We find Zlatko in a corrective boarding school but not after a delinquency. He is a good guy and one of those looking for adrenaline and freedom of movement and expression. His passion is freerunning – a sport that is not very widely practiced in Bulgaria but that causes curiosity and respect. Free running combines parkour, which is a way to get from one point to another in urban environment in the fastest and most efficient way, with acrobatic tricks and aspects of martial arts, says one of the best free runners in Bulgaria Zlatko Ganchev. People like him are hard to get caught by police. But what is he then doing in a reform school?

“We are helping these children here together with some friends of mine who practice breakdancing. We try to show them something different than the gloomy life. They live and study here. They don’t have internet or other things and have nothing much to do besides splitting firewood.”

Among the biggest promoters of free running in Bulgaria is the Freerun Bulgaria NGO, which was established in 2007. But there are many boys that had been practicing the sport before that. Zlatko himself has been practicing freerunning for 9 years. He told us more:

“I was 12 when I started. I was impressed by the movies of Jackie Chan and his stunts. I tried to do some things I saw in the movies. Then a classmate told me that there is a sport like this and offered that we should go visit a practice. On the first day there I became completely hooked to freerunning.”

We asked Zlatko Ganchev if freerunning was a sport or a way of life.

“Freerunning is a sport that keeps my body fit and it is also a way of life because that is how I express myself. It is interesting to see what my body is capable of and what new tricks I can coin,” Zlatko Ganchev says.

He says that Sofia is a great place for free running as it offers a lot for a free runner to explore.

But what types of people are free runners?

“Maybe you must be a little bit crazy but actually anyone can become attracted to this sport. The level of progress depends on the person,” Zlatko - the boy who knows no obstacles, says in conclusion.

English: Alexander Markov