Tag Archives | Contortionist

Yoga's Scorpion Pose

By on February 23, 2008 in Flexibility & Contortion

When I was practicing a bit of my hand balancing last week someone who practiced yoga commented on it and we started a conversation.

One balance that she told me about is the Scorpion Pose also known as Vrschikasana. (No, I don’t know how you pronounce that.)

For any hand balancer is should not be much of a problem to get started. But if you need it you can always use a wall.

Simply kickup into a forearm stand. From here all you do is bend your knees and bring your feet to your head.

In this pose you want to keep your feet and knees together, though your body will naturally want to separate them.

How far your feet can go depends on the flexibility of your back. For the contortionist is will be easy to touch the feet on the head or even bring them under the chin.

If you can’t get there, not to worry, just do what you can and build from there.

I just did a couple while writing this. Let me tell you this is one move that will instantly lift your spirits and make you feel alive.

Go ahead and give it a try.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. With all my travels I fell out of my normal writing schedule but will get back on it now. In the mean time if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask – https://lostartofhandbalancing.com/question.html

Learn How to Back Flip in 31 Days
Learn How to Back Flip in 31 Days on Amazon

Comments { 0 }

Diane Robinson – Contortionist Extraordinaire

By on January 24, 2008 in Flexibility & Contortion

From the November 1950 issue of Acro-Chat.

Diane Robinson Hand Stand

Diane Robinson like many others has spent many happy hours working out with the gang at Santa Monica’s “Muscle Beach.” But her real training came from dancing school acrobatic teachers in Oakland and Hollywood, California.

Walking and Jumping On Your HandsWalking and Jumping On Your Hands on Amazon

Diane’s ease of manner, grace of work and charming personality has made her a favorite with western audiences. Many contortionists perform their bending on top of a small platform or pedestal, but Diane goes them one better by performing her difficult bends and balances on top of a large ball.

Here she is very much at ease in a free elbow stand balance.

 Elbow Stand Balance

In you want to try the contortionism thing then its still a matter of progressing from where you start. Trying to get the little bit more of back bend each time.

I wouldn’t recommend starting off on top of a ball. Just standing on top of a swiss ball proves to much for most people.

As far of the points of the elbows stand, go ahead and give it a try. Simply start from a forearm balance and raise your hands up. With a little practice you can add this trick to your repertoire.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. There’s a few more pictures of Diane demonstrating the front walkover which I’ll put up next time. Until then be sure to check out the new review on the Hand Balancing Mastery Course if you haven’t already.

Comments { 0 }