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One of the many things I like about NCAA gymnastics is that I get to see plenty of straddled casts to handstand. I’d estimate more than 90% of the casts at the 2007 Championships were straddled.

Small animation is Amanda Borden on ShanFan.com.

This flies in the face of the philosophy of many (most?) elite coaches who insist on legs together casts.

Q. Why do College gymnasts end up doing straddle-up?

A. Because it is too difficult to hit precise handstand consistently without form breaks on straight body.

Straight body cast is a frustrating skill.

I recall watching double Olympian Kate Richardson, one of the best gymnasts in the world at that time, working on doing straight body cast perfectly. She could not do it consistently in routine. (Look for the form breaks next time you watch an international FIG meet on TV.)

Straight body casting is only a target skill for me for very small, light kids.

The smart coach teaches both techniques: straight body and straddle up. (And does not allow straight body with feet apart.)

Carolina Star98 is a happy gym Mom.

She posted photos of her daughter’s successful camp summer of 2006 on the Chalk Bucket forum.

And she plans to send her daughter to flipfest again this year.

That’s the camp founded by Olympians John Macready and John Roethlisberger. Many of their international gymnast friends come to coach.

flipfest camp – official website

campers with coach Carly Patterson 2006

Does anyone know where this was taken?

If so, leave a comment below.

Thanks George.

RG Community News out of Australia pointed me to this short history of Rhythmic Gymnastics (with quite a Canadian flavour) posted on eliteRG.com.

It’s especially good for those of us who do not know the history of the sport.

Rhythmic Gymnastics grew out of the Swedish system of free exercise developed in 1814 by Per Henrik Ling.

Ling promoted aesthetic gymnastics in which students expressed their feelings and emotions through bodily movement but it was still calisthenics without apparatus.

History of Rhythmic Gymnastics

Cute.

Chinchilla Uneven Bars 0499 on Flickr

As much as it surprises and pains me to say so, Peaceful Warrior is a terrible film.

I have trouble imagining a worse adaptation of such a wonderful book.

Don’t bother renting it. Save your money. Buy the original 1980 autobiographical fiction — Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives instead.

First, the movie got the gymnastics all wrong.

I know. This is not a gymnastics movie. But why confuse the skills, terminology and video editing for no purpose?

A wonderful opportunity to accurately highlight NCAA gymnastics in the 1960s was wasted. What a shame.

Secondly, the actor playing Dan Milman (Scott Mechlowicz) is totally unconvincing. Unconvincing as a gymnast. Unconvincing as an actor.

Finally, the great themes of Buddhist and Asian philosophy in the book are not communicated well. The book is clear, the movie a muddle.

I score this film a 2.0 out of 10.

The main redeeming feature is the gravitas of the always excellent Nick Nolte.

And I liked the the flip flop of the scene with 3 street thugs. In the book, Socrates (Nick Nolte) disarms the hoods easily. In the movie he takes much more the Buddhist approach, voluntarily handing over their possessions.

If you have an opinion on book or movie, leave a comment. (I know many enjoyed the movie.)

Way of the Peaceful Warrior

UPDATE: It seems Dragalescu was injured on this roll out landing at Europeans:

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Almost every male gymnast these days competes at least one tumbling skill to roll-out on Floor Exercise. They want to reduce the chance of a landing deduction.

Without question roll-out skills are very dangerous. Many have been injured. Recall that 1978 World Champion Yelena Mukhina became a partial quadriplegic in 1980 after under-rotating a “Thomas” salto (see video below).

They are banned in FIG women’s gymnastics right now. Should the men ban roll-out tumbling skills as well?

This is a discussion topic on the Chalk Bucket Gymnastics forum. It started after the report of 17-year-old Hungarian gymnast Zsolt Virag having a recent injury. He cannot feel his legs and may be permanently paralysed.

There are good points on both sides of the argument. Check it out for yourself:

somersaults to roll-out … – Chalk Bucket

Personally, I would like to see those skills banned. Or, perhaps better, devalued.

For example, Click PLAY to see a clip of a tumbler training “Thomas” (full-in, half-out to roll-out) or watch it on YouTube.

Over the past 6 months I’ve heard of a number of circus acrobat falls, all blamed on failures in rigging or errors made by riggers.

The most recent is the most tragic.

Before Roberto Valenzuela launched into his daredevil acrobatic act in the upper reaches of the Circo Hermanos Vazquez big top, ringmaster Jesus Vazquez issued his standard dramatic warning to the circus audience: “A screw that loosens or a cord that breaks could be fatal.”

But as the popular Mexican circus performer took his act before hundreds of adults and children in South El Monte on Monday night, the warning took on tragic meaning.

Valenzuela was performing a series of maneuvers while dangling from two 26-foot-long red cloths when equipment connecting cables to the material broke, sending the performer hurtling headfirst to the ground.

He was killed instantly.

Acrobat lacked safety gear to halt fatal fall – Los Angeles Times

Even more effort needs be put towards safe rigging.

Robert’s death is a tragedy that can have some purpose if it motivates the circus industry to prevent falls in the future.

Thanks to Michael Sanders for bringing this to our attention.

This reviewer works for the TechCrunch network, one of the most influential on the internet:

Finally, the most devastating blow against the Bowflex Revolution is its price tag. At $2,800, I really can’t even fathom recommending this product. There are about 1000 better options out there that cost at least $1000 less.

Bowflex Revolution

But you’ve got to admire the amazing athlete models Bowflex hires to pretend they use their products! One of the first on TV years ago was a gymnast from Multnomah Athletic Club Gymnastics in Portland Oregon, I recall.

Bowflex – Wikipedia

Click PLAY or watch the video on YouTube.

This video was entered in a Gwen Steffani contest.

(via Neatorama)