A big thanks to Chris for sending this picture in after last weeks email on the Victorian.
Who needs rings when you’ve got a partner? This is basically the Victorian held in a partner balance.
Notice how far the false grip is used. A necessity as every little bit helps the extreme leverage in this feat.
Having not tried this feat I can’t say for sure but I imagine the partner’s hands add a bit more support than the rings would.
And for a perfect Victorian the hands would have to be brought down a little more towards the hips.
Not to take anything away from this acrobatic feat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything else like this one.
Which brings up another point. If you’ve got any remarkable hand balancing photos send them to info@lostartofhandbalancing.com and there’s a good chance they make an appearance up on the blog.
Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Acrobatic Feats, Gymnastic Rings, Hand Balancing Feats, Pictures, Strength by on Aug 26th, 2008. Comment. 
Back for a little more Olympic Coverage.
Did you catch the Men’s Gymnastic Rings final the other night?
For anyone who has never mounted a pair of rings its hard to comprehend the difficulty of even basic moves.
But when you have, no matter your skill level or lack there of, you’ll have a greater understanding of what these Olympic athletes are going through.
It’s not just one move they do, but to string several highly difficult strength moves together flawlessly for close to a minute straight. Whew! Gets me tired just thinking about it.
But this Olympics saw something new. (Not 100% sure on this but I believe it was a first for the Olympics.)
That is the Victorian. Also known as an Inverted Maltese Cross.
Once thought to be an impossible move. Essentially it’s lying back so that you’re horizontal to the floor. You hold the rings near your waist with the arms not contacting the body. Kind of like a front lever except that your arms are to your sides instead of out front.
I have to give it to the French here. Their Danny Rodrigues performed the Victorian not once but twice in his routine. It wasn’t perfect but pretty close.
My guess is that in 12 to 20 years it will become a common move in the Men’s Rings event at the Olympics.
Danny didn’t score too high overall but it was fun to watch. I’m glad he went for it.
We also had Jordan Jovtchev up once again most likely for his final Olympics. Unfortunately a couple mistakes put him out of the run for any medals.
That’s how it goes in the Olympics. To win you have to be close to flawless.
To get to that level takes years of practice. Hours and hours in the gym training for a few minutes in the spotlight. You probably don’t have aspirations of Olympic Gold but what’s important is to train to get better.
Fortunately for you, you can still have Jordan teach you how to build up the strength and skill in the Ring Strength DVD.
Mastering the Victorian isn’t important. Improving from where you are is. Learning from the best is a big step in the right direction.
Good Luck and Good Ring Training,
Logan Christopher
P.S. If you want crazy bodyweight strength than you should be on the rings. If you don’t have a pair you can get the Elite Rings
Filed under Acrobatic Feats, Exercises, Gymnastic Rings, Strength by on Aug 21st, 2008. Comment.
Have you been watching as much of the Olympics as I have?
Honestly it’s a bit tiring staying up until the early morning hours since they take place halfway around the world from where I am. But what can I say, they only come around every four years.
And its always a pleasure of mine to watch the best in the world do what they do.
There’s been exciting matches, close calls and comebacks all around. Plus new world records are broken everyday. (Did you see Jamaica’s Usain Bolt on the 100m dash?)
Great events in gymnastics and they aren’t done yet. One problem I have with professional gymnastics is the judging because it’s not perfect. Since it’s done by humans it doesn’t always seem fair. But that’s how it is.
It shouldn’t take away from the pleasure of watching the athletes.
One exercise I’ve been seeing a lot of in the Men’s Floor Routines is a straight arm straddle press from a crucifix position. Also known as a Maltese Press to a Wide Arm Handstand or a Swallow Press to a Japanese Handstand.
Considering this is a D skill it may be out of your range but that doesn’t mean you can’t try the wide handstand itself.
Place your hands wide on the ground, with the hands out and the thumbs pointing forward. Kick-up into position and attempt to hold.
Alternatively you can jump from a normal handstand into the wide handstand. With a little push on the hands slide them outward in position.
Just another variation you can have fun with. And thanks to the Olympics for reminding me of it.
Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher
P.S. You need to master the regular handstand before you attempt any variations. Get step-by-step handstand instructions here.
Filed under Acrobatic Feats, Exercises, Hand Balancing Feats, Hand Balancing Tips, Handstand Presses, Handstands, Strength by on Aug 19th, 2008. Comment.
The other day I went to a park that’s only a couple blocks away to do a little bit of training.
Nothing scheduled, just to work on some skills and have a little fun.
Various acrobatic moves. I’m always working on the backflip in order to get better. Plus walking around on the hands and the like.
On top of that I brought along a kettlebell. Not a heavy one, only 35 lbs., to do some kettlebell juggling.
I always enjoy this combo. Acrobatic work along with the kettlebell juggling.
Besides them both being fun I find that the juggling tends to work the body in ways hand balancing and tumbling doesn’t.
Toss the weight around. Do a few backflips. Toss it around some more. Work on a one hand handstand. And so on and so forth.
Thirty minutes will blow by so quick and in that time you’ll achieved much. Get a decent workout without trying hard at all. But most importantly you’ll quickly improve your skills. Especially if you string a few practices like this together on a consistent basis.
Now I know that kettlebell juggling isn’t for everyone, nor is hand balancing for that matter. But if you like one I think you should at least give the other a spin.
Over the years I’ve gotten quite good with the kettlebell juggling. And now I can teach you all my moves.
I just released a two DVD set covering everything I know about kettlebell juggling.
I like to keep the various sites I have separate because I know some people are only interested in certain aspects of training. Which is fine and why in general I do just that.
But I just wanted to put out this one notice in case anyone who would be interested missed my other websites.
Like I said before I think they go well together. So give it a shot, you’ll be glad you did. Click here for The Definitve Guide to Kettlebell Juggling
Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Of course you need a kettlebell to get started and if you don’t have one you can get the best here.
Filed under Exercises, Strength by on Aug 16th, 2008. Comment.
I was down at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk yesterday. Not to go on any rides but to watch the new show they’ve been having. The Amazing Chinese Acrobats.
I’ll never turn down an opportunity to watch talented individuals to their thing.
Before it all began the announcer was saying that many of these acrobats had trained since they were four years old. That it took athletic strength, impeccable balance, and flawless timing to do these stunts.
I fully agree with those statements. I’m going to try to head back to take some pictures and write up a few articles like I did for the Moscow Circus last year if I get the permission.
Just to give you an idea of what took place: a contortionist balancing glasses, a woman juggling a table with her feet, seven people on a single bicycle, pole climbing, hand balancing on the stacked chairs, and more.
Many of the classic Chinese acrobatic feats. Of course there were some new spins and I was impressed by their showmanship.
There were some kids nearby who exclamations made it seem like every move was an impossibility.
Don’t get me wrong, it was some amazing stuff. I couldn’t do a bunch of it and I was clapping right along with everyone else.
But here I was thinking I can do that one. I could get that with a little practice. To me nothing was impossible or magical. Just dedication and practice.
I don’t mean to come off as saying I’m on the level of these athletes. My point is that anyone can work up to some level of skill in feats similar to these.
And you don’t have to start at four years old, be five feet tall, or weigh less than 120 lbs.
If I can learn how to do a back flip just about anyone can.
Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher
P.S. If you’re in the area, check out the show which is running through August 21st. If you’re not you can see of the best Chinese Acrobatics in the world.
Filed under Acrobatic Feats, Contortion, Exercises, Hand Balancing Feats, Strength by on Aug 1st, 2008. 2 Comments.
Handstand pushups. I don’t know if anyone would deny this as a great exercise.
It’s amazing when someone tells you they can do 15 handstand pushups. But what KIND of handstand pushups are they talking about, assuming they are even telling the truth?
There are many ways to skin this cat, so to speak.
The thing is almost every handstand pushup is a partial rep. Do you touch your head to the ground? Some would call that full-range but it is far from THE full-range.
In fact, it’s only about half. Full-range is down to your shoulders.
Now, if you don’t have something raised off the floor to place your hands on you won’t be able to do a true full-range handstand pushup.
But here’s a tip to increase your range without anything but the floor.
Touch your nose to the floor rather than the top of your head. That’s about a 3 inch difference.
And trust me, those three inches make a big difference. Because that range is right near the sticking point for most people.
Go ahead and try to max out each way and see where your numbers lie.
That’s just one way of many you can change the handstand pushup to make it harder or easier.
Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Exercises, Hand Balancing Tips, Handstand Pushups, Strength by on Jul 29th, 2008. 1 Comment.
I can remember it like it was yesterday even though it was about four years ago.
Had never paid all that much attention to the Olympics before but this year was different.
My good friend and I were watching the men’s individual all-around competition. Gymnasts are truly some of the worlds strongest athletes but the Olympic level is just ridiculous.
There was some amazing competition. Of course, I was rooting for the USA and I got to see one of the most amazing comebacks ever in the history of sports.
After a disastrous fall on the vault it looked like Paul Hamm was out of the running. But two near perfect routines on the parallel bars and horizontal bar put him back in front.
Not only did he win the Gold but he was the first American to ever to so at the Olympics in the all-around competition. We were going crazy with excitement.
Yes there was some controversy behind a scoring error, but watching that piece of history will forever be burned in my mind.
It’s amazing what these athletes can do. It’s unreal.
How do they build that kind of strength and skill? One its how they train, which is long hours every single day working on perfecting their routines.
But it is also what they train with. The tools and apparatus on which they train. A big key to build gymnastic strength is to train the same way.
One of the most basic tools for the gymnast, and the one that epitomizes all that is gymnastics, are the rings.
There is nothing quite like ‘em. If you’ve never mounted a pair you’d be surprised at just how much you body shakes as you try to support your bodyweight.
Forget the iron cross or maltese. Can you manage a few pullups or dips? What about the classic muscle-up?
Well, now you can answer those questions. Now you can get started training your way to building Olympic level strength with the Elite Gymnastic Rings.
Not only that but you can get instructed by another world champion and Olympic medalist in how to use them.
And if you want to really impress someone do a handstand on top of the rings. Now that’s balance!
Paul’s performance on the rings back in 2004 was before the fall and comeback (a decent 9.587) but you can be sure I’ll be watching the gymnastics this year, especially the rings.
The difference is this time I’ll be training right alongside him. Will you?
Sincerely,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Notice that on either of the two pages as the bottom in the P.S. you can get both the Gymnastic Rings and the Ring Strength DVD in a special combo deal and save.
P.P.S. And yes, if you didn’t know, Paul Hamm will be back in Beijing. I’m rooting for a repeat.
Filed under Acrobatic Feats, Gymnastic Rings, Strength by on Jul 10th, 2008. 1 Comment.
Gonna drop into the mailbag and answer a few questions today.
“Is it possible for a weak old man to develop the strength necessary to do a handstand? (presently outa condition and overweight). when will the dvd be available again?” -Dennis
The Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart Guide has been sold out for a couple weeks. But it will be coming back, better than ever, and soon. Stay tuned for that.
Anyone, no matter their age can get started hand balancing. To be truthful, the normal handstand doesn’t require a whole lot of strength. It’s a matter of using the body in the correct way to support itself.
That being said, if you are really out of shape, handstands may not be the best starting point. Use other easier exercises like regular pushups to build up your strength levels before you begin.
“Heyy! I can do a hand stand but my only problem is I can only stay balanced for a few seconds maybe about five. How could I improve that??” -Shae
Well, Shae just keep practicing. While there are helpful tips to keep you up in the air, nothing takes the place of practice. Get into a good position and work the balance.
“Hello. I’d like to know how the arms move when doing HSPU’s. I mean do the shoulders stick out to the sides, or do the shoulders stick out in front of the person? Thanks” -Daniel
Where your shoulders and arms point can make a big difference in doing handstand pushups. You can do it either way but one will be harder than the other. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out which one is what.
As far as freestanding handstand pushups you’re going to have to take the elbows in position unless you do a handstand with a large base, that is the arms spread out wide.
That’s it for today.
Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Hand Balancing Tips, Handstand Pushups, Handstands, Strength by on Jun 28th, 2008. Comment.
Got two more handstand questions I’ll dig into today. I have to admit the quality of the questions has stepped up recently at least for the most part. Submit yours at http://www.lostartofhandbalancing.com/question.html.Here we go. The first one is from Ari.
“OK, Logan, I can balance on my hands, and I have the strength to do handstand pushups, but maintaining balance in an HSPU seems almost impossible. As I lower from the handstand my weight always starts to move to the ventral (stomach) side and unless I bend my legs at the knees so my calves counterbalance the weight, I lose my handstand. How do you maintain a straight bodywhile doing a handstand pushup?”
The first step is to make sure you have the strength to perform the move. When most people do handstand pushups against the wall it’s in an alignment that makes the pushup easier than the form you have to take for a free standing handstand pushup. This is a big topic in and of itself that I’ll have to dig into another time.
The important thing is to have an excess of strength. It’s not good to be burned out after two attempts, since you need to ‘practice’ the move. Onto the balancing.
It is going to be slightly different depending on how straight or arched you are. The thing is that your body will be at an angle and not perfectly vertical from the ground. When your head touches the ground it should be in a triangle formation with the hands. Like the headstand except you don’t rest on the head.
Because of this the upper body and lower body are on different sides of your center of gravity. As if you were lowering down toward the planche.
The most important thing you have to do in order to keep the balance and not fall toward the feet is keeping yourself toward overbalancing. The pressure must be toward your fingers at all times. If you go toward your palms you’ll lose it.
Of course the body has to be kept real tight at the same time. But keep the weight toward your fingers and you’ll be able to stay balanced while doing the pushups.
And here’s one from Ron.
“I’ve been doing handstand training for the past 4 months. For the purpose of experimentation, what are the effects of different hand positioning? In other words, if you spread your hands wider apart, does that provide any benefits, as opposed to keeping the hands at shoulder width?”
Here’s the words of Professor Orlick, from the beginning of chapter 11 in Hand Balancing Made Easy.
There is a two-fold purpose for learning these (that is handstands with different hand and arm positions). The first is for the stunts themselves, they look good, impress your audiences and give you personal satisfaction.
The second is for excellent balance they develop. When you vary the position of the hands you are forced to balance less and less with the fingers and hands themselves and more and more with the body as a unified whole. This may not be clear to you right here but after you learn a few of the stunts which are described you will understand exactly what is meant.
He then goes on to list 14 handstand exercises with different hand and arm position and even more in the next chapter. For details on the exact ones check out Handbalancing Made Easy.
But that explains it well enough. Changing your arm position will work your balance to a higher degree. These variations are good to throw into the mix from time to time.
Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Just to let you know there’s going to be changes to a few of the products next week.
Filed under Exercises, Hand Balancing Tips, Handstand Pushups, Handstands, Strength by on May 31st, 2008. Comment.
Got another one from Stu Goldberg. That’s him in the middle in the jack-knife position.
According to Stu this is one of the toughest middle man tricks. A huge strain on the triceps, as I’m sure you could imagine. But its even worse when the top-mounter ‘planches’ his handstand, like in this case.
The next time you and two of your friends are looking for something to do, give this a shot. Except you might want to get a few years of practice under your belt first.
On another note, I want to remind you that the Tumbling Course launch is winding down. If you want to save $30 and get in on the tele-seminar you have to order before Tuesday at midnight (PST).
If you’ve already ordered I’ll be sending instructions regarding the tele-seminar soon.
Plus I just realized that we passed the One Year Anniversary of the Lost Art of Hand Balancing website last week. Its come a long way in that time, but there is so much more to do. Here’s looking forward to the next year being bigger and better.
A big thanks to all of you for being along for the ride, especially if you were here from the beginning. To celebrate I’m going to put together a special event of sorts. Watch out for that soon.
Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Not much time left. Join the others and get started tumbling now.
Filed under Acrobatic Feats, Hand Balancing Feats, Pictures, Strength by on May 12th, 2008. 2 Comments.
