You need to tumble if you want to be a stunt performer

There are many requirements to becoming a member of the British Stunt Register. You can check them out here 
Its clear that for some, tumbling is an essential component: they really need  to learn how to handstand to forward rolls, back roll to handstand, cartwheel, round off
front tuck, back handspring, front hand spring.
The chances are, if you are an adult learner, that fear of going backwards will be a major stumbling block in your future career. At Crossfit london in Bethnal green, we have been running and adult gymnastics programme since 2008 . We have been teaching adult beginners how to do these skills for years.
Im privileged to be part of the tumbling teaching team, even though Im not one of the best ever tumblers.  Im now 58 so some of my demos are a bit wobbly, and at my age, I do like a bit of a comforting spot.
In short I know all about fear and what it does  to your form if you want to jump up in the air go backwards and land on your hands. I leave it to my younger colleagues to optimise your technique and string things together. For me, I know how great it it to nail that 1st handspring, that tuck, that flag. I got those, not when i was 6 or 8 or 16: i got those skills when I was in my 50’s
to be honest, may flag is still work in progress
here is my 1st ever unspotted  back handspring

We have spent our long teaching history building up drill to build your skills. We work almost exclusively with frightened adults !

If you want to check out my lessons in Bethnal Green E2 you can  look at our class schedule and book here.

At the moment, my classes are on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon at Crossfit London  If you want a better gymnast to lead your classes,  look for Matthias ( wed) and Tugs (sunday) . You should really check out our fantastic gymnastic strength classes: handstands, levers, muscle up, planches, the flag.

Loads of stuff for you to learn.

31
Jan, 2014

The importance of conditioning the tuck

One of the crucial abilities in gymnastic tumbling is the ability to pull your knees into your chest and make a ball: The Tuck.

If you cannot, or won’t, ‘Tuck” your tumbles will be  open,  slow and difficult to land.

This means that you must get your  calves  to stick to your hamstrings and your knees to your chest with a rounded back . The G force of most tumbles will try and rip this shape apart. Make sure you can squeeze the tuck both through body control ( abs, chest and leg compression) and by pulling your knees in by grabbing your upper shin’s. As much time as you spend dish and arching, allocate to the tuck, especially if you are open  and lazy in your front and back tuck. On the whole, get this shape with the head sort of  neutral, not  massively strained back ( you are preparing for both a front and back tuck).

If you were taught the basics properly, you will be used to this position in your forward rolls. As an adult, most gymnastic teachers will shy off demanding that you properly tuck in your rolls, and thus leave you unconditioned. The forward roll will put you into a tuck by the nature of the move, but its more a “flop into place tuck” than one you have worked for. I’ll post more later, but hold that tuck in  a variety of positions.

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