part0041

This next piece of work is actually the key to many doors. Once you can perform a good hand-stand, you are ready for a terrific variety of work and will forever be finding a new way to reach a balance, a new position to adopt while in the balance, and even something different on which to balance. It will take much longer to learn the hand-stand than it takes to read about it, but although this is the case, don't think you should ignore the routines which follow this. Many balancing stunts can be tried by those who can't do a hand-stand, and partner balances in particular are excellent for leading up to the movement under discussion.

One again a good starting position is essential and if you can get your arms and shoulders correctly placed, you will have no difficulty in getting upside-down and staying there. Stand about a yard away from a wall (or a partner) with one foot slightly in advance of the other. For simplicity's sake it is assumed that the wall is being used. Place the hands on the floor about 18 inches away from the wall, fingers pointing to the front and remembering the tips mentioned earlier. The arms should be kept straight and the shoulders should be forward in advance of the hands. In other words, you should adopt a position very similar to the sprint start of a race. Your eyes should be looking at the bottom of the wall and as you kick up, keep the head braced back all the time. If you do this and also keep the arms straight, you will eliminate many tumbles.

Your kick up should be a smooth one. Keep that leading leg more or less straight and the foot extended. 'Keep the toes pointed' the gymnasts will keep telling you, and by stretching your feet in these early stages, you will get into good habits right from the start. Swing the leg up in a semi-circular movement. Make it a strong, controlled effort, and once it is well on its way and raising the hips, swing up the second leg so that it arrives against the wall at the same time. If you find it difficult to get upside-down like this, then you will probably be making the common mistake of allowing your shoulders to come back over the hands. At all times the head should be fairly close to the wall and a plumb-line, if hung from the shoulders, would hang somewhere over the fingers. Later you will work for perfectly perpendicular arms, but meantime, keep the shoulders forward. Another common mistake is to kick the legs up vigorously, but in such a way that they do not noticeably raise the hips. Your centre of gravity lies in this region and if you do not get your centre of gravity up and over your base, you'll never get a balance.

For your first few attempts at a hand-stand, just go up, pause, and come down again. Make sure you can get up there every time and pause without restricting your breathing. When your confidence has increased, you'll be ready for the balance proper without the support of the wall. Kick up as before, straighten the legs, steady up, press on the fingers, and stretch upwards as much as you can. This pressure on the finger tips and the slight push from the feet should bring you a little bit away from the wall. There should be nothing jerky or vicious about this action, and should just move away slightly and back again on to the wall. Once you 'feel' the balance, you will be able to judge just how much pressure you need with the fingers and how much of a push you need from the feet; keep the latter to the minimum. Remember the stretch upwards; you must push the kinks out of your back and become stiff as a ram-rod as you move into the balance. Your head position can also be used to assist you attain the position you are seeking. If you find it hard to move away from the wall, press the head upwards and this will help considerably, but be on guard against exaggerating the hints given.

This description should not be read just once and then put into practise. Read the instructions again and again, until you can carry them out to perfection. Once you can hold a good hand-stand, practise opening, closing, bending, and stretching the legs. After that, move on to changing your weight slightly sideways so that you can mark time on the hands; later, hand-stand walks can be done by allowing your bodyweight to move forward and then take small steps with the hands to catch up. Slow, controlled steps should be aimed at and the legs and back should remain straight, just as they are in the hand-stand. After this you will want to try a variety of ways to get into the hand-stand position, but before going on to this, let's add a little more interest to our work-outs by trying some horizontal balances.