Three Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Do

by Unknown

Exercises on the rings are divided into two classes—stationary and swinging. In the former the rings are not swung. In the latter the tricks are performed while swinging. There are two ways of grasping the rings with the hands. In “single grip,” the rings are clasped as a boy grips his base-ball bat when he is ready to strike. It is used chiefly in swinging tricks. In the “double-grip,” the thumbs are kept close to the palms, and the hands rest on and over the rings.

The first trick on the rings, and the one that must be mastered before anything else is attempted, is the “breast-up.” This consists in taking a double-grip, and raising the body so that the chin is even with the hands. The hands and wrists should be over the rings, and the elbows straight out from the shoulder. Now, by leaning forward you necessarily bring your hands under your armpits, and you find yourself in such a position that you can push down on the rings and raise your body erect by simply straightening your arms. You must not expect to be able to do this the first time. It will take many efforts before you can accomplish it. The best way to learn it is to hold your weight with one hand, after you have raised your chin even with the rings, while you practise pulling the other in and under your armpit. When a boy can do this trick easily he will find that he has strength and skill enough to learn the other feats, of which this is the foundation.

In horizontal bar exercises the “breast-up” is executed in the same way, but it is seldom used in getting up on the bar. A much prettier way is the trick called the “circle.” This is done by clasping the bar with the double-grip—which, by-the-way, is the only one used on the bar—and raising your body as high as you can. If you can raise your chin above the bar, all the better. Now raise your legs in front of you as high as possible, and lift them over the bar, letting your head drop back. This will bring your legs and body down on the other side. If a boy can do this with a fortnight’s hard practice, he is doing remarkably well. In learning this trick lower the bar to the height of the shoulder and start the “circle” with a jump, which materially assists your progress during the revolution.

All boys who practise on the horizontal bar probably have in mind the “giant swing,” the hardest and most daring feat on the bar; but that is a long way in the future, and many other tricks must be mastered before it should even be attempted. Perhaps the best of these intermediate exercises is the “hook swing.” This is a very neat trick. You sit on the bar, apparently fall backward, catching the bar in the knee joints, and swing around, until you come up in your original position without touching your hands to the bar. It is not so hard as it looks if you go about it in the right way, and this is the proper way:

First practise by hanging head downward from the bar by the knees. Any boy can do this; but to learn the rest of the trick you need two assistants, who take hold of your hands and swing you gently at first, gradually increasing the swing as you gain confidence. When you can swing easily and safely without losing your grip and falling to the mattress as you swing backward, straighten your knees, and you will leave the bar and alight upon your feet. Your assistants will save you from falling on your head should you happen to let go with your knees too soon, which you would certainly do more times than once should you attempt the trick alone. Practise this until you can do it without help.

The next step is to sit on the bar, which should be lowered to within four feet of the ground, and fall backward. When you come to the end of the swing, let go with your knees and alight on your feet. At first you will need help in this, as in the early part of the practice.

When this is learned you can go half-way around. The object now is to come back to the position you originally had on the top of the bar. The mistake that nine boys out of ten make at this point is in thinking that all that is needed to complete the revolution is to give the body a harder swing. When you dropped from the bar in the way I have just described it was because you straightened your knees. If you bent your knees more at this point in the swing, and at the same time threw your head back, you would have found yourself on the bar instead of on the mattress. To prevent accident at first, you should have an assistant stand in front of you, so that in case you should pitch forward the moment you reach the top of the bar, you will fall into his arms. In case you should swing so hard that you cannot stop when your body becomes erect, you will simply make another half-revolution backward, when you can straighten your legs and come down on your feet in the way described already.

The most important exercises on the parallel bars are called the “dip” and the “grasshopper.” To do a “dip,” stand between the bars, placing your hands upon them, and raise your body to arm’s length. Then lower the body and raise it again by bending and straightening the arms. To do a “grasshopper,” begin in the same manner, but as the arms are almost straight make a little forward jump, lifting your hands from the bars, and bringing them down a few inches in advance of their original position. In this way you can travel from one end of the bar to the other, as this trick can be done equally well forward and backward. The jump may be combined with a swing in an exercise called the “pump.” These tricks are easily learned; they are very safe and make muscle fast. The chief danger in their use lies in their over-indulgence. In this, as in all other gymnastic exercises, enough is as good as a feast.

The flying trapeze is the most difficult of all the apparatus, and feats on the double trapeze are dangerous even to the trained gymnast. After you have mastered the exercises already described, it will be time enough for you to think about the trapeze.