Let us first dive into knowing what is gymnastics. Gymnastics is a sport, today an important part of the Olympics is all about a systematic sequence of movements performed by people having a niche for this sport. It could be simply dancing, swinging your body, jumping, or moving your body in a rhythmic or symphonic manner. Gymnasts exhibit characteristics of flexibility, balance, endurance, physical strength, and gracefulness which enables them to showcase their acrobatic skills. The history of gymnastics dates back several thousand years ago derived from ancient Greece. It is derived from the Greek word ‘gymnos’ meaning to exercise naked and male athletes in Greece indeed performed their exercises in this way. They did this to attain a healthy and flexible body.
Now after around 2500 years, it is a major Olympic sport. It all started in the gymnasium. A place where people gather to perform different kinds of exercises and physical activities as a routine collectively. The gymnasiums set up in ancient Greek were not only for exercising but also aided in understanding the art, culture, philosophy, etc of the Greek community. Before only tumbling (it is a series of acrobatic movements such as somersaults, twists, rolls, whips, jumps, etc on the spring floor) and the primitive form of vaulting (an activity where the gymnast sprints down the way and uses the momentum to push bounce themselves through the vault) was known as a part of gymnastics.
Types of gymnastics
- Artistic gymnastics – these are performed by both men and women. Some events under this which are performed by women are floor exercises, vault, uneven bars, and balance beam. Events by men are pommel horse, floor exercise, still rings, vaults, parallel bars, and high bars.
- Rhythmic gymnastics – this is mostly put up by females and it is an act that emphasizes on music and aesthetics of the performance. It is executed with the help of props such as a hoop, ball, ribbon, clubs, and rope.
- Trampoline gymnastics – as the name suggests it’s an event where athletes use the trampoline to display their skills making use of the airtime to do flips, somersaults, turns, etc.
Introducing All American Gymnasium in Utah
https://aagutah.com/ are an institution providing training in gymnastics serving for over 40 years. They offer activities for children’s fitness in a fun and positive environment. It has introduced champion athletes at regional, state, and national levels. It has also produced over 65 college-based scholarships and has been introduced in over 15 universities.