Sebastien Foucan Interview

Sebastien Foucan may be best known for his role in the opening scene of the movie “Casino Royal” with Daniel Craig. However, this gifted athlete has far more depth than meets the eye!

The words of… Sebastien Foucan

I didn’t chose Parkour it is a discipline I developed with my friends in the late 80’s.

We started just to play around then it became more serious. However, I consider myself to be an explorer and I like to go from one discipline to another.

I’m interested in many things but my main passion is drawing and I’ve always been interested or attracted to art. I spend a lot of time drawing and I consider it to be a form of meditation.

I am committed to a holistic lifestyle and I’m passionate about my own well-being. My [Holistic Lifestyle] practice has evolved a lot since I started, but always with a clear focus on well-being.

For me, well-being means finding harmony in my life, while respecting my body and my surroundings!

I do not eat any animal products at all. No eggs, no dairy or milk. Or as little as I can! Some will say I’m vegan. They would probably be right.

Eat to live, not living to eat!

[As part of my holistic lifestyle] I’m interested in Ayurveda, Qigong, and meditation. I sleep well, which is very important to recharge my batteries and I prioritize time with my family as I have two children, 13 and 7 years old. I try to do my best to improve the inside as much as the outside!

I practice what I call ‘seasonality’, which means I follow the seasons. Don’t expect to see me moving much during winter! I’m interested in circadian rhythms [and annual rhythms] as I feel all these things are important to my health more than spending the entire year jumping around and damaging my body. With all due respect to the top athletes, when it comes to health they are not my reference. As I say, always racing for performance in sport leads to short distance in health.

I admire more the 100-year-old person and even though genetics are involved it is still a true reflection of performance. The lifestyle of the people who live on the Island of Okinawa interest me a lot because of their longevity.

Have you ever heard about the Blue Zones?

The mature practitioner to me should ask himself: ‘How much and how long must a human being move to be healthy?’ At some point we need to grasp the concept of the art of letting go, to reduce this extreme activity. We all must understand that the body has limits and there are injuries you may never come back from. Our vehicle (body) can be broken and too much repetition will damage your joints. I call my practice “The 8 branches of the tree of Harmony.” These principles are the result of my direct evolution from Parkour to Freerunning! I am currently in the process of preparing a lecture on this topic.

I call my practice The 8 branches of the tree of Harmony.

Human beings are born to be exceptionally diverse! And as such that was the original aim of Freerunning. But there has been a further change of orientation with Freerunning as it follows its own flow now.

The common theme for everything I do is passion and curiosity! But to be more precise there are the 8 branches of the tree of harmony that I follow:

I try to live to react to what comes to me! I have always said we need to relearn more than to learn! We are born to explore and to try new things! A child’s natural behaviour is always to ask mum or dad, what’s that? As such, the system we have created breaks this natural inclination for learning. And as parents, because we are so busy, we often answer ‘stop asking so many questions all the time!’

My aim is to fully accomplish myself. To overcome the boundaries that society has put in place and to evolve as completely as possible. As an analogy: The caterpillar that we are, has the urge to become the butterfly. Every one of us feels it! We are more than what we actually are!

I’m a family man, I’m a daddy, a motivation speaker, an actor, an artist, and a Freerunning coach!

All the best,

Sebastien