A Correlation of movement and thought in free running and martial arts

The art of free running otherwise known as parkour has been developed in France for the last 30 years; a development of childhood games play by David Belle and his childhood friend Sebastien Foucan. The pair were influenced by Belle's father's military training on assault courses and Georges Hebert’s natural method of physical fitness which involve exercising in the great outdoors and overcoming obstacles. The art has been exposed in a number of documentaries and films most notably at the beginning of Casino Royale and there are numerous videos uploaded on you tube.

Another primary influence on the free running philosophically is Bruce Lee's martial art of jeet kune do or as it is translated into English the way the intercepting first. Bruce Lee created a concept for the method of understanding martial arts rather than a style. He argued that all styles placed limitations on the individuals who were practitioners of that style. There are two primary reasons for this, firstly one competes within the limitations of a sport which makes certain moves illegal and therefore limits their development. Prior to the event of the ultimate fighting championship and other mixed martial arts, contests were either striking events such as in boxing or karate or grappling contests such as judo or wrestling.

Secondly he considered that martial arts indigenous to different countries discounted the methods of other styles out of hand. Bruce Lee argued that an all-round fighting style should include both striking and grappling. He also argued for keeping an open mind with regard to new developments and non-traditional forms of training. For instance in certain martial arts styles and boxing it has long been argued that weight training would slow you down. Bruce Lee was a strong advocate for weight training and in his case it certainly didn't slow him down. He also used effective plyometrics to develop speed and power. Although he respected tradition he didn't feel he should be bound by it. Martial artists have always studied the art indigenous to their region but the reasons for this are purely historical, when practitioners did not possess a knowledge found in other regions. In Bruce Lee's point of view this arrested their development through not researching new methods opened to them when cross cultural boundaries no longer existed. He adopted a quote from Socrates to assert his creed “absorb what is useful ignore what is useless and add what is uniquely your own”. He always felt that innovation and inquisitiveness coupled with willpower and intense effort were the keys to success.

Innovation through sharing knowledge has certainly been accelerated by the use of the Internet; however what may easily be eroded is a deep understanding of the content of any style unless it is deeply understood. The physics of conformational geometry and energy efficiency need to dictate the bounds of physical expression more so than any cultural tradition in order to reach excellence. Lee strongly believed in investigating all styles of martial arts and the science of physiology.

Any particular style is just a development of one individual who creates a school and passes on the method and while the method may prove to be extremely useful, it is just one of a number of methods that could be used. Bruce lee always taught that the individual was more important than any particular style. He was influenced in his thinking by Indian philosopher J. Krishnamurti a theologian with a philosophical bent. He considered that “no school institution or individual had a monopoly on the truth”, and therefore believed in considering the merits of comparative theological and philosophical thought.
The influence of Jeet kune do can clearly be seen as influencing the development of free running. Bruce Lee saw no reason why one couldn't flow in a fighting situation from using karate kicks at long distance to employing boxing tactics at mid-range and using wrestling techniques for takedowns and jujitsu for submission holds. This particular sequence is just an example and any particular blend of methods could be used in a fight situation. The same is true of free running where one move can alternate between sprinting, jumping, climbing and vaulting dependent upon the terrain.
Parkour practitioners also climb trees, an activity vertebrates have been performing ever since suminia getmanovi walked the earth some 26 million years ago. Climbing and running and vaulting over objects are such natural moves there seems no need to separate them out into different disciplines. Sebastien Foucan proposed the theory that during hunter gatherer's time tribal peoples must have practised a form of free running in order to develop their hunting skills and move easily through the landscape. Although free running is often practised in urban areas it is also possible to practise it in any terrain he often trains himself in forests. However for beginners it is preferable to train over cushioned obstacles and using crash mats in the gym. Although Sebastien Foucan keeps fit purely by practising his free running routines others include diverse activities to maintain physical fitness.

The followers of crossfit training programmes also integrate the training methods and regimes of different sports in order to elicit different physiological responses. This does not make them specialists in the true sense of the word, but they are rather developing a range of skills in order to be more complete athletes. Some strength and conditioning coaches criticise their methods by saying they are not directly applicable to the training of any one sport. This however misses the point as some crossfit devotees such as former UFC champion Chuck Liddell practise crossfit workouts to develop fitness components not readily addressed in their sport specific routines. Followers of any sporting discipline can easily learn from any comparable discipline. Laird Hamilton ascribes the advances made in big wave surfing, from the small boards and foot straps used in snowboarding. I myself have been learning to surf, skateboard and rollerblade and find a great deal of crossovers in technique between the different disciplines. I've also found practising the gymnastic rings has greatly improved both my strength and form in weight training.