I got a few questions about gymnastics. I hope some of you guys can answer them.

[Prince of China]

I feel like taking gymnastics soon. I found a place that's pretty close to me and it offers recreational gymnastics. I don't plan to go competitive because I am 14. I am sure that gymnastics will help my martial arts, which I started when I was 13 and I was wondering:
Since I'm just doing it recreationally, what will they teach me as a beginner? Do they teach hand-springs in recreational gymnastics? If so, do you have to be at a certain level?
Edit: Oh, I forgot:
There are all sorts of round-off moves like pikes, back-tucks and etc...would they also teach that?
And the gymnasts seem to get a lot of height on the floor excercise, is it because of the springs in the ground?

 

[Revisedsoul]

I feel like taking gymnastics soon. I found a place that's pretty close to me and it offers recreational gymnastics. I don't plan to go competitive because I am 14. I am sure that gymnastics will help my martial arts, which I started when I was 13 and I was wondering:
Since I'm just doing it recreationally, what will they teach me as a beginner? Do they teach hand-springs in recreational gymnastics? If so, do you have to be at a certain level?
Edit: Oh, I forgot:
There are all sorts of round-off moves like pikes, back-tucks and etc...would they also teach that?
And the gymnasts seem to get a lot of height on the floor excercise, is it because of the springs in the ground?

i was a gymnist way back when. adn from wah ti got form it was dancing around with a ribbon, cartwheels, hand stands, trampoline positions, and a giant foam pit, and there are no springs in the mats

 

[Prince of China]

Rhythmic is the one with the ribbon. It's only for women. When did you start?

 

[Murray_H]

You really want to be the prince of persia don't you?

 

[Adrien C]

All I know, is that, you get TONS of hottys in gymnastic.
I do boxing :dozey:

 

[ButtHoleMcGee]

Well, aerobics is probably the better class. Picture girls doing stretches in front of you. I was caught several times looking at the girls.

The moral of the story is that I'm a pervert.

 

[Prince of China]

You really want to be the prince of persia don't you?

Why, yes...yes I do. :cheers:

Well, aerobics is probably the better class. Picture girls doing stretches in front of you. I was caught several times looking at the girls.

Or watch girls do stretches and wear tight clothing and do back-tucks.

No one has answered my questions.

 

[Pogrom]

I feel like taking gymnastics soon. I found a place that's pretty close to me and it offers recreational gymnastics. I don't plan to go competitive because I am 14. I am sure that gymnastics will help my martial arts, which I started when I was 13 and I was wondering:
Since I'm just doing it recreationally, what will they teach me as a beginner? Do they teach hand-springs in recreational gymnastics? If so, do you have to be at a certain level?
Edit: Oh, I forgot:
There are all sorts of round-off moves like pikes, back-tucks and etc...would they also teach that?
And the gymnasts seem to get a lot of height on the floor excercise, is it because of the springs in the ground?

Hmmm... getting a bit of deja vu reading this. Sounds a bit like my past

I started martial arts at age 11, then started gymnastics at age 14. Just recreationally, like yourself. Not looking to join the olympic team, or anything like that.

But I was getting taught the full deal. Floor routines, complete with tumbling. Rings, Pommel horse, High bar, Parallel bars, and Vault. However, from your description, it sounds like you are only going to be learning tumbling. Whether you will be learning gymnastics, or just tumbling, you should be learning round offs, somersaults, flips, rolls, hand stands, hand springs, head springs, twists etc. Too many to list.

And to answer your final question, yes there are springs in the floor. That is why it is called a 'Sprung Floor". But it is not like a trampoline. It just gives you a bit of extra lift after hitting the ground very hard (i.e. after coming down from a roundoff)

Hope that helped.

 

[Prince of China]

Thank you, that helped a lot.

 

[Razor]

I was also considering doing Gymnastics a long with Martial Arts next year, Pogrom, did it help with your martial arts at all, i will be getting into it next year, when i am 21.

 

[Prince of China]

It should definetely help. It gives you great flexibility.

 

[Spartan]

Gymnastics wouldn't help my m/a much... kicking someone in the balls and then punching him in the face doesn't require a great deal of agility.

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

Heheh, I allways wanted to do gymnastics but never bothered.


I guess flexibility and extra co-ordination will help with martial arts. But you can teach you'reself a handspring. I did!


One handed and no handed cartwheels are fun too! :thumbs:

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Heheh, I allways wanted to do gymnastics but never bothered.


I guess flexibility and extra co-ordination will help with martial arts. But you can teach you'reself a handspring. I did!


One handed and no handed cartwheels are fun too! :thumbs:

Well that explains those lumps you have on your head.

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

Well that explains those lumps you have on your head.

You don't actually know how right you are.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

You don't actually know how right you are.

Oh but I do :naughty:

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

Oh but I do :naughty:

I am gona take that as "I have tried and I know from experience" rather than the infinatly more scary "I know where you live and what you do!"

 

[Fat Tony!]

How wrong you are marksman

 

[simmo]

Gymnastics really is fun , I loved it until I got hooked on a thing called a computer , since then my skillz have faded to nothing :|

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

/me runs!

FAST!

 

[Prince of China]

How can you teach yourself handsprings?

 

[KoreBolteR]

kick-boxing or bare knuckle fighting is my favourite, or women mud wrestling

 

[Pogrom]

I was also considering doing Gymnastics a long with Martial Arts next year, Pogrom, did it help with your martial arts at all, i will be getting into it next year, when i am 21.

I found that my flexibility didn't really improve all that much. Honestly, unless you are doing hardcore gymnastics you should be doing similar flexibility work in your chosen MA (mine is Northern Shaolin and Wushu).

But I found that I improved my airtime greatly (good for forms) as well as my overall 'awareness' of myself in the air. By 'awareness' I mean being able to flip and twist and still basically know where you are in relation to the ground.

My strength and muscular endurance also improved (especially upper body). Man, male gymnasts are absolutely obsessed with strength training, although it could have been just the group I trained with

If you are wanting to look good in forms or to mess around with MA tricks, then jump into gymnastics headfirst. If you are focusing on the combat elements of Martial Arts then think of gymnastics as an interesting way of cross-training