Hands down, parkour/free running. Rock climbing doesn’t build the stamina and endurance you need to escape a bad situation. How often are you going to carry your gear, chalk and climbing shoes to survive a bad situation. Bouldering has its benefits, but you need to run to the spot you can climb and maybe switch to climbing shoes. Parkour and free running allow you to run away, climb extremely fast to a vantage point than doing this like a rock climber. Don’t get me wrong, bouldering is great, but most parkour practitioners can climb almost as good as a rock climber. They can do dynamic climbing, static climbing, crack climbing, roof climbing, and vert climbing. Slab climbs, most parkour practitioners can run up. Not all rock climbers are great dynamic climbers.
Running and jumping over obstacles is a requirement to escape and survive. Jumping between buildings or walls is not something most rock climbers do, especially after they have been running for a mile or more. Falling and rolling safely at heights is another thing that rock climbers are not great at. I have seen so many people break bones in a severe way in bouldering gyms because they do not know how to fall. They are taught to fall on their feet and roll on their back with their head tucked and arms crossed. How does that help when you are falling from 12 feet headfirst? Rock climbers on boulders panic and either bring their hands down first, or land awkward on their leg and break bones.
Both parkour and bouldering are very high-risk sports that are known for major injuries, but the risk/reward is better as a parkour practitioner. There is the other fact that you don’t have to pay over $100 a month for a membership or $20+ for a day pass to use a gym. There are indoor parkour gyms across the globe, and you do have to pay about the same as a climbing gym. But there are plenty of outdoor parkour courses popping up. Also, you can practice free running in most places (but some public or private properties forbids this, and roof hopping is definitely not legal.)
Parkour practitioners can usually outrun rock climbers, and they are far more acrobatic to combat the risks associated to falling. If you are strictly a rock climber, pick up parkour and see how fast you can get good at it. If you are strictly a parkour practitioner, learn some of the static skills of a rock climber and you may get better as well.
There is a saying, “You just have to be faster than the slowest person in order to survive.”
