Gymnast Crossing

Welcome to.......

2063-10-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

....my blog site where I will mostly host gymnastics music videos for the purpose of sharing with the friends and families of those who appear in these videos; as well as everyone who is involved with Santa Monica Gymnastics Center. SMGC is in no way responsible for the contents found here. These movies are just for personal use. I just needed a place where it would be easier to share these videos with others. The tools I use are a 2.0 megapixel Canon digital camera and Windows movie maker, which is free with your Windows package. That's it.

I only started this blog the other day; but all the videos I will be uploading in the days to come, I will archive according to the dates in which they were made. So if you are taking a sneak peak here, just realize that I'm still putting up the drapes and uploading the furnishings. Stick around!

10/10/05- I'm having some trouble linking directly to the video. So if you get a "Url not found" message, try using the archives to access the vids. Only the most recently dated videos appear on the frontpage.

10/13/05- Ok, I had figured out why the links were broken. it seems that this, "/", was unacceptable to add to the end of the url address.
Many videos are now uploaded. Still more to go, but quite a bit are now ready for viewing.

If the video gets stuck, try back again later; or allow the page more time to load properly. Sometimes, if all the screens are blank, YouTube might be doing some maintenance. It might also load faster if you go to a page for a specific video viewing, rather than a page full of them. Just check the links off to the right-hand side; or, click on the post where you see the date.

Also, if you double-click over the embedded video screen, it will lead you directly to YouTube where the vids are hosted. Coach Dan was able to view the videos in this manner, as the vids just won't load on his computer.

Feel free to add comments, if you like.

10/29/05 UPDATE: If you want to view the vids on a bigger screen, you can click the "YouTube" icon in the bottom corner which takes you directly to the site that hosts the videos; once there, click the "enlarge" icon on the bottom right of the screen, and that will give you a large screen view, with some slight sacrifice in resolution.

~Important~

01/20/08 UPDATE: The end is near. Santa Monica Gymnastics Center is closing its doors.

Important Need to Know: February 23rd "Goodbye Event", click here.

The Chronicles of Thea finally continues...

2008-08-28T00:21:00.000-07:00

Thea's the only kid whose gymnastics career I've been charting since her first backhandspring. There's a big year-long gap between this and her last video. I plan to fill in that gap someday (there's one project that's just been gathering dust, but might one day see completion). The problem I ran into, is too much footage to sift through (most of which I should just delete, as I capture a lot of "worthless" stuff, rather than stellar milestones) for one; and lack of creative juices, for another.

I've wanted to keep a constant theme and continuity with her videos, using dramatic music- even though she's actually got a rather goofy personality, much of the time. After the Conan music ran out in her videos, so too did her progress in developing the kind of strength that I think makes her stand apart from the average gymnast. Being able to do 10-20 handstand presses in a row or a V-seat and planche just aren't emphasized.

She's capable of demonstrating good posture and form in her gymnastics; but seems to seldom display it. And with inadequate dance training, she still often looks rather sloppy, with messy legs and posture. Which isn't to say she isn't making progress. To me, it's just a bit weird and uneven; but it could just be me.

The title of the video (like many of my videos) is silly, as my original idea when I first started making videos is to parody movies. Thea and I both like the Narnia books and the music to the movies. What I love in this particular video, is the transition from SMGC to LASG. If I remember Prince Caspian correctly, a subway train rushes by the kids, transitioning them to Narnia. As luck would have it, when I was out filming in front of the SMGC building, one of the vehicles that went by was a FedEx truck. Just by luck and without the intention to do so (I only had the germ of an idea, not yet fully developed), when I filmed in front of LASG, I also happened to capture a FedEx truck going by. When going through the footage, I put 2 and 2 together, and had my transition.

There really isn't much gymnastics in the video; I think if you remove the opening and closing credits, it amounts to about a 2 minute video. But it's the drama of the music that creates a story to tell.

I think the quote at the beginning is perfect for the gym transition we went through this past year (carrying on a "tradition" in the Thea series of videos), from mourning the closing of SMGC to celebrating the excitement of change provided by LASG, just around the bend.

Oh, and lest I forget: Today is Thea's Day Thursday. It's Thea's birthday. Happy 11th to someone who, each day, never fails to make me feel cherished and appreciated. I hope I never fail to reciprocate the sentiment.

Happy Birthday, Thea!

Try this at home....

2008-08-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I was inspired to try doing handstand pushups with a "monkey" on my back, thanks to this father and daughter video:

I used kids who weighed around 40 lbs and only tried it a few times, near a wall in case I lost my balance while I experimented. I remember using Anna or Malaika, and the first time, she panicked. The most I managed were two handstand push ups. Haven't worked on it lately; I keep forgetting.

The guy in the video responded to a comment I left 5 months ago on his video, letting me know his daughter now weighs 50 lbs, and felt challenged to up the ante. So here, he does 5 handstand pushups with his 50lb kid, while hula hooping!

I think this one is more up coach Jamie's alley.....(Olga, you better start guarding your rhythmic hoops!).

LASG Summer Camp Kids Support the Troops

2008-08-27T00:13:00.001-07:00

Camp is winding down; but camp director Robyn managed to get some of the remaining kids to write cards to be sent to soldiers serving overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Quote of the Day

2008-08-27T00:10:00.000-07:00

"That's too girlie!"
-Nava Lewine, age 7, resistant to learning the level 4 floor routine, because of the dance elements. August 26, 2008

Because I Said So

2008-08-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

Keesha Scott is a beautiful singer/songwriter with a vivacious personality. Over a year ago, she took some gymnastics privates and was a lot of fun to work with. From her MySpace page:

I grew up smack dab in the middle of the country in southern Indiana. My house stood on a cornfield, and even though my family didn't own the field, I could tell you everything that there is to know about corn. For instance, did you know that there is male and female corn? Weird. Not only was I the coolest star that my grandmother's video camera had ever seen, but I sang everywhere, and I was the best little actress on the planet! ? I sang at everywhere!My mother raised me as a country girl, making me one hell of a country girl at heart!!

It took me over a year of editing to complete this video. Actually, I had pretty much finished it quite some time ago, but had to shelve it due to some computer issues; then I thought I lost the project after taking my computer in for repairs and having the letter assigned to my disc drive, change.

Last week, I had taken my computer in for repairs; and once again, it came back to me with letters scrambled. I didn't want to lose any more projects, so I Googled a question, and figured out how to go into disk management and change the drive letter and path. Phew!

I don't think the song on this video quite fits the footage; but I love the song, and definitely wanted to use her music in the video.

She has a terrific personality that demands attention and deserves stardom. I wish her all the best of luck in her personal and professional endeavors.

Don't forget to do your sit-ups, Keesha!

Child Abuse or Champion-Building?

2008-08-23T23:06:00.000-07:00

A young Chinese athlete exercises in front of a Chinese flag at a gymnastics hall at the Shichahai sports school in Beijing December 5, 2007.
REUTERS/David Gray

What is the secret to China's success? Well....besides this, there are other cultural-political matters of deep significance:

A coach counts down the time as boys hang on a bar for five minutes as part of a training session at the Gymnastics Hall of the Shanghai University of Sports August 7, 2007.
REUTERS/Nir Elias

Is this type of spartan training and coaching chlid abuse or champion-building? Keep in mind, that what you see in the videoclips might appear to be worse than is actually going on; and that this sort of intensive molding and shaping of young athletes is not unique to Chinese culture or communist states.

Also see CNN coverage of elite gymnasts at Parkettes.

On Cheng Fei: Chinese gymnast endured childhood sacrifice

"Our family was poor so we hoped Cheng Fei could in some way change her life," said her mother, Xu Chunxiang. "So we thought maybe being a professional athlete is good for her."

But now that decision is history, and all that remains in the young woman's quest is Olympic gold, and the riches that come with it.

For every gold medal Cheng wins, the state authorities are expected to reward her with more than $150,000 in cash and bonuses, a huge sum in a country where college graduates are fortunate to earn $500 a month. There could also be lucrative marketing deals.

But Chinese athletes are taught that they are competing for national glory, not individual achievement or future riches. And Cheng, puffy-cheeked with a penchant for reading military books, seems unlikely to pursue a career in the limelight.
She rarely grants interviews. Her parents say that in telephone conversations with her, she often responds by saying little more than yes, no and O.K.

And after winning three gold medals at the World Cup in Tianjin, China, in May, dominating a tournament in which the U.S. team did not participate, Cheng pouted at a news conference and declared: "I think I can do better. I wasn't at my best."
Friends say it was a glimpse into the character of a young gymnast who, initially driven by her parents and the state, now pushes herself to the limit.

Cheng's road to Beijing began in central China, here in Hubei Province, a bleak industrial region where her father worked as a shipping clerk and her mother toiled in a tire factory.

She was born in 1988, an only child in a nation with a one-child policy. From the beginning, her parents say, she looked like a boy, so they treated her like one. Her father, a disciplinarian who had studied martial arts, pushed her from an early age, even pressing her to do calisthenics every morning before primary school classes began.

"I trained her like a military soldier," said her father, Cheng Ligao, who now owns a shop in Huangshi. "She followed me step by step and I shouted to her, 'One-two, one-two...."'

Yao Juying, her first coach, recalled a remarkably disciplined and focused child.
"I cannot believe how hard-working she was at that young age," Yao said. "I've been doing this for 24 years, and I've never found a second one like her."

~~~

The hardships imposed on athletes in China's national sports system are well-documented. Under pressure to produce athletes of gold-medal caliber, coaches typically force children to endure painful stretching and muscle-building exercises.

"Gymnastics is a really painful thing, especially for pretty young kids; it's torture," said Zhao Hanhua, Cheng's coach at the Wuhan Institute, where Cheng's portrait now hangs on the wall as inspiration to other youngsters. "So we tell the kids, 'This is your lifetime challenge."'

Cheng's coaches say she went through excruciating pain to make her feet turn inward so that she could perform better on the balance beam.

"The training was pretty tough, especially during leg stretching," Cheng's mother recalls. "She cried crazily, like she was dying. Her father and I accompanied her and our hearts almost broke into pieces when she cried that heart-wrenchingly."
At one point, Cheng pleaded with her parents to let her quit and return home. "We asked her to hold on because we had invested so much and lived so bitterly," her mother said.

It's Not How Old You Are.....?

2008-08-20T20:05:00.000-07:00

Gotta love controversy.

Caption This

2008-08-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

Alicia Sacramone of the U.S. competes on the balance beam in the women's team artistic gymnastics final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 13, 2008.
REUTERS/Mike Blake

"What's that? Up on the Ceiling? It's a bird, it's a paper plane...no it's an incoming rhythmic flying object!"

2008-08-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

At SMGC, there have been times where we've had an adult come in to open workout, and practice with a rhythmic hoop or clubs. Ceilings at SMGC weren't that high, and the last time a rhythmic gymnast worked out there, one of the ceiling lights got busted.

At LASG, identifiable flying objects seems to be a regular occurrence. This includes shattered lights.

Sometimes it can be quite funny to see rhythmic objects flying where they weren't meant to go.

Last Sunday, Julia had a private with Marena. I wasn't there, but Julia told me the story. She submits the following:

Last Sunday Marena was in the gym and her daughter, Diana, was there as well doing rhythmic. Somehow, Diana's rhythmic ball managed to fly out the door, over the wall and into the the "beautiful" LA River. Marena went nuts saying things like, "Oh my god! One hundred dollar ball!" and went chasing after it, hop[p]ing the fence and going into the river to get it. But once she got her hands on the ball, she couldn't get back out of the river, so Vladimir came to the rescue with one of the bars that was under the trampoline and stuck it in the river to help pull her out.

Too bad I wasn't there to record that posterity-rich moment. Here is a clip of the garage door leading out to a view of the LA River:

Ceilings are much higher at LASG than they were at SMGC; but seeing ropes get caught on pipes and lights is quite common. It's always quite interesting to see the instructors and gymnasts put their precision and dexterous coordination to work in knocking the ropes down by using the hoop.

Here is Olga Fadeeva, rescuing one of her student's ropes from off the ceiling lights (particularly challenging, not to hit the fixture):

On an unrelated side note, Julia left today for New Orleans with her youth group to help rebuild houses damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She writes:

Each day of our trip, I will be adding new posts to my blog with stories of what we did that day to help the community of New Orleans, including pictures and videos.

While we're off-topic, Al's daughter Carol is selling leotards on ebay, leftover from SMGC. Too bad LASG students are required to wear School uniforms and not allow for more variety.

Quote of the Week

2008-08-09T06:30:00.000-07:00

"I can do a handstand for a minute....I just can't prove it."
- Nava Lavine, age 7, advanced class
August 5, 2008

LASG Anthem

2008-08-08T06:17:00.000-07:00

*Note: For those jumping out of their seats from an auto-start video, scroll down and shut it off. I apologize, but I uploaded a previous video on Gymnast Tube, which doesn't appear to have anything but auto-start mode on their videos. So until that particular post gets pushed down off the frontpage of this blog (or, I get smart, and upload it to a different host), you'll have to scroll down and turn the video off.

*UPDATE*08/10/2008: Thanks to Coach Jamie, he pointed out the change I needed to make in the embed code, to shut off the auto-start.

This video has been in the works for about 2 months. I could have completed it about a week ago, but wanted to get Alla (owner of LASG) in the video. I didn't realize she was going on vacation (I would have gotten her sooner, had I known; same with Yefim, who took off for Beijing), and she was back in the gym yesterday.

The song choice is from American Anthem, which everyone involved with gymnastics back in the 80's probably remembers. Kids nowadays are not familiar with it (being a box-office smash hit and all.....[/sarcasm]). I think the germ for the idea happened with something making the song cross my mind, and Ita's clapping. Ita loves to clap. Everyone knows it's her when she does it, while warming up her classes.

I tried to get a representation from all the programs offered at LASG. Parkour is the only major one that I didn't capture on film.

Even harder to get everyone into the frame of a 4 minute song, and I tried not to dwell on the guilt-factor and worry about "equal representation" (some people appear quite often); so I mostly stuck in what clips I had that fit the "theme" or "feel" of the video. A lot actually had to be snipped out, as I can only squeeze so much in. The good thing is, I have some good stuff to use in future vids, too.

Brief Clips from College

2008-08-07T23:18:00.000-07:00

This is just a few random clips from an old vhs workout tape. Even though I could hold crosses without a false grip and had a record 7 cross pullouts in a row, I had chronic problems with my right shoulder (had arthroscopic surgery after my first year) and didn't hold my strength positions in workouts as long as I normally would in competition. Could never really do inlocate to handstand, due to the stress-load on my shoulders, which were tight then (and ridiculously tight today).

Political Gymnastics

2008-08-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

Did you all know "August 4th, 2007" was "National Gymnastics Day"?!

2008-08-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

Matt Reese is a good guy. He doesn't teach at LASG much anymore, but still comes in for special needs kids on Friday.

When I had to haul equipment, doing production for a Tylenol commercial out onto the Cal State Northridge track & field under the blazing sun, Matt spent his valuable time the day before, making sure I knew how to assemble the spare ring tower, hidden away under the platform. This included figuring out how to improvise Al's uneven bar portable platform. Took me 4 hours, by myself, to pack much of the equipment into a Uhaul.The only thing I didn't have room for was the balance beam and beam mat. Buried in that picture, is a pommel horse.

Anyway, one of the few YouTube videos out there tagged with LASG, is this one by Holiday Man, and featuring Matt Reese. Enjoy.

When Competition Breeds Success

2008-07-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

Anna did a private yesterday, having taken the session off from gymnastics. She seemed to have her mind set on doing round-off back handspring, as she asked me, "Did Malaika really do a round-off backhandspring by herself?". Apparently, Malaika had "bragged" about it. So it looks like Nikita's affections isn't the only thing they'll compete over.

Anna asked me how Malaika did it, and I said her friend simply had guts and enough confidence in her own abilities that she tried it on her own. So without even a spot or warm-up round-off, Anna did her first RO BH by herself.

It works great from a step, rather than a run, because it 1)Forces them to try to generate more power without running and 2)They have such poor judgment on where to start their hurdle when mat placement requires them to be spatial/distance-specific.

Way to go Anna!

Julia being free and hip

2008-07-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

Julia's made big strides in recent weeks, working on her free-hip shoot to handstand. Today, before official workout began, she got herself excited on the first one. Subsequent attempts were up there, but arched on the way up and she dropped back down on the "wrong" side of the bar- which in itself is a change to something different. This clip is the best of the 3 or 4 that I filmed.

Good job ~~Petey~~ Juuuuliaaa!!!

I'm Yours

2008-07-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

This was a quick, spur of the moment video, as I discovered a new favorite song by Jason Mraz, "I'm Yours". The melody just has a certain "happy spirit" to it (at least to me). So a couple of hours later: Walla! A new LASG video.

I was torn between using the original Mraz version, or this cover, by Chris Cendana (Mispelled his last name in the closing credits- grrr!). I like the Happy Slip Cup Beat, so I opted for the latter. I don't know why I find it so uplifting, but it's my new fave until I wear out the song after a hundred listens.

A little history on Al Luber...who's a little older than 7

2008-07-25T19:04:00.000-07:00

Today, Thea told me about how level 4 gymnast Miriam was making him laugh. She relayed one exchange of theirs, where Miriam asked Al how old he is. Al told her, "Older than you." Miriam replied back, "So....you're seven?"*

The following is from an email Julia forwarded to me a while ago. Thought it might be a good time to post it.

Al's old engineering buddy goes to my church small world, huh? I say Al sould wear that outfit to class sometime, hahaha

-----Original Message-----
From: Terri-Rae Elmer <>
To: Julia Wallace <>
Subject: Fw: Julia's Gymnastics coach
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:05:44 -0700

----- Original Message -----

From:

To:

Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 6:51 PM

Subject: Julia's Gymnastics coach

Hi Terri-Rae,

I thought your daughter might enjoy showing her gym coach the following photos, all of which I found on the FBI's Most Wanted list. (Maybe you can take them off this email and print them on some glossy paper for Al.)

As I mentioned to you, he has an electrical engineering degree from UCLA and he worked with us at Hughes Aircraft Company. I remember that he was always doing extra work teaching swimming and gym to youngsters at that time. One day someone mentioned that he was a UCLA jock in gymnastics. I asked him if there was anything he could show us about gymnastics, since I knew nothing at all about it. We were in a lab and he looked around and spied a desk. He was a little tentative, but he said, "Well, I guess I could show you something simple." He went over to the desk and leaned back on it as if he were going to sit on it. He put his hands down on either side of his hips an gripped the edge of the desk. He lifted his body off the desk and held his feet off the floor. Smoothly and gracefully, he slowly rotated his hips, thighs, knees, and finally his feet between his hands and u over the desk. I think he even brought himself up into a handstand. Wow, were we impressed! And he could solve Maxwell's Equations, too!

[Rest of the email truncated]

Joe Owens

*It's possible Thea might have relayed her story a bit off, since Miriam is 8 years old (so maybe Miriam asked if Al was 9?).

Erin Tsuking it at UCLA

2008-07-20T17:59:00.000-07:00

I remember how badly Erin seemed to be struggling on tsukahara drills a year ago. She just seemed so slow and mushy on her block.

Well, here she is at gymnastics camp last week:

Congratulations, Erin!

Read her post.

Believing in Yourself

2008-07-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

If you don't get lost, there's a chance you may never be found. ~Author Unknown

This morning, I was at the gym with a client. Al was there for summer camp. While my client and I were stretching, he came over to me and asked, "Is this yours? I found it over by the trash can." It was an orange piece of paper folded up, and read: "Michael- I wanna fight you" It was signed, "anonymous".

I've been trying to lose some weight by hitting the heavy bag every day, so I can start doing gymnastics again (Ita says I need to cut down on my calories after looking at the contents of one of my Japanese fruit drinks). Al thought maybe it was from someone who's seen me punching the bag, was going to challenge me, then thought twice and tried to throw it away in the trash.

The handwriting looked too neat to be that of a little kid. Quite a while ago (before I started working on the gym's punching bag) Julia used to periodically say to me, "I wanna fight you.", for whatever reason, in the manner of a schoolyard bully. So, my first and only guess as to who "anonymous" was, is Julia.

When team came in to workout in the evening, it was confirmed by Julia that she was the author of the note. But she hadn't thrown it away; she had apparently stuck it in my camera under the lens cap, and it must have fallen out.

She asked me if I had gotten her email, but I hadn't until I got home this evening. It was so moving, and I feel so important to share, that I asked Julia for permission to post it for others to read. I hope it gives hope and reassurance to others who have had similar experiences and are struggling and can relate; and I hope it makes coaches pause and think about the role they play (and can play) in the lives of young athletes, to impact and to influence....

Julia's Story

Believing in yourself is naturally one of the most neccesary characterics not just for gymnastics, but for any sport. If an athlete does not believe that he or she can perform the skills needed in order to succeed in their sport, it will be difficult for the athlete to do well. However, sometimes even more important than believing in yourself is having the motivation that you can succeed; in other words, having an instructor and peers who believe in you. Without having the confidence only others can provide, an athlete will have trouble believing that they have the ability to succeed.

I feel my story is different from many. Unlike most gymnasts at my level, I started gymnastics much later in life, at age ten, where most agree that a female gymnast should begin training at or before age six, if she wishes to compeat at higher levels. When I began gymnastics, I had very high hopes and almost too much confidence for a gymnast at my level. I always felt that my coaches were holding me back and that I was much too advanced for the mediocre skills I was being asked to perform. I thought that I could do "much harder stuff", if only I was given the chance. Needless to say, it took me nearly two years, when I began compeating level four, to come down from that cloud and realize that at my age, I would never succeed in gymnastics. For two more years I continued to work on the same skills over and over again because I was not allowed to try anything more difficult. It was often implied by my coaches that I wasn't good enough to work harder skills. As time went by, I sunk into a state where nothing I did seemed to be enough.

I was improving, though. In those two years, my scores began to rise entire points, from 8.6's to 9.6's, but that still wasn't enough. I was told I had to score at least a 36 all-around to move up to level five, but for some reason, a 36.7 wasn't sufficient and I was kept at level four. The only person I felt who truely believed I could do better was one of my coaches, Lily. Often, when my hands were too ripped up to do bars, Lily would take me and teach me the level five beam and floor skills. I even learned my front tuck on the floor with her. But of course once my other coach caught on to what was happening, I was sent to condition if my hands were hurting.

Before my decision to transfer to SMGC, I was ready to quit gymnastics entirely; it wasn't fun anymore doing the same things over and over. My head was filled with people telling me what I couldn't do. I was fed up. It took a while for Gianna Woodruff (who went to my school) to convince me to try out SMGC before thinking about quiting. It took a while longer to convince my mother to let me try out SMGC. I have vague memories of that first Saturday there. I know I met Oona Nicholas and Jesse Stone, who told me I was FLEXIBLE. I had never been complimented by fellow teammates before. Where I came from, everything was a competition; by telling someone else they were doing well, it was admitting you were doing poorly.

Monday I returned timidly to SMGC to find Oona on the trampoline. I was NEVER allowed on the trampoline at Broadway. That workout was fantastic. For the first time in a long while, nobody was holding me back or telling me I wasn't allowed to try something. It was an exhilerating feeling because I was finally beginning to love gymnastics again.

Tuesday, my mother insisted I give Broadway one last try, before making the decision to transfer. I won't go into the details, but I don't think it was until I left that class in tears, that my mother truely understood my reasons for wanting to move and how important it was to me.

That year at SMGC, I learned more skills then I could ever had at Broadway. While I was making enormous progress, advancing to level five states and even placing first on vault at a meet, my friends back at Broadway informed me that they were still stuck on level four. I was flying, and not just figuratively. With coaches who would tell me what I was doing right and not just what I was doing wrong, I felt as though nothing was stopping me anymore. In mere months, I got my kip, front handspring, back tuck, back walkover on beam, free hip and fly away, all just from having people who truely believed in me and what I could do.

A year and a half ago, I would have never believed I would be getting ready to compeat levels six and seven, and yet here I am, with all my confidence back as though I am ten-years-old again. Nothing will hold me back or stop me from persuing my goals. Fear is temporary, it will pass, but having those to help me overcome my fears is most important. I am so lucky to be surrounded by people who care about me and don't tell me I can't do something; "I can't" is something I no longer say, but instead I say "I can" and "I will".

It was a lucky day for me when Gianna taught me how to kip on the school's chin-up bars ;)

Julia Wallace

Of the millions of participants in the sport, who cross our paths, who we have an opportunity to coach and nurture, how many will ever amount to the level of Olympic caliber gymnast? It is a shame when coaches focus primarily on the fraction of 1% of the thousands of gymnasts who might be a champion, neglecting the majority of gymnastics participants who might not amount to the level of elite competitor (let alone competitor); their experience and exposure to the sport can be just as rewarding as the experience of a world champion winning a hunk of medal.

One of the most rewarding moments I have had as a coach, was when I finally got a student of mine to do a basic forward roll. It took her 3 months.....just to get a forward roll. Things just clicked one Saturday morning, after I had her try it over the resi-pit. After she "got it", she was forward-rolling, everywhere we went, from event to event. It was deeply rewarding, more so than teaching someone a double back, who gets it after only several tries.

To me, gymnasts like Julia are winners, because they participate on their own terms, live to reach their full potential, and squeeze out as much as they can from the sport they love...and will continue to love after hanging up the grips.

I'm also glad Julia didn't quit after Broadway because I never would have been able to make two cool videos (nor challenged to a fight by a punk girl):
A little less conversation

and

the making of...

The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "apparently ordinary" people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people. ~K. Patricia Cross

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. ~Henry Adams

LASG Gymnastics Summer Camp Promotion

2008-07-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

The FOX11 morning show came to LASG last Friday, July 11th, to help promote gymnastics summer camp.

I can't help but laugh at the beginning where the news reporter says, "they're perfectionist pros, here", and all Juuuuuuulia is doing, is walking backwards in a serious manner. Lol. Lol. Lol. Oh, and the fake audience applause that they had with it! Priceless! Rofl!!!

Good timing with the backflips, Grace!

Elfin Personality and Charm

2008-07-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

I posted 2 years ago on my favorite female gymnastics star, Oksana Omeliantchik (my preferred spelling). It is extremely difficult to find good quality video of her. Here is one footage of her from the 1986 World Sports Fair Tokyo. Again, it is her expressiveness that really shines through in her floor routines. When she performs, she wears her personality on her sleeve.

Here's a comment I left on the YouTube site, 5 months ago:

I distinctly remember watching her 1985 World Championship routine on ABC Wide World of Sports. I became an instant fan, because when I watched her, she had such a vibrant expressiveness to her performance. It was just such a joy to watch her facial expressions! She didn't just go through the technical motions. Her whole personality came through in her presentation.

Oksana possesses one of those qualities that you just can't really teach: innate charm and an infectious personality. What can be taught, is how to act...how to deliver presentation on stage. Gymnastics is a subjective sport, so presentation and being a performer- exposing one's personality for an audience- makes one stand apart from the "just-going-through-the-motions" competitors.

Talitha and Ita on Spanish TV

2008-07-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

Titulares Y Más, a Spanish-language late-night television talk and variety show aired by Telemundo, came to Los Angeles School of Gymnastics to film Coach Ita with 7 year old, level 5 gymnast Talitha Jones. It was filmed on a Monday morning at 5:30am; I believe it aired on July 4th of the same week, which would be a Friday.

"I'm doing the best I can"

2008-07-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

Malaika just kills me. She still lacks a certain maturity, but we moved her and Anna into the advanced class toward the end of last session because their Monday class was filling up with kids below their skill level, and I want to keep them challenged. The first day they tried out the advanced class, I think they both had breakdowns. I know during conditioning, Malaika started building up a straw house of resistance to the class; later on, each had crying moments where they said "I wanna go home!". Can't remember what Malaika's issue was, but Anna got bumped; actually, if I remember that day, we had a number of girls dropping off from getting hurt. It was a weird day.

Malaika is physically coordinated and talented, but seems to operate on half a brain, with the other half on auto, along for the ride. She is soooo inconsistent. She is capable of front handsprings, but each one is so different, I don't think she really understands what it is she is doing. Also, there's a depth perception problem, where she (and she's not alone) can't consistently pace her approach, so that her hands go in the same spot each time (whether on round-offs or fronthandsprings, mounters/flysprings). She also doesn't understand how to tighten up her muscles (or, shows a lack of caring as much as comprehending) so when she lands....well, let's say she has some of the oddest landings I've seen from fronthandsprings; I think the strangest being one over the pit, where she had good push off her hands but her feet still landed in front of her, and she sort of did a back gainer out of it, bouncing off her feet, and plummeted to her head into the foam pit, not onto the mat, meaning she went off sideways after landing rather than staying in a straight line).

Anyway, the kid has talent. This was her yesterday, doing a round-off backhandspring from a step (it'd be disastrous from a run):

She squeezed in that second backhandspring, because she wanted to. I told her "no" when she asked to do two in a row; but then, I said the same thing when she asked if she could do her round off backhandspring by herself. That's because of the quality of her round off (there is no quality there). I let her do her standing BH after her round off, and she eventually made the connection of the two skills all by herself. I know she's got self-preservation sense and won't try just anything, though. So I guess it's nice that she is not afraid to try things when she feels mentally attuned to what she's doing. I'm sure it helped to have her other 3 classmates doing skills: Georgia doing RO BH; Nava doing two in a row; Maya doing RO BH to back tuck.

I've been getting on her case a lot, not accepting behavior and brain farts that I let her get away with in the beginning and intermediate classes. Her favorite defense tool these days is to hang her head and say, "I'm doing the best I can". Initially, it worked on me a few times, and I eased off from coming down on her so much. But then, I started catching on, that I think she's using it as an automatic fail-safe, fall-back line. She's probably been told that anything is acceptable so long as you're putting in your best effort; so whether she's truly trying to do her best or not, she says that phrase as an automatic recourse when she just wants you to get off her back. I think she used to tell me "Give me a break, I'm only 6 years old."

Hmmm...Maybe she's using more of her brains than I've been giving her credit for?