Ask ten people the difference between parkour and freerunning and you’ll get eleven answers. The two words get used interchangeably these days – including by us – but they did start out meaning different things, and the story of how is a neat little slice of the discipline’s history.
One practice, three names
Before either English word existed, there was l’art du déplacement – “the art of movement”. That’s what the founding group, the Yamakasi, called the practice they developed together in the Parisian suburbs of Lisses and Évry through the late 1980s and 1990s: nine friends testing themselves against walls, gaps and drops, repeating movements hundreds of times until they could be trusted completely.
As the group’s members eventually went their separate ways, the practice picked up different names – and each name carried a slightly different philosophy with it. That’s why, to this day, you’ll meet practitioners who say they do parkour, freerunning or l’art du déplacement – and all three are describing branches of the same tree.
Parkour: the art of getting there
Parkour is the name that stuck to David Belle’s strand of the practice. The word comes from parcours du combattant – the French military obstacle course that shaped the training of Belle’s father, Raymond, a celebrated Paris fire brigade rescuer. At its purest, parkour is about efficiency: getting from A to B using only your body, as directly and fluidly as the environment allows. Vaults, precision jumps, climbs and drops all exist to serve movement, not decoration.
Freerunning: the art of expression
The word “freerunning” is younger, and it’s British – sort of. It was coined in 2003 during the making of the Channel 4 documentary Jump London, as an English-friendly way to describe what Sébastien Foucan and friends were doing across the capital’s landmarks. Foucan – a founding Yamakasi member himself – leaned into expression: flips, spins and creativity for their own sake, following your own path rather than the fastest one.
If parkour asks “what’s the fastest way through?”, freerunning asks “what’s the most interesting way through?”
Parkour vs freerunning at a glance
| Parkour | Freerunning | |
|---|---|---|
| The goal | Efficiency – A to B as directly as possible | Expression – movement as creativity |
| The name | From parcours du combattant, the French military obstacle course | Coined in 2003 for the documentary Jump London |
| Most associated with | David Belle | Sébastien Foucan |
| Typical movements | Vaults, precision jumps, climbs, drops | All of those, plus flips, spins and tricks |
| The question it asks | What’s the fastest way through? | What’s the most interesting way through? |
Does the difference actually matter?
Less than the internet would have you believe. Almost everyone who trains does a bit of both: efficient movement when the mood is disciplined, playful movement when it isn’t. The shared foundation – landing well, judging risk, knowing your limits – is identical. That’s why our club has both words in its name.
Neither is harder – they’re demanding in different ways. Freerunning’s flips and spins ask for aerial awareness; parkour’s precision and efficiency ask for control and honesty about your limits. Both are built on exactly the same foundations, learned at exactly the same pace.
You don’t have to choose. A beginner’s first months look identical either way: safe landings, balance, basic vaults. By the time the two paths genuinely diverge, you’ll know which one is pulling you – and most people keep a foot in both.
Yes – and nearly everyone does. The split matters more in internet arguments than it ever has at a training session.
Train both, in Sheffield, for free
Whichever word you prefer, the way in is the same: turn up and move. We’ve run free weekly sessions in Sheffield since 2005 – start with our beginner’s guide and come find us at Endcliffe Parkour Park.