The sound of a runner’s feet approaches, skipping lightly along a path. He effortlessly slices though the air, turns sharply, and jumps over a bench, landing with ease on the opposite side before rolling forwards and back up to his feet, continuing on along the path. Another runner nearby stands tall before leaping several feet from one wall to another; he lands gracefully as a slight breeze picks up across Benjasiri Park next to the Emporium.

These are members of Thailand’s first (and only) active free running collective. Anshul, Shayan, Dhruv, Arun and Gee (aged between 19 and 22-years-old) met each other through study. “I watched the Jump Britain show [a free running documentary shown on UK TV station Channel 4 in 2005] last year and then went to the States and saw there were people doing it over there,” explains Anshul. “So when I came back I told these guys and we formed our own group.”

Free running is the discipline of traveling from point A to point B with as fluid a set of movements as possible. It is heavily inspired by parkour, which is the physical art of movement. Whereas most people choose to walk along a path to get somewhere, a free runner looks at the environment he finds himself in and sets himself the challenge of getting to the same place in a different way.

“There’s all these structures and buildings in the way wherever you go,” says Shayan. “Back in years gone by, people used to walk, they used to run, but now our chances are limited, so this is a way of rebelling against the norms of society.”

Anshul adds: “It’s like if you’re walking on a sidewalk, anyone can use it, but this is breaking free. There are so many alternative ways to move. You can use a wall or anything.”

It’s easy to look at free runners and question why they do it. “What people don’t understand they will mock,” says Shayan. “Anything that’s new, people won’t care about.”

Free running goes deeper than the general public often gives credit for. It serves several purposes, as Anshul explains: “Some people think it’s a philosophy, like a martial art, and people can relate to it in real life. Some people just do it for fitness, and some see it as a sport. Some people want to put it into competition while others want to keep it as a philosophy because they don’t see why someone’s move should better than someone else’s.”

The group is very focused on looking after its best interests. “First, we always concentrate on safety,” says Anshul. “We don’t want people to get the wrong idea. If you watch a movie, you see people jumping from buildings and stuff, and we don’t want people to associate that with parkour and free running. In the States, when I went to jams, we teach people the basics first.”

Injuries are still a hazard of the sport, however. Shayan once tore a ligament in his ankle when he landed the wrong way after performing a basic jump. Undeterred, he learnt from his injury and tried to motivate himself once more to improve. “When I got injured,” he says, “I couldn’t do the same move for three or four months because I had the fear in the back of my head. But it never made me want to stop.”

Anshul explains how free running is in us all: “If you think about it, we all love to be playful with our surroundings from an early age, like jumping over a bench or a trashcan. It’s in us, but this is giving it a name. You can actually do it and move through your environment more fluidly.”

Shayan offers some advice to anyone interested in free running: “You should train hard, definitely warm up, and learn to warm down, go to websites, and do as much research as you can. Safety is the most important thing. Learn to balance your body and know where your center of gravity is. You don’t want to be standing on a building and fall off. There’s a lot of stamina and strength training needed.”

With that, Shayan scurries off, barrel-rolling over a bench as he goes. Next time you’re walking to work, or next time you’re strolling along the street o the way to 7-eleven, take a look at your surroundings and imagine how you could get to where you are going in a more interesting way; that’s what free runners do.

This article will appear in One2Go Magazine next month. It was written at the end of last year.

Techno’ tags: Free running, Parkour, Thailand, Bangkok, Extreme sports Asia