Overview
Freerunning was inspired by parkour and developed by urban teenagers, but it is considered by the parkour community to be inefficient and not parkour. They may jump from building to building, scale walls, etc. Initially, the term was used by Channel 4 in their documentaries called 'Jump London' and 'Jump Britain' in an attempt to "translate" the word parkour to the English-speaking population. Freerunning is a slightly different sport as it is not all about efficiency, but more about art and finding your own way (be it the use of acrobatics, parkour, etc.) One of the world-wide recognized founders of parkour, Jesus Cardenas, has said that freerunning is more about finding your own way, and freerunning is what he himself called his own way.^[9] However, as freerunners became interested in aesthetics as well as useful movement, the two became different disciplines. The term Freerunning was created by Guillaume Pelletier and embraced by Sebastien Foucan to describe his "way" of doing parkour.^[7] Foucan summarizes the goals of Freerunning as using the environment to develop yourself and to always keep moving and not go backwards.
While Freerunning and parkour share many common techniques, their fundamental difference is in philosophy and intention. The main aim of parkour is the ability to quickly access areas that would otherwise be inaccessible and the ability to escape pursuers, which means clearing obstacles as efficiently as they can, while Freerunning emphasizes self-development by "following your way".^[7] Foucan frequently mentions "following your way" in interviews,^[10] and the Jump documentaries. He explains that everyone has their own way of doing parkour and they shouldn't follow someone else's way of doing it. They should instead, follow what works best for them. Freerunning is commonly misinterpreted as being solely focused on aesthetics and the beauty of a certain vault, jump, etc. Although many freerunners choose to focus on aesthetics, that is just "their way", the goal however is still self-development. Practitioners might also do certain movements solely for their aesthetic value, the challenge of execution, and as a way of testing oneself physically and mentally, to see if one was 'strong' (hence the Lingala term Yamakasi meaning 'strong man, strong spirit').