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.
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| 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.
wow...lol.. dont get me started on he-man.
ReplyDeleteI have found gymnastics back ground give my athletes a physical strength and understanding of balance and leverage that is unsurpassed. The athletes that come from or gain a gymnastics background excel. Cant say the same for martial arts, though at some level it seems they should.
Is this some form of Men's Rhythmic gymnastics? Hilarious - I plan to repost on my facebook...
ReplyDeleteI agree about gymnastics background. I have seen several examples of swimmers who started in gymnastics that just have something the others don't. In Alaska we had a girl name Sara Fallico who picked up on swimming very quickly. Another example is Caroline Bruce... there was just something different about her posture and her ability to whip water that you just could not teach.
ReplyDeleteI also have a diver signing with Missouri State this week who has no club diving experience but has a world class martial arts background. He definitely has a unique spacial awareness and strength that has helped him tremendously. I saw him once alternate 20 pushups and backflips on deck without slowing down once. The rest of my guys struggled with just the 20 push-ups. Stud.
The super gymnast was actually on a trampoline - that is now a competition sport. Still cool and still takes skill but not the same as what we see in the Olympics called "floor exercise".
ReplyDeleteis your diver the son of the star of gymkata?
ReplyDeleteactually, he is the son of Chuck Norris. but really, aren't we all?
ReplyDeletewell actually i am the son of chevy chase ;)
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