I was “playing” at the park yesterday with my friend. Great to always have a camera on hand.
Here I was able to hold my first back lever with legs straight but also together.
Check off one major goal for this year!
Compare this to my earlier straddle back levers.
The crazy thing is I haven’t even been working on this skill lately. I have been working towards one arm pullups and a number of exercises with the Power Wheel to strength the abs. I guess those two things are carrying over. I also noticed I was better at various front lever progressions we worked on.
I also think that it may have been a little easier on these monkey bars, over the rings that I’ve normally done them on. But then I did another back lever, possibly even better then this one, on some rings they had there a little later. Sorry, no video of this one but I will have lots more from the park in coming weeks and months.
Filed under Exercises, Gymnastic Rings, Levers, Strength, Videos by on Feb 15th, 2012. 3 Comments. 
I received the following question from Gary regarding moving from the tuck to advanced tuck planche.
Thanks for all your good advice and tutorials.
Can you help me as I am trying at the moment to go from tuck planche to advanced tuck planche, (sure you have had this question a few times.) I am really struggling with any progress and wondered if there was any tips you knew that may help me along.
This video here describes tips on how to this step of planche training.
The tuck planche involves straight arms and holding your body aloft.
The next step involves making it one step closer to the advanced tuck planche. I originally learned of this as one step in planche progressions from Coach Sommer in this article here. Check it out for more ideas. This includes:
1. Bringing your Shoulders Forward
Bringing your shoulders forward places additional stress on them as the leveraged position is harder to hold. As you progress in teh various planche moves you’re moving more and more forward, requiring more and more strength.
2. Straighten the Back
This one is closely tied into the next one. In fact all three of these are tied together. Straightening the back tends to make you need to raise the hips and move the shoulders forward. A back that is straight (even arched a little) and parallel to the floor is the position you’ll be holding for all future planche progressions.
3. Raise the Hips
The hips should be raised up to shoulder level. In the regular tuck planche the hips are low but this is the main point in moving to the advanced tuck planche. As you raise the hips its natural for the legs to start to untuck. When starting out make sure to keep them tucked but as you improve levering them out is the next step.
I didn’t make it completely clear in the video. Think of these three areas as places you can focus on and start the movement from, but recognize that they are all related.
The planche is a truly difficult move and will take a long time to master. With these moves be content to add a second here, or a slightly better position there. Small improvements over time lead to amazing moves.
For much more on planching as well as all forms of hand balancing consult the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.
Filed under Exercises, Hand Balancing Tips, Planche, Strength, Videos by on Jan 24th, 2012. 3 Comments.
Over the years I’ve only done a little bit of bar work. I remember one day back in gymnastics I decided to try out the bar kip. The other people there told me how to do it and in a couple tries I had it down.
This video shows you how its done.
To do the bar kip you need to learn how to use your body. Its not so much a strength move (though a foundation of strength is necessary) but learning how to divert your force when and where needed. You need to be tight at certain parts and explode in others.
Though the end result is being over the bar, this is different than a muscle up, done on the bar. That is more of a pullup or bent arm exercise into the position, even if kipping is used to aid in the movement, while this is straight armed mostly and done completely with body momentum. Of course both are great, just different applications. Actually now that I think about it, you’d probably get benefit in training both of these, in order to improve both to some degree.
If you want more from the Tapp Brothers I recommend checking out their Parkour Crash Course or How to do the Backflip.
Filed under Acrobatic Feats, Bars, Exercises, Videos by on Jan 17th, 2012. Comment.
Here’s another video of an amazing hand balancer.
- The video starts off with 15 straddle L presses to handstand.
- This is followed by 10 handstand pushups, a half pirouette, then 3 more.
- Using rotating hand balancing stands a series of elbow lever press to handstands.
- Front and side splits (including extended).
- One arm handstands in a variety of positions on the floor and on stands.
- This is followed by one arm presses and hopping from hand to hand.
- I don’t think I’ve ever seen the move at the 5:30 mark before (it has to be way harder then the straddle version)
- A variety of walking, holds, human flag, the grand arch and much more.
- And it ends with one of the most visually appealing hand balancing stunts.
Hand balancing is not a lost art to this individual. Thanks to Mark for sending me this video.
Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher
Here’s a new video that gives you another tip on training the bent arm pressing, specifically the frogstand press, though this applies to them all.
This involves using static holds to build strength and control your press. You must have the strength to hold each portion of the handstand press to really control the movement. This will aid in your ability to smoothly get up to the handstand.
You can find out much more about bent arm pressing in the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.
Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Exercises, Hand Balancing Tips, Handstand Presses, Strength, Videos by on Jan 10th, 2012. Comment.
Here’s a new video that gives you a tip on training the bent arm pressing, specifically the bent arm straddle press is shown. Of course this would work equally well with any other press.
You can find out much more about bent arm pressing in the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.
Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Exercises, Hand Balancing Tips, Handstand Presses, Strength, Videos by on Jan 3rd, 2012. Comment.
This video was just released today. It features Damien Walters, one of the greatest acrobats and free runners alive today.
Want to see more? Check out these two videos as well.
Damien Walters 2010
Damien Walters 2009
To get to this level you’ll need lots of practice. Having a facility like his wouldn’t hurt either. And professional coaching would be best.
But to get you started I’d recommend this Tumbling book and Parkour Crash Course.
Filed under Acrobatic Feats, Parkour, Videos by on Nov 11th, 2011. 3 Comments.
Check out this video of break dancers Air Force Crew.
I had the opportunity to see these guys perform live at a conference. I’ve never worked on breakdancing moves specifically but probably will some day. There is lots of similarities between this and other acrobatic arts.
Filed under Acrobatic Feats, Exercises, Handstands, Videos by on Nov 3rd, 2011. Comment.
If you have ever jumped in your life, you may have noticed that it is only the beginning of your journey. Depending on the length of your jump in the air you might need to change balance or reposition yourself. Once gravity starts pulling you down, you need to think about how you want to land.
If you are performing a long or high jump, landing is the most important part because executing it properly will keep you safe from injuries. In the video, you are able to see one of the Parkour pioneers David Belle, perform some of his jumps and effectively executing the roll.
The important thing to notice is that after landing on his feet, he rolls over his shoulder. This way, he effectively transfers the momentum and the energy that was used for his jump transfers to the roll.
By landing only only on his feet, he would risk injuring his ankles, feet and legs. The roll allows for flexibility that keeps him safe.
Try practicing on flat land, then from higher platforms and ultimately from a wall. Also work up to harder surfaces but start on something soft.
Even with these simple moves you can move up to a huge level of master. For more Parkour Training info click here.
Filed under Acrobatic Feats, Parkour, Videos by on Oct 28th, 2011. Comment.
No matter if you have seen it in movies, video games or on other videos, wallruns are always quite astonishing to look at. For a moment it appears as if though you are defying the laws of gravity, and anything that unnatural is certain to impress anyone.
The best way to go with this is to start off slowly by using only one foot and simply walking on the wall, pushing yourself away from it. Start off with the side you feel most comfortable with, and later as you progress you can practice both legs.
Once you have done a few tries with only one step, try incorporating the second one as shown on the video. This time you will need to gain more momentum. To do this, you need to start thinking of a Wallrun as a long jump, so the more speed you get the higher you go, and the longer your Wallrun will be.
However, be sure to start off slowly and only progress as you become comfortable with the way you are going. This is a pretty easy skill to learn with just a little practice.
Filed under Acrobatic Feats, Exercises, Parkour, Videos by on Oct 24th, 2011. 1 Comment.
