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Clutch Flag

By on February 29, 2012 in Uncategorized

Been having lots of fun in my recent park workouts. Here is a video on me doing a Clutch Flag.

Clutch Flag

To be honest, I had never seen nor heard of this version of the human flag, until I read Convict Conditioning 2.

Anyone with a good level of strength should be capable of doing the clutch flag with a small amount of work. It is recommended to master this movement before you even move into the human flag (called press flag in that book). I think this is very sound advice.

The basics of it are to wedge one elbow (the lower arm) into the hip. This helps support the body. The other arm wraps around the bar and pulls back, while you lever out your body.

Because you’re wrapped around the bar, and don’t have your arms extended, the leverage of this movement is way easier. Yet you still need to control your body in this side levering movement, and you can even get use to your body wanting to turn or sway in the air.

My friend and I plan on building up the time in this movement to at least 20 seconds before we really get started on the human flag. That’s of course for both sides. I feel a little stronger on the side shown in the video (I guess I’ll call that the right side) but not too far behind with the other.

It should go without saying that to practice this move, be sure you’re on a steady bar that can support your weight and will not topple over. Sign posts, swings sets, basketball poles and much more will work.

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And this move is uncomfortable in the beginning. It can hurt a little to grab the bar as you tense up completely against it. Yet after a few days working on this, while I wouldn’t call it comfortable, it is manageable at this point.

I haven’t done a full review on Convict Conditioning 2 yet, but if you’ve like to read the original Convict Conditioning review its still one of the most popular posts on my site.

The clutch flag is also a very different movement from the shoulder flag which I learned from the Tapp Brothers in their course. When I use to think of the human flag as one movement, its clear there are many routes and similar, yet easier, movements to work on.

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First Back Lever

By on February 15, 2012 in Rings

I was “playing” at the park yesterday with my friend. Great to always have a camera on hand.

Here I was able to hold my first back lever with legs straight but also together.

Check off one major goal for this year!

Compare this to my earlier straddle back levers.

Straddle Back Lever

The crazy thing is I haven’t even been working on this skill lately. I have been working towards one arm pullups and a number of exercises with the Power Wheel to strength the abs. I guess those two things are carrying over. I also noticed I was better at various front lever progressions we worked on.

I also think that it may have been a little easier on these monkey bars, over the rings that I’ve normally done them on. But then I did another back lever, possibly even better then this one, on some rings they had there a little later. Sorry, no video of this one but I will have lots more from the park in coming weeks and months.

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Tuck to Advanced Tuck Planche

By on January 24, 2012 in Planche

I received the following question from Gary regarding moving from the tuck to advanced tuck planche.

Thanks for all your good advice and tutorials.
Can you help me as I am trying at the moment to go from tuck planche to advanced tuck planche, (sure you have had this question a few times.) I am really struggling with any progress and wondered if there was any tips you knew that may help me along.

This video here describes tips on how to this step of planche training.

The tuck planche involves straight arms and holding your body aloft.

The next step involves making it one step closer to the advanced tuck planche. I originally learned of this as one step in planche progressions from Coach Sommer in this article here. Check it out for more ideas. This includes:

1. Bringing your Shoulders Forward

Bringing your shoulders forward places additional stress on them as the leveraged position is harder to hold. As you progress in teh various planche moves you’re moving more and more forward, requiring more and more strength.

2. Straighten the Back

This one is closely tied into the next one. In fact all three of these are tied together. Straightening the back tends to make you need to raise the hips and move the shoulders forward. A back that is straight (even arched a little) and parallel to the floor is the position you’ll be holding for all future planche progressions.

3. Raise the Hips

The hips should be raised up to shoulder level. In the regular tuck planche the hips are low but this is the main point in moving to the advanced tuck planche. As you raise the hips its natural for the legs to start to untuck. When starting out make sure to keep them tucked but as you improve levering them out is the next step.

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I didn’t make it completely clear in the video. Think of these three areas as places you can focus on and start the movement from, but recognize that they are all related.

The planche is a truly difficult move and will take a long time to master. With these moves be content to add a second here, or a slightly better position there. Small improvements over time lead to amazing moves.

For much more on planching as well as all forms of hand balancing consult the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.

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Art of Motion

By on September 28, 2011 in Parkour

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As I was browsing for some interesting videos on Youtube, I ended up being glued on this one. The video is a compilation of vaults, jumps and flips done by these inhuman like individuals. I cannot help but think how in the world did they come up with this?

I quickly pulled up another tab and searched about Parkour. I read the definition and upon going through the lines, it definitely made sense. It is an alternative way to fighting. In other words, this is how you suppose to run away from danger effectively and with style.

Anyways, these individuals are showing us what we are capable of. Indeed, a lot is still to be discovered in the human physical ability. After watching the video, I now think that the world would be 5% to 10% peaceful if people would only choose to “Parkour” their way out of trouble.

I will be looking to search for more of these videos which for me, sends a positive image and a unique way to promote a trouble free environment. That’s what I call art of motion.

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