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Achieving Handbalancing Success in 2008

By admin on December 26, 2007 in Uncategorized

If you celebrate Christmas then I hope you had a wonderful time yesterday. If not, well then I still hope you had a great day. But Christmas means one thing is coming.

That’s right, the end of the year is fast approaching. I have always found the new year is a reflective time for myself. But it is also a time for forward thinking.I spend a full day, and sometimes more, reviewing the past year and planning the next.This goes way beyond a simple New Year’s Resolution which is almost destined to fail. Instead it is more like a dissertation on the major components of my life and a long list of goals.Every year my system gets better and I expect this time to be no different.

Of course hand balancing and all aspects of my physical training make up one of those sections.

It starts with going over my results from the last year. Since I keep a training journal I can look over the various workouts I have done. What worked best and what didn’t. Which ways of training really made the biggest gains.

The second step is to figure out what I really want to accomplish. Since I have so many goals and dreams I have to pick out the ones I have a burning desire for and work toward those first.

Others get completed without much effort and some just fall away. In the future I can always reset my priorities to complete any goal. But its important to focus on just a few at a time.

The third step is smart planning. What you need to do is break down a big goal into small and simple steps and plan when you will complete those steps. Just follow your formula and the goal becomes a matter of time.

This applies to all aspects of life whether its business, relationships, nutrition, or training.

But since you are here for the hand balancing I will take an example from there. You need a plan in order reach a goal. Instead of creating one yourself, why not just follow one that is already complete.

All you have to do is select your goal from the Hand Balancing Mastery Course then keep to the steps Prof. Orlick lays out.

If your goal is to be able to perform a handstand for one minute then just work backwards from that point. If you can hold the handstand for only 5 seconds right now then all you have to do is add second by second until you get there.

Perhaps give yourself two months to reach your goal. Figure out where you should be week by week then go after it.

The birth of a new year is a powerful time. Instead of just celebrating it, use it to accelerate into 2008 with fury.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. 2008 will be a big year for the Lost Art of Hand Balancing website. It will be incredible as this year has been and I want to thank you for being along for the ride.

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Death Defying Handstands

By admin on December 22, 2007 in Uncategorized

Here comes another story from Acro-chat magazine. This one was written by Ray Van Cleef.

Flirting with death yielded the “Open Sesame” to Inguar Anderson’s zealous desire to become a circus performer. His efforts to secure an opportunity were repulsed until he resorted to death defying stunts to gain recognition.

This daring 27 year old gymnast performed a series of hazardous feats, including a handstand on a tight rope suspended 800 feet above a rocky terrain. The risks he assumed were rewarded with offers by several circus managers who witnessed this perilous display. “Where there is a will there is a way” is an apropos summary of this plucky Swede’s success.

Inguar Andersson Handstand

Sure its a good way to grab attention but don’t be trying this one out when you’re just starting out. In fact wait until you have at least 10 years of experience under your belt.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Weightlifting and Hand Balancing

By admin on December 20, 2007 in Uncategorized

Does lifting weights help to hand balance? The answer is yes and no.

Let me qualify all the following by saying there are many different ways to lift weights. Whether you are doing power lifting, Olympic lifting, bodybuilding, or just good old fashioned strength training with barbells and dumbbells. How you lift matters as much as anything.

Certain exercises are going to help you out. And others won’t do much for you.

Specifically for pressing movements. It requires a tremendous amount of strength to be able to push your bodyweight overhead. You need strong triceps and shoulders.

Since many presses take you through different planes of movement, not strictly overhead work, such as a press from half planche to handstand or the frogstand press you will also need strong pectoral muscles. Of course your back and abdominals are used to keep you stabilized.

If you use weights to make these muscles stronger than you will be able to do these stunts easier.

Of course hand balancing takes a huge degree balance. While weightlifting can help your coordination, it is nothing compared to what you need to stand on your hands.

Being able to press a heavy barbell overhead has no carryover to being able to hold a handstand.

A handstand is a skill and needs to be practiced in order for you to get good at it.

These days many people are moving away from weights because they think they are not functional. To that I have to say it all depends on how you use them.

Whether you decide to build you upper body strength with barbell presses or with handstand pushups is up to you. They both build strength.

Spend some time using both and see how well they work for you.

Professor Orlick outlines a full on course of barbell, dumbbell, bodyweight and other exercises in Hand Balancing Made Easy. If an accomplished hand balancer like him believed in them, than there surely is value in the exercises.

In addition, in the interview I did with Jim Bathurst he talks about his favorite weightlifting exercises and which ones carryover to his hand balancing best.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,

Logan Christopher

P.S. Professor Orlick even has some very creative weightlifting exercises to help with the one hand handstand. Now you can get How to do the One-Hand Handstand by itself.

Hand Balancing and Weightlifting Combined

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Professor Orlick's Books Available Now

By admin on December 18, 2007 in Uncategorized

Your education is the one thing you should pay more for than anything else.

If you really want to become a master at the art of hand balancing or any other than you should expect to pay for the greats to teach you in one way or another.

Professor Orlick, Paulinetti and Robert Jones are no longer with us but their teachings live on in the form of their books.

It is their legacy.

If you choose to, you can pave your own way but who has the time or energy to go through all the mistakes on their own. Why not take the shortcuts if they are available to you?

Still, I realized that the Hand Balancing Mastery Course being over one hundred dollars may be too steep of a price for some people to pay for any number of reasons.

That being the case I have decided to release each of Professor Orlick’s books by themselves.

Now you can get Hand Balancing Made Easy for just $29.95

You can buy Walking and Jumping on Your Hands for only $29.95

And you can learn How to do the One Hand Handstand for $29.95

Each book will guide you through what you need to know step by step to perfect these incredible stunts.

I just watched a video of one of my subscribers doing a show in Brazil. He can pull off tricks that most people would think impossible. Even at this level, he bought everything I’m offering because he wants to be even better.

This is someone who will accomplish a lot because he is investing in his success.

How about you?

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Don’t think that the Hand Balancing Mastery Course is gone. It still is the greatest program available to become a great hand balancer and I highly suggest you grab yourself a copy.

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Close Encounter of the Bull Kind

By admin on December 15, 2007 in Uncategorized

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXkI8fvFayY]

My friend located this video from Pamplona, Spain when I was doing the Runninng of the Bulls. Someone in the stands just happened to be shooting the video.

About halfway through you can see my closest encounter with a bull on that day. I know the quality isn’t very good but it certainly is me. Just look for the long haired guy.

I was being pushed back while I grabbed onto his horns. Luckily, I got by relatively unscathed.

Nothing to do with hand balancing except that I want to go back and do a handstand on top of a bull horn’s or maybe just a handspring off of its back. Perhaps next year.

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

I highly recommend participating if you get a chance. It’s the thrill of a lifetime.

This is just for fun, but I got another big annoucement coming in the next couple of days.

Keep up the hand balancing,
Logan Christopher

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New Lost Art of Hand Balancing Website

By admin on December 4, 2007 in Uncategorized

I have finished the updates to the new site. Just go to https://lostartofhandbalancing.com to check it out.You’ll also notice a few new sections added in.

–Success Stories
Read and see people like you that have used the information gained here to gain hand balancing and acrobatic skills. Full of good information and tips about what helped them get to where they are.

You can read a few of the submissions from the contest last month including the winner of the Hand Balancing Mastery Course, David Kelso. There is some good stuff in this area so start reading.

–Resources
Here are some outside sites and resources you can use to further your goals. There isn’t too much there but I will be adding to it over time.

–Ask A Question
Do you have any burning questions you want answered on the topics of hand balancing, acrobatics, or training? Here is now the place to ask. Just submit your question and it will be answered probably in an email like this.

–What’s New?
It will be frequently updated with all the latest updates and news about what is going on around here at the site. If your stuck away for awhile you can come back here to see the newest happenings.

Now I have a favor to ask of you. If you notice any broken links or pictures not showing up please reply to this email and let me know. I did some extensive testing but I may have missed something.

And secondly, let me know what you think about it. Love it or hate it, tell me what you think about the updated site.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. I have reposted some old emails from before I had a blog on the blog. If you weren’t around from the very beginning you’ll want to give them a read.

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A Night at the Circus

By admin on December 4, 2007 in Uncategorized

Circus Chimera had come to town. And I was not going to miss it. Last night, a group of friends and myself went to get in on the fun.

Sure its not Cirque de Soleil, but still, these guys and gals were good.

I knew that among the dancing, clowns, jugglers, acrobats, tap dancers from Argentina, and everything else there was bound to be some hand balancing.

The contortionists did not disappoint.

First up was a guy who started in the splits then moved into positions they probably don’t even have names for.

He crouched down on one arm and lifted up into a one-arm half planche. Now this skill is not very difficult (unlike a normal one-arm planche). Since your body rests on your elbow it does not take a huge amount of strength, just bodily control and balance. What impressed me was how this guy made it look. Perfect and steady as a rock, he got a big round of applause from the crowd.

After he squeezed into a small box as his finale, a Chinese girl came on stage. She went into the super limber back routine. A few kick-overs and turning about in inhuman ways later, she placed her hands on the ground.

She went into a hand balance with here legs spread wide. I can imagine, that doing the splits in air makes it easier to balance, since it lowers your center of gravity.

Bob Jones talks about the degree of bend in your back. Well this girl had her rear hovering just over her head as she balanced. You can find similar pictures in the last chapter of the book. Overall the show was well worth my time. It got me to thinking. What I have described was pretty much the full extent of hand balancing within this show.

If you could put together a nice little routine like the ones outlined in The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing, with your very best skill being a one-arm handstand, you could rightfully run off and join the circus.

I realize that may not be on your list of goals in life.

However, with a decent amount of practice you could be amazing people with your skills just like these performers anywhere you choose.

I suggest to all of you anytime you have an opportunity to see this kind of show you go. It will be sure to entertain and inspire as well.

Until next time,
Logan Christopher

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John Grimek Hand-to-Hand Balance

By admin on November 29, 2007 in Uncategorized

John Grimek Hand-to-Hand Balance

Here is John Grimek holding Glenn Marlin in a low hand-to-hand balance. This shot made the cover of the short lived magazine Acro-Chat. Unfortunately this magazine, covering all things acrobatic with writers such as Ray Van Cleef and Bob Jones, caved in due to financial problems.

This comes from an article inside talking about the picture.

“A pleasant renewal was our chance meeting in Chicago with our old friend John Grimek. Grimek the most famous physical specimen of our time is also a very capable acrobat, easily doing handstands, backbends and splits, as well as having a natural ability as an understander. In his youth Grimek spent a great deal of his time practicing acrobatics at Chicago’s North Beach.”

Bodybuilders like Grimek, were much different from the ones of today.

Here is a bit from an interview done with the late Reg Park talking about how Grimek’s posing routine won the 1948 Mr. Universe Contest for him.

“John Grimek won the 1948 Mr. Universe, but in my book, Steve Reeves should have beaten him. When it came down to sheer physical beauty – which was what I thought the Mr. Universe contest was about – Reeves was way ahead of Grimek. John started off with acrobatics and presses from the floor into handstands, that and his muscle control, well, the roof almost caved in from applause he received. But there you are, that is what mass hysteria can do at a muscle contest.”

I’d like to see any of the bodybuilders of today do any of those skills in their contest besides just pose. It would be impressive if one could even hold a handstand, but that’s not likely to happen. Watching bodybuilding contests might become a favorite pastime of mine if they all performed like Grimek did.

A good dose of acrobatics, hand balancing, and weightlifting and you too can build up a physique with the strength to back it up like John Grimek.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. There will be more coming as far as articles and pictures from Acro-Chat magazine.

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Hand Balancing Interviews, T-Shirts and VIP's

By admin on November 15, 2007 in Uncategorized

There is a lot going on here in this message.

First, here are details about the interviews included in the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.

I conducted three interviews with hand balancing experts to see how they trained, what there thoughts were on the subject, and everything else. We went from beginning to advanced stuff.

Jim Bathurst is the first one. One of the main things we covered was how to mix weight training and hand balancing successfully. If you‘ve seen his site, Beast Skills, then you know what this man is capable of. I‘m talking planches, and real one-arm chinnups. But that’s only scratches the surface.

Ed Baran came next. Ed joined an Adult Gymnastic class for the first time at the age of 35 (you know the age when most other people give up on all physical activity). We went over a lot but had many tips on getting the straight body style of handstands like kicking up in the hollow position and more.

And last but not least is Mark Reifkind. Mark was a former all star gymnast who was on the path for Olympic Gold had it not been for debilitating injuries. If you want to learn what it takes to compete on that level you need to hear this.

It was good to hear three different people because each one had there own take on the best way to go after these goals. I took a lot from each one to incorporate in my own training and you can do the same.

Now, you may have been wondering what’s up with the subject line.

It just so happens that the Lost Art of Hand Balancing T-Shirt is now available. You can check it out here: Lost Art of Hand Balancing T-Shirt. But don’t order yours right now.

Here’s why.

In addition to all the great information inside the course I will be giving away a few fast-action bonuses for those that act quick in claiming their copy. One of which happens to be a few T-shirts.

The official launch date is the 21st but here is how you can get in even earlier. I have set up a VIP list that will get early access to the Hand Balancing Mastery Course and snap up the extra bonuses.

Go to Hand Balancing VIP List to sign up.

Look for a great tip on hand balancing from the course coming at you this weekend.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Don’t forget the contest is still in effect but closes up this Monday. Get your success story in and win. Details can be found on the blog at the Lost Art of Hand Balancing Blog

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Hand Balancing Mastery Course Details

By admin on November 12, 2007 in Uncategorized

The Hand Balancing Mastery Course is made up of three books, one of which is How to do the One Hand Handstand which I talked about last time.

The first book in the course is titled Handbalancing Made Easy. This is the book that every beginner should start with. It covers a lot more than just the handstand.

Inside you’ll find many exercises, using bodyweight, dumbbells, barbells, and more to build up the strength you need for hand balancing. You’ll find many other stunts and tricks that will help you get started with your first handstand.

Once your handstand is solid you can move on to the whole bunch of variations in your hand, body, head and leg positions.

And this just scratches the surface.

The other volume is Walking and Jumping on Your Hands. And it will show you how to do just that. The beauty comes in how simple he breaks down the various steps so that you can be climbing a staircase in as little time as possible.

Plus you will also find many variations on the themes that may never have occurred to you. Did you ever think to do a long jump on your hands? How about trying to run? Or climb a ladder?

I also added a section to the course myself. In these special reports you will find out about some of the most common problems that stump people interested in hand balancing. Questions like when and how should I train, what should I focus on, how do I track my progress, and more will all be answered.

But that’s not all.

There are a number of bonuses including interviews with some experts that you‘ve got to hear. I be filling you in on those details next time.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Also next time you’ll see how you can join the VIP list so you can get first crack at buying your copy and getting a chance at the additional fast-action bonuses.

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