The shoulder stand is a name for a movement pictured below.
However it’s also the name for the bottom of a press position as you’ll learn in this video here.
This is a great move for several purposes.
1. Strengthens the arms and shoulders. You’re holding a position that can be tough. Although your arms are fully bent and touching which allows you to support some weight they still must isometrically fire to hold you in position.
2. Strengthens the abdominals. This can be increased by raising and lowering the legs into position.
3. Works your balance. The hands must work to keep you balanced. Since it’s a lower center of gravity then the handstand, it’s usually easier to hold this position. It would make another great lead-up stunt for the handstand for that reason.
I’m going to try showing more of my regular practice up here on the blog. One of the biggest focuses lately has been straight handstands.
Instead of kicking up, there is a jump up through a tucked position to the handstand. As you can see my body still is curved, but this wasn’t the best example. Body position and balance is improving.
This is the second in a new series that shows an average day life, except that the person gets around while in a handstand. This is from Tim “Livewire” Shieff a famous freerunner.
There’s tons of walking around on the hands here, accompanied by a dog. You also have to admire some of the transitions into and out of the handstands.
The part with the dog poop is a bit much, but a great shot into the trash can. 🙂
Make sure you check out the other videos in this series below.
I think rock climbing and handstands go very well together. In one you work the pushing muscles of the upper body. In the other you work the pulling muscles.
But this isn’t what I mean when I say to combine the two…
This is truly rock climbing and handstands combined. A simple bouldering stunt turned upside down. This makes going down a flight of stairs on your hands look like child’s play.
How many other rock climbers/hand balancers are out there?
This is the first in a new series that shows an average day life, except that the person gets around while in a handstand. This is from Tim “Livewire” Shieff a famous freerunner.
A bit of a supported one armer as he pays to get in the station.
Riding down the escalator, and taking a few downward steps at the end too. He covers a flight of stairs a little later on.
Finally he holds a stable handstand inside the departing subway train. Considering they tell you to hold onto the rails if you’re standing, this probably is much harder then it looks.
I wondering how the backpack may have made this slightly easier by lowering his center of gravity.
I can’t say for sure as I wasn’t there, but this was most likely just done shot at a time. Is anyone else interested in trying something like this? To do the whole thing in one shot would be truly legendary.
The first time I heard about doing handstand underwater I didn’t think it was a good idea. But since then I’ve changed my mind.
Let’s look at some of the benefits and drawbacks.
Why should you do handstands underwater? The balance will be easier. Because the water has a greater resistance then the air your body will not fall out of position as quickly and you’ll have an easier time correcting it.
This can also be made progressive by having your body less and less underwater. In the beginning, if you have a pool deep enough you can be completely submerged, but as you improve your legs will stick out more. This is where a nice sloping pool would come in handy.
The main drawback I see is that you won’t be able to breathe, so unless you’re also working to improve how long you can hold your breath you won’t last too long.
Also you have to be careful to still maintain all the body position and everything you’re going for with an underwater handstand, like you would in a real handstand.
So yes you can add in underwater handstands to how you practice but I wouldn’t make it the only thing you do. For more info be sure to check out my handstand getting system.
In the previous video we discussed doing a handstand dance and a few different ways that can happen.
Here we’re going to look at one specific form on that with the handstand tap dance.
This isn’t the first time professional Rudi Macaggi has been featured on this site. But this video of tap dancing on the hands was new to me. It’s awesome and I’ve never seen anything like it before!
When it comes to handstand endurance there are probably two different things you want to shoot for.
The first is to hold a handstand against the wall for as long as you can.
Without having to balance you can just focus on building your body’s ability to sustain that position. By doing this you’re building endurance that certainly can transfer over to doing freestanding handstands.
Another aspect of this is that you’ll be able to practice more, because each move won’t be as fatiguing as before when you build up your endurance.
The second way is to work on holding a handstand for longer and longer periods of time out in the open. Here’s a rather boring video showing this in action.
Now a handstand of about a minute and twenty seconds is no world record, though it is far better then most people can manage.
I would also caution you if you’re trying to build up your skill and endurance that it is far better to stand in one place. I also came across this video of a handstand endurance competition, but these people are walking all over the place on their hands.
The handstand clap pushup is an amazing skill. In this post you’ll learn about and see a couple different ways to do it.
Although it’s called a “pushup” the truth is the easiest way to do it is to not really do a pushup. By generating a jumping action from the feet you can launch yourself into the air, clap, and then land back in the handstand.
Here is a good example of that. There is only a slight bend in the arms before launching and when landing.
Contrast that to this one. Here the jump is generated fully from the legs, but it is not caught in a handstand position or even close to it. The guy ends up in basically the bottom of the handstand pushup and must press back up.
Now here is where it truly becomes handstand pushup with claps and not just a jumping handstand with a clap. Not only does he not use the legs at all but he manages several reps in a row.
These strict handstand clap pushups are tough to do. Even the earlier version are going to be outside the realm of what most people can manage.
“What do I want to be when I grow up? The same thing I wanted when I was five, six, twenty, and forty…to be in the circus…”
In forty years of performing Johnny Yong (The Yong Brothers) became a legend as the world’s best hand-to-hand acrobat whose achievements have not been equaled to this day. Not only was he the highlight in every great circus of the world (from Ringling to Cirque Bouglione), he performed internationally in the world’s finest cabarets and theaters (The Lido, Radio City, Moulin Rouge), the most elite casinos (Circus Circus, Casino du Liban), Royal Command Performances throughout Europe, and on television throughout the world performing alongside such greats as Bob Hope, Marlene Dietrich, Lana Turner, and Meadowlark Lemon – to mention but a few
In his new book A Balanced Life Johnny Yong reveals all of the experiences that occur when your life is the circus…the stage, be it live or televised.
“We are enjoying it immensely and struck by how you weave the story of the journeys of you, and your family so cleverly, and how your story is, in part, the story of every one of us back then. The tile itself is ingenious – it accurately encompasses your dreams and your life – Congratulations on a true literary achievement – it’s sure to be a best seller!”
~Siegfried & Roy
At Age forty-six Johnny retired from performing and two weeks later joined the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department, recently just honored for his thirtieth year, and Lieutenant Johnny Yong at the age of seventy-six is far from retiring.
“A Balanced Life is the autobiography of the renowned equilibrist Johnny Yong who I clearly recall seeing in 1953 at the prestigious Bertram Mills Circus…What a remarkable, interesting life this man has led! An autobiography not to be missed.”
~Don Stacey, King Pole
In his sixties Johnny was encouraged by the Sheriff’s Department to enter the Florida Sate Law Enforcement and Fire Department Olympic Games. He immediately began winning gold medals in Power lifting, Bench Press and various track and field events.
While he had already won 25 gold medals in power lifting, in 2006 – at the age of 71 – after having broken the state and national record, Johnny Yong broke the world record for power lifting and is winning awards and breaking more records to this day.
“..as taut and efficient as the muscle of its performing subject… fun to read… takes on life beyond the spotlight of a legend…narrative that is “balanced” by self-assurance, the instinct for survival…fascinating glimpses into a rich, disciplined life awaiting its next act and the applause it may bring….writing from the heart, Yong inspires the reader’s ovation.”
~Mort Gamble, White Tops
A Balanced Life is about the life of this talented and gifted performer with dozens of original photographs and newspaper clippings illustrating the phenomenal, and often dangerous, feats of The Yong Brothers.
To see a live performance: https://circopedia.org/index.php/Yong_Brothers_Video_1978 as well as numerous other internet sites with photos, videos, and reviews of The Yong Brothers.
I’ve never read a biography of a hand balancer before. Would be very interesting to do so I’m planning on picking up this book. It’s available on Amazon and you can click the image below to check it out for yourself.
