Look ma, no panel mats

[flexagon]

Tonight in gymnastics I did back kickovers for the first time! For those who don't know, that means I did a backbend, walked it in as tight as I could, and kicked over -- onto my hands, through a handstand and down to my feet. I've been working on this for a few weeks with my feet up on panel mats; but last week I had a small revelation about pushing as hard as I could with my fingertips, and tonight I went from 3 mats to 2 to 1 to zero. I am so pleased. :) These were only my first few kickovers, of course, and experience tells me they'll probably get a lot easier as more things become habitual and I don't have to think separately about fingertips, ribcage, shoulders, etc. I may always need a nice warmed-up back though -- it's kind of amazing how far I can walk my hands in toward my feet these days, and maybe when I learn to kick/jump harder I won't need to, but for now I do.

I love gymnastics because I go there and get told I have weakness issues with my shoulders. Wow. Nobody, nobody has said I have weak shoulders for years, anywhere else. So it's funny, and also a nice bracing reminder that there are higher standards to aspire to. I'm gonna get better... hell, I'm already getting better! The kickovers! My cartwheels, which are sometimes on a line now! My back extension rolls, which now flail up to an odd sort of headstand more often than not! Moses always looks at me with his big sad eyes and assures me that more work will make me get better... I really wonder if he understands I'm pleased with many aspects of my progress.

The other random thing about today: I ate no meat and no cheese. Wow. I have, in the past, noted one or the other, but I'm not sure I've ever had a day with neither before. Admittedly, it wasn't wholly accidental -- I realized the oddity as I was heading through the mall to pick up dinner, and purposely didn't get my planned piece of pizza. (What I ate today: orange juice. a fried egg and a boca breakfast patty in a whole-grain wrap. a cup of cauliflower soup. a sandwich filled with hummus, onions, mesclun mix, tomatoes and cucumbers (I ordered it in a wrap, dammit, but got a sandwich on wheat bread). a Heart Thrive. two vegetable samosas. one Purple Machine. several bites of rice pudding, which was way too sweet.) That's gotta be eight servings of fruits and vegetables, even counting conservatively.

Comments

[nevers.livejournal.com]

congrats on the kickover!!! they are NOT getting any easier for me. i still don't always do them first try. i stuck them in some of my choreography for the new show and i'm hoping i can turn them into walkovers before then, because walkovers are supposedly easier once you get the timing and i need more ease. grr.

[flexagon]

how do you do them... or, what do they feel like to you? do you walk them way in, or do you jump really hard? what part do you put effort into?

btw, there's this girl at gymnastics who can rather gracefully bend down backward from a handstand to tapping both feet on the ground, then come back over with both legs at once and pike down! she makes it look easy. i sorta hate her for that. (you would sorta hate her too, i think -- besides the tick-tock stuff just described, she can press a pike handstand repeatedly.)

[nevers.livejournal.com]

i try to put my hands as close to my feet as possible in the backbend. then i bring one foot in (the second one that kicks) and kick over. the one step in with the left foot brings it as close as it's ever going to get to my hands.

and that sounds amazing! i've never seen a woman pike press.

[flexagon]

do you have to think about pushing as hard as you can with your fingertips? hmm, I will have to think about only bringing one foot in; that seems like better preparation for a back walkover.

I've been wondering lately if it's actually easier to float the feet off the ground (the first inch or so) in a pike... I mean, for trig reasons, that gets the most length from your legs in terms of getting your hips high. after that though, the straddle definitely decreases the torque a ton. so funny how it's all physics...

[nevers.livejournal.com]

i do think about my fingertips. and yeah, it does feel like better preparation. sometimes i do a bunch of arch back kick overs really fast, in a row, and after 3 or 4 i start to feel so comfortable with it i could almost string them right together into a walkover. almost.

we do straddle presses starting with our legs together so that your hips are as high as possible. some people start with their legs a foot or so apart -- is that what you were picturing? i definitely think it makes sense to start with them tog, whether you're doing a tuck pike or straddle

[nahele-101.livejournal.com]

congrats!
no meat? no dairy?

*gives you a patchouli soaked hug*

and seriously, congrats on the walkover.

[flexagon]

Ew, you smell like dirt, get a haircut!! um, there was probably cream in the soup. and definitely butter involved in the cooking of my egg. But still. :)

And thanks -- this was only a kickover but a lot of people say a walkover's easier anyway. I dunno, but I'm on the path.

[belacane.livejournal.com]

congrats on the kick over!

[bluechromis.livejournal.com]

I taped some gymnastics this weekend and it's got me all sad I can't do gymnastics with you. Congrats on inching towards the kickovers though. :)
Your sandwich sounds so yummy.

[flexagon]

I had another one today with chicken and bacon added, and I have to confess it was a lot more satisfying with some added protein in there. The bacon was a bit extraneous but I may have to keep getting the chicken, unless they wise up in the ways of avocado and olives soon.

Sorry you're sad! I wish you could come with me, too... even if you would show me up for the weak and velocity-shy little goober I am, just like everyone else does.