Freerunning is originally from France and was developed by Sebastien Foucan. The sport is a mix of parkour and breakdance and therefore looks very spectacular. Just like parkour, freerunning is one of the most popular trend sports worldwide. The sport is practiced by more and more people from year to year. You are probably wondering what that looks like? The stunts in action films are the best example of this. They are played by a stuntman or mostly by professional freerunners.
IS IT DIFFICULT TO LEARN?
Learning this sport on its own is quite demanding, because the acrobatic movements are very risky without a trainer and exercise facilities with adequate fall protection. In freerunning, every athlete develops his own style after a certain period of time, and soon you too! The fluid crossing of several obstacles one after the other with some freestyle elements such as wheel strokes or kicks and you have already created your first “combo”. As with breakdancing, everything should be fluid, explosive but also controlled. If these things can be felt in you, you are guaranteed to amaze your audience and be proud of your skills. The more you deal with this sport, the more ideas come to you for new flow combinations and the more extreme you can practice this sport for yourself. And then at some point a backflip, which seemed impossible for you a year ago, is now natural and easy. Nevertheless, it is essential to always pay attention to a clean execution and do not be too hasty, otherwise unnecessary careless mistakes will quickly arise, which can seriously damage you later and which you will frustrate you. Therefore, it is better to practice a few more times in the hall, and under safe fall protection, before you take more risk.
When the movements are perfect, just approach them fearlessly and confidently outside!
HOW DANGEROUS IS THE SPORT?
The sport is of course becoming more and more risky depending on the level and experience. However, as already mentioned in Parkour, the most dangerous things in sport are fear, ego, impatience and defiance, which can lead to serious injuries. Because if you manage to convert your fear into respect, your impatience into pleasure and your defiance into gratitude, and keep your ego in balance, you are sure of the path to becoming a successful extreme athlete, and you will become one of us. What are you waiting for? LET´S GO BE A NINJA!
The instruction and the beginning of your training is of course still recommended with a licensed trainer and should also be accompanied regularly up to a certain performance level.
HOW FIT DO YOU HAVE TO BE?
In this sport it is not important how old, tall or how heavy you are, it is all about the art of locomotion and the fun of exercising. Through which you can feel from time to time how new insights and ideas are opening up. “The eye of the freerunners is awakened”, a different kind of perception for urban surroundings emerges unconsciously, which makes the whole urban world look like a playground with obstacles and in every freerunners, and soon in you, the urge to cross the obstacle and acrobatics. You not only develop limitless creativity, but also a fascinating kind of body control. In this way you not only expand your mental, but also your physical way of thinking and performance.
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE TO SPEND?
You determine yourself the time required for this sport. It always depends on what you want to achieve with this sport.
Experience shows that as a team athlete you train about 5 times a week for 2 hours and as a normal recreational athlete about 2-3 times a week for 2 hours. Both are possible in a club or privately. It is advisable to pay attention to a safe training location at the beginning, e.g. in a gym with fall protection, gymnastics boxes and trainers who support you.
WHAT DOES IT COST TO DO THE SPORT?
Depending on the location, the cost of practicing the sport varies.
It is common to discover and practice the sport in a club, in a private sports school, among friends or in workshops. The cost of a parkour/freerunning training in a club is of course the cheapest and one of the safest options. Because everything is most comfortable for you to train thanks to the professionally equipped gym. The monthly fee here is on average between € 7.00 and € 10.00.
The sports equipment is not expensive. It is enough if you bring comfortable sports or casual clothes and sports shoes with sturdy soles, a sufficient amount of water and a juicy portion of motivation!
WHAT CAN IT ACHIEVE WITH IT?
With this sport you, as a person, achieve a new kind of perception, both extreme body control and self-assessment. Strong discipline is created, which makes it much easier to achieve your goals in sport as well as in life (e.g. to achieve your desired figure, professional athlete or trainer, as well as gain respect and increase awareness …). The sport of freerunning changes the way you think and everyone who practices it. The first German Parkour Championship has even been held since 2020, in which the best freerunning combos of each athlete were rated. The so-called “Art of Motion” is also organized every year by the Red Bull brand in international areas for world championships in the trend sport freerunning and broadcast digitally (freerunning = mixture of parkour and somersaults, acrobatic freestyle elements from breakdance and gymnastics).
There are currently a lot of big brands that have cooperated with professional freerunners and thus receive a lot of advertising, especially on social media, for their merch. The best examples: ADIDAS, RED BULL, GOPRO etc … Red Bull has put this sport in the spotlight under its name through championships, and has thus reached even larger audiences. The Red Bull company has even created its own department for this sport, in which many international freerunners have been contracted.
Are you already a freerunner or do you want to become one?
Then just give it a try and see how far you can get with the sport!
Maybe you will soon be a professional too?
WHERE CAN I DO THE SPORT?
You can easily reach the sport through the international communities in the social media world and thus establish contacts more easily. It is widespread, but to differing degrees depending on where you live and is mostly popular and easy to find in large cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich. However, many small cities such as Landshut are currently managing to build up their parkour and freeunnning communities, and to keep up with other large cities with the leisure activities and workout parks for outdoor training. In addition, a large number of fashion items, especially for parkour and freerunning, have appeared and are now being sold online worldwide (for example, “Urban Sports Clothing” by Alexander Siemens).
In order to contact professional athletes in the parkour and freerunning sector, so-called parkour and freerunning jams are held regularly, at which all athletes practice their passion together and exchange ideas. Professional athletes from Red Bull to amateurs and career changers come to visit, so take a look around and be there!
WHERE CAN YOU TRY THIS?
You can try the sport on your own, or you can put yourself in the hands of experienced coaches and athletes right away. That is up to you, but you should always act carefully, only train when you feel comfortable and always decide from your inner gut feeling up to which level you want to train at the moment. Because there are always bad days when nothing works the way you would like it to and in this sport you must never forget to keep your inner balance in order to prevent injuries!
The sport itself, should you practice in nature or in the urban environment, it is best to always briefly check all obstacles before starting the training: keep an eye on stability, slip resistance and fall protection such as meadow or rolling surfaces in the event of a fall.
WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?
All other questions about my services, contact details and information about our community “URBAN SPORTS ACADEMY”, both ours
You can find out “Förderverein Parkour Landshut e.V.” on the following website:
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