Author: Rick Mc

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

Where I live there is a BIG shortage of gymnastics coaches. So last year Gymnastics Alberta did a survey of 48 coaches and judges, about half with 20yrs + experience.

Parent problems and Board of Director problems were highest on the chart for the coaches:

In Canada most clubs are run by volunteer elected parent Boards. This structure is flawed as — inevitably, sooner or later — a Board will butt heads with the Head Coach. In my experience this has been the #1 reason why coaches quit in Canada.

I much prefer the coach owned gyms.

About 23% said they would like to keep coaching for as long as possible. Of the judges, 41% stated they would like to keep judging as long as possible.

It’s a very good report despite the small sample.

download the document: Recruitment & Retention of Gymnastics Coaches and Judges in Alberta (PDF file)

It remains to be seen if the life of coaches and judges will be improved in my region as a result of this study. Recommended incentives to keep coaches longer: increased pay, educational opportunities, respect, benefits, recognition, professionalization, etc.

related: Altadore hiring a Women’s Head Coach

A great video interview with Dr. David L. Marshall, Medical Director, Sports Medicine Program, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Click PLAY or watch it on Clubhouse Gas.

I completely agree that PREVENTION is the best strategy to reduce slow onset injury. (For the coach to PREVENT overuse, he needs to be experienced enough to anticipate likely causes, though.)

The good doctor says he sees the most problems with lower back and wrists.

That’s strange.

Boys do have a lot of wrist pain. But we have at least 10 times more lower leg chronic pain than back pain in my gym.

I saw this video linked from a thread started by Buckhead on the Chalk Bucket forum. It includes an interesting discussion on the pros and cons of Tiger Paws and the Ezy Probrace, to help alleviate chronic wrist pain in gymnasts.

Linked from the My Daily Near Death Experience crossfit blog: Soviet Gymnastics

Montage of when gymnastics was beautiful *sigh* …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

She visited Georgia this past weekend:

… The Gym Dogs are still trying to land the commitment of Shayla Worley, who is considered to be the top eligible recruit in the United States.

Worley participated in the Olympic Trials this past summer and was considered a lock to make the 2008 U.S. Olympic Women’s Gymnastics team behind Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson. However, the Orlando, Fla., native broke her right leg the day the selections were made and didn’t make the team.

The 18-year-old made her official visit to Georgia this past weekend and is still deciding among Georgia, Florida, UCLA and Utah. …

At least three set for signing day – Online Athens

Shayla will be a superstar in College, I’m sure. Artistry is more important than difficulty at that level.

You would think she’d choose Florida.

… Three gymnasts – Christa Tanella, Kati Breazeal and Noel Couch – said they have told Georgia associate head coach Jay Clark that on signing day, Nov. 12, they will sign letters of intent to attend Georgia. …

Altadore had one last weekend.

A ton of fun. No damage done.

The worst gymnastics team sleep-over I can recall was at another gym. We picked a night when the Red Hot Chile Peppers were playing in the stadium next door. (Our idea was a sleep-over / free rock concert.)

Unfortunately the kids opened the doors to better hear the music. And concert fans decided to come into the gym. To use the washroom.

We had to evict them quickly.