tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
Coach Dave Adlard showed us highlights of an amazing fitness reality TV show out of Japan called Ninja Warrior.
Only two have ever completed the Men’s course. Those who have tried and failed include Paul Hamm and several other Olympians.
Makoto Nagano, a 34yr-old fisherman is one of the two finishers out of the first 500 contestants.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Many are following the recovery of Chinese gymnast Wang Yan.
She is making some encouraging progress.
Wang Yan raises her right arm in greeting on Wednesday at the Shanghai No. 6 People’s Hospital. The gymnast, who broke her neck and became paralyzed during the national titles in the city last month, has been moved out of intensive care into an ordinary ward but faces a long recovery. [Shanghai Daily]
In a newspaper interview with Peng Peng Lee, up-and-coming Canadian gymnastics star, one thing caught my eye:
“We start practising at 7 a.m., and work out until 10:30,” said Peng Peng. “Then, from 10:30 to 4 p.m., we focus on studies. Following that, it’s back to the gym from 4 to 6 p.m.
“But we don’t train on weekends. That’s when I take golf and tennis lessons. Also, on Fridays, I take singing lessons.”
Peng Peng works out at Seneca, one of the most successful gyms in the world. They have spent a lot of time experimenting with the ideal training schedule for elite gymnasts.
In 2004 I coached a 5-day elite training week too. And liked it. Two days off in series provides much different recovery for both athlete and coach than 2-rest-days split over the week.
Peng Peng Lee bio – Gymnastics Canada
(via Gym Chat)
Leave a comment if you know of other FIG gymnasts who take 2-days-off in series during a normal training week.
This comic bit from TV proves Bart Conner does not take himself too seriously.
His skill — sometimes called the Conner Spin — has been the source of much derision over the years. (It’s too easy to be named after any one athlete.)
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The thickness of these bar pads was MUCH appreciated by gymnasts using them while learning Tkachev and Hindorf.
The great thing about the internet is that YOU can quickly and easily publish anything you want. And the entire world has access.
(Finding YOU on the world wide web — that’s the difficult part.)
Heather McCanna, a gymnast from Texas, posted quite a good series of instructional videos on how to “stretch like a gymnast” — at home. Ideal for acrobats who don’t have access to a facility. And for the general public.
Series: Gymnastics Warmups Instruction: Free Online Video Lessons
Click PLAY to see a sample or <a href="watch it on Expert Village “>
This is the set-up I like best. Both a “tube” (for beginners) and “socks” (advanced) taped to the bar to better simulate the rail. (That’s what I think they have here.)
Dahlonega Gymnastics on Flickr – Photo Sharing!
I like the gymnasts to get off the tube as quickly as possible. They need to learn how to “flip” the wrists using the socks set-up as demonstated by the gymnast here. (Or is she using short pieces of tube?)
UPDATE: CoachL answered my question. This girl is actually using Ultimate Straps sold by TumblTrak.
Check an earlier post to see the socks taped to the bar.
Watanabe video – Working the Strap Bar
I am not a huge fan of on-line forums as there are a lot of silly and unimportant comments posted between the few great comments.
Once I see SPAM comments for the first time, I am gone for good.
Still, there are two I check regularly:
Here’s another opinion:
gymspot is a good one, same kind of feel as here nice bunch of parents and gymnasts. They also have a forum for gymnasts only, which I think is nice for the younger crowd. Parents forum is for the over 18 crowd, but not a place for adult content.
In Canada gymbrooke is interesting when anyone posts, very quiet in the non comp season, lots of gymnasts post. Only problem is you can post as a guest, so it is hard to work out who is who and who is replying to what.
GGMB is a riot, but it is impossible to join now as they have strict membership guidelines, I was in before the rules changed. It is definitely a place for the over 18’s and not for the prudish type. They are bold and brash, but very funny and you cannot take yourself too seriously there.
WWGYM is a newish board formed from some old GGMB members. Both GGMB and WWGYM are ary into the international gymnastics scene and not at all into low level kids gym. It is nice to have a few to choose from.
I saw a terrific video clip linked from Gym Chat.
Originality Montage by FullyBooked is one clip you will want to watch several times. Original, even shocking, elements from gymnastics history.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Some of the greatest elements in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics resulted from the (long-gone) “originality bonus”.
(OK, it resulted in a lot of garbage skills, as well.)
Still, I miss the originality bonus. One of the biggest problems in Men’s Gymnastics is routines with similar structure. The new code has helped.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 