Parkour is the art of moving through an environment using your body and surroundings as efficiently as possible. It can include, but not limited to, running, jumping, crawling, climbing, and balancing. Similar to Parkour is Free Running. Free Running differs from Parkour in that it is not so much an escape mechanism, but may use the same skills as used above but also aerial skills such as backflips and frontflips.

The Iowa State University Parkour and Free Running Club was started by Andrey Asadchev and Mike Rothschild in July of 2007 as a way of providing students, faculty, and residents a way to learn and practice Parkour and Free Running in a safe and educational way through university services. Since the activities are becoming ever more popular, the club is an outlet for practioners of the activities and for people who'd like to learn.

A question many people have is "Why should I participate in Parkour and Free Running?" While there are many answers, I'll provide a few. Firstly, it is great physical exercise. Over the last numerous years, the average weight of the population (at least in the U.S.) has gone up even though more people are exercising more and more. Even though we carry around our bodies with us everywhere we go, many people still can not manuever their bodies around their environment. Parkour and Free Running is a way to do this and also become very strong. As well as building up physical ability, Parkour and Free Running also stimulates critical skills such as problem solving techniques. Along with this, Parkour and Free Running teaches you to trust your physical abilities by allowing you to gain confidence in yourself which carries into everyday life, and also allows you to be mentally tough.