Stunt Gym Educator
Welcome back! Be sure to leave a comment after you read a post.
Welcome to the Stunt Gym Educator which is a free resource for students all over who love gymnastics and want to know more about its history and manifold disciplines.
Throughout history gymnastics has been practiced in many forms. There are many branches to the gymnastics tree. From the earliest times it was used as a form of Recreation. Children have always played, as here on the monkeybars, or with one another and family members with acrobatic stunts. Tumbling and acrobatics have always been a source of entertainment, whether as the court jester, the circus, or just general clowning around. And from the Ancient Olympics to modern times, gymnastics in some form or other has been a type of competitive sport.
Just as early it has been used as a means of training soldiers in the Military. The Pommel Horse is the oldest piece of gymnastics equipment, having been created as a substitute horse for cavalry men to practice mounting and dismounting their horses quickly. Just 40 years ago you could still get a horse with a croup and a neck! West Point and other military academies have had competitive gymnasts as part of their program, as well.
Throughout history, gymnastics was seen as a means of Physical Therapy. The Greek physician Galen, who wrote a treatise called, “Caracalla,” developed a form of medical gymnastics of which we would call physical therapy today. Much later, it was the Swedish educator, Per Henrick Ling, who invented the parallel bars for the purpose of rehab. Elements of gymnastics are still used by modern physical therapists. It is no wonder that many gymnasts later become doctors and therapists.
This educator is meant to be a means of showing you, the reader, how wide and broad the branches spread, as well as to give you detailed views of the different leaves. So, lets get started. Have fun and learn.
