Month: October 2008

by site editor Rick McCharles

My home gymnastics club is still looking for a Head Women’s Coach with experience coaching to the National Level. Great facility. Great salary.

Check the job blurb, if interested: Gymnastics Coaching job in Calgary, Canada

You would be working with our excellent 32-year-old Romanian coach, Mihai.

website – Altadore Gymnastics Club

John Crumlish posted a great interview on I.G. with Romanian superstar gymnast now coaching in Northern Ireland. It goes into much more depth than usual.

Eugenia Popa (Romania) at the 1991 Worlds

This quote caught my eye:

IG: As the product of such a systematic training program in Romania, how have you been able to adjust to a different style of coaching in another country?

EP: It’s very hard, but I was quite young when I came here, and I didn’t coach long enough in Romania to have that strict kind of approach where you had to do what your coach tells you, no matter what. Here, I found it difficult at first. It’s an attitude thing. You have to say, “If you want to do it, fine, but if you don’t, there’s nothing I can do about it.” It is frustrating because you get kids who are so talented and you want to do so much with them, but you can’t. It’s very much a struggle, but I suppose you just have to adjust. You have no choice, really. You know you can do more, but at the same time, you can’t. The kids have the freedom to say yes or no. We (in Romania) had the freedom to say yes or no, but if it was no, there was no second chance. …

I have a Romanian coach in my gym experiencing the same frustration.

If you push too hard in a “free” country, the kids will switch to another sport. Or not attend regularly.

Coaching in a free country is much more challenging. But what system would Eugenia prefer for her own daughter?

Popa and daughter, Ellie, at the Salto gym in Lisburn, Ireland

read the entire article with more photos and video: Interview: Eugenia Popa (ROM)

Altadore Gymnastics just got a new double-mini built by Gaofei in China. (Thanks Dave. Thanks Liang.)

Here is coach Tammy Stephenson trying to level it. And get it to F.I.G. specs.

more photos – flickr

A Canadian gymnast stylized this photo. Nice.

The New York Times posted a great article and video on free running.

In the sport of parkour, people leap off railings, jump over walls, and generally use the urban environment as their playing field. Most practitioners are men, but now women are joining the ranks.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Men practicing “free running” are often stronger in the upper body than women. But the girls have some advantages too.

… Asked what weight training goes into preparing for the pulling and pushing of the sport, Sha Mialimm Ak, 18, said: “There really isn’t any. It’s about using your body weight. So you can do push-ups and pull-ups. But it’s not important to have muscular arms to do this. It’s better to have flexibility in the whole body.” …

Climbing Walls Because They’re There – NY Times

Aimee Walker Pond is an amazing success story. She competed Division 1 NCAA for BYU.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Unfortunately she misses the bar routine in this video.

(via bribri514 on Chalk Bucket)

The editor of the Live.Breath.Love Gymnastics blog is ClayBabe6 on YouTube.

Her account (which had been suspended) is back live once again. One of the best gymnastics video channels.

Here’s a sample edit – Nastia Liukin-Beautifully Broken.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Coach George Novak popped in the gym last night. He made a point of giving credit to Nastia for her toughness. Shawn Johnson had no falls in Beijing … yet Nastia is the Olympic Champion.

See the rest of the ClayBabe6 videos.

PBS aired a documentary from 2003 featuring 2 families of gymnasts preparing for the Korean mass gymnastics demonstrations.

… As the United States confronts North Korea over its impending resumption of nuclear weapons production, North Koreans prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their supposed “victory” over the South in the Korean War. This documentary will tell the story of two teenage girls and their families as the girls prepare to participate in this year’s Mass Games, an intricately choreographed display of dancers, acrobats, and karate-chopping soldiers, celebrating North Korea’s statehood and revolutionary zeal in one of the last surviving Communist showcase pageants. North Koreans rehearse for millions of hours in preparation for this unique extravaganza. We’ll see the girls and their schoolmates practice their routines in Kim Il Sung Square, their diligent efforts leading toward an awe-inspiring public performance. This film yields surprising insights into family life and daily activity in the little known world of the “hermit kingdom.” …

A State of Mind – Wide Angle

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

The Mass Games in North Korea are the biggest spectacles of human performance ever. There were, for example, 100,000 performers at the Arirang Mass Games in 2008. They celebrate the birthday of the late Communist leader Kim Il-sung. (Father, not the son.)

This despite extreme hardship for the Korean population. Talk about circuses, not bread.

Click through to flickr to see more photos by Grete Howard. UNBELIEVABLE.

Thanks Jennifer Isbister.

Good news. Wages are going up in Canada.

$15.00-$28.00 per hour + 4% in lieu of benefits

The District of West Vancouver in British Columbia is opening a new gymnastics facility.

Check out their job ad if interested.

One of our gymnastics families runs an entertainment business where you can rent these:

Combatants wear large overstuffed, flesh coloured sumo suits, along with wig helmets and wrestle on a padded safety mat. Participants try to push, shove, and wrestle each other out of the ring.

GreatParty.ca