LONDON (AFP) — Sebastien Foucan's death-defying skills have seen him fight James Bond and dance with Madonna, but the founder of freerunning insists the present moment is all that counts.
Freerunning -- "the art of expressing yourself in your environment without limitations" according to Foucan -- involves jaw-dropping, adrenaline-fuelled leaps, flying through the air and hurtling around urban obstacles at breakneck pace.
Foucan, 34, showcased his dazzling skills in the 2006 Bond film "Casino Royale" and choreographed part of US pop queen Madonna's "Confessions" world tour.
However, freerunning's beginnings were much less glamorous.
Born in the late 1980s in the concrete jungles of suburban France, the extreme sport combines efficiency of movement across the urban landscape with cat-like agility.
For Foucan, it is about finding the perfect balance between body, spirit and environment to conquer fear and overcome obstacles.
"At the beginning we were a few friends doing it in a small town and we never thought it would be big like that," the hyperactive 34-year-old said of freerunning's origins in the Parisian suburb of Lisses.
"Now it's around the world from America to Asia, to Australia and Africa, it's everywhere.
"In the UK it's starting to explode, people are making communities," he told AFP at Zavvi megastore in central London, where he greeted fans and signed copies of his debut book.
Entitled "Freerunning: Find Your Way", it is the first book in English on the topic and lays out Foucan's philosophy.
It is not a how-to guide of set movements: freerunning is "an unfinished discipline" and the book is simply "my way", said the Frenchman.
"It's to show my journey's experience. Freerunning is going to evolve but now people have a reference point, the philosophy of the guy who created it," he said.
"When you practice, there is a quest to feel your body, spirit and environment sticking together.
"It's how you feel when you feel good. Realise this is the place where you develop yourself. It makes you more confident and calm down from all the stress of society and life."
Foucan's book features pictures of him stood high above cityscapes, about to spring off across the urban environment. "With freerunning, just by moving, like any sport you learn something," he explained.
"To overcome your fear and pain, to build on strengths and to know your body better. Coordination, endurance, everything. For life, it teaches you how to keep going on, to move forward and to make choices.
The former firefighter said he sometimes could not believe where his skills have taken him.
Foucan said working on "Casino Royale" was "absolutely amazing" and Bond actor Daniel Craig "did really well" in their fight sequences. "He's a very nice person, always positive," he said.
Madonna, meanwhile, is a "very tough girl, very strong, a perfectionist.
"She's a legend, but she's a normal person, she trusts me, she respects my work and I have a huge respect for her."
But rather than battling Bond or working with Madonna, the burgeoning film actor said his biggest challenge came in the forthcoming Robert Carlyle and Ving Rhames action film "The Tournament", where he worked with moving vehicles.
A frustrated painter, Foucan is adamant freerunning is not merely a sport.
"I used to work as a firefighter and then in the Opera Garnier in Paris as fire security. I saw the dancers," he said
"Like dancing, it's very physical, you can smell the sweat -- but it's an art form."
The first ever freerunning world championships were held last month in London, but Foucan did not take part, feeling it is not a competitive discipline.
And whether working on film sets or leaping from great heights, one thing Foucan has learnt in his years of conquering obstacles is dealing with fear.
"I feel fear as an information, I can't say I have no fear," he said.
"But by practicing for years, now I feel it different from the normal person.
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