The Stunt Gym! Blog

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Last night, Jonathan Platero was cut from the “So You Think You Can Dance” competition.

I began watching these competitions when my wife wanted to watch “American Idol.” I was drawn into the program, not because of the musicians, but because of the judges. I understood their comments for what they were, constructive criticism intended to help each contestant become professional musicians. Especially Simon Cowell whose comments were so accurate.

Since my industry is acrobatic dance, I decided to watch “So You Think You Can Dance”, too. Both programs are produced by Simon Fuller. At first I was put off by the judges. But as I watched the program I could see their constructive criticisms, too. But more than that I was fascinated by the choreographers.

Each week the dancers have to learn routines that are outside their usual range of training. They are given professional routines to learn from the gamut of dance genre’s of Hip Hop, Contemporary, Ball Room, Jazz, Broadway, and others that I am not familiar with. They are given professional costumes and stunning lighting. So learning what the choreographers are doing I find fascinating.

Jonathan Platero

Jonathan Platero is a gymnast who went on to dance, specifically he trained in Salsa (Ball Room). He even performed in Disney’s, “High School Musical,” so he is more than just an athlete. I enjoyed much of his dancing, and found it refreshing that a male gymnast could break out of the athlete mindset.

What killed him in the competition is his nice personality. He had to dance a Gangsta Hip Hop routine and he could not get into the character. What cut him from the show was his reliance upon his tumbling instead of dance. When I watched his solo routine it was obvious that he was going home.

Melissa Sandvig

Unlike Jonathan, Melissa is not a gymnast. Neither is she a Hip Hop dancer or any other. She is a classically trained ballerina. Despite her lack of training in the other dance disciplines, she is able to adapt to those styles. And I am convinced it is because of her ballet training. She is also more mature than Jonathan. He is 20 and she is 29.

So here is my point. Gymnastics training rarely helps gymnasts cross over into theater. There have been some who made their careers in theater, Cathy Rigby, in particular. But sports training does not bring out personalities as does theater. Jonathan leaned on his gymnastics too much and it failed him. The USAG made a big deal out of Shawn Johnson dancing on TV, too. They pushed our votes for her simply because she is a gymnast. But no one should vote on that basis.

Acrobatic Gymnastics is in danger of this same dead end as Artistic Gymnastics. In danger, but not damaged. Acro is already a theatrical medium, even though the FIG is pushing towards more sports mentality. Many acrobats easily move to the professional arena of theater.

Acrobats need the classical ballet training that has been the back bone of Melissa’s performance. Acrobats should seek other dance genre training, too, but they must have the ballet training. It is the backbone of dance, just as tumbling is the back bone of gymnastics.

The acrobatic gymnastics community needs to watch this show and others like it. With “American Idol” they emphasis to the singers that they are to make the songs their own and invest their personalities into their performance. This should be so with acro. In “So You Think You Can Dance” the choreographers talk about the story of each dance and the characters being played in the dance. A few years ago the FIG talked about the element of story in the Artistry category. Judges were confused by the concept. No wonder, for they have the sport mentality and misunderstand the theatrical element of art. This story element needs to be built up in the acro routines.

Of course, only so much can be done with children. But the older athletes who have the maturity should be displaying these elements in their routines. Let us not lose sight of the goal of acro: Cirque du Solei and all the other performing arts companies that are growing up around it. If acro slides into the sport mentality, it will die just as Jonathan was cut from the show.

Yesterday I attended the Region 3 Championships in Acrobatic Gymnastics at the Frisco, Texas facility of the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy. Brandi Lewis, the Region 3 Director, and coach for the WOGA Acro Team hosted the meet.

I was stunned and shocked by the level of acrobatics that has developed in Texas. And I was delighted to see the Louisiana clubs rising from the ashes of Hurricane Katrina. According to Rumen Latchkov from Boerne Gymnastics Center, Texas now boasts the most acrobatic gymnastics athletes in any state in the country. I will have to check with USAG to know that for sure, but we have come a long way from the humble beginnings of my one program in Texas back in 1997.

Representing Texas were these clubs:

• BGC: Boerne Gymnastics Center coached by Rumen Latchkov and Radostina Latchkova
• Browns Gymnastics coached by Vladimir Vladev and Michelle Merwarth
• GOSA: Gymnastics of San Antonio coached by Ivan Ivanov
• KAF: Kilgore Acro Flyers coached by Aida Wells
• TAAG: Texas Academy of Acrobatics and Gymnastics coached by Anna Smirnova and Chris Westra
• USAAA: USA Aireal and Athletics coached by Jennifer Banowski
• WOGA: World Olympic Gymnastics Academy coached by Brandi Lewis

Representing Louisiana were these clubs:

• ASG: All Star Gymnastics coached by Kelly Dawson
• CCG: Crescent City Gymnastics coached by Gawain and Julie Dupree
• CSA: Cheer Sport Acro Team coached by Courtney LeJeune
• Flip: Fliptastics coached by Selena and Mike Peco
• GPAT: Gymnastics Plus Acro Team coached by Jurek Pol
• LBA: Leaps and Bounds Acro coached by Kiril Kirov and Shannon Ducote

What had amazed me is that the clubs in Texas were lower level teams when l left off competition back in 2005, yet in 4 short years the state boasts Senior Elites Men’s Pair of Inserra and Osborne from WOGA, (not in attendance) a Junior Elite Women’s Group from BGC, Level 10 Women’s Group of Jones, Banowski & Miller from USAAA, Level 10 Women’s Pair of Traina & Jones from USAAA, and many level 9’s, 8’s and 8I’s.

I have to admit that I felt remorse that I had not been in the competitive scene for the last four years, but my part in life is laying foundations for others to build upon. Neither am I certain that I will resume competition since my own program is taking a different direction, but I am proud to be associated with all these fine coaches and athletes. You all have made Texas Acro a nationally recognized contender!

Texas Legislation

A few weeks ago  (March 26, 2009)  I was notified by email about a bill being passed in the Texas legislature.  The notification came from a Karate instructor who tried to alert a variety of after school athletic programs who would be affected by this bill.   The information he provided was also published on the Texas USA Gymnastics websites, that also provided PDF copies of the bill along with their report.  Even the USAG national office is aware of these bills.

In a nutshell, several bills in the Texas Senate and House of Representatives are being drafted that would subject gymnastics schools, karate schools, cheerleading schools, and a host of other after school athletic team programs to day care regulations, in an attempt to redefine athletic training of 10 hours or more a week as day care facilities.   The email regarding Texas Senate Bill 68  from Texas USA Gymnastics stated:

If you have children who train 10 hours or more a week in your facility – you will be required to be child care licensed by the state of Texas. This licensing will require your facility to meet all the minimum standards set by child care licensing (most gyms will not be able to meet these requirements which will include bathroom sink/toilet ratios in compliance with child care standards, out door playground, Child Care certification of workers and director, sprinkler systems that not only meet building code but also meet child care standards and climbing structures with safety fall zones). Uneven bars would be considered a climbing structure and would not pass child care regulations. This bill passed the Senate Sub Committee unanimously yesterday.

The legislation is spread out in several bills. They are:  Senate Bill 68, House Bills, 601, 773, 188, 1123 and 1393.

Many people have contacted the legislators to protest these bills which is trying to corral  a multitude of industries – sports, religious, arts and academic – that train children under the child care umbrella.    In one letter  (30 Mar 2009)  from Senate Bill 68 author Texas Senator Jane Nelson she states:

Please be assured that I will not pass this bill unless it provides a clear exemption for gymnastics.

The Texas USA Gymnastics is continuing to post updates on the legislation.  In the April 11th update they posted two new drafts of the bills that include a long list of exemptions,  which shows that many people from other child centered industries are expressing concern, too.

Exemptions Are Red Herrings

Frankly, I am not encouraged by these exemptions.  The government always regegs on their exemptions  through technical loopholes.  When Social Security first started it was only for government employees.  When the income tax started it was only for corporate profit.  When driver’s licenses were first issued it was only for chauffeurs  and professional drivers.   When marriage licenses were first issued they were only for inter-racial marriages.  And the list goes on and on.

When the government camel sticks its nose under the tent, rest assured that the rest of the camel will be in the tent after wards.  If this bill were truly to protect children in day care centers, the language would be precise and specific regarding these facilities.   A list of exemptions is a negative assurance.

Furthermore,  it is a part of political history in the USA for agendas with national intentions to begin in a single state to set precedence, or to force federal legislation to address the issue at a later time.  This problem is currently a Texas problem that could cause expensive requirements in after school programs that could make such businesses cost prohibitive.   But other states should be on the alert for similar legislation to be introduced in the near future, too.

We should not let our guard down on this matter. This is trouble for our industries growing in the near future.

Historically, gymnastics has been the hub of community centers.  Of course, what has been called “gymnastics” has changed throughout history.  But going as far back as the Greek Empire, the gymnasium was the academic meeting ground for the philosophers, Socrates, Aristotle and Plato.  They believed in a “sound mind in a sound body” and would debate academic subjects between exercise games.

Modern gymnastics retained its historical roots in the Greek Empire.  Frederick Jahn, called Turnvereinsather of gymnastics” was a German who was dismayed at the weakness of the German citizens during the 19th century.  He drew upon the ancient activities of tumbling,  acrobatics and the pommel horse of the cavalry,  and added the new inventions of his such as the  rings and the high bar.

Jahn set a foundation for the community centers that spread throughout Europe and came to the United States, called the Turnvereins.   Likewise in Sweden a doctor, Per Ling,  who wanted new ways to increase physical therapy adopted and added equipment to gymnastics, such as the parallel bars,  as a way of bringing health and strength to invalids.  His followers took his program and founded the community centers of the Sokols.  In England, George Williams, saw these community centers and decided that Christianity should have the same, so he founded the YMCA which spread around the world, as well.

These organizations spread because gymnastics was the nucleus of physical health, but their founders sought a total health harking back to the time of the Greek Empire.

Modern gymnastics clubs left the community orientation in their pursuit of competitive gymnastics. Before Olga Korbut showed up at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany  gymnastics was still within the community organizations (and NCAA) and there were no clubs to speak of.  After Olga dazzled the world, suddenly millions of little girls wanted to be gymnasts which opened the market for the private club industry.

These competitive clubs had only one goal in mind: train high level athletes to enter the Olympic competition. The reality of running a business with astronomical overhead forced them to expand their horizons by building recreational class programs to glean their future athletes, to run birthday parties, invite field trips into the gym, setting up mobile gymnastics programs, building preschool programs and even subletting their facility for karate, yoga, and other kinds of programs.

In the last Artistic Gymnastics club that I worked for, the owner planned to open up a soccer program within his business.  Likewise other clubs include horse back riding (if they are in the country) or swimming.  Some of these expansions are the result of the many successful gymnastics summer camp businesses that built high level training facilities, brought in famous high level athletes to coach, and added all the amenities of a usual summer camp: dorms for sleeping, rec centers, canteens, canoeing, horseback riding and so many other things depending upon the camp you are talking about.

The modern club industry has been moving towards community centers in a reverse order.  Of necessity they are reaching out to the communities to supplement their Olympic ambitions.  I believe the time has come for the gymnastics industry to take a renewed look at becoming community centers again on purpose, and not because of financial necessity.

The gymnastics industry, for some in the industry not all, has been very selfish in their interest.  I have coached for 30 years and I am an eyewitness to the changes in the industry.  In my opinion, I believe the 1980’s was the most abusive time in the industry.  The focus on training high level athletes was so intense, verbal and physical abuse occurred way too often on the little girls blinded by this dream.  The 1990’s brought some arrest to this behavior, partly because of lawsuits, but also because of a conviction of conscience.  But the focus in the industry still remains the same: Olympic champions.

I am no longer coaching Artistic Gymnastics.  I have my own school that I am building in Stunt Gymnastics.  I do not call it an Acrobatic Gymnastics school, which is the USAG competitive version, but Stunt because I am building a community center around stunts and health.   I may not go back into competition again, since that is not my goal.   I am using the Stunt Gymnastics as a focal point to bring families together.  I am encouraging them in diet and exercise, especially since Americans are far too obese for good health.   And as a Christian, I am  creating a Christ centered community to encourage spiritual and mental health as well.

Please hear my call, all who own gymnastics clubs.   Be intentional in building your business as a community oriented business, not just a athlete training center.  I am not advocating going the route of the Turners, Sokols or the YMCAs which went way beyond gymnastics in becoming Recreation Centers.  Almost every local government has a Rec Center, and their service goes outside the realm of gymnastics.

What I am asking  everyone to consider is to make gymnastics a focal point in training the community to live in good health, to regain the Greek view of a “sound mind in a sound body.”   Fitness, nutrition, and for those of faith, spiritual soundness.   Gymnastics as an industry is anemic and incestuous. It needs to expand its own health as an industry and bring health to the community.

God’s Call on Me to Acrobatics

When I first became a Christian in 1985 I was training as an Elite Mixed Pair in Sports Acrobatics. My coaches, Igor Ashkinazi and Tom Burns (who graciously let me compete with his wife, Jan) led me to Christ when I first began training.  After finishing my competition season in 1986, I walked away from the sport to seek the will of God for my life.

At that time I was still working for the Jewish Community Center on St. Charles in New Orleans.  I came home from work one night and prayed.  What was I to do with my life?  While lying in bed, the Lord spoke to my heart and said to teach His Word. That was fine, but how was I to make my living?  Then I had a mental image with my eyes closed of Jesus in a long white robe running down a tumbling platform performing a round off back handspring back layout.   I thought that was the funniest thing to see.  Then I saw an image of the drawing, “The Laughing Jesus” in my mind and He spoke to my heart, “Keep teaching gymnastics, it is a good sport.”

At the leading of the Lord I moved to Dallas to attend Christ for the Nations.  There I read Watchman’s Nee, “Spiritual Man” and realized that anything that I did that was not led by the Spirit would be a work of the flesh and would not further the Kingdom of God.  Even though I knew that Father had sent me to Bible School, He never told me to be a professional minister.  So, after graduating, I went back to coaching gymnastics.  I had the opportunity to start an acrobatic team and went back to the Nationals with the first Texas team.  That spawned the formation of Texas Acro as a non profit organization to promote acrobatics in Texas.

In 2004 at the last Nationals I attended,  the Lord spoke to me again about reaching the acrobatic community.  I did not understand what that meant.   In 2006 I began my own acrobatic school and did so with the intention of my school being a working ministry, too.  All of my students and their families are believers in Christ, with most of them being home school families.  Then I realized that my school was the acrobatic community that the Lord was speaking about.

The Acrobatic Network and Acro Business Forum

A few weeks ago I set up the Acrobatic Network through the Ning system of social networking.  I did this for two reasons.  One, it is an open network for all of the acrobatic community nationwide. Everyone who joins can do so for free simply by registering.  Clubs can communicate with each other and share information about the sport and industry. Futhermore, all who join can  set up their own club groups which requires registering again, so that each club can keep their groups private to their own clientele.  My own business, the Stunt Gym, has already set up a private group for our own needs.

Prior to setting up this network, I had already set up the Acro Business forum through Texas Acro so club owners can share business and coaching ideas with one another to build our industry.

Economics 101

Now we come to the crossroads of faith and industry.  We live in an unconstitutional economic system.  It is a fiat money system that is controlled by private banking family dynasties.  We have all experienced the ups and downs of bull and bear markets, recession and growth.  These ups and downs are artificially created by these banking dynasties (in the USA, the Federal Reserve system), in the control of interest rates in loaning us our own money, and in the printing of Federal Reserve notes that we call dollars.

Inflation at its root is created by the  amount of dollars that the Treasury Department prints for the Federal Reserve.  The value of money is increased by its scarcity and decreased by its abundance, which is the basic law of supply and demand. Constitutionally, we are supposed to function on a gold standard.  Metal is limited as a resource, hence keeps its value. But we came off the gold standard domestically with FDR and internationally with Nixon. When that occurred we went to a fiat money system that is based upon nothing but how much money is printed.

We mistakenly think that our dollars are US currency, so the amount printed will be limited to the needs of this country. However, in 1944 the Bretton Woods Agreement was made in Connecticut by the international banking communities and the heads of states internationally. They agreed that the Federal Reserve Note would be the international currency used in the sale of oil and petroleum products. So, the amount of Federal Reserve Notes printed is enormous because they are scattered around the world.

The economic collapse that we are facing is not limited to the USA, but will be global because all the world is tied to this system. It is forgotten that the Great Depression of the 1930’s was a global depression because the central banking system was set up all over the world. There are some significant differences between then and now, however. At that time the banks were all on the gold standard. What that means is that people actually brought gold into the banks for deposit, then the banks gave them receipts for the gold (Federal Reserve Notes). Our grand parents’ generation got wind that the banks were handing out more receipts than gold that was actually deposited. So many wanted their gold back, which was the run on the banks that forced the banking holiday declared by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Then using the authority of executive order, which came from martial law declared by Abraham Lincoln,  FDR confiscated everyone’s gold.

Today, we can not have a run on the bank, apart from trying to collect the receipts (dollars) and cash out.   Because there is no gold, they will simply print enough receipts to prevent panic. And there is the good chance that many of these nations will want to dump the dollar for Euros or some other currency which glut our nation with more dollars. The increase of dollars would  increase the cost of everything since the value of the dollar will diminish even further, creating hyper inflation.

The natural response of the government to quell the cry of these outrageous price increases will be to impose price controls. Price controls force manufacturers to sell below cost of manufacturing suffering loss. Their response will be to stop manufacturing, thus causing shortages of goods and scarcities.

Kingdom Economics

The day is soon coming when we may have to make the decision to accept the Mark of the Beast. Without this mark you will not be able to buy or sell. What will we do? We need to establish an alternative economy now.  There already is an underground economy and this is what I wish to encourage my customers and my peers in the industry to consider.

We all have  been duped into functioning completely in the banker’s system which controls the entire economy. We have been conditioned to think inside the box and need to start thinking outside the box. Here is an  example of when I saw how God could take care of me outside the box.  When I first came to Christ, I got fired for praying in the name of Jesus at the Jewish Community Center. I sought God to take care of me by providing me with another job. Instead He prompted a brother who owned several unoccupied duplexes to allow me to stay for free for as long as I wanted. It never occurred to me that God could remove an expense instead of increasing my income. God took me out my my box with that experience.

The Stunt Gym group within the Network has been set up so families within my school may contact one another to help each other out. I am not talking about giving each other freebies, although there is a place for that, but to interconnect in offering services to one another. Services that can either be paid by money, bartering, or swapping services.

We should be leaders in the business world. We should not be employees, but the employers. I want to encourage everyone in my school to think as entrepreneurs. For example, one parent found a whole bag of leotards on ebay for a low price. I want her to sell them to my kids, with me taking a commission, for $10 or $15 dollars each. New leos can easily cost $65 and up. My families all save money, I make money and the mother makes money.

But we have to network together to discover the options available. So I encourage all my families to join the Acrobatic Network, all clubs in Texas, and nationwide.

I have either been a participant or observer of acrobatics for 30 years.  For many of the kids, I am an “old timer.”  But I am not.  The “old timers” still live. Glenn Sundby and George Nissen who founded the United States Sports Acrobatics Federation (later the USSA then became part of the USAG) are the fathers of our sport in the USA and still live.  George Nissen invented the trampoline and Glenn was a hand balancer who published International Gymnast, which was later sold to Bart Connor and published by Paul Ziert.

I love this sport.  It has been my passion since the first time I saw Igor Ashkinazi and Stacy Tutton on the Mike Douglas show sometime in the late 1970’s.  At one time I had a dream of starting a sports acrobatic theater company.  A dream that I never realized but was picked up by Cirque du Solei and so many others.

But as I age, the dream has greatly changed.  Now I want to see a community in acrobatics that stands by each other.  An acrobatic community that, through our industry,  will have a positive impact on our nation.

Currently our community is filled with passionate people for our sport.  Deep and strong friendships have been created within the various clubs and regions that coaches and athletes live.  However, there is also a schism in our community that needs breaching.  This schism is created by two main divides.

One is competition.  Competition is  a two edged sword.  On one side it hones performance ability in an amazing way.  I have watched acrobats who compete and those who only do shows.  Those who compete are always cleaner and better.  Those who only do shows (except the pros) settle for a lower standard and tend to be sloppier and more dangerous to watch.  This is the positive side of the sword.  But the negative side is the side that creates division in our community.  It is the  “us against them”  mentality.  The  “win at all costs”  mentality. The  “get ahead”  mentality  “no matter what harm it does to you”.  It is cut throat and destroys our community.

The other schism in our community is generational.  The kids who are currently competing know nothing of the athletes who preceded them.  They do not have a vision for what the industry can accomplish.  And that is the fault of the “old timers.”   The vision is there because of the success of Cirque du Solei.  More kids see the possibility of making a living after retiring from competition in some show venue.  The sport should acknowledge this as a goal of competition, instead of just building the business of competition.

The USAG has a much better handle on this than the cheerleading organizations, I must state.   The cheerleading business does not see past their profit margin.  They have no vision for the cheerleading industry outside their own sales volume.  The USAG still has a hold on several visions for our industry that is to be commended.

One vision is health and athletic achievement that has its roots still in the physical education heritage of our sport.  They also see the business industry as another vision.  They also know the professional and scholastic goals of athletic training.  Gymnasts obtaining college scholarships or performing on stage after their competitive career.

So I am not finding fault with the USAG or even the FIG.  My point is the disconnect of communication between the old timers and the youth.  The American mentality is still underscored by the peer group mentality. The old timers hang with the old timers and the youth hang with the youth.  I am a great believer in the Montesorri philosophy of multi-generational education.

Inherent in Acrobatic Gymnastics is this philosophy by necessity.  Older athletes have to work with younger athletes to make the skills possible.  To me, this is one of the great benefits of acrobatics.  It is a team sport that requires learning to get along with others that are “different” in age. This is the fuel of great communities.  But when we look at the athletes as a group, they are still the youth with the youth.   They are not interacting with adults and the old folks.

This plea that I am making is to the  old folks, not just the youth.  The old timers need to reach out to the youth to share their visions with them. To share their mistakes so that the youth can avoid those mistakes.  And to set a priority of life to the youth because life is too brief, and regrets are too many.

It is with this reason in mind, that I have set up the Acrobatic Network.   We may be geographically separated, but the technology of the internet can join us together in heart and mind when we are not together physically.

This morning, Father gave me a dream.  In the dream I was in a basement which had been set up as a gym and community center.  I was trying to clean up the mess that was in their by myself and felt overwhelmed.  Many people started to come in.    After I woke up,  I asked Father what that meant.  I understood that the basement was symbolic of the grassroots.  The work of real change and growth always happens at the bottom, not the top.  And the work that makes a difference is by the anonymous, not the figure heads that are famous.

So I ask the acrobatic community to grab a vision that is greater than yourselves.  Come join me in this work of rejoing the old timers with the youth.  Come join me in working to create unity in our community.  United we stand, divided we fall, is a truth that will always remain.  We need the confluence of the past with the future.  It isn’t just about our sport.  It is about life.  And life more abundantly.

I started my gymnastics career in 1968 as an All Around in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics.  What started as a casual interest in wanting to be a super hero because The Daredevil trained in gymnastics, turned into 4 years of high school training.  I began on the very first of my high school gymnastics team.

What began as a boyish fantasy turned into a wonderful joy as I learned to fly through the air and to enjoy the rhythmic swing of my body on the high bar.  High bar was my greatest joy in high school.  I even competed in one of the first USGF meets in Oakland, CA back in 1971. But when I graduated, I had no thought of continuing in gymnastics. As far as I was concerned that was a high school activity that was now over.

Having not developed any clear purpose for my life after graduation, I accepted an offer from my brother to move to Washington State where I worked as a salmon fisherman outside Bellingham.  After three seasons we both had enough of it.  He moved back to California, and I stayed in Bellingham. I had not realized what an addiction to my body gymnastics had created, so I went to Western Washington State College (now University) and began working out again. There I met Frank Dakin, a former  NCAA floor ex champion who ran the gymnastics program for the YMCA at the college. He gave  me  my first job coaching gymnastics.   As long as I was working out, and was still young I longed to get paid performing gymnastics, not just coaching it.

When I had heard a radio advertisement for the Spherical Miracle Circus Works in Seattle, I called them up. As it turned out the group had disbanded and were regrouping as the Floating World Circus.  I told them I had my own trampoline and asked if I could join their circus.  Greg Albert, the juggler who formed the circus, said, “Come on down.” So I quit coaching and moved to Seattle.

To continue training I audited a class in gymnastics at the University of Washington by Dr. Eric Hughes.  I asked the gymnasts if they would like to perform in the circus with me.  They all declined since they did not want to jeopardize their amateur status.  Only Jay Lavadeur was willing to join me in the circus.  So we created a doubles tramp act and some low key acrobatics.  We performed for the summer of 1977 traveling around the Puget Sound, passing the hat for our living.

In 1978 Greg Thompson sent a request to the U of W gymnastics for gymnasts to perform on stage.  This was a professional show. Dr. Hughes called me into his office and told me about the opportunity.  He also recommended several retired athletes who might be interested in the act.  So we created a vaulting routine, called the “Wacky Illwaco Brothers” and performed nightly for a year.

The dream came into my heart to form an acrobatic theater company at that time.  Later I produced two stage shows in New Jersey for a school I coached at,  Surgent’s Elite School of Gymnastics, before I left for New Orleans to train as an Elite Acrobat in Mixed Pairs.

During that time Kurt Thomas had his show team.  I contacted him, and he turned me down since I was not a former champion, and did not see my vision for gymnastics theater.  He had a show that combined theater with competition that, in my view, did not work.

All throughout my performing career, I had to coach gymnastics to make my living since performing was not full time work for me.  When I finally got too old for performing, Montreal’s Cirque du Solei had built up a reputation that spawned many other companies that now there are many opportunities for gymnasts to work for a living performing gymnastics, which I struggled to do in an era when it was not “gymnastically correct” to do so.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Competition is a wonderful tool.  I have seen gymnasts who only train for shows, both in Group Gymnastics and acrobatics, and the lack of competition scoring shows in sloppier performances.  Competition hones the athlete and brings him or her to polish and refinement. So I applaud the industry for what it has accomplished. But for many clubs, competition is the end, not the means to another end.  Why should parents pay thousands of dollars to train their child in gymnastics for a decade or more, only for them to quit the sport when they go to college?  Of course, for the women, the goal of a college scholarship is still a justification for the expense.  But even that is becoming less available.

I propose to all the gymnastics clubs of the nation to think outside the box.  Most of the coaches only think in terms of competition.  They are not thinking of life after gymnastics.  Oh sure, there have always been “Masters Divisions” of competition, but these meets are for retired athletes who are out of shape and only capable of during their basics.  They are more concerned with making a living and raising their families.

But if you train your athletes as future professional performers while they are competing, you are preparing them for life after competition. Besides, Artistic Gymnastics, is supposed to demonstrate artistry.  Artistry is more than just clever trick combinations that are pretty to behold. True artistry is sharing your heart and soul in a performance.  That is one of the reasons that Olympians in gymnastics need to be 16 and up.  Children are not capable of expressing their hearts in a routine. That requires more maturity. Cathy Rigby, Olga Korbut, and Mary Lou Rettin won the love of the world because they put their heart into their routines.   No one really cares about the big tricks.  Everyone cares about the people. If a gymnast does big tricks while performing their hearts out, then you have a winner that inspires more kids to come into the gyms.  Don’t let competition be the end of training, let it be the means to a better end, where your athletes can make a living performing in their 20’s and early 30’s.  Think outside the box.

When the Olympic games in Beijing began the FIG president Bruno Grandi had said that he intended to change the rules again to encourage artistry and control difficulty for safety’s sake.  I suggested that tumbling be separated from the beam and floor and restored as a separate event in Artistic Gymnastics as it was in the 1960’s.

But difficulty is in all events. The trend since the 1976 Olympics has been to see difficulty continue to increase.  The increase in difficulty resulted in changes in equipment, such as spring floors and vault tables and the widening of the uneven bars to both accomodate this difficulty and to increase safety.

What place does difficulty have in artistry?  Is difficulty simply an execution show piece of virtuosity, or is it an addition to artistry in performance?

Years ago I was in a rock and roll light show we called “Palantir” in the San Francisco bay area while in high school.  We did local gigs and our great claim to fame is that we had a chance to be the light show for Big Brother and the Holding Company, but after Janis Joplin had died.  This gave us a chance to brush shoulders with some of the big guys in the industry.  While talking with one of them who understood the future of lasers in light shows, he made a profound comment that has stuck with me ever since.   Many amateur rock shows would run strobe lights continuously.   That created a disturbing and mind numbing experience for band and audience alike.  He said, “The strobe light should be used once as an accent then put away and not used again for the rest of the night.”

That was a tremendous observation in artistry.  There is a place for the strobe light, as a highlight at some point in the show as a flash of lightning is in a thunderstorm.  This is true for difficulty.  A truly difficult stunt should be the highlight of the routine. The accent that stands out as the signature piece of the gymnast.  Routines that are filled with constant difficulty are like the mind numbing effect of the strobe lights in a rock concert.  Worse yet, the audience becomes immune to the difficulty like the drug addict who needs a higher high to get the satisfaction it had when he first became an addict.

The spiral since 1976 has continued so that great gymnastics becomes ho hum as the need for an even more difficult and dangerous trick is looked for.   If Bruno Grandi is serious about encouraging artistry, then the rules on difficulty need to be adjusted to penalize too many difficult stunts, and new rules drafted that reward maturity and artistry in performance.

Artistry demands maturity.  The controversy of the underaged Chinese gymnasts would be exposed easier if the rules forced mature artistry.  Children can not express artistry, only craft.  Craft is execution. They can be told like robots what to do to create the venear of artistry, but they have not reached the maturity that true artistry demands.  It is only in the late teen years as young adults that they become aware of what artistry really is.

So Bruno, penalize too many difficult stunts and reward artistry.

This question is on the mind of every gymnastics school in the world.  The industry is based upon the 4 year cycle of the Olympics.  When a favorable games occur with good television coverage of gymnastics, many little girls and some boys get excited and enroll into gyms all over.  That enthusiasm is sustained for about a year, maybe two.  Then the reality of how hard gymnastics sets in and many get discouraged and quit. By the third year a dip occurs and by the fourth year the bottom is touched.   But then the games occur and the cycle starts all over again.

The amount of enthusiasm an Olympiad generates for the sport is dependent upon several factors.  Was there a star?  That is an athlete who was very charismatic that kids want to emulate?  Was there drama?  A close contest, or, as in the case of Kerri Struggs, a demonstration of heroic character when she vaulted again after injurying her ankles.  Was there prime time coverage?  There are now several gymnastics disciplines being contested in the Olympics. Trampoline and Tumbling and Rhythmic Gymnastics  had joined Artistic Men’s and Women’s Gymnastics several years ago.  Yet I have not seen these events broadcast during prime time.  They have not grown (to my knowledge) significantly yet because of being in the Olympics.

So in these games let us consider the questions I have proposed.  Is there a star?  Well Nastia Liukin did win the gold medal in the AA, so that helps.  But she does not have the star quality of charisma.  Mary Lou Rettin had a huge impact on the industry because she is a bubbly delightful person, as well as a gold medalist.  Nadia Comaneci was an incredible athlete that really boosted the sport, but that was at a time when excellence was not as high, and she set a new standard.  She definitely did not have the charisma.  Shawn Johnson does have the charisma which is why I think she also got the media coverage. But she is a silver medalist and in the world of the Olympics, only the gold medalists are remembered.   So I am hopeful that Nastia will have an influence on the business, but I am not greatly encouraged.

Was there drama?  I  think there was some, but I really can not tell because of the third factor.

Was there prime time coverage?  When the first competition began they had it on prime time by tape delay.  Then I read that there was a complaint that people were getting the results off the internet and watching the videos online of the meets.   I think, and I could be wrong, that NBC made the decision to broadcast the meets live, which meant late at night.  I am getting on in years and do not stay up late, so I made the decision to get results online instead the next day.   Children, the bread and butter of the industry, are not allowed by many parents to stay up late.  So I fear that many kids did not see gymnastics, and that is what will probably hurt the industry the most.  We needed the prime time coverage.  Instead of seeing gymnastics we saw the Michael Phelps swim show, instead.

I think we will have some increase in business, but, frankly I fear it will not be enough.  We shall see as school gets underway.  Let us hope and pray for the best.

When the 2008 Olympics began in Beijing this week, Bruno Grandi, president of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, or the FIG, which creates the rules for all gymnastic disciplines, and governs all the international competition, made a statement regarding the rules changes in Artistic Gymnastics.  According to an article posted on the NBC website :

International Gymnastics Federation president Bruno Grandi said Saturday he soon will discuss curbing some of the difficulty athletes have been packing into their routines. The federation instituted a new scoring system in 2006, and it has led to gymnasts pushing the safety envelope while seeking higher scores.

“We need attention to the difficulty increases, which are too much,” Grandi said. “I’d like gymnastics to remain artistic, that we don’t lose this part, the artistic. It is not only a sport of biomechanical performance. Expressivity must remain.

When FIG scrapped the perfect 10 system after the 2004 Olympics controversy, its new judging method made difficulty a more significant factor. Now that the current system has been used for two years, Grandi is convinced it must be tweaked.

This is both laudable and commendable. I hope he manages to regain artistry in gymnastics.  But frankly, I believe that ship has sailed.

For readers unfamiliar with the full scope of gymnastics, I wish to interject since this is a Stunt Gym blog.  Gymnastics in the early 20th century taught all the disciplines together in the YMCA’s, Sokols, Turnveriens, and the school systems.  The full scope that they taught included all the equipment events (called Artistic Gymnastics), props (called Rhythmic Gymnastics), trampoline and tumbling, partner stunts (called Acrobatic Gymnastics) and group pyramids (left to the Cheerleaders, who also abandoned them).

Competition was governed by the Amateur Athletic Union, which governed a multitude of other sports besides gymnastics.  In the late 60’s, early 70’s, the United States Gymnastics Federation was formed, which is now known as USA Gymnastics,  because they had gained the FIG sanction.  Because the Olympics only included the events using equipment, the USGF abandoned all the other disciplines to concentrate on raising American gymnastics to international standards.  In that, they had succeeded in an outstanding way.  The other disciplines formed their own international organizations, but had a hard time gaining admittance into the Olympic competition.  Finally,  in the early 21st century, the International Olympic Committee declared that only those disciplines governed by the FIG could enter the Olympics, so they all disolved as organizations and merged with the FIG.  The same merger occurred at the national levels.

Getting back to Bruno Grandi’s comments regarding Artistic Gymnastics (the six events for men: 1. floor exercise, 2. pommel horse, 3. rings, 4. vault, 5. parallel bars, & 6. high bar; and the four events for women: 1. vault, 2. uneven bars, 3. beam, and 4. floor exercise).  Artistry has suffered because of the increase in difficulty. So he is right. The problem has been the influence of television and business. Extreme difficulty draws viewers and ratings.  And the more television broadcasts there are the more students tend to enroll in our gyms, which also increases the size of competitions and revenues for the governing bodies of the USAG, in the states, and the FIG, internationally.

The new rules were created to encourage even more difficulty, not for TV, per se, but in the interest of more equitable scoring for outstanding athletes and routines.  If Bruno is serious about increasing the artistry in Artistic Gymnastics, I have a few suggestions for him.

The high bar, unevens, rings and parallel bars are still beautiful artistic events.  Reducing difficulty for safety reasons should be pursued, but will not affect the artistry of these events.  I don’t know if pommel horse is considered dangerous, apart from athletic strains, so I see no need to change difficulty there.  Vaulting has little artistry anyway since they are one shot events.  Lower difficulty there for safety reasons.  However, floor and beam need major surgery. For both eliminate tumbling passes altogether.

In the early 1960’s tumbling was separate from floor exercise.  When tumbling stopped being a competitive event in Artistic Gymnastics, AG merely moved tumbling into the floor exercise.  Balance beam had little tumbling on the beam until the 1976 Olympics.   I had the privilege to watch  Abbie Grosfeld and Muriel Davis perform their floor exercise on 16mm film at the University of Washington back in 1974, and it inspired me with a vision of an artistic acrobatic dance style that was masculine for men, and fluid and aireal for women.   There are an abundant number of floor exercise movements that have been abandoned over the years as tumbling in floor became more and more difficult.  Tumbling is back under the FIG control.  Bruno, either make platform tumbling the seventh event for men and the fifth event for women, or let Artistic gymnasts join the Platform tumbling competition that already exists.   What ever is done, I am convinced that artistry in the floor exercise and beam will not be restored until tumbling is removed from these events.