Tag Archives | Somersault

Tumbling and Balancing in 1950’s

Here are three awesome videos from the 1950’s. They were all uploaded by Russ Hany, so make sure to check out his channel here as he has more videos from that era.

Tumbling Illustrated
Tumbling Illustrated on Amazon

The first one is from 1950 with people performing a couple of basic tumbling moves like backward, forward and side rolls. There are also two guys walking on their hands.

The next video from 1952 features pretty impressive acrobalance duo/trio.

And here’s another one with some very cool moves, like the tiger bend, handsprings, rolls, somersaults and much more. From 1953.

Not everyone wants to learn how to perform all these moves. But you should at least have basic tumbling skills and be able to role, perform backwards somersault and cartwheel. Click here and learn the basics!

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Rolling in 8 Directions

Another part of the Motor Moron series.

There was some confusion about how to go about rolling in 8 directions. This video should clear that up.

Basically there are 3 types of rolls here. Straight forward (and backwards) somersaults. Diagonal rolls commonly done in martial arts and parkour. And then the sideways roll. All are pretty easy to do and can be done with a little practice.

How to do the One Hand Handstand by Professor Orlick
ow to do the One Hand Handstand on Amazon

All these basics can be expanded upon for further body awareness, control and skill. I recommend you check out Tumbling Illustrated for more details.

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Foundational Rolling Skills

How we got on the subject I can’t tell you at this point. I was at a birthday party and one of my friends told me they couldn’t do a somersault. Really!?! Maybe I was naïve but I thought EVERYONE could do this basic move.

Trampoline Handbook
Trampoline Handbook on Amazon

But the truth is not everyone can. I’m sure you have no problem with this skill but the reason I am teaching it here in this video is to set up the idea of using and actually working on your tumbling skills. Everyone should be able to do the somersault. Not everyone necessarily has to do handsprings or front flips.

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSUUFXhf5XU] 

But if you want to it begs the question; how to you move up to the more difficult skills?

The easiest method is by taking the basics and adding twists to them. This will build your control and make you a better tumbler.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. But it should give you something to play with and start sparking your own creativity.

More on this subject later but if you haven’t already, be sure to take this really small survey. Only three questions total. Won’t take much time but it’ll really help me out. Take the Survey here. Thanks!

Good Luck and Good Tumbling,
Logan Christopher

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