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Leap of faith: Freerunner makes death defying jumps from historic Indian temple look easy



Leaping through the air seemingly into an abyss below, freerunner Thomas Couetdic looks certain to fall to his death in the breathtaking landscape of Hampi in India.

But Thomas, 28, lands safely on another boulder as he performs death defying jumps from rock to rock - wearing little more than a pair of trousers with no safety harness and no shoes.

While most freerunners chose to master their art in urban landscapes, the intrepid parkour expert prefers to hop from rock to rock in the Unesco World Heritage Site.

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Death defying: Thomas Couetdic leaping off a boulder in India without wearing so much as a pair of trainers to cushion his fall





Giant leap: The freerunner looks tiny in comparison to the rocky landscape of Hampi, India









Located within the ruins of Vijayanagara some of the rocks from which Thomas jumps are as big as the average house.

Thomas, from Arpajon, France was travelling around India in search of adventure with friend and London photographer Andy Day, 32 when they stumbled across the unique landscape, a hotspot for rock climbers.

He said: 'I had been wanting to visit India for a while. parkour was and always is a good way to meet the locals and discover the hidden sides of a country.




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'Hampi is a paradise. The boulders seem to have been put there for the sole purpose of being climbed and jumped.

'I seized the opportunity to challenge myself in the way that I like best, by facing obstacles that are as mental as they are physical.

'Technically, it's not a really hard jump, if you've trained a bit. But the challenge for me was to avoid overshooting the landing area, which would have been as troublesome as not jumping far enough.



Preparation: The parkour expert is seen climbing up the side of some ruins sizing up his crucial jump before taking the leap





Acrobatic: The summit of rocks in India's Hampi area offered stunning views while the pair were exploring








Don't look down: Photographer Andy captured some stunning shots of Thomas performing his death defying stunt





'With stress, you tend to push harder, so I had to resist that urge and stay focused on my landing spot.

'The height was the biggest danger of this jump. Falling and dying is usually frowned upon.

He added: 'When you train parkour, you're constantly playing with your fear, and little by little you learn to control it, to channel it so that it serves you but doesn't paralyse you. You never get rid of it entirely, nor should you. It's a self preservation mechanism.

'After some days, people in town start speaking about the parkour guy who jumps from a boulder to another and I even end up teaching a class, at the request of some of the foreigners there, it's a really cool place.'

Photographer Andy said that the pair had already explored Italy and met with a variety of parkour enthusiasts and that they wanted to do something similar in India.

He said: 'We went simply in search of adventure and experiences. Thomas is hugely talented, he trained extensively with many of the originators of parkour and is widely respected by the global parkour community.






Explorers: Photographer Andy Day and Thomas Couetdic explored parts of Italy before heading to India





Relaxing: Thomas pictured trying to get some sleep among the ruins in Vijayanagara



VIDEO Thomas stars in a drinks commercial in his early days of parkour




Runners eye view. Parkour athlete Thomas Couetdic stars in...


'The Hanuman Temple stands on the top of a pronounced hill and offers incredible views for those willing to spend half an hour climbing the steps that weave a path to the top.

'While visiting the temple, Thomas spotted a jump that he wanted to do and we decided to return the next day when the light was good.

'With this sort of jump there is of course the chance of injury and potentially, death, but this is incredibly unlikely given the level of training.

'We have a developed understanding of danger and risk. With ten years of experience, the risks are still present but the danger is negated through judgement and physical skill.



Talented: Thomas trained extensively with the originators of parkour to learn his trade


'Sometimes the jump is easy but looks amazing, other times you only get one chance and you have to get it right first time.

'On this occasion, Thomas jumped twice. I'm not sure why he felt the need to repeat it. Possibly because he is a perfectionist and felt that there was something about his first attempt that needed improvement.

'The scale of the location made the photographs that we came back with feel even more satisfying, It was definitely the most rewarding location I've ever photographed.'

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