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First Day Back

By admin on July 23, 2010 in Tumbling

It’s the first time I’ve attended a gymnastics class in around two years, maybe longer.

I expect that I’ll be able to get back into it quickly, at least for the most part. I don’t plan to rush things.

On this first day back, we start up on the trampoline. After a few regular bounces and getting use to it I launch into a front flip. Over spun it. Land on my knees. But it was on a trampoline so no harm done. I repeat the process, mostly over spinning it. Eventually I get it down. If you know you’re over spinning every time simply spin less.

Onto some floor exercises. A few basic warmups. I get dizzy from rolling and cartwheels. Then round offs. Those come back as easily as if I’d been doing them regularly. Not perfect but in decent form.

The instructor calls for a front handspring. I think back to what leg I normally go off of. Once I have that no more thoughts. I just run forward plant my hands and land easily on my feet. Once again not perfect but decent. A few more and I’m getting even springier.

We move onto the tumble-trak. A front handspring into a front flip. Here comes a problem. My strong suit in the past was never stringing moves together. I try this again and again but don’t quite get it. I can hit the front handspring but I often hesitate when going for the flip resulting in a landing not on my feet.

Trampolines are great to build your acrobatic skills.

Back to the trampoline. Back flips! I hadn’t done one of these in any shape or form in a long, long time, but I suppose that was true of every move on this night. The fear of hurting myself, even on a trampoline, by going backwards was back and prevalent.

I start with some basic lead-up drills like rolling over then bouncing over. I feel like my body has lost all control. Like all coordination leaves when I’m upside down. I keep working and I gain the coordination back.

Alright those drills are easy. With a spot on my first backflip I make it easily. From there its easy. Back flips, front flips. I work on them all going back and forth between them. Enjoying the freedom. Enjoying the rush of going upside down. Enjoying being back in gymnastics.

I’ve made the mistake of neglecting much use of the trampoline in the past but will not be making the same mistake this time around. You can read more about that and all kinds of trampoline moves here.

We mess around with some handstand stuff, specifically on press handstands and call it a night.

It was fun. I am definitely re-hooked. I also paid the price.

I knew it would happen. Anytime you engage in a new vigorous physical activity, or one you haven’t done in some time, you will end up sore the next few days. You may not think bouncing on a trampoline or springy floor use much muscle but you’d be wrong. My legs, every inch of them, were sore to the point that walking was a bit awkward.

Despite that I’ll be back soon. And I will also be practicing on my own each day.

Good Luck and Good Gymnastics,
Logan Christopher

P.S. This is day two of the 30 Day Challenge. So far so good. How about you?

Comments { 2 }

Back to Gymnastics

By admin on July 22, 2010 in Tumbling

A few years back I regularly attended a gymnastics class. This wasn’t back when I was a kid, as is the case for 99% of gymnasts, but because I wanted to master gymnastic skills as an adult. I wanted to strength and skill that comes with it.

This fell away as I went to work on other training. But there is nothing quite like being in that class. Let me tell you why.

1. It’s a Dedicated Chunk of Time.

If you go to a class you’re going to be there for an hour and a half to two hours (at least that’s how long my classes run). That’s a lot of practice time. At it’s very much in contrast to the typical 15 minutes, maybe half hour, I’d likely spend on my own.

This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it’s a long time and the more you practice the better you’ll get. Of course it can be too long to the point where you get tired, run down, and then you can’t get any better at the skills at hand.

But if you go into class full of energy and know how to rotate from one skill to another you can minimize this effect.

gym rings 2. The Equipment.

If you want to get good at something you need to have the proper tools to do so. A gymnastics facility has the following: trampoline, tumble-trak, spring floor, rings, bars, pommel horse, balance beams various mats and pads, a foam pit, and much more. Depending on your goals you may need different tools.

For example if you take some one of the street who wants to learn how to do a back flip you’re much better set if you have these tools. It is possible to teach someone to do it just standing with the proper instruction and spotting. Better to have all that and tools so you can learn the skill on a trampoline first, then off or raised mats with padding and finally on the ground.

This makes it more step-by-step and of course much safer. Safety, or rather the feeling of safety, is a big deal when you first attempt many acrobatic skills.

3. The Coaching.

If you practice be yourself, often times its hard to know what you’re really doing. A video camera can help you to SEE what you’re doing. But a coach can do that plus tell you what you need to do.

Even a half-way decent gymnastics coach is going to be able to help you get to skills much beyond what the average person would be able to do.

And as was mentioned before having a spotter the first time you try a move is very helpful.

Hand balancing skills can easily be worked at home. (Some equipment can be useful as well as coaching which is obvious.) But for acrobatic skills at least getting your start in the proper facility can be a huge help. It can be the difference between mediocre skills and really going far.

For that reason I’m going back. I’ll have the story of my first day back for you tomorrow.

Good Luck and Good Gymnastics,
Logan Christopher

P.S. For moves you can do at home and at the gymnast facility be sure to check out Tumbling Illustrated.

Comments { 12 }

Damien Walters 2010

By admin on July 5, 2010 in Parkour

In case you haven’t seen this video, check out one of the greatest athletes out there, Damien Walters.

How to do the One Hand Handstand by Professor Orlick

One thing I think you can take away from this video is that much practice is done in a gymnastics center as well as outside in ‘regular’ terrain. Build up your skills in the safer environment before going outside.

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Hand Balancing for Different People Part 2

By admin on May 19, 2010 in Parkour

Thanks for all the comments on the previous post on the different ways people come to hand balancing.

Different ideas and issues were raised so I’d like to delve further into the subject for today.

Gymnastics – First off George corrected me about hand balancing in gymnastics. I’ll reprint what he said below.

Their are six sports/disciplines within Gymnastic in America. Three of them use hand balancing. One; Acrobatic Gymnastics, uses it VERY VERY heavily. The other two are Men’s and Woman’s Artistic Gymnastics. You still get one arms from Girls on Beam at the Elite and Jr. Elite level and hand balancing as you see it is extremely good practice for developing handstands on Rings for Men’s artistic. Particularly if the men move from static support apparatus to one with some movement to simulate Rings.

In other parts of the world hand balancing is becoming part of another gymnastic sport-discipline once called Sport Aerobics, now often termed as Aerobic Gymnastics. Though their hand balance skills are simple Crocks… I predict that this will grow much much larger. This sport is huge in many european countries.

I stand corrected. It seems my gymnastic experience only goes as far as what I see in the major events in the Olympics. But in the future I’ll be diving deeper into these other disciplines.

Capoeira in Action

Capoeira – A couple people brought up Capoeira. If you’re not familiar with this, it is an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, music, and dance. In it handstands are used but usually coming into and out of positions as it is all fluid movement. Similar to breakdancing but quite different as well. It is unique to watch and quite fun.

Several people come to my site in efforts to improve their handstands for more strength and endurance in order to increase their Capoeira skills.

Parkour – Freerunners or Traceurs (the term for those that practice Parkour) obviously cover a wide variety of acrobatic and movement skills. I’ve heard in described as Parkour being moving as efficiently as possible through a path or course. While Freerunning adds the elements of skill and tricks to the mix. In this case handstands would make more sense for freerunning as walking across a field on your hands is quite inefficient compared to running across.

Of course, it’s all about mastering the human body and movement. Hand balancing is the same. So it’s no wonder that those who are proficient and experts in Parkour are usually proficient or experts in hand balancing. The two go together hand in hand and that’s why I offer the Parkour Tutorial DVD on this site.

Crossfit – This would certainly fit into the bodyweight trainees category. While I don’t agree with everything they do, Crossfit should be applauded for bringing all the best movements, with weights and without, to people. This includes handstand and handstand pushups.

Just a few more ways people may get started and interested in handstands and hand balancing. Any way you come at it is good. And all ways are equally valid. Not to mention if you find yourself in one group you can learn by going outside the boundaries and learn from the others.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

Comments { 0 }

New Rolling Articles

By admin on May 5, 2010 in Tumbling

There are two new articles on the site, complete with videos, on the subject of rolling. These are important skills everybody should have. Real basic, but amazingly few people can do all these.

Front Roll How to Roll

Forwards and Backwards Rolling

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

Check them out.

Good Luck and Good Tumbling,
Logan Christopher

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How to Learn Parkour

By admin on December 23, 2009 in Parkour, Tumbling

Merry Christmas!

Regardless of whether you celebrate this holiday or any other this time of year, I’m in the spirit of giving.

I mentioned this before and now its ready. Grab my new interview with Mark Toorock of American Parkour

In just over an hour we covered tons of information from the beginnings of parkour on to how to learn parkour. Here’s a few of the things you’ll discover when you listen:

The difference between doing Parkour and training Parkour.
What your fitness level should be before you get started in Parkour. The answer may surprise you…
Tips on keeping the knees, ankles and other joints healthy so you can train a long time while avoiding crippling injuries.
What a typical Parkour training session should look like.
How to find other Parkour practitioners (aka Traceurs) that you can train with.
Tips on finding places to train (including the legal aspects of doing so).
The fundamentals you MUST focus on and why neglecting to do so will mean slower progress.
And much more…

We do talk about the Parkour Tutorial DVD, available here, but besides that its all great content on how to get started learning and training in parkour.

Good Luck and Good Free Running,
Logan Christopher

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Parkour Questions

By admin on November 13, 2009 in Parkour

Was just trading emails with Mark Toorock from over at www.americanparkour.com

They’re the ones responsible for the Parkour Tutorial DVD we have available.

I’m not an experienced traceur, though I recognize the similarities in the different arts of hand balancing, tumbling and parkour. And many people learning one want to do them all!

In my opinion, this is the best teaching you’ll get on Parkour fundamentals. Sure there are tons of youtube videos you can find but nothing will cover the details this DVD does.

Anyway, I asked him if he’d be interested in doing a interview and he said yes.

I’m slaving away at some big projects currently which is taking the majority of my time (though it’s a lot of fun too). So before we plan anything more, I wanted to get a feel for how interested you are in the topic.

Is this something you’re into? And if so, what questions do you want to ask?

Leave your comments below. Thanks for taking your time to do so.

Good Luck and Good Free Running,
Logan Christopher

Comments { 19 }

Damien Walters

By admin on June 12, 2009 in Parkour, Tumbling

Meet Damien Walters, one of the very best acrobats in the world. Combining tricking, parkour, trampolining, free running, and all manner of acrobatics along with a big dose of creativity.

This guy knows how to practice and get good.

If you want to get started tumbling like Damien Walters can you got lots of practice ahead of you. But let me recommend something to set you in the right direction – Tumbling Illustrated and the Parkour Tutorial DVD.

Comments { 4 }

Most Flexible Ross Sisters

By admin on June 4, 2009 in Bridging, Flexibility & Contortion, Tumbling

This is footage from the movie “Broadway Rhythm” (1944). The Ross sisters, Aggie, Maggie and Elmira, sing and move in ways that’ll make your average contortionist blush.

Just watch past the minute mark to see the moves begin. And my favorite is at the 2:50 mark. That has to be the most impressive back bend ever.

Good Luck and Good Acrobatics,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Thanks to Mike for pointing me to this video!

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What Trampoline should I use?

By admin on May 21, 2009 in Tumbling

With the release of the Trampoline Handbook I’ve received a few questions on what type and size of trampoline I recommend.

To do the tricks in the book you’ll need to be able fully layout on the trampoline. For this reason I recommend a trampoline that is at least 10 feet wide. And the bigger the better. Just gives you more room to do the tricks safely.

As to shape the standard round trampoline works fine, but the square or rectangular versions are great too.

As far as brands or where you get them a simple search on google for ‘trampolines’ will find you many places selling them. Or most likely you can buy them locally in your area.

And once you have it set up the real fun begins. See the Trampoline Handbook to find out how you can get started in tons of beginner and intermediate trampolining tricks.

Good Luck and Good Trampolining,
Logan Christopher

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