Theoretically, you don't need any special spots, training facilities, or coaches to do parkour. You can just go outside and get started. Most people teach themselves parkour. But of course, it's easier to get started if you train with someone who already has some experience. Parkour is now widespread and there are many clubs with experienced trainers and indoor facilities where you can learn more safely and easily. But that's not the only option. In larger cities, there is usually a Parkour WhatsApp group where the local community communicates. We would say that in most cases it's not difficult to get in and join. In parkour, it's not unusual for someone new to join – it's a fairly unorganized sport and most people started out that way themselves. However, there are of course groups of friends who have been together for years and often train at a similar level, and it may not be so easy to fit in there.

Of course, it's best if you have someone at a similar level to start with. But if that's not possible, just do what was normal 20 years ago: go out with no plan and just give it a try. There's now tons of instructional material on the internet that can help you. Or you can just watch some normal parkour videos and try out things that are possible for you and that are safe. In any case, you should take it very easy at first and gain experience in safe, low-risk environments.

Theoretically, yes! Fifteen years ago, we would have said: No, parkour is not for everyone. But the sport has evolved enormously. When you say “parkour” today, it's no longer necessarily what you would traditionally imagine it to be.

Outsiders usually consider parkour to be an extreme sport, and this image is naturally reinforced by social media, which pushes clips that have the highest entertainment value for the masses to the top—and these are the most “sensational” (and at the same time the most easily understandable aspects of parkour, i.e., the usual “higher, further, more”). Parkour can undoubtedly be an extreme sport, but it doesn't have to be! Parkour has now branched out into so many styles that there is something for everyone. And if not, maybe you can add it! The variety of forms is enormous, and they differ greatly in athletic demands, complexity, danger, techniques, training environments, purpose of training, etc. Therefore, it is safe to say that almost anyone can do parkour in some form, adapted to their abilities.

The practical difficulty lies in getting started. Because even if it is true in theory that parkour is practiced in many different ways, the fact is that in a classic parkour club, you are probably also served classic parkour. So if you are interested in parkour but not in classic parkour, you will probably have to start on your own, or you can get started through other disciplines such as dancing, capoeira, breakdancing, soft acro, or from completely different areas. And you can then take the basics you learn there and apply them “outside.” Ultimately, parkour begins as soon as movement and environment interact, and that can happen in an infinite number of ways.

That's also why we think parkour is a kind of meta-sport, because it's so fundamental that it can incorporate all kinds of movement (but can also be incorporated into all kinds of sports).

Perhaps you will be inspired by our AntiHype concept, in which we have scaled parkour in exactly the opposite direction to usual: “shorter, lower, more detailed.” You can find the video and information about this under Projects.

Of course! If you're looking for inspiration, you can watch Gatecrasher, the first great all-female parkour video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4izoWYFmNg0&t=602s

All featured athletes on Instagram:

Tamila: @tamwithacam

Camila: @camilastefaniu

Elise: @elise.bickley

Hazal: @hazalnhr

Lilou: @lilouruel

Rachel: @rachel_gough

Lisa E: @lisaa_square

Louisa: @louisaparkour

Stanislava: @stani.neko

Lisa S: @lisaa_schneider98

Renae: @renaedambly

And here are a few more athletes who are not represented in the video:

Kacka: @kacka.krcmarova

Chloe: @chloegreynolds

Martita: @martitagm_

Sophia: @sophiakfitz

Silke: @silky.zigzag

Imi: @Imi.possible

Zoe: @flow_e_zoe

Lola: @lolaroy_

Sanni: @sanni.ves

Noa: @noa_diorgina

Of course, this depends on many factors, especially how much movement experience and athleticism you already have, how often you train, and how you train. And then “good” is also very relative. It always depends on what you measure it by. The level in parkour is now breathtakingly high, as in any sport, and then there are many aspects and endless directions you can go in. Someone who is the best in one direction may be a beginner in another. Parkour is not like a 100-meter sprint, but an infinite universe.

The most important thing for acquiring skills is that you are interested in the activity and enjoy it. Then skills are, so to speak, just a by-product of something you would do anyway. But of course, in order to make progress, you also have to constantly leave your comfort zone a little bit. However, if you push too hard, training becomes pure stress and you lose the joy of it. There is a certain “sweet spot” where your training should be, where stress and fun are balanced.

If you are interested in learning parkour, take a look at the Parkour Theory blog article/video Freestyle Methodology of Learning

A classic question, but one that cannot be answered. It depends entirely on what you do and what your approach is. Just take it slow and gain experience and then over time you can decide how much you want to get into it. (Insider tip: always check the things you're jumping on, because sometimes stuff breaks).

Even if social media probably perceives parkour as a dangerous extreme sport, there are no limits to parkour - neither to the extreme nor to the un-extreme. And even if many styles exist more in the shadow of viral clips - they are on a par in skill or even require more and are much fun.

Perhaps you will be inspired by our AntiHype concept, in which we have scaled parkour in exactly the opposite direction to usual: “shorter, lower, more detailed.” You can find the video and information about this under Projects.

HERE! At first, you only come across the most famous people on the internet, and while there's nothing wrong with that, it's often social media-optimized content and sometimes represents parkour in a somewhat distorted way. So here are a few sources of good parkour videos that you might not come across so easily at first:

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/@thecommons.boston

https://www.youtube.com/@feztmind4412 https://www.youtube.com/@69ers_

https://www.youtube.com/@avanti_garda

Podcast

Podcast about the golden era of Eastern European parkour from around 2010 to 2015, featuring numerous videos of various styles. Interesting from a historical perspective, but also inspiring for training:

Parkour Podcast

And the accompanying playlist of the most important featured videos:

Podcast-Playlist

Parkour Milestones:

Playlist with the biggest parkour milestones of the last 20 years:

Parkour milestones

Here is a short list of parkour athletes on Instagram that we personally find very interesting and that will probably automatically suck you into the rabbit hole via algorithm...

The list is not intended to be exhaustive (there are hundreds of them), but rather to give you an idea of the breadth of parkour. Furthermore, the categorization does not do the athletes justice, as their movements usually combine several aspects. It is only intended as a rough guide.

Complex & creative:

@bastian_dratva

@kevinfranzen01

@kacka.krcmarova

@crappy.kosmo

@tamwithacam

@eliaszimakoff

@czech_ivan

@rjuseum

@shirai_japan

Classic:

@hazalnhr

@martitagm_

@edscott1

@verky02

@storror

Hard tricks & competiton:

@twin.parkour

@elis_torhall

@mostafa.hormati

@nathanael_trier

@nene_nagai

@kaito_pktk

Tricking-based:

@yoloflow7

@nicoflow

@archie.aroyan @franc.vova @cherepko

Bar-based:

@nicovanhole

@bjarkehellden

@sokur.skr

Power-based:

@oskeestylee

@georgepkay

Playful:

@marc_busch_

@bringeroflight5853

Experimental:

@matt_mccreary1

@chloegreynolds

@charlesaugustee

@flipeveryday

Here you can find our videos: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@matttmaparkour

Instagram: @lisaa_square

@matthias.parkour

A long-since irrelevant debate that still crops up here and there, especially when you google parkour. In short, the division was an attempt to distinguish parkour into two clearly different disciplines, based on criteria “handed down” by the sport's early pioneers. Roughly speaking, the distinction was: Parkour is application-oriented, efficient movement – sometimes even a philosophy of life, often summarized with the (usually unspecified) phrase “Be strong to be useful,” whereas freerunning is more oriented toward fun, aesthetics, and creativity, and therefore also allows twists, flips, and other “inefficient” movements.

This distinction seemed obvious at first glance, but on closer inspection it appeared rather vague and ill-conceived, and had nothing to do with the actual reality of training, as most second-generation parkour athletes (the YouTube generation, i.e., starting around 2005/2006) did not make a clear distinction between the two. The dichotomy therefore remained mostly limited to stereotypical statements in forums and TV documentaries, while the majority of practitioners ignored it completely. Simply put, most people today are more interested in “nice lines” – and for that, limiting oneself to a certain range of movements is nonsensical.

When people talk about the distinction between parkour and freerunning today, they usually mean only a superficial difference between “more acrobatic” and “less acrobatic.” The distinction, which was originally intended to be a fundamental difference, has thus evolved into stylistic categories. However, since the vast majority of people cannot be clearly classified in this way, we believe that parkour and freerunning can be used as two words for the same thing.

If you want to know more about this in detail, you can watch Mats' PkTheory video on the subject: PkTheory episode 4 – Parkour&Freerunning

No. Shoes are debatable. Contrary to the common assumption that you need a thick sole for cushioning á la running shoes, most people train in sneakers that are rather thin. As long as you don't use mega-fat impacts, feel is more important than cushioning. But basically, you have to find a shoe that suits your feet. Just start with what you have and then see if they work for you or not. It doesn't really matter what other clothes you wear. Some people train in heavy baggy jeans, others in skirts (yes there are... wouldn't recommend it anyway). By the way, you don't need gloves either. They'll make you look like a complete beginner from 3km away (which would be okay) - unless you're wearing them for style reasons, in which case they're endlevel avant-garde!And because many people still ask about shoes, here are our personal recommendations:Mat can strongly recommend the DC Crisis 2 for normal training and DC Central for impact, Lisa trains in the Etnies Joslin. Other popular shoe types include Reebok Classics and Adidas 3mc. There are also specific parkour shoes, but we haven't tested any yet, so no recommendation.