Acrobatic Gymnastics

Posted by Bre on Monday, March 28, 2011 at 11:45 AM
http://gymnastics.about.com/

So this is news to me, there is such a thing as acrobatic gymnastics. Granted after thinking about it I realized it's very similar to cirque du soleil, I just never realiazed they actually had competitions and such for it.  This requires many of the same elements of gymnastics however the only aparatus used is the floor, and the team mates.

http://www.easterngymnastics.com.au/ACR.php
These exercises are performed in groups of 2, 3 or 4 athletes and there are both balance and dynamic routines.  The dynamic routines consist of the catches, flips, and the high flying throws, and the balance routines are partner balncing and pyramids in static positons.  After a certain level is reached there are combined routines combining the balance and dynamic elements.


Just like regular gymnastics these athletes perform skills which seem to defy physics, and seemingly what the human body should be capable of. These skills require an imense amount of strength and body control to overcome gravity and hold some the positions.  A few of the holds are shown below.




The physics of these routines again goes back to Newtons Laws of physics. Newton's Second Law states that the acceleration of an object produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and is also inversely proportional to the mass of the object.What this means to the worls of gymnastics is that in order for the acceleration of the gymnast to increase, the force acting upon her must increase as well.For acrpbratic gymnastics a large amount of the force required for acceleration comes from the team member who is the base, or the one throwing the gymnast.

Newton's Third Law states that for every action there in an equal and opposite reaction. This is shown in the static holds seen in the pictures, without this law the gymnasts would not be able to use one another to hold each other up, or the floor for that matter. When performing the holds and flips, the gymnasts are exerting the same amount of force on one another, and the floor is also exerting the same amount of force on them as they are on it.  


 Here is a video montage from the 2008 Acrobatic Gymnastics National Championships.  They are performing in teams, some times in unison, but more frequently doing almost circus like tricks with the help of one another.



Regular gymnastics to me is difficult enough with the amount of strength and body control, as well as the metal aspect, I can't even begin to comprehend training for acrobatics.  Not only is there your own physical ability and trust in yourself, but there is an immense amount of trust in your partners strength and timing.  I just can't imagine training for something like this.
Labels: , , ,