In The Beginning

There is no human knowledge available about the earliest times of acrobatic efforts.
There is no doubt, however, that people performed individual tumbling movements, group
acrobatics, and swing from branches early in their history.

The Egyptians and Chinese

Stone cuttings show that people were building human pyramids (along with stone
pyramids!) and balancing stunts in Egypt as early as 2100 BC. Circus- like acrobatics were
performed in ancient Egypt. In the 2nd century BC, men and women of Minoan Crete developed
the art of bull leaping. In bull leaping the performer would run toward a charging bull, grab its horn
and upon being tossed into the air, execute various midair stunts before landing on the bull’s back
and dismount with a flip. The Chinese have probably performed such stunts even before this
time.

The Greeks

In Ancient Greece, three distinct programs of gymnastic exercise were developed:

1. For maintenance of good physical condition

2. For military training
3. As part of the conditioning regime for athletes

The early Greek teachers of physical fitness (paidotribes) were the first to design a
system of physical activity for both athletes and general citizenry. Such programs, which included
gymnastics, were considered central to the formal education of children. The Greek philosophy
portrayed the human body as a temple housing the mind and the soul, and the practice of
gymnastics contributed to the health and functionality of the temple.

They coined the word “gymnastics” from the word “gymnos” meaning “naked art.” They
built elaborate complexes known as “gymnasia” for their physical education training. The
philosophers of Greece, Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates would go into the gym where they would
exercise their bodies and debate philosophy to exercise their minds. The attitude of those early
gymnasts was a “sound mind in a sound body.” With the gathering of young and old alike, the
gymnasia were more like a town hall than just a gym.
The famous Greek physician, Galen, who wrote a treatise called “Caracalla,” developed a
form a medical gymnastics of which we would call physical therapy today. His work emphasized
keeping fit exercises of gymnastics for the masses as a means for better health. In time,
structured gymnastic and calisthenics exercises were abandoned in favor of game sports.

In 776 BC, the Greeks held the first Olympic Games, which was a festival dedicated to
their God Zeus. In this game, there was only a foot race of 200 yards. The games continued for
about 1,100 years with boxing, wrestling, throwing, jumping, and weightlifting added. The Olympic
Games were finally abolished by the Roman Emperor Theodosius in 392 AD.

The Persians

By 500 BC the Persians had developed the side horse (pommel horse) as a training
devise for their cavalry to learn mounts, dismounts, and swinging movements for combat on
speeding horse during battle. Even up to just 50 years ago, the side horse had a raised neck and
a croup (end) like a real horse.

The Romans

The Romans were a battle- tough people who conquered the known world. After their
conquest of Greece, they adopted gymnastics as their own and developed it into a more formal
sport. Gymnastic system designed to give strength for military combat were used extensively by
the Romans. Their practical nature turned sport into warfare. Like the Persians, the Roman
Circus practiced horsemanship and chariot racing in a circle, hence the term circus. Originally
designed as a sporting event where Roman soldiers could match their skills and prowess against
one another in an Olympian fashion, it quickly evolved into pure carnage. The bloodier the
spectacle the more popular it became. People killing people, animals killing animals, animals
killing people. It reached its gruesome height under the Emperor Nero. The gymnasiums were
used to train their legions for warfare, but with the decline of Rome, interest in gymnastics also
dwindled and gymnastics would have been lost completely if it were not for the Medieval Gypsies.

Medieval Gypsies

Gypsies are believed to have arrived in Europe from northern India in the 1400s. They
were called Gypsies because Europeans thought they came from Egypt. This ethnic minority is
made up of distinct groups called “tribes” or “nations”. The Sinti and Roma spoke dialects of a
common language called Romani, based in Sanskrit, the classical language of India. Many Sinti
and Roma traditionally worked as craftsmen, such as blacksmiths, cobblers, tinkers, horse
dealers, and toolmakers. Others were performers, such as musicians, circus, animal trainers, and
dancers.

The sad tale of Gypsies being persecuted continues to this day, with the happy exception
of Gypsy dances and music celebrated in 19th century romanticism, for example, as expressed by
(Hungarian) Liszt and as observed particularly in Russia where there was a famous Gypsy
cabaret in Moscow which had trained bears, acrobats, dancers, and jugglers performed in the
Gypsy shows.

Modern Gymnastics
By Lee Bjella

Germany, beginning in 1774, began putting its educational concepts into practice.

Johann Basedow (1723 – 1790) was the first to conduct gymnastics as part of education.
He was the first modern writer and teacher of organized gymnastics for
whom records survive.

Johann Guts Muth (1759 – 1839) the Great Grandfather of Gymnastics wrote many
influential books including carefully chosen gymnastics exercises for girls
in 1818. He wrote Gymnastics for Youth, the first book on modern
gymnastics in 1793. He describes the use of sloping beams, climbing
poles, ladders and ropes along with the balancing beam and the
swinging beam.

Franz Nachtegall (1777-1847), formed a gymnastics club, opened a private gymnasium

and through his success encouraged the government to incorporate
training into its school curriculum. His gymnastics program in Denmark
emphasized mass calisthenics, mass vaulting and drills using dumbbells
and balls.

Gerhard Vieth (1759 – 1839) published a book of exercises. He also described the
balance beam, jumping ropes, climbing ropes and poles, the horse, the
table and the buck. He wrote of vaulting over horizontal poles at different
heights.

Per Henrik Ling (1776 – 1839) In Scandinavia, he was one of the great gymnastics
leaders and called the “Father of Swedish gymnastics.” Hundreds of
students would participate in mass floor exercise drills.

Johann Pestalow (1746 – 1827) was noted as the founder of free exercise and
calisthenics.

Adolph Spiess (1810 – 1858) “Father of School Gymnastics” taught gymnastics to his
classes in Switzerland and added marching and free exercises to music.

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778 – 1852) “The Father of Gymnastics.”

The American Gymnastics is largely influenced by Europe as evidenced by the early

Turnverein movement in their colleges. Dr. Dudley Sargent was the first American contributor to
gymnastics because he was instrumental in including gymnastics in the school curriculum.
 Gymnastics in the Philippines was started by two exponent of Physical Education –
Director Candido Bartolome of the University of the Philippines and Mrs. Francisca Aquino of
the Bureau of Public Schools.

“Gymnastics” is a self-motivating activity, where one can manipulate the different parts
of the body into varied positions or movements (Clarita P. Diñoso, “Gymnastics Book”, 1990).

At present, Gymnastics is recognized as a systematic form of physical exercises

designed for:

Educational Gymnastics – a program that challenges students to master tactics

involving strength, balance, flexibility, agility, and rhythm in a classroom standard of
learning the fundamentals with the maximum safety measures.

Therapeutic or Remedial Gymnastics – a series of selected exercises that help to

relieve physical discomfort or restore function to disabled people.

Competitive Gymnastics – consist of prescribed sets of events for men and women,
each of which is scored separately in order to determine a winner.

PHASES OF THE EDUCATIONAL GYMNASTICS PROGRAM

1. Conditioning Program

The exercises are selected for the purpose of preparing the body for more
complicated movements and skills. Exercises for the warm-up can also be selected in
his phase. This phase can also be considered as “Calisthenics” since routines can be
made out of the exercises in the conditioning program.

 Cool Down Exercises – serve to gradually taper off the body from the stress
of exercises. It is as important as warming up because it keeps the blood
circulating around the body to prevent the individual from experiencing some
form of dizziness.

2. Stunts

These are activities in the form of play which test one’s strength, flexibility, balance,
agility, endurance, and coordination. This phase is specially suited to the lower
grades.

Some stunts can be considered as conditioning exercise and still some are
preparatory stunts to tumbling skills.

 Types of Stunts

– Individual Stunts – these are stunts performed by only one person.

Examples: Rocking Chair, Coffee Grinder, Egg Roll, Human Ball, Dog
Walk, Lame Dog Walk, Frog Kick, Frog Jump, Inch Worm, Crab Walk

– Dual Stunts – are stunts performed by two.

Examples: Wring the Disk Cloth, Chinese Get–Up, See–Saw, Jump
Over, Three Partners – One Jump Over

– Group Stunts – are stunts performed by 3 or more persons.

Examples: Walking Chair, Merry–Go–Round, Skin the Snake

– Combative Stunts – are stunts where two or more fight each other
showing strength, balance, agility, and endurance.
Examples: Rooster Fight, Indian Wrestle, Tug of War

3. Tumbling (Acrobatic skills)

 This is the most important phase of the gymnastics program, because the ability of
the performer is tested as he rolls to and fro, twists, turns, and springs about on the
mat, floor, and in the air.

4. Rhythmic Gymnastics

Routines or Exercises accompanied with music are called “Rhythmic Gymnastics”.

They are so- called because they are performed in a rhythmical manner and the
movements are flowing. This phase includes the free hand exercise and all exercise
with use of light apparatuses such as wands, rings, hoops, ribbons, ropes, etc.
Gymnastics skills, dance skills, locomotor skills, stunts, and tumbling skills are
combined to form a routine on the floor. This is where the performer can create and
develop her own routine according to her abilities.

5. Apparatus Work (Heavy)

This includes exercises done on the balance beam, vaulting horse, parallel bar,
uneven bars, rings, and the trampoline.

6. Pyramid Building
This phase of the program makes a picture (mural) out of body static positions. The
positions should be properly arranged and selected, so that they form the shape of a
pyramid.

COMPETITIVE GYMNASTICS

1. Artistic Gymnastics (AG) – gymnastics discipline where the gymnasts perform on top of
the heavy apparatus. A competitive event separates men and women.

Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) – Gymnastics discipline played in four (4)

events:

 Horse Vault
 Asymmetrical Bars
 Balance Beam –
 Floor

Men’s Artistic Gymnastics (MAG) – Gymnastics discipline played in six (6) events:

 Floor
 Pommel Horse.
 Ring
 Vault
 Parallel Bars.
 Horizontal Bar

2. Rhythmic Sportive Gymnastics (RSG) – an aesthetic discipline performed to music

while using small hand apparatus that seems to be an extension of the body. A
competitive event for women either individual or group in a bi – annual rotation of four out
of five apparatuses.

 Rope.
 Hoop
 Ball
 Clubs
 Ribbon

3. Aerobics Gymnastics – gymnastics discipline integrates the difficult elements of

gymnastics with aerobic dance steps and movements in order to create a dynamic
choreography for the sports either individual, mixed pair, three or group.

4. Acrobatics Gymnastics – a gymnastics discipline where boys and girls take part
balancing with partners with selected acrobatics skills and balances and dance
movements.
PHYSICAL FITNESS is the capacity of the individual to accomplish his/her regular daily
task/activities without undue fatigue and still has an ample amount of reserved energy to
enjoy leisure and meet emergencies.

Physical Fitness Components

Health Related Components

 *Strength – is the capacity to sustain the application of force without yielding or

breaking; the ability of the muscles to exert effort against a resistance.

 *Endurance / Stamina – is the ability to sustain long-continued contractions

where a number of muscle groups are used; the capacity to bear or last long in a
certain task without undue fatigue.

 *Flexibility / Suppleness – is a quality of plasticity which gives the ability to do a

wide range of movement.

It involves four basic movements, namely:

a. Flexion – bending a body segment;

b. Extension – straightening a body segment;
c. Abduction – moving a limb away from the body; and
d. Adduction – moving a limb toward the body.

Body flexibility is achieved through stretching specific segments of the body.

To achieve good body flexibility, exercises should be performed daily. For very
tight muscle–joint area, it is highly recommended that flexibility exercises be
done at least twice a day.

Types of Stretching

a. Passive Assisted Stretching – involves relaxing a specific body part and

just allowing the partner to move the limb of the stretcher to gain a new
range of movement.
b. Static Stretching – involves slowly stretching a segment of the body to
the farthest point and holding that position for a certain period of time.
c. Ballistics Stretching – involves a sudden, bouncing or jerking rhythmic
movement of a specific part of the body.
d. Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) – involves the hold –
relax (HR) approach to stretching.

 *Body composition – refers to the proportion between fat weight and total body
weight. It is determined by the amount of fat and lean tissue in the body.

Skill / Performance Related Components

 Power – refers to the ability of the muscles to release maximum force in the
shortest period of time.

 Agility – is the ability of the individual to change direction or position in space

with quickness and lightness of movement.

 Speed – is the ability to make successive movements of the same kind in the
shortest period of time.

 Coordination – is the ability to use your senses together with your body parts or
to use two or more body parts together.

 Balance – is the ability to control organic equipment neuro-muscularly; a state of

equilibrium.
 Body Awareness refers to the consciousness to the body as a whole. It refers to the
awareness to grasp the different kinds of movement that each body part can do and the
awareness to grasp of its relation to space, time, force, and rhythm. It is the total awareness of
what the body can do and where the body is, which leads to a greater body control and
successful skill learning.

MOVEMENTS

Fundamental Movement Skills:

 Locomotor Movement Skills – used to move the body from one location to another.

 Walking is a series of steps in all directions.

 Running is a fast walk with longer strides and there is a push-off by the
foot to suspend the body momentarily in air.
 Hopping is a spring on one foot and land on the same foot.
 Skipping is a step and a hop with the same foot in one count.
 Leaping is a spring on one foot and land on the other foot.
 Sliding a full contact of the foot on the floor by gliding in any direction.
 Galloping a combined step and a cut (shift weight or displace the other
foot)
 Jumping is to spring on one or both feet and landing on both feet.

 Non–locomotor Movement Skills – in which the individual does not have to change
location in order to practice an activity

 Bend or Flexion to move the body or part of the body around a wide axis.
 Stretch, Extend, Straighten to lengthen a part of the body.
 Twist to move a body around a long axis.
 Lift, Raise to elevate a part of the body or the whole body to a desired level
 Circle to move a body around a point.
 Rotate / Turn to change direction to move around an axis.
 Swing to move continuously from one point to the other.

 Manipulative Movement Skills – used to handle or manipulate play objects, such as ball,
wands, hoops, bats etc. They include movements that increase hand–eye and hand –
foot
coordination, tracking skills, and dexterity and propulsion skills, such as throwing, kicking
and batting.

 Specialized Movement Skills – related to specific sports, games and apparatus. Skills are
structured (specific rules, guidelines and techniques)
TERMS IN GYMNASTICS

ARCH – is a position where the body is curved like an arc of a circle, with the hip
forward and the head and truck bent backward.

BASE – a partner who supports the other performer above him.

TUCK – is position where the head and the knees are in contact and the trunk is curved.

MOUNT – are stunts performed by a performer to go up on an apparatus.

DISMOUNT – is a stunt used by a performer to get off on an apparatus.

SPOTTER – is a person who helps a performer to go about a skill for the first time.

SPOTTING – is the act of helping a person to go about a skill for the first time.
EXERCISE
or ROUTINE – planned series of dance skills, locomotor skills, gymnastics skills and tumbling
skills performed with or without music.

FLIP – a hand spring

HELD
or STATIC POSITION – these are positions held for 2 or more seconds.

PIKE – the upper body is bent forward at the hips to an angle equal to or less than 90
degrees while the legs remain straight.

PRESS – is the application of steady pressure to a particular muscle or group of muscles

in order to attain a desired stretch.

PRONE – lying face down with the body straight.

SCALE – is a support on one leg with the other leg raised at the back and the body arch.

STRADDLE – the legs are extended sideways.

SUPINE – lying flat on the back, with the body straight.

SPLIT – is a position where the legs are extended forward and backward in a straight
position.

TOP – the partner who is supported by the base.