Eccentrify - Circus hurts, redux, redux.
[Recent Entries][Archive][Friends][User Info]
|
11:52 pm
[Link] |
Circus hurts, redux, redux.
So tonight, coach was in late, and I got him to take a quick look at the stuff I've been working on. One knee hangs are still iffy, but I got pointers on the half-angel (though the only thing he said was "flex the rope foot a bit more"), and the kneehang/swing/sit-on-bar/drop-back-to-hang combo. The swing up is fine, it's the getting back down. He said "Just tuck in, slide your hands down the rope, stay tucked and lower yourself slowly through the stomach muscles, don't drop back down". At which point we identified the problem. But that's ok, lots more ab work and I will one day be able to hold myself in tuck while hanging by my knees, and then gently lower myself.
At some point last night, while sitting on the bar, it occurred to me that I could grab the rope and go into skin-the-cat[0]. So I tried it with my hands at about head height. And I got less than halfway through the move before realising that if I took my hands higher, then the skin-the-cat would leave me standing on the bar. Excitement! But I figured I should wait til Coach could watch, so I didn't complete the skin-the-cat, just unrolled back to sitting.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lilmissnever may see where this is going.
So tonight, while Coach was watching, I said "Hey! I invented a trick! Or rather, discovered what I'm sure everyone discovers as soon as they get to sit on the bar!". And I described it, and he looked excited, and said "Show me!". Now. If you look closely, you'll see that when he starts, his thumbs are, if you like, "up". And that's how you start on the trapeze rope - thumbs up. Because skin-the-cat is then a full turn, when you finish, your thumbs are, shall we say, down. With your arms behind you. On straps, or rings, that's no problem - they're not attached to anything at the bottom. Skin-the-cat on the trapeze bar, your hands are horizontal rather than vertical, and when you get to that position, you stop and go back.
On ropes? This is the point I'd never got to the first time I tried. So I was doing it for Coach, and saying "So when I finish the skin-the-cat, I'll be ... shit.".
But I managed to hold it! Twisted with it, had enough brute strength to stay up, and managed to stand on the bar. Briefly. Then I performed what I choose to call, in the best circus tradition, a Russian Dismount. Because I'm reliably informed that to an aerialist "Russian" means "the hard way".
On the bright side, coach is now impressed with my "spatial awareness in the air", and my ability to fall without dying. Actually, he's fairly impressed with everything - my control is improving, my strength, my flexibility. Now I just have to survive.
And to reward you for reading this far, perhaps the cutest Nastyushka moment ever. Nastya very rarely says "please" - not only is she Russian to start with, but she can be somewhat ... imperious. Ditto, very rarely asks for help. Occasionally commands that something be done for her, but ask for help? Nyet. So tonight is the first time I've ever heard her say "Please help!". And I swear to god, the words "I've only got one point left on my license, and I need that to get back to the garage" were halfway out of my mouth before I even thought about it. Not entirely sure how that would translate, though. Maybe "Look lady, I only speak two languages - English and bad English!"....
jai.
.
[0] Also, my technique is better than his. Just saying.
Tags: nastyushka, trapeze
|
|
| |
And people say it's hard to get good circus.
Hee! You have performed a backwards roll. It's not particularly difficult, but it's one of those tricks that requires you to be comfortable holding all of your body weight in that the skinning-the-cat position, and you need to have enough core strength to make sure that you land lightly on the bar with the balls of your feet.
If you start by standing on the bar and grabbing the ropes, you can lean forward and do a forward roll, which will end with you sitting on the bar.
Now what was so important that it caused your crazy Russian girl to ask for a favor nicely?
Ah, she wasn't actually talking to me :) She was dragging a crash mat over to the silks, and needed a hand getting it off the trampoline platform. So she was asking one of her fellow trampolinists. She is perfectly capable of being sweetness and light when she thinks it'll get her what she wants, though.
So it wasn't so much the politeness, unusual though that is, more that the "please help" in her accent did sound exactly like Leeloo Dallas Multipass!
| From: | (Anonymous) |
|---|
| Date: | May 23rd, 2009 05:15 pm (UTC) |
|---|
| | | (Link) |
|
That is very very cool... I have been trying to nail a backward roll for what feels like FOREVER... Really enjoying your updates :) Nadia x
yep, backwards roll, or flip-to-stand, depending on who you're talking with.
but if you start lower, you can also skin the cat on the ropes and shoot your feet through to ankle catch. I wouldn't suggest that just yet, though ;)
Yeah, I promised I wouldn't do anything above the bar other than sit, and then back to kneehang until I get a bit more comfortable. And until coach is a little more comfortable.... Straps training moves a little faster, with constant supervision, so I'll save the tricky stuff for there.... |
|
