PARKOUR – Discover the differences between Parkour and Freerunning

Asim Khan "AK" | PARKOUR – Discover the differences between Parkour and Freerunning

Parkour vs Freerunning

• Discover the differences between Parkour and Freerunning with Asim Khan "AK," an Urban Freerunner. He is a teacher, a fighter, and above all, a survivor. As a child, he lived through 2005’s devastating Kashmir earthquake

Pakistani native Asim Khan is more than a free runner: A teacher, a fighter, and a survivor. As a child, he lived through 2005’s devastating Kashmir earthquake, which killed more than 86,000 people and destroyed the homes of 4 million people.

After facing death, Asim aspires to live his life to the fullest and accomplish everything he can during his time on Earth.

Throughout his career in sports, he has won medals in national taekwondo competitions, trained hundreds of future fighters, and acted as a stuntman in numerous Pakistani commercials.

But his true passion is parkour, a sport that is neither safe nor profitable, yet he does it out of sheer love for freerunning.

2005: Asim Khan Survives the Kashmir Earthquake

Asim Khan lost several family members to the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, including one brother and two sisters.

"I was under a shelter, surrounded by dead bodies. Three of my siblings were lying dead in front of me," he recalled. "I have seen death very closely, but luckily, I am one of the survivors."

Having endured such a traumatic incident, Asim could have easily adopted a pessimistic perspective on life.

However, he used his precocious knowledge of death to his advantage: he realized that life is fleeting, and he, therefore, has a duty to make the most of it.

Using this philosophy as a guiding light, he has followed his passions despite discouragement from those around him.

How Did Asim Khan Discover Parkour?

Asim has always been athletic. Prior to his parkour career, he was heavily involved in taekwondo and even won a bronze medal at a Pakistan’s national kickboxing event, which serves as an Olympic qualifier for the country.

In fact, it was through taekwondo that he learned about parkour and freerunning.

Prior to the competitions, freerunners would perform parkour stunts to warm up the crowd. The sport appealed to Asim even more than taekwondo, so he asked his coach to teach him parkour stunts, a request that was initially denied.