jumping far further this way than with my early aborted attempts at "just doing it".

Similar techniques can be useful in all areas of Parkour/Freerunning. Never try to go 100% into a move the first time. Set yourself small, achievable, targets and try to break the move down into its component parts. When you understand all the components well the overall move becomes much more controlled.


Wall Hop/Wall Climb (French: passe muraille): The wall hop or climb is used to overcome high walls that cannot be vaulted. The traceur uses their feet to propel themselves up and arms to muscle over the wall.
A common misconception with this move is to try and kick up with your feet. It is more effective to kick out, giving the foot more contact with the wall. When trying this move, run at the wall, jump off one leg and kick the wall as high as you can with the other. Reach for the top of the wall, stretching out and try to grab the top with two hands. From here, pull yourself up and over with your arms and legs, avoiding the use of the knees to climb over. Start on walls you can easily reach to practice getting up and over quickly.


Underbar (French: franchissement): Swinging under or through a bar or obstacle. There are many different ways to do this.
When starting, simply place your hands on a bar (waist height or higher) and swing your legs under, holding your body up with your legs and abs so it doesn't scrape. When you are used to this movement you can try different styles and techniques.
Some of the more complex underbars involve gripping the bar with the hands crossed. One under the other. These are too difficult to explain in a document but you should be able to find someone to help you out with them in your local community.


Precision jump: Jumping and landing on a ledge or obstacle. Often used when the obstacle cannot be safely passed.
Precisions can be a dangerous move, especially when the area to be jumped to proceeds a large drop. When learning this move, start with very low ledges, approx 20cm and practice landing on your toes and keeping you balance. Avoid landing in the centre or heel of your foot as this can cause you to lose balance or fall backwards. Always lean forward when practicing precisions. When you have mastered your landings you can try jumping from further away, from a height and from longer jumps.


Cat Leap (French: saut de bras): Jumping to a wall or bar and landing in a 'cat' like position, usually with the intention of climbing over. The feet and hands meet the wall at the same time, legs absorbing the impact and arms preventing the body from falling backwards.
To learn this move find a wall a little over head height and practice jumping up, placing the hands on top of the wall and you feet as high as you can get them. Practice this at a run, jumping further back from the wall each time. From here you can find somewhere with a gap to jump over (not more than 2 metres) and practice jumping, landing and climbing over, much like a wall climb. The higher your legs are, the easier it will be to climb over.


Turn Vaults (French: demitour): Turn vaults are used when there is a drop after the railing or obstacle. The turn vault allows you to get to the other side of the obstacle to then jump or lower yourself down safely.
Stand next to a bar/railing. Place one hand on the bar as normal (fingers facing away from you) and the other hand the opposite way (fingers facing you). Jump and push with your hands, as you go over, take your first hand off the obstacle and place it next to your other hand as you land. You will now be facing back the way you came with two hands on the bar, and a firm grip. When you can do this easily on both sides, and have confidence in your grip, try aiming your landing close to the rail. Find a rail that has something to land your feet on, such as a second bar or a ledge with a small drop. Practice aiming your feet until you are confident with the move.


Tic-tac (French: tik tak): Use of a wall or similar to propel yourself up or across.
Find a wall with something close by to push with your leg such as a tree, another wall or a railing (be careful not to miss). Practice first kicking off the object, then grabbing the top of the wall. See how much height you can get and practice with higher walls and longer leaps.

Equipment
One of the great things about parkour and freerunning is that neither art really requires the purchase of specialised equipment in order for you to practice them. The best piece of equipment you can own, you already have, your body. However when practising Parkour and Freerunning it is generally a good idea to at least get a hold of a good pair of comfortable shoes. Running shoes or basketball shoes work well and generally any kind of sports shoe will get you by. Favorite shoes and brands differ from practitioner to practitioner, so have a look in the various forums and see what people recommend in the way of different shoes. Don't hesitate to look in your local sports shops and ask for help. I have found many assitants to be very useful when recommending a shoe for Parkour.

You can also add other things such as wristbands to prevent scratching when climbing walls and water packs to carry gear without restricting yourself too much. Have look at the video here for some more discussion on the topic.


Places to train
A good place to begin training will have all or most of the basic obstacles to help you learn the fundamental moves. Look for structures like railings, walls, gaps and picnic tables to practice the basic techniques. Major cities hold the most useful areas for training. You will begin to develop an "eye for parkour", seeing everyday things from a different point of view.

Check out the forum for your state planned jams and training sessions...

Remember! No matter how much of a natural athlete you are, you will never progress as quickly on your own than is if you take advantage of the community. There are literally hundreds of sources of information that are worth checking out, but some of the best ones can be found right here. Browse through the forum, look for skills that you're interested in, and read what people have to say about them.

Also keep in mind that there is no substitute for a good video if you don't know anyone in your area. Videos will provide inspiration and open your eyes to a range of new possibilities, both in terms of your own progression and by forcing you to re-evaluate your own environment. Watching others perform will give you insight into correct technique as well as showing you what is possible at each stage of expertise. Remember that the better you understand a movement, the more likely you are to be able to pull it off, and that includes knowing what's going on with every part of your body at every step of the way.

Important!
Most of your beginning training (especially precisions and gap jumps) can and should be learnt close to the ground - in a controlled environment. Always maximise your odds for success. Injuries often occur when people attempt moves they are incapable of or not properly trained for). Building gaps are dangerous and a perfect example of this and I would recommend watching this short video as an example of what not to do. Does this scare you? Good, it should. This could be you without the proper caution and training.

You can train your jump simply by establishing ground markings to jump over, clearing footpaths and precisioning small ledges. When you have been training for a considerable amount of time and have discovered your limits, you can then begin to progress upon your limits and perhaps adopt a more thrilling approach to your training. Just as a point of note, I know traceurs in the local area who have trained for over a year and still don't attempt roof gaps. It's not considered a standard part of most people's training in any respect, and I don't know many people who are capable of such a feat.

However there are a few things that are common to success in any of these disciplines. You must be patient and hardworking, willing to spend years to develop proficiency. Depending on your inate athletic ability, some things may come to you almost immediately, and you may find yourself wondering why anyone thinks these skills are difficult. Do not be deceived; just because your limits may be different from those of others doesn't mean they don't exist. Also, just because you can pull off a particular technique doesn't mean you have it under control or are doing it cleanly. You must endlessly drill your skills, even the most basic, until they can be done in your sleep; otherwise, when you don't have time to think and your body is reacting on its own, it won't do so in the way you need it to.

A traceur launches himself towards an obstacle and all of a sudden realizes it is a foot taller than he expected; a trickster slips on a takeoff and rotates unpredictably as he goes into a flip; a freerunner lands on a roof that gives way, dropping him an additional ten feet. It doesn't matter if the traceur can slip through an 18-inch hole; it doesn't matter if the trickster can pull off a 900º rotation; it doesn't matter if the freerunner can do a handstand on a rail for 30 seconds: at this point, all that matters is how well they know their basics, whether their bodies can adapt when everything goes wrong.

There are so many techniques out there that you should never get bored, but neither should you ever consider yourself “done� working on a movement. Constant drilling will also keep you constantly building strength and coordination, protecting your joints and honing your muscles, so that it becomes easier for you to progress from one level to the next.


Strength and Conditioning
Like all physical disciplines, Parkour requires a certain amount of all physical attributes. Along with your parkour training, it is also a good idea to adopt a training program to increase personal strength, fitness, flexibility and conditioning.

Some helpful exercises:
These simple exercises will help you build the strength and endurance needed for parkour. Remember to allow your body to recover before your next session. As you improve, introduce new exercises and push yourself further.

Pull ups: Pull ups are great for developing the ability to pull your body up and over a wall. Find a horizontal bar above your standing reach and practice both front and reverse grip pull ups (pulling your body from a complete hang until your chin is over the bar).

Push ups: Push ups will increase your arm strength and help with skills such as kongs where the arms take a lot of the body weight.

Squats: Squats will help strengthen your legs. If you are after explosive power (most common in parkour) these should be done fast. If they become easy, try them with extra weight or one leg squats. Aim to get your legs to at least 90° each time.

Running: Running is a simple but effective way to increase your cardio fitness. Run a distance that suits your fitness level and gradually increase this distance with time.

Jumping: The best way to improve your jumping height is to jump. Find something near to your jumping height and practice jumping over it. Do sets of 20 and slowly increase the height of the obstacle with time.


Remember !
Parkour and Freerunning can be Dangerous. If you choose to practice, you are responsible for your own actions and injuries.