Now that's an athlete...

When I was a kid, I kind of thought it was silly that Daredevil and some of the other superheroes did so many gymnastics moves when they were fighting ninja's and stuff, but I learned to accept it.  There was enough cool stuff that I could write it off as really fancy martial arts.  Plus, Elektra was so hot that all the posing added something for my junior high maturity level brain to process on a much deeper level with real complexity.  


Then, when I rented the movie Gymkata, it kind of ruined all that for me.

The skill of gymnastics, the kill of karate, and the dorkiness of a mulleted hero with no acting skills and a hilariously low production budget!

Never heard of Gymkata?  Cracked magazine thinks it is the funniest movie of the 80's. If they can't convince you, maybe the pommel horse fight scene can:





Really kids.  This is the kind of thing we had to watch back in the day.  There wasn't much else out there. No wonder my generation actually played outside instead of parking in front of a screen.  Right?


After watching that, I have to wonder why our military budget does not include equipping our soldiers with gymnastics equipment.  If I had the video chops and the time to waste, I would mash up some C-Span footage, Onion-style, to have a senator making a passionate plea for the funding of it with the use of this vid up on a big screen.  Come on, you know that would be hilarious.  Especially if I could find video of a politician speaking to congress with a kick-ass mullet.


Anyway, in my eyes, gymnastics have been redeemed by a Polish gymnast who has become an internet sensation.  You can't watch this without thinking it is kind of super-heroesque:





Thank you Jozsef Wadecki, for your inspiration.  I will be signing my children up for gymastics this week.  That is freekin' awesome.