Gymnastics Coaching.com

Wu Jiani competing bars in the 1981 USA-CHN dual meet. Click PLAY or watch her on YouTube.

That straddle over to catch in Eagle grip was a first. (We called it the “Keegan” on horizontal bar at my gym after Steve Keegan who was the first male we ever saw do it.)

Trivia – Wu Jiani was also the first to compete the Yurchenko Loop (bwd handspring to back hip circle) on beam, but China did not submit the skill to FIG.

Next, Anna Li — her daughter — in 2007 competing bars for UCLA. MONSTER Tkachev!

Click PLAY or watch Anna on YouTube.

Anna was 4th AA at the NCAA Championships last year. Anna’s very ambitious to continue improving. (She won the all-around for her third consecutive meet last weekend.)

Anna’s father is the famous “Thunder Thighs Li”, first world champion on any apparatus for China in 1981. Thunder Thighs, an American citizen, is actually back in Beijing, one of the Head Coaches of the Chinese National women’s team.

Want to know more? Read Chinese Legends Make Long-Distance Marriage Work on International Gymnast magazine.

An amazing gymnastics family!

I’m not complaining.

Women’s Gymnastics is one of the highest profile sports at the Olympics. The USA is defending World Champions. It’s going to be a fantastic fight to get on that team. I don’t think ticket holders will be unhappy with the value they get.

All-Session tickets for 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Gymnastics go on sale on Wednesday.

… June 19-22 … in Philadelphia, tickets go on sale on Wednesday, Jan. 30, at 12 p.m. ET.

… Gymnastics begins on June 19 at 7 p.m. with the first day of the men’s competition, followed by the women’s competition on June 20 at 7 p.m. Competition for the men concludes on June 21 at 3 p.m., and the women wrap up competition on June 22 at 6 p.m. …

USA Gymnastics

The Men’s competition is an entirely less intense media event.

The first shake down to determine the main contenders for Beijing is the 2008 Winter Cup Challenge, Feb. 7 and 9, at the Las Vegas Sports Center. Both days count towards National Team ranking.

Many are looking forward to seeing Olympic Champion Paul Hamm compete All-Around. He’s never been one of my favourite gymnasts — but I concede Paul looks pretty bloody good for someone just coming out of “retirement”. (Watch a video of his recent practice meet in Colorado Springs.)

Paul’s only going to get better in the weeks and months leading up to the Olympics.

Even I have to admit — Paul Hamm is back.

Many are more skeptical about the comeback of three-time Olympian and 2004 Olympic team silver-medalist Blaine Wilson … but quick to add: “If anyone can do it, it’s Blaine.”

Full list of competitors for Winter Cup – USA Gymnastics.

The USA is much stronger than anyone gives them credit. Certainly in the top 5 teams in the world, if they hit.

You probably want to skip this video. Unless you are into modern dance.

Weird Fishes – Rubberlegz – Berlin 2008

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Flip Catch, formerly Jump Club)

Snowboard Superpipe:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The thing I admire most about skateboard / snowboarder Shaun White is how he goes for it, no matter what, when the medal is on the table.

Related post: new Olympic sports – BMX 2008, skateboarding in 2012

I was talking today with Mike Lorenzen, assistant coach of the Stanford University Women’s Gymnastics team. He is looking at ways to grow attendance at Stanford and at NCAA competitions nation wide.

This is NOT the way:

As part of some sort of apparent fraternity hazing ritual at the University of Georgia, two guys showed up to a UGA-LSU gymnastics meet dressed like this.

In their defence, the meet was a “pink out” with proceeds going to support research to fight breast cancer.

Busted Coverage (via Deadspin)

Georgia posted a season-best and nation-high 197.550 to win the charity event.

Du Yize, the founder and trainer of the Beijing Du Yize Parkour Club, shows his skills in front of the Forbidden City in Beijing January 23, 2008. Parkour, “the art of moving”, which involves moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible and overcoming obstacles using mainly the abilities of the human body, is practised in urban settings worldwide.

REUTERS/Reinhard Krause

more photos – Reuters

Thanks Michael.

This is one coach who has been there. Done that.

Rumour is that Armine competed triple back off bars and double layout off beam back in the 1980s!

Wow.

Armine eventually immigrated to the USA to coach with Hal Halverson at Verdugo Gymnastics in Los Angeles. But of course she now coaches alongside husband Al Fong at the Great American Gymnastics Express (G.A.G.E.) in Blue Springs, Mo.

From the most recent International Gymnast magazine. Armine with Ivana Hong.

Whatever Happened to Armine Barutyan

Another excellent post by Rawles. Her first tutorial was on international Vault.

.. bars is the most technical of the apparatus and for this reason the hardest for the layman to accurately judge! It can actually be pretty difficult to even realize that some has done something wrong sometimes on bars if you aren’t aware of exactly what they are supposed to be doing and even though ub is arguably my FAVOURITE event, even I am really murky on the exact distinctions when it comes to certain types of skills and suchnot. …

Rawles uses Nastia’s 2005 World Championships finals routine as her GOOD example of how bars should be done.

Click PLAY or watch Nastia on YouTube.

Thanks Rawles.

See the entire lengthy, interesting post: Rudimentary Routine Evaluation Made Easy: Uneven Bars Edition

Defeat Tanner Hall.

Click PLAY or study your competition on YouTube.

Hall wins seventh X Games gold

(via GOblog)

Stumbled on to this somewhat humourous guide to women’s gymnastics for the uninitiated, penned by Rawles:

Women’s Artistic Gymnastics is performed on four apparatus. EACH ONE MORE DEADLY THAN THE LAST. …

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO WOMEN’S ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS

That is the first post in a series.

Rawles does not like the new code of point, in general, because judges are so far not severe enough in B-score deductions. As one example, she cites Steliana Nistor (Romania) at the 2007 World Championships during all around finals. Here’s the BAD example:

Click PLAY or watch Nistor on YouTube.

Compare that with the GOOD example, Annia Hatch at the 2004 US National Championships on YouTube.

Judges need differentiate more on execution if the current code of points is going to work.

Rawles has many more video examples linked from: Rudimentary Routine Evaluation Made Easy: Vault Edition

Next up – BARS.