MUNICH, Dec 12 ― Inspired by Jackie Chan, freerunner Jason Paul rushes to catch a flight at Munich Airport.

Jason Paul has credited martial arts hero Jackie Chan as the inspiration for his latest free running escapade, in which he transforms Munich Airport into an urban playground.

The German, who only got into parkour by default when he and a friend watched a clip back in 2005, has jumped from rooftops in Sarajevo and hurled himself from shipping containers before expertly landing from great heights.

But for his latest video adventure, Last Call for Mr Paul, he checks in at the last minute for a Lufthansa flight to Ibiza and has a perilous dash to make it on board. And it was all done with the Hollywood actor and martial arts expert in mind.

“To me Jackie Chan was an absolute inspiration,” said Paul. “In preparation for the film shoot, I watched all of his movies, every single one of them! Watching how he connects action and story with his stunts was particularly helpful. I also watched the Thai movie Ong Bak. That was pretty inspiring as well.”

Paul, whose motto is that “I love trying new things”, uses every facet of the German airport to take him past fellow passengers as quickly as possible in order to make his flight, in what he calls ‘my personal version of Mission Impossible’.

Jumping along conveyor belts of bemused passengers, using a luggage trolley to power him along and hurling himself into an airport buggy before being pushed along the floor by it on his backside prove among the innovative ways for him to get around in the three-and-a-half minute clip.

“Despite a few 18-hour-days I absolutely enjoyed the shoot,” added Paul, a frequent flyer who had long dreamed of free running at an airport. “To me it was a truly unique experience. When else do you have the pleasure of utilising an airport like the one in Munich the way you as free runner have always dreamed about?”

And Paul, who likes to think free running is about “timing, precision and playfulness” does just that as he performs a mock backstroke along the airport floor as pushed along by the buggy.

But as the clock ticks to his flight taking off, there are run-ins with airport security, skids along a wet floor in the process of being mopped, the impromptu use of a luggage slide and even a few seconds of him running along the side of a bus, much to the surprise of the passenger by that particular window.

Jason Paul performs during Last Call for Mr Paul in Munich on October 8, 2016, ― Picture courtesy of Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Jason Paul performs during Last Call for Mr Paul in Munich on October 8, 2016, ― Picture courtesy of Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Understandably, the bus stunt was his hardest. “As far as timing is concerned that was probably the hardest trick of all. It took us several takes to wrap this particular shot up. Up until that sequence was a wrap we didn’t quite know, if it was actually possible. In the end, we made that fantasy a reality as well, despite all the time pressure and the waning sunlight.”

The adventure reaches its finale as he performs a monstrous leap through the air into the plane door just as it’s closing for take-off only to question whether the plane he has dashed for is actually the right one.

Q&A with Jason Paul

What are your top five songs while flying?

• The Last Emperor – Do You Remember

• Frank Sinatra – My Way

• Jay-Z – All Around The World

• Joe Jackson – Big World

• Nujabes – Feather

Four books, that regularly shorten your waiting time at airports?

• Gary Jennings – The Journeyer

• Dale Carnegie – How To Win Friends And Influence People

• Robert Greene – Mastery

• Tim Ferris – The 4-Hour Work Week

Top three gadgets, that keep you comfortable while on a plane?

• Notebook

• Kindle

• Music/podcasts

Top two travel destinations?

• Tokyo

• Tel Aviv ― Reuters