Fig. 21
It can be done in a third way, with the arms straight along the bar ([Fig. 21]).
Hanging by the Toes.
This is easier than most people imagine. Whatever difficulty may be found will consist not so much in the actual sustaining of the weight of the body by the toes as in the task of getting the feet into position on the bar. We will suppose, however, that by this time the pupil will have mastered the [short circle] described on [page 23], in which case he will find it easy enough to hitch the toes on the bar instead of bringing them over to complete the circle. This having been accomplished, nothing remains but to leave go with the hands and let the body drop slowly until hanging quite perpendicularly ([Fig. 22]).
Fig. 22
In first attempting this, it is advisable to stretch out your arms, so as to be prepared in case you find your feet slipping off. To drop on to the hands is the easier way of leaving the bar from this position, but it is not the correct one, which is to draw the body up and resume your hold of the bar by the hands.
The Hock Swing.
This is like the sit ‘swing backward,’ except that it is performed without holding the bar by the hands, which of course renders it very much more difficult.