#3.2 - Interview SÉBASTIEN FOUCAN (ENG Subtitles)

So FIG, now i’m less upset. For some times it got on my nerves as everyone asked me take side which I didn’t want to. First thing you have to know is that David is my friend, he makes his own choices, he’s the founder of Parkour, like it or not I don’t care. So he makes his own choices and it’s not because he’s my friend that his choices are the good ones or the bad ones, I don’t care. He’s free to choose. If you ask me : « Seb what would you do ? » I say I wouldn’t do it. I’m not interested in either the preservation of Parkour’s purity – guys you need to get out of Alice in Wonderlands and come back in the real world, nobody owns anything, simple as that. I can call it Freerunning, they’ll do as they want, they’ll call it « table » and do as they please, so get out of this. The mindstate you’re in must be for yourself, then you have some friends and share it with them. But if you want to rule the world, or think you can get your influence over it, well I think you should wake up as soon as possible. So getting back to FIG, why does that matter ? So gymnastics want to take Parkour, if they want to then so be it. And if they want to organize competition, let them do so. « Seb do you want to participate to a competition ? – No thanks » « Why don’t YOU want to participate ? – I’ll explain why I don’t want to ». So my advice to every one is do as you want and make your own conclusions. But when I see all those YouTube videos with guys doing tricks and stuff, it’s pure gymnastics my friends so you also steal their moves. You’re screaming they’re taking your practice but you also steal their moves and members. It can’t be just in one way. So to me, first I always said I won’t get political, I’m not interested. To me what matters is getting outside, to move, being in an office is not for me. I don’t mind being in an office, I’m an entrepreneur so that’s OK but we’re a new kind of entrepreneurs, those who act and move. That’s my vision. That’s why concerning FIG, they wrote a letter « we are not gymnastics we are parkour », sighs come on… To me what matters is do it your own way, instead of writing this go create your own federation. Found those who think like you do, get together and create your own stuff. It could work. Boxing got many federations, I think surf does too, in martial arts… You just have to take examples. Stop creating arguments, we already had Parkour Vs Freerunning for how long ? I think it’s still on… Without me ok ? I’m out ! I made this mess but i’m out. So about FIG, that’s just a unnecessary debate. I lost a friend recently, one of my coaches, Bryan. We were on many projects, about acting. He passed away overnight, I still have his voicemails saying « when you’ll come back we’ll do this and that » and where is he now ? So when they’re talking about FIG and want to stand their ground, stop arguing, maybe tomorrow you’ll get hit by a car crossing a road and all these arguments would mean nothing. The real deal is what we’re about to do, moving together, sharing good moments, laughing and that’s it. That’s what I think and what I tell to my students, movements, performances they come and go. You’ll do something great and then you won’t be able to do it anymore you got to accept that, but memories remain. All the stuff I explained to you, all I did with the others still remain and that’s what we create. In my opinion we’re creating memories. FIG ? Some will need it : « That’s what I want, I neeeeeed to do this », then go for it. But they don’t need me that’s why I get out of all kind of presidencies, cause president even just as a word… The image I have of presidents… President ? To me, no way. They have a lot of responsibilities, congratulations, it’s their work but the image I have is not really great. I don’t want to be a president. I can give some advice, but those who inspire are always better. I was talking about Bruce Lee, he evolved through fighting : « I was in that school / I was His student / He taught me more… ». When Bruce lee arrived, everyone was fine, he was just teaching an art, sharing a passion. I’ll try to share my passion with you, yet you still have your own way. Me saying « now we’re gonna change everything », what good would it make ? So about FIG… I don’t give a FIG To me there’s not the good one and the bad ones, you’ll make your cut as you want : « Seb said he doesn’t give a FIG ! ». As I said, I’m with David, anything he’ll do… I’m gonna tell to everyone watching this : i’ll support David in anything he’ll do. Because no one’s been through what he’s been through, so I’ll always support him in a good way. I told him what I thought about FIG but he does what he wants, he’s a grown up not a teenager. He’s a man, with a family, with children, with a life to manage. So when those who criticize him will have this much to manage, maybe they’ll think otherwise. It’s pretty easy standing on a pedestal saying they would do this way or that way. So, for me, he can do as he wants. And he harmed nobody, when you think about it… He just chose a path, people yelled « we said it was non competitive ! » but did David said so ? Did he ? Just as I said earlier with Parkour and Freerunning, even if the founders are not dead yet, people acted like they were and created something on top of what already existed. As I also said, a simple example : Parkour UK – P/A/R/K/O/U/R – and even though I like Parkour UK, I watched how they work, they really love Parkour I explained the history behind that spelling, Parkour Generations – P/A/R/K/O/U/R, why they didn’t use a different name ? In their lineage they had Stephane (Vigroux), then Stephane with the Yamakasi, well Majestic… ADD. So it should be ADD Generations as it came from a different path. So you see, this is pretty confusing. « Why did you use that name ? / Cause everybody calls it Parkour / Yeah but we’re ADD ». It’s not that easy. So now picture this, and I’m just saying this so people can understand, try to see that from David’s angle… And as I said David’s not perfect but he’s first intentions came from his father’s legacy. The only difference I got with Freerunning, cause what they did to David and Parkour they did to me and Freerunning, that’s why I understand him easily, there’s so much stuff using Freerun, Freerun this, Freerun that. Did they ask my opinion about it ? Nothing. But like I said, I’m talking about self development wich is beyond that. A name means nothing, just like in Bruce Lee’s book, a name is just a name. That’s what’s inside that matters. So the basics of my method… To me it begins with « always in motion », I like to say « activity is vitality ». The core remains in playfulness, animals play to learn, I’m always learning, I’m an explorer, all of this is the essence of what I do. Anyone who does it in another way is already disagreeing my method. I divide it in segments : practice and training. To me those are two completely different things. Sometimes i see people training and ask them why they’re training. When I go in gyms, I see people training and I know why they do it, when I practiced athleticism I knew why I was training, to be ready for the championships (region, country, world). I think training to train is useless. When someone says it’s to maintain a healthy body, the real question should be what is maintaining a healthy body ? To me it’s a quest for well-being and it’s up to the practitioner to define what does the well-being mean to him, physically. If someone comes at my school, I’ll explain what well-being means. I’m already at the extreme of what should be done to achieve well-being. That’s how I used to practice, I already reduced the rythm, but compared to any random guy I’m already higher. If we go outside, we’re already super heroes, even if between us we talk about levels, even if you stop practicing compared to others you’re already seen as a super hero. As I say, when you enter a Parkour park, it’s the justice league : you can meet The Flash, Superman, Green Lantern, everybody’s there. When we talk to each other we’re like « you know when you fly, you tend to fly slower than… » but we’re still between super heroes. As soon as you see a random guy coming, then you realize. Watching each other, we’ll always find something wrong. Getting back to well-being, you need to put everything back into perspective, just like someone who thinks he’s fat, you look at him and wonder why. « You’re not obese, just a few pounds." « No I need to lose more weight ». So staying between super heroes you tend to believe… But our level’s already way higher. I’m talking about efficiency. It’s like you, having a hammer and me asking you to fill a paper, you would need a pen. You could drop from heights, make big arm jumps, in everyday’s life it’s not that useful. So that’s the basics. I took a lot of things in consideration. First, i follow the seasons, every living creature lives following the seasons. It’s fully included within my method, from spring to winter the way i move/train changes. It’s quite difficult to get used to that because when you practice like everyone else you also move as everyone else. It’s logical. To explain this, well I don’t have the seasons right here but i can explain it nonetheless. We start with « awakening spring », « expressing summer », « smooth automn » and « sanctuary winter ». That is my concept, Bruce Lee did as he wanted, I do the same. I follow the seasons : during spring time I start to move again. I’m already in spring mode (even if we were in february) because of the world tour, I can’t stay in hibernation or I would come and do nothing. Because it’s literally like this, I don’t know if you saw me but I had a big beard and was in hibernation, not moving at all. Just watching Netflix . Spring time : you start to move again Summer time : you can move freely, as you always did. Moving, jumping and other stuff, that is when I express myself thoroughly and discover new things. During fall : i bring everything down I go rollerskating, break dancing but in a smooth way. Only soft moves. Even some capoeira but I avoid every power moves, just easy moves like bar swinging. Well sometimes I jump but it’s really rare. It's not forbidden to jump like "oh you jumped here" Sometimes I jump but for the most part, i only do smooth moves. During winter : that’s when I go for meditation, I still move but in a smooth way. I listen to a lot of music, do a lot of relaxation. Many things but that have nothing to do with the rough practice. Then it’s back to spring… That’s the first step, so if people don’t get that it’s already over. If you tell me your going to do the Manpower gap jump during winter, i’ll come to watch and take pictures but that’s all. Then there are two things in my school, that I’ll show you for the first time, it’s exclusive. I’m working on two aspects this one is almost done, you have a technical level and a maturity level. The technical level is established according to your physical abilities. Yes I know Parkour is about freedom and I like that. But sometimes you ask for the beginners to go this way, the intermediate must go there, and the advanced… you’ll often see that it’s rarely crystal clear. In martial arts it’s easy to know according to the color of your belt. Everyone knows. It’s not magical, everything’s written, with codes. Even in climbing or in skiing with the green or the yellow slopes. In parkour we only do it by the size, "this one is a bit like me so I’m going with him. " And sometimes you get in risky situations acting like this. So I created this classification for one good reason : clarity and absolutely not for an ego run to get the trophy and show yourself acting like you’re the best. That’s why I did not really put it in motion as I’m still thinking about the best way to include it without disturbing the inner beauty and natural aspects of the discipline. Anyway, here it is. Four levels : beginners, initiated, confirmed, superior. Each level has 2 sub categories : beginners 1 – beginners 2 etc. It’s based on measurements of the distance, the height and the length, the evaluation of the risk. Then the evolution of techniques, from isolated ones to combo (catpass to precision) and finally a full line. That doesn’t mean beginners can’t do that but it shows the difficulty levels that leads to full lines. From 1 to 2 meters, 2 to 3 meters, 3to 4 meters, and higher than 4 meters. Here we’re talking about length, if you can jump further than 5 meters well good for you. It’s based on your physical abilities. Then we evaluate the risk : from the ground to the ankles, from the knees to the waist, from the waist to the head and above the head. here is waist height Some of my students are confortable on a waist height but I’m not talking about bars cause that’s another level. I’m talking about walls which is already a good level, then you have bars that requires more precision. Then you have head, and above the head, so you easily understand what it creates from a risk perspective. Finally you have ++ that I call ultimate risk, which i don’t teach by the way. I don't teach ultimate risk. So this is my method, this is what I put in motion and I’m still working on it as it’s not perfectly established it’s still ongoing. Of course some will say « yeah but why do we need that ? », they must not believe that I did not already think about what they have in mind. I thought about it. I think it’s important to know where you currently are in your practice. For example i know I’m somewhere between initiated and confirmed. I’m confortable on a « head level », I don’t enjoy taking ultimate risks. It’s a matter of motivation and state of mind, I’m not into that. So I know where I am in my practice. whereas before that i could only say I’m almost like Jean-Pierre without really realizing what it meant and how to progress from that point. You could only refer to this catpass that you realized on that location but there’s never been a global notion telling you where you’re technically at. In climbing you can easily say that you’re on 6b and people will get it, that’s what’s missing in our practice. I think we’ll get there, especially now that I showed this and then, from my martial arts influences, there’s a maturity level. That’s also the reason why we can argue with others, cause people want to mingle with every other practitioner. Just like in martial arts, there’s a level of maturity. If you’re a beginner it’s really hard to get along with the « water type ». To sum-up there’s « age of roots », « age of fire », « age of water » and « age of air ». In between there’s waving, being like Yin Yang, when you’re not sure « age of roots » : you know nothing, you just discovered the discipline and fell deeply in love with it. You want to know everything about it, it’s unbelievable but you’re scared cause you don’t know anything about it. Once you start to understand things, it’s extraordinary, you’re like Neo, you are « the one », willing to do everything, believing you’re invincible. Everything will go great, I don’t need any code. That is « age of fire ». So sometimes you’re in between until you’re fully « on fire », those you can’t miss them. Then you go to « age of water » for different reasons : you became an adult, you have bills to pay, you have a family, you injured yourself, you can’t do what you used to anymore. So there’s some kind of maturity as you enter the « age of water ». But sometimes, you’re so great in the « age of water » that you tend to think that you’re still able to prove people you can do those things So you’re waving between fire/water. Until you become fully water, you know you don’t have to prove anything to anyone, you feel great about yourself Finally you get to « age of air » when you’re older, you understand that life’s short, your body’s not invincible, that what you’re doing is amazing and you want to enjoy it as long as possible. You’re at peace. Sometimes, you can see an older guy moving, thinking « can’t he move somewhere else ? he’s not doing much » yet this guy really enjoys what he’s doing. So this is my maturity guide that I will use in my academy but I still don’t have my own gym. Normally, as in a dojo this should be pinned on walls. That’s also why my students wear green shirts. They don’t know it yet, I did not tell them but I’m already putting it in motion. The initiated wore yellow shirts. I do it with care so it’s prevents me from doing mistakes, they are not bragging about wearing the yellow shirt. Some asked me how to get the yellow shirt, they slowly get it. Learning is so important that you must not share this out of the blue as we know that in our society it will become a race towards achievements and levels in order to say « I’m stronger than you ». that is exactly what we don’t want as Parkour is the exact opposite of that. The movement practice is not about that. It’s not a race to get something but getting there when you’re mature enough. So that’s about it, I think I answered every question. My method goes further but it’s good enough. .

As found on Youtube

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